- For the main enemy called "Merman", see Merman.
The Lizard Man is an enemy in the Castlevania series. They are a half-man, half-lizard sub-human species, stronger than an average man and with a hide made of hard scales said to be thicker than armor.
They tend to move around in groups and are skilled at hunting in packs. They are relatively intelligent, and are usually armed with swords or battle axes and shields.
Origins
Lizardfolk are a fictional humanoid species in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing games, having appeared in every version of the game to date.
Lizard men first officially appeared as part of the original D&D game in the 1975 Greyhawk supplement booklet. The lizardman artwork that appeared on the inside front cover of that supplement was used as part of the official TSR, Inc. logo from 1975 through 1978.
They are described as aquatic monsters with a rude intelligence, that are fond of eating human flesh.
Description
Lizard Men are one of the few enemies which were more prominently introduced in Castlevania (N64) (along with several other types of beast-men) which later became staples of the Castlevania series. They are intelligent beings who usually wield a weapon and a shield.
One of these creatures' common traits is the ability to become completely impervious to attack when hiding behind their shields, forcing the player to wait or attack constantly until they let their guard down.
Due to their similarities, Lizard Men have been often confused with Mermen, and in fact their names have been interchanged between each other in both Japanese and western releases in some occasions.
In most games these enemies appear in, three variants are usually featured, although there could be more depending on the game. These include:
- Lizard Man: The most basic variant and the ones usually encountered first, these are the grunts of the Lizard Men. They are generally green-skinned and don't portray any particular abilities.
- Poison Lizard Man: This variant is capable of spitting a poisonous liquid that inflicts this status ailment on contact. They are generally blue-skinned and sometimes come equipped with armor.
- Lizard Man Knight: Also known with a variety of other names, these are the Lizard Men's elite forces, usually displaying more advanced combat techniques and being more resilient to attack. Their skin is generally yellow or red.
Appearances
Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge
- See also: Merman
First appearance of Lizard Men in the series. They are encountered in various stages throughout the game and function as a miniboss battle of sorts. The Lizard continuously jumps high in the air while tossing a pair of daggers in two different downward angles, one narrow and one wide. It is notably quick both in its movements and attacks, trying to overwhelm the hero with the barrage of daggers it throws in a short time. A viable strategy is to try to get close to it and then right underneath its jumps, slightly moving left and right accordingly to avoid it every time it lands, which will keep the player safe from both its daggers and the jumping monster itself, while allowing to attack it at the same time.
In this particular case, it isn't very clear if this enemy is in fact a Lizard Man or a Merman. It was originally called "Lizard" in the Japanese version of the game, although artwork in the instruction booklet clearly shows it with fish-like features, including fins. Perhaps because of this, it was renamed as "Merman" on the western release. Adding to the confusion, another enemy in that game, the Fish Man, who physically seems to have more in common with a lizard man, was renamed as "Water Creep" in the western release.
Castlevania 64, Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness
Lizard Men were more prominently featured in both Nintendo 64 games, becoming one of Dracula's main forces in certain levels.
In Castlevania, they start appearing in great numbers once the player reaches the Underground Waterway. They attack by suddenly jumping out of the water, armed with either a falchion or hatchet and carrying a small shield, and engaging in combat with different techniques depending on the color of their skin:
- Lizard Man: The most basic infantry units. They use their shields to block attacks but can be disarmed with constant strikes or by hitting them in unprotected areas.
- Poison Lizard Man: In addition to their melee combat skills, they also have the ability to spit squirts of poison at their foes.
- Fire Lizard Man: These warriors have the ability to breathe long streams of fire. They are often positioned in strategic locations, where their long reaching flames may make the hero fall from a platform.
- Heavy Lizard Man: A more skilled and resilient version of the normal Lizard Man. There is also a boss version of this variant holding guard on one of the waterway's key areas.
More Lizard Men can be encountered later in the Castle Center, where they continuously emerge from some strange-looking machine pods, making one wonder if they are teleported from their world into this plane, or if they are the result of some weird scientific experiments.
In Legacy of Darkness, Lizard Men make an even more prominent appearance, being the very first enemies the player encounters in the game. It shall be noted, though, that these particular enemies are in fact Gill Men (Mermen) and that only their names were changed in the western release of the game.
Once reaching the Underground Waterway, the real Lizard Men start appearing. Their role is pretty much the same as in the original game, although their design and color schemes have been given an overhaul, making them look more detailed this time around. They can also be encountered in a couple more stages in this game.
