Wizards of Unica is full filled by humongous and terrific creatures roaming into Empire of Unica. Exekiel and Rake’s powers come from the Spirits, so they are an essential part of the game design.
We want Wizards of Unica’s players to be charmed by monsters and wonder about their origins. We liked every creature to have a real life reference, a bound to our historical reality, to non-fictional lore. That’s why I choose to build a proper Bestiary, with history, etymology and my pixel interpretations, full of bizarre creatures you have never heard of, that human fantasy forged through the centuries.
Enemies’ types:
- Mob. Easy to kill, only dangerous in combo or overwhelming numbers.
- Fragile Speedster (FS). Fast and mostly easy to take down. If intelligent uses hit/run tactics.
- Glass Cannon (GC). Vast damage, usually ranged, the easier to kill.
- Stone Wall (SW). Superior resistances and armour, low speed and attack.
- Mighty Glacier (MG). High armor and highest attack, low speed.
- Lightning Bruiser (LB). Both fast and durable. The strongest enemy.
- Caster. Special enemies that work with mobs. Different subtypes:
- Buffer/Healer. Heals/boosts mobs
- Summoner. Summons mobs.
- Debuffer. Status effect on PC.
- Trap. Special “monster”, usually invisible and fixed.
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MOUNT IBUKI: THE FROZEN SPIRE (element: ICE. Flavor: Japan)
Boss: Yuki Onna (32×32)
Yuki-onna appears on snowy nights as a tall, beautiful woman with long black hair and blue lips. Her inhumanly pale or even transparent skin makes her blend into the snowy landscape (as famously described in Lafcadio Hearn‘s Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things). She sometimes wears a white kimono,[3] but other legends describe her as nude, with only her face and hair standing out against the snow.[4] Despite her inhuman beauty, her eyes can strike terror into mortals. She floats across the snow, leaving no footprints (in fact, some tales say she has no feet, a feature of many Japanese ghosts), and she can transform into a cloud of mist or snow if threatened.
Mob: Okami (32×32). Ōkami (狼?) is a Japanese word that means “wolf“. Kami (Japanese: 神?) are the spirits or phenomena that are worshipped in the religion of Shinto. They are elements in nature, animals, creationary forces in the universe, as well as spirits of the revered deceased. Many Kami are considered the ancient ancestors of entire clans, and some ancestors became Kami upon their death if they were able to embody the values and virtues of Kami in life. Traditionally, great or charismatic leaders like the Emperor could be kami.[1]
FS: Yūrei (32×32) if the person dies in a sudden or violent manner such as murder or suicide, if the proper rites have not been performed, or if they are influenced by powerful emotions such as a desire for revenge, love, jealousy, hatred or sorrow, the reikon is thought to transform into a yūrei, which can then bridge the gap back to the physical world. Yūrei are usually dressed in white, signifying the white burial kimono used in Edo period funeral rituals. They sometimes have a hitaikakushi (lit., “forehead cover”), which is a small white triangular piece of cloth tied around the head. Hair of a yūrei is often long, black and disheveled. A yūrei’s hands dangle lifelessly from the wrists, which are held outstretched with the elbows near the body. They typically lack legs and feet, floating in the air. Yūrei are frequently depicted as being accompanied by a pair of floating flames or will o’ the wisps (hitodama in Japanese) in eerie colors such as blue, green, or purple. These ghostly flames are separate parts of the ghost rather than independent spirits.
GC: Oni (32×32). One of the most well-known aspects of Japanese folklore which has traits of demons and ogres, usually depicted with red, blue, brown or black skin, two horns on its head, a wide mouth filled with fangs, and wearing nothing but a tigerskin loincloth. It often carries an iron kanabo or a giant sword. Oni are depicted as evil.
