Gears of War Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Gears of War Wiki

Poppers were a type of Juvie. Armed with grenades, Poppers were used by the Swarm as kamikaze units, similarly to the Locust Tickers and COG Trackers.

Strategy[]

Like their unarmed siblings, Poppers are individually weak but fast and agile, relying entirely on speed to avoid getting shot.

To maximize their effectiveness, the Swarm would send single Poppers in with groups of regular Juvies in order to make them less noticeable, allowing them to get as close to the enemy as possible before detonating. However, if they are frozen with a Cryo Cannon and then killed, they will not explode.

There were three types of Poppers in the campaign:

The Popper's grenades detonate immediately upon death, regardless of distance, even causing chain reactions should multiple Poppers be present. A keen player can use this to their tactical advantage- a Popper spotted among other Juvies or humanoid Swarm can be targeted and detonated immediately, dealing massive damage to its surrounding allies and presenting area denial opportunities without draining the player's own grenade or explosive ammo reserves. This strategy is best executed when enemies are funnelled into narrow lanes of movement. In Campaign, the player can use Poppers to great effect in the UIR Rocket Hangar as the Juvies attempt to board the rocket train. In Horde, central chokepoints on maps such as Overload necessitate a grouped Swarm approach that can be easily halted by taking out a Popper in their midst.

Behind the scenes[]

  • When they are about to detonate, the Popper manually activates the grenades by themselves.
    • It is unknown if this indicates a fierce instinctive devotion to the Hive or if the Swarm Hivemind has overridden their mental faculties, leaving them devoid of free will.
  • Due to their speed and agility, Poppers are considered more annoying to fight against than Tickers or Trackers.

Appearances[]

Hollow and Enemy Creatures
Locust Horde
Queen
Berserker (Matriarch) · Boomer (Butcher, Flame Boomer, Grinder, Mauler, Mauler Elite, Savage Boomer, Tremor) · Drone (Beast Rider, Bolter, Cyclops, Disciple, Flame Drone, Grappler, Gunner, Miner, Savage Drone, Savage Hunter, Savage Marauder, Sniper, Spotter) · Grenadier (Flame Grenadier, Grenadier Elite, Hunter, Hunter Elite, Savage Grenadier, Savage Grenadier Elite, Ravager) · Kantus (Armored Kantus, Savage Kantus, Zealot) · Rager · Sire · Theron (Cleaver Theron, Palace Guard, Savage Theron, Theron Elite, Theron Sentinel)
Hollow Creatures
Bloodmount · Brumak · Corpser (Shibboleth) · Digger · Gas Barge · Heart Leech · Kraken · Kryll · Leviathan · Mangler · Nemacyst (Ink Grenade) · Nemacyte · Reaver (Assault Barque, Hydra) · Riftworm · Rockworm · Rock Shrew · Seeder · Serapede · Siegebeast · Tempest (Shrieker) · Ticker · Torture Barge · Wretch
Lambent
Imulsion
Former · Lambent Berserker · Lambent Brumak · Lambent Bull · Lambent Dog · Lambent Drone (Lambent Drudge) · Lambent Grenadier · Lambent Gunker · Lambent Leviathan · Lambent Polyp · Lambent Stalk · Lambent Theron · Lambent Wretch
Swarm
Queen
Canker · Carrier · DeeBees (Bastion, Reject, Stump) · Drone (Elite Drone, Grenadier, Elite Grenadier, Hunter, Elite Hunter, Imago, Sniper, Elite Sniper) · Flock (Leech) · Hive Beast · Juvie (Screamer, Popper) · Kraken · Locust (Drone · Matriarch · Sire) · Scion (Armored Scion, Heavy Scion, Scion Elite, Warden) · Snatcher (Pouncer) · Swarmak
DeeBees
DR-1 · Shepherd (Deadeye) · Tracker (Shock Tracker) · Watcher (Guardian, Sentinel)
Advertisement