Banzai Charger

"Long live the Emperor! (Tenno Heika Banzai)"

- Banzai Chargers

Banzai Chargers are Japanese soldiers in Call of Duty: World at War that will rush at the player with bayonets attached to Arisakas during combat or when attempting an ambush, (as in the level Hard Landing) yelling "Tennōheika banzai!"(“天皇陛下万歳” "The honor of 10,000 years for the Emperor!") or just simply "Banzai!"

Call of Duty: World at War
Banzai Chargers will often jump out of tall grass, spider holes, jungles (as seen in the level Hard Landing), out of Japanese defenses, or they pretend to be dead. They will often attack when least expected, such as when a player is in the middle of reloading or when their back is turned. If a Charger reaches the player, he will knock the player down and impale them with their bayonet. To stop them, the player must press the melee button to stab the Charger when prompted. This results in the player pushing the rifle aside and stabbing the Charger in the neck. Players can also shoot the Chargers, or use their knife if they time the attack right (this often results in the player taking some damage as well). If the player presses the melee button too early, their attack will fail and the Charger will impale them.

When knocked down by the Banzai Charger, even if you have taken damage, your screen will clear and then return back to red after the Banzai Charger has been stabbed. This clearing of the screen can actually be a nice relief in the heat of battle and carnage.

Banzai Chargers are similar to dogs in many aspects, their purpose being to knock down the player and quickly kill them. They make no effort to attack the player, although, rarely, they will melee the player if close, rather than knocking the player down. They can be shot and knifed, but this can be a challenge against a fast-moving target.

On the Xbox 360 and PS3 version, players that successfully counter a Banzai Charger for the first time will unlock the trophy/achievement "Close Shave" worth 10 Gamerscore on the Xbox 360 and a bronze trophy on the PS3.

Trophies and Achievements

 * "Close Shave " - The key to getting this achievement/trophy is purely timing. As soon as the attacker fully draws back his bayonet (about a split second after being knocked over), click the Right Stick to stab the attacker, and survive.


 * "Snake In The Grass " A way of getting this trophy/achievement involves a Banzai charge. To get this, you should have a flamethrower or a spread shot weapon. Banzai Chargers often hide in the grass. If you think that they will hide there, fire into the grass. If you kill a would-be Banzai Charger, you get the achievement/trophy . This is best done in Hard Landing . After getting the flamethrower, keep moving. This can also be done with ease with the rocket barrage in Little Resistance after the first trench by targeting the Japanese troops laying in the grass near the tree where the sniper attempts to climb up.


 * "No Safe Place " Again in Hard Landing, there will be a spot where you see a friendly plane crash from the Anti Aircraft guns. Fire the flame into the grass after moving up. You will get the trophy/achievement by doing this. Also, if you burn a sniper out of a tree with a flamethrower, you will get the trophy/achievement.

Glitches

 * Sometimes the player is knocked over by a Banzai Charger but instead of attacking, he reloads his Arisaka, and the player simply gets back up.
 * It is possible, when knocked over, two Banzai Chargers will be seen: one will be stuck reloading and the other attacking.
 * If you shoot at the right time the Banzai Charger will disappear and you will be lying on the ground staring at the sky, unable to move. After about 5–10 seconds you will get up again. This is probably the time it takes a Banzai charger to get stabbed in the neck. There are also some occasions that you do not get back up again; the only way to get out is to restart the level.
 * You will always see your hand being stabbed by a Banzai Charger while pushing his rifle aside, however, this does not damage you or affect gameplay in any way.
 * Sometimes, when the player is knocked down by an attacking banzai charger, an ally will shoot the attacker and the player will be left unable to move.
 * If the player is attacked by a Banzai Charger with a grenade nearby, the player will not be damaged at all.
 * On the levels Blowtorch and Corkscrew and Breaking Point there are a number of Banzai Chargers hiding in spider holes. If the player walks up to one of them close enough, the Banzai Charger will do a spray fire and close the lid, if the player melee's at the spider hole just as the lid comes down. The lid will sink into the ground and the Japanese will frozen in a crouching position with his hand up. The player can shoot or melee him if they want to kill him. (Confirmed on PC version.)
 * If player is attacked by a Banzai Charger while he is staying near the boundaries of the map. This may cause the player to be pushed to the edge when attacked and be unable to move after he has dealt with the Banzai Charger.
 * There is an EXTREMELY rare glitch (so rare I've only seen it ONCE, and I love Banzai levels so I play them a lot) in which a banzai charger will be frozen in place with his gun on the ground, running in place and will be solid. (only seen ONCE but confirmed on PS3 (seen on Little Resistance))

Call of Duty: World at War: Final Fronts
Banzai Chargers only come out and ambush the player from behind with an Type 99 with a Bayonet. They do not stab you to the ground but instead charge at you and deplete your life rapidly when they come in contact.

Call of Duty: World at War

 * On Hard Landing, if the player is knocked down at the beginning he/she can sometimes go underwater and the sound will be garbled.
 * In Co-op, the player will not be knocked down.
 * Sometimes the important NPC's will get into fights and will bash the Banzai Charger with their weapon or flip the charger over and shoot them point-blank. (e.g.Polonsky, Roebuck). Generic AI units however have mixed results against Banzai Chargers.
 * Sometimes, soldiers without bayonets will charge at the player shouting "BANZAI!" but when the reach him, they will hit him with the gun, rather than knock him down. Other times, they will just stop next to the player and shoot him until he dies.
 * Sometimes the player will hear a soldier shout "Tennōheika banzai!" but he will not charge the player. This is common if the player grenades the soldiers in the tunnel near the start of Breaking Point.
 * Normally, Banzai charges would only occur if defeat was imminent, as the Japanese rarely surrendered. It was not actually used as a normal battle strategy. In the game the only the realistic instance there would be charges was Breaking Point, where the Japanese were very close to being defeated on their own land. In that level, most everyone from camouflaged soldiers, to plain infantry, and even officers will do banzai charge. The Japanese were ready to die for everything, also shown by the Rising Sun headbands worn by some of the infantry.
 * Banzai charges were considered an honorable way to die for the Japanese Emperor, much like Kamikaze attacks on U.S naval ships.
 * It is possible to choose something like a Banzai charge in Multiplayer. The player can equip his weapon with a bayonet, then run to the enemy's position to stab them. It almost never works, and should only be used during hopeless situations. However, Banzai Charging can be effective as a diversion by using Juggernaut as Perk 2 and using Tabun Gas or signal flare secondary grenades to blind the opposition.
 * On Call of Duty: World at War: Final Fronts, players cannot counter the charge. Players can only shoot or melee the charger. The charger cannot take the player down either. Chargers usually stab the player when they are close enough.
 * When knocked down by a Banzai charger, the player is immune to all damage (excluding his killing stab) until he stands up.

Call of Duty: World at War: Final Fronts

 * There is no counter-attack animation for the Banzai Chargers
 * The Bayonets of the Banzai Chargers cannot be used by the player.

Videos
Video:Call of Duty 5 Banzai|This shows you how to be killed by a Banzai, how to survive, and how to kill a banzai Video:Call of Duty: World at War (Banzai charge)|Banzai Charger Counter-attack animation Video:Call of Duty: World at War - Banzai|This shows the player killing banzai attackers