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Whenever the sound of sticky and "Q-bomb" water rings in your ears, you know that you are most likely running into slimes. The creature's name is changeable, it is called "Hill Gum" in the "Legend of Zelda" series, and it is renamed "Mud Beast" on the set of Final Fantasy, but the essence is always the same, diligently in front of the game's protagonist's training sandbag. From the deep mines of Stardew Grain Language to the vast plains of Dragon Quest 11, these gelatinous monsters are everywhere no matter how the environment changes.
Slimes come in a variety of forms, including slime, gel, and colloid. If we throw these creatures into the arena and let them win or lose, who will live to the end and claim the throne of the strongest slime? Of course, no matter how strong the slime is, it is still not enough to fight in front of Link and the protagonist of "Dragon Quest". So we will not talk about dimensionality reduction for the time being, only do horizontal comparisons, and let slimes and slimes be divided into highs and lows.
This time, we had a polymer chemist as the referee — Dr. Mark Hilmier is currently chairing the McKnight Chair Professorship in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Minnesota and editor-in-chief of the journal Macromolecules. We all know that the slimes with any attributes in the game are available, but this time, we only choose the most basic whiteboard slimes to compete, if there is follow-up scientific research value, and then include those who are charged and fire. Next, let's reveal the result of the game together and see which slime is the best!
Dragon Quest 11: In Search of Lost Time
This contestant from the Dragon Quest series looks dumb and stupid, but to Dr. Hilmier, they seem to have the characteristics of "double network hydrogel", which cannot be underestimated, enough to take the crown of "strongest slime". While watching the protagonist jump the slime, he commented: "The average hydrogel is easy to break, but these in this game are obviously much stronger."
The slimes in Dragon Quest bounce off when they are slashed, which is certainly one of their strengths. But in the eyes of chemists, the strongest skill must be "fusion" - the little slimes come together to become the giant slime king. He commented, "In chemical terms, it's a 'self-healing material, and it's very powerful."
Slime Strength Rating: S+
Slime Ranch
The slimes in Slime Farm are not used to fight, players generally suck them up and bring them back to the farm to raise. The slimes in this game are diverse, and most of them have wing-like appendages, which also gives them the ability to fly and interact with their environment. Dr. Hilmier said: "These slimes can not be underestimated, they turn very fast, in the field of polymer chemistry, there is no doubt a 'stimulus response' or 'active material'."
In addition, these small creatures also eat, which means that the chemical processes in their bodies are more complex than we think. "Their mobility may be derived from a particular chemical reaction, but it needs to be constantly replenished to keep moving," he said. All in all, these slimes are skinny on the outside, complex on the inside, and very powerful.
Slime Strength Rating: S+
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Staff
The custard gum in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Staff has a relatively complete body, staggering around with its semi-formed legs. "Other types of slimes generally jump and walk and don't stick to the ground, but this creature is different, and you can see that they are very sticky at a glance." Dr. Hilmier explains, "That's what sets it apart." In his opinion, the qiuqiu glue that appears in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Staff is "very strong", but it is not necessarily a kind of slime, after all, its body structure is really complicated, and normal slimes will not grow like this. So strong is strong, but the player's slime identity is still in doubt.
Slime Strength Rating: S
Stardew Grain Language
For the players of Stardew Grain Language, they often run in caves, how can they not encounter slimes! Not only are they aggressive enough to be intimidating, they also paralyze the characters we operate with toxins, exerting the negative effect of slowing down. Dr. Hilmier explained to us the principle of polymer formation, it is not enough to have small plastic molecules, you have to dissolve them in the appropriate solvent, and then add an initiator to the polymerization reaction. "It is possible that the formation process of this slime involves boron-containing reagents, and if it is hit, it will indeed have some negative effects." Overall, this slime poison attribute attack is still very strong.
Slime Strength Rating: A
Terraria
The ordinary slimes in Terraria always give people a silly feeling, and they know to jump around all day long. But don't let your guard down, some slimes will shoot at you. This spectacle undoubtedly puzzled Dr. Hilmier, who had never seen such a slime with special abilities, and when asked whether the slime that can shoot is stronger, he naturally could not give a definite answer: "This is really difficult to say, it is the most difficult problem in my scientific career." 」 According to the scientific research method, in the absence of conclusive basis, we temporarily put this slime in the middle of the list.
Slime Strength Rating: B
Minecraft
Everything in Minecraft is square, and slimes are no exception, with strange squares and a very "maverick" look. But is it necessarily stronger if it is special? Unfortunately, in Dr. Hilmier's opinion, the answer is no.
"These slimes don't look threatening at all. First of all, they don't look like creatures that would exist in this world; secondly, this structure always feels like it's easy to fall off." Well, only the slime players from Minecraft can be troubled to stand at the back of the leaderboard.
Slime Strength Rating: D
Adventure Island
"Adventure Island" is a popular MMORPG game, and the slimes who come to compete can only be ranked in this position, which will surely disappoint many fans. These slimes look like small water droplets and only know how to wander around aimlessly (and there are still a lot of them).
"They look like small droplets of water that have dried up on the surface." Dr. Hilmier said, "The key to slime forming is the ratio of water to polymer inside. In general, slimes that look stronger have a high polymer content inside. These in Adventure Island are too weak, I don't think so." So weak, I guess I can't live too long in the Slime Arena.
Slime Strength Rating: D
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wilderness
According to Dr. Hilmier's analysis, the title of "Weakest Slime" was awarded to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wilderness. As can be seen from the game, they are indeed average, and Link deals with them like chopping melons and chopping vegetables. I showed Dr. Shymier a video of Link vs. Blue Hill Gum, and he immediately found that this slime could be said to be a poke: "The water content inside them is relatively high, the polymer content is low, and the strength naturally decreases." 」 In his opinion, the composition of this slime is not good, and it can only be at the bottom.
Slime Strength Rating: F
Translation: Zhou Xiao
Edit: Zoe