The Shield, shown as a question mark ("?") on the Power Meter, is a recurring power up in the Gradius series, usually being the last power up on the Power Meter. They allow a given ship to absorb projectiles and destroy weak enemies on contact a limited number of times before disappearing. In Nemesis (Game Boy) & Gradius: The Interstellar Assault, it is denoted as "F" on the Power Meter instead to indicate Force Field, although it gives out Shield.

Types

• Shield: A pair of hex gear-like objects fly in from the right side of the screen to attempt to attach to your ship, providing frontal protection. In Gradius V, each side absorbs fifteen hits and usually shrinks with each hit. Since the Shield has a rather large hitbox, any ship that is close to terrain will have its Shield torn down, resulting in the ship getting less frontal protection in tight spaces.
• Force Field: The ship is enveloped in an aura that absorbs hits from all sides. It usually absorbs three hits before disappearing, but some games grant more hits. The only drawback is its large hitbox when deployed as any ship that is close to terrain will shred its Force Field. In Salamander (Arcade), the Force Field looks like half of a classic Shield instead. Curiously, a scrapped Pile-Up Field from Gradius III would have allowed the stacking of three Force Fields atop each other. In Otomedius, this version of Force Field is dependent on the number of hits and the strength of an enemy projectile. In Otomedius Excellent, each hit grants a few seconds of invincibility, like the Shield from Thunder Force III & Thunder Force IV.
  • In the NES port of Salamander/Life Force, it is possible to crash into some enemies with a Force Field and destroy them. Using a full Force Field can even destroy certain bosses like the Golem.
  • Multi-Shield: Each Shield power up bestowed upon the ship places a single gear at one of the four cardinal directions. Seen in Salamander, Life Force, & Salamander III. This Shield is also known as "Force Field" in Salamander. A maximum of 4 can be obtained.
• Free Shield: Same as the Multi-Shield except the gears fly in from the right, and so can be attached to any part of the ship. Seen in Gradius III and Gradius V.
• Rotating Shield: Two Shield gears at opposite points rotate around the ship rapidly. Seen in Gradius III SNES and Gradius V. Based on the nature of CLAWs/CRAWs in the Thunder Force series.
• Reduce: In Gradius III Arcade, this shrinks the ship and the collision hit-box; it can be upgraded once for a smaller size. In Gradius III SNES, this shrinks the ship and absorbs up to two hits like the Force Field, with each hit enlarging the ship towards its normal size. The PS2 and PSP versions of Gradius III Arcade provide a Reduce II shield that mimics this function as well as a version of Reduce I that fits in the "!" exclamation cell. In all cases, terrain collision would result in instant death regardless of shield activity.
• Guard: A Gradius Gaiden exclusive that protects top and bottom only from two hits. With this shield active, terrain collision is impossible unless the player is crushed.
• Limit: A spherical shield that grants around 3 seconds of complete invincibility which even allows the ship to pass through terrain. It can be used to safely approach enemies that are hard to reach for most weapons. Based on Breaker temporarily equipped by Fire LEO-02 "Exceliza" from Thunder Force II, which lasted for 10 seconds.
• Mega Crush (メガクラッシュ, Mega Kurasshu^?): Generally an exclusive of the "!" exclamation cell in Gradius III and was called Enemy Annihilation (敵全滅, Teki Zenmetsu^?) in certain Japanese promotion flyers. In Gradius III SNES, this Mega Crush is powerful and capable of damaging bosses and destroys Option Hunters while retaining its clearing enemy and its projectiles. but Gradius V has it as an option for the shield cell. Using the Mega Crush clears the screen of weak enemies and all projectiles, which is essentially like using a Blue Capsule.