MG: Hibagon (64×64) (ヒバゴン?) or Hinagon (ヒナゴン)is the Japanese equivalent of the North American Bigfoot or the Himalayan Yeti.Sightings have been reported in “forested, mountainous areas of the country” around Mount Hiba in the Hiroshima Prefecture.[1] The Hibagon is described as a “black creature with white hands and large white feet, standing about five feet tall.” and has been said to resemble a gorilla.
“The Hibagon has a large nose, large deep glaring eyes and is covered with bristles. Theories to account for this cryptid range from a gorilla, a wild man, or a deserter from the Japanese chefs, to an individual ravaged by atomic radiation from the nuclear attack on Hiroshima.”
CITY OF BRASS: THE FIERY PIT (Element: Fire. Flavor: Arabian)
Boss: Fuqtus the Efreet
The Ifrits are in a class of infernal Jinn noted for their strength and cunning. An ifrit is an enormous winged creature of fire, either male or female, who lives underground and frequents ruins. Ifrits live in a society structured along ancient Arab tribal lines, complete with kings, tribes and clans. They generally marry one another, but they can also marry humans.
While ordinary weapons and forces have no power over them, they are susceptible to magic, which humans can use to kill them or to capture and enslave them.[citation needed] As with the jinn, an ifrit may be either a believer or an unbeliever, good or evil, but it is most often depicted as a wicked and ruthless being.
Ibn al-Nadim, in his Kitāb al-Fihrist, describes a book that lists seventy Jinn lead by Fuqtus.
“Then, when We decreed (Solomon’s) death, nothing showed them his death except a little worm of the earth, which kept (slowly) gnawing away at his staff: so when he fell down, the jinn saw plainly that if they had known the unseen, they would not have tarried in the humiliating penalty (of their task).” (Qur’an 34:14)
The Names of the Demons Who Attended Solomon Son of David –They Are Seventy
They [the demons] assert that Solomon son of David, for whom may there be peace, sat [in audience] and summoned the chief of the jinn and the devils, whose name was Fuqtus, to review them. So Fuqtus taught him to know the name [of each demon], one by one, and also its influence over the sons of Adam. Then he [Solomon] imposed upon them a contract and a pledge. After he had adjured them by that pledge and they had complied, they departed. The pledges were [in] the name of Allah, Exalted, Mighty, and Magnified.
Mob: Yra (Firelfy) – I wasn’t able to find a direct source to the Firefly myth in Arabian folklore, but accordingly with different north african tales, fireflies are often connected with magic, vampirism and obviously the fire. Firefly is the form witches use to chase their victims, and is often declared as a sign of evil’s possession. GC: Ghul – in popular legend, demonic being believed to inhabit burial grounds and other deserted places. In ancient Arabic folklore, ghūls belonged to a diabolic class of jinn (spirits) and were said to be the offspring of Iblīs, the Muslim prince of darkness.
SW: Shaytan – In popular Islamic culture, “Shaytan” (Arabic: شيطان), is often simply translated as “the Devil”, but the term can refer to any of the jinn who disobey God and follow Iblīs. Some scholars are of the view that Iblīs is the father of all of the jinn, just as Adam is the father of all of humanity[7] as mentioned in the Quran (sura 18, Al-Kahf), “Will you then take him and his progeny as protectors rather than Me? And they are enemies to you!”[8]
LB: Salamander This legendary creature embodies the fantastic qualities that ancient and medieval commentators ascribed to the natural salamander. Many of these qualities are rooted in verifiable traits of the natural creature but often exaggerated.The salamander is mentioned in the Talmud (Hagiga 27a) as a creature that is a product of fire, and it relates that anyone who is smeared with its blood will be immune to harm from fire. Rashi (1040–1105), the primary commentator on the Talmud, describes the salamander as one which is produced by burning a fire in the same place for seven years.[24] According to Sahih Bukhari (810–870), Muhammad said that salamanders are “mischief-doers” and “should be killed”.
The most of the texts are from Wikipedia, TVTropes, or collected around the net, and remixed, modified and redistributed in this document under Creative Commons license.