Both games feature a unique, non-hostile Lizard Man NPC who had been changed from a human by a machine, named Heinrich Meyer, who for some unknown reason was able to maintain his intellect and ability to speak. He gives Reinhardt and Carrie hints on how to use the magic elevator.
Castlevania: Circle of the Moon
In Circle of the Moon, Lizardmen start appearing in the Underground Gallery, and more prominently in the Underground Waterway, with great numbers holding guard near Camilla's boss room.
They come armed with spears and will stab with them for a mid-ranged attack, although not very frequently. They are extremely slow but raise their shields frequently, becoming completely invulnerable and allowing other enemies to gather on their position. A good strategy to avoid this, is by jumping first and striking them on the way down, as attacks performed directly in front of them are what trigger them raising their shields. Sliding on them works too, as well as striking at them while jumping from a lower platform.
Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance
Three variants of Lizard Men appear in Harmony of Dissonance:
- Lizard Man: A Lizard Man with a green-colored hide. It lunges forward with its sword in an attack that lasts a few seconds. It can also perform a rare attack in which it curls into a ball and then rolls forward in an attempt to run over the enemy.
- Poison Lizard: A Lizard Man with a blue-colored hide. In addition to lunging forward with its sword like its lower ranked counterpart, it also has the ability to spew a long, poisonous spray, immediately inflicting this status ailment on contact.
- Master Lizard: A Lizard Man with a yellow-colored hide and wielding a shield. This variant is higher ranking, more powerful and more prone to attack than the others, although it will automatically raise its shield and become invulnerable if attacked first. In some instances, it's just better to jump over it and continue onward.
Castlevania: Lament of Innocence
Three variants of Lizard Men appear in Lament of Innocence:
- Lizard Man: A Lizard Man with a green-colored hide. It lunges forward with its sword, can perform an nosedive attack by jumping in the air and spewing fire.
- Poison Lizard: A Lizard Man with a blue and red-colored hide. As his name suggests, he spews poison instead of fire to poison the player.
- Lizard Knight: A Lizard Man with a green-colored hide and wearing armor. While he can neither spit fire nor poison, he can perform a sword sweep attack that can inflict great damage.
Castlevania: Curse of Darkness
Three variants of Lizardmen appear in Curse of Darkness, each one with different attack techniques:
- Lizardman: The first Lizardmen appear early in the game, as soon as one sets foot in Baljhet Mountains, but can also be found in the Forest of Jigramunt and the Tower of Eternity . Their special attack consists in jumping high in the air and then attempting to plunge their spear on the hero (like in the previous game), time at which their stealing window also opens. They commonly drop the Jet Black material, allowing Hector to upgrade his weapon and armor for the journey ahead. He may combine a Short Sword with a Jet Black to craft a Broad Sword (ATK +20), and a Soft Leather Armor with a Jet Black to craft a Hard Leather Armor (DEF +8), among other possible combinations.
- White Gravial: A white-skinned version of the normal Lizardman, this time wearing armor over their already hard hide. They come armed with a halberd and have the ability to spew purple squirts of a poisonous liquid, time at which they also open their stealing window for 100 gold. They can be found in Cordova Town, Eneomaos Machine Tower and Tower of Evermore.
- Lizard Shaman: An agile, green-skinned Lizard Man adorned with red fur, wearing the skull of an unknown creature on its head and wielding a lance with another skull affixed to one of its ends which holds a crystal ball in its mouth. Every once in a while, it will stop for a moment and unleash a large stream of flames from its lance and spread it out in front of him. It opens its stealing window while doing this, allowing Hector to get his hands on a fine sample of valuable Ether. They can be found in Cordova Town, Eneomaos Machine Tower and Tower of Evermore.
Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia
Two variants of Lizardmen appear in Order of Ecclesia:
- Lizardman: A green-skinned Lizardman wielding a heavy shield. In its neutral stance, it appears excited, bouncing expectantly and occasionally hopping, and salivates from the mouth. When moving, it will step slowly toward the character, and upon close proximity, it will swing its blood-stained sword sideways, throwing its head and puffing out its yellow chest. However, it will rarely attack and instead resort in raising its shield frequently to buy time for other enemies to gather around. Attack constantly until it lowers its guard to defeat it; a glyph union that can hit continuously, like Weapon + Vol Fulgur, may be used for this effect. This variant drops the Vol Scutum glyph.
- Lizardman Blade: A purple-skinned Lizardman with a red underside. This variant generally has the same neutral behavior as its lower-ranking counterpart but is much more aggressive; once one sees Shanoa, it will wait a couple of seconds, unsheathe its great sword, and then rush forward into a berserk attack while slashing it twice, potentially inflicting heavy damage. It does not wield a shield, however, so attack it quickly before giving it a chance to fight back.
Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth
The Lizard in ReBirth is similar to its incarnation in Belmont's Revenge (called Merman in the US), which is different from its more recent appearances. Instead of walking back and forth, and attacking when the player gets near, it will immediately jump into the air and toss three swords. It repeats this until killed.
Enemy Data
- Main article: Lizard Man/Enemy Data
Item Data
| Item Data: Lizard Man | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Image | Name - Game Type - Users Description |
Attributes / Consume | Statistics / Sell | Found | Notes | |||
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| Armor made from chain | DEF +100 |
Drop: Fish Head, Forest Armor, Flame Demon, Lizardman |
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| The Mandragora is represented as a humanoid with roots instead of feet. Has the power of Plants. | Attrib: Plants |
Drop: Axe Armor (1.4%), Lizard Man (1.34%) |
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| Restores some HP. | HP +70 |
Buy: 80G Find: Throughout castle (all) Common Drop: Peeping Eye, Fishman, Merman, Armor Knight, Bone archer, Bone Soldier, Lizard Man, Man-eater, Mimic, Rock Armor, Skeleton Spider, White Dragon Lv2 Rare Drop: Skeleton Blaze |
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| Long metal armor coat that protects its user above the knees. | DEF +12 |
Buy: 800G Find: Merchant's shop (Clock Tower A and B, Castle Treasury B, Luminous Cavern B, Castle Top Floor B) Rare Drop: Lizard Man |
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| Restores a large amount of HP. | HP +200 |
Find: Throughout castle (all) Common Drop: Poison Lizard, Master Lizard Rare Drop: Owl |
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| This armor looks extremely heavy. | DEF +48 |
Buy: 3,000G Find: Merchant's shop (Castle Treasury A, Luminous Cavern A, Castle Top Floor A) Rare Drop: Poison Lizard |
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| Armor designed for easy maneuverability during battles. | DEF +62 |
Buy: 6,000G Find: Merchant's shop (Luminous Cavern A) Rare Drop: Master Lizard |
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| A big piece of meat. Recovers HPs. | HP +290 Sell: $700 |
Drop: Lizard Man |
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| Medicine that cures poison. | Sell: $50 |
Buy: $100 Find: Castle Entrance, House of Sacred Remains, Rinaldo's shop Drop: Poison Lizard, Poison Zombie, Skeleton Flower |
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| 75% chance of nullifying special effects of poison attacks. | Sell: $5,000 |
Drop: Poison Lizard |
Effect: 75% protection from being poisoned. | |||||
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| A talisman that sometimes negates damage from enemy attacks. | Sell: $20,000 |
Drop: Lizard Knight |
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| A primitive material used since the dawn of time. Still used to make many basic weapons. | Sell: $50 |
Common Drop: Cockatrice Lv.6/46, Efreet Lv.7/11/45, Lizardman Lv.6/23 Steal: Cyclops Lv.8/47/75 |
Evolve: Broad Sword, Bamboo Lance, Dung, Hard Leather Armor | |||||
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| Light and easy to wear, cheap and easy to find. Just don't expect it to protect your head that well. | DEF +2 Sell: $50 |
Buy: $100 Find: Julia's Shop Rare Drop: Lizardman Lv.6/23 Create: Bronze + Wild Memory |
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| ' | Gold + 50 |
Find: Candelabras Steal: Executioner Lv.2/26/47, Ghost Lv.3/11, Merman Lv.4/15/35, Blood Skeleton Lv.5/75, Lizardman Lv.6/23, White Dragon Lv.10/38, Bone Soldier Lv.13/18/38, Ectoplasm Lv.16/22/37, Dark Warlock Lv.17/42, Gaibon Lv.17/34/45, Wolf Skeleton Lv.17/33, Frost Dragon Lv.19/39, Thunder Dragon Lv.20/40, Sniper Orc Lv.24/30 |
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| White steel, easy to come by and cheap to buy. Quite weak when used alone, but easy to work with. | Sell: $40 |
Common Drop: Ghoul Lv.27/42/75, White Gravial Lv.27/43 |
Evolve: Claymore, Rapier, Tabar, Metal Glove, Banded Mail, Plate Mail, Lobster Tail Pod | |||||
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| Heals the effects of poison. | Sell: $25 |
Buy: $50 Find: Baljhet Mountains, Garibaldi Temple Rare Drop: White Gravial Lv.27/43 |
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| ' | Gold + 100 |
Find: Candelabras Steal: Cockatrice Lv.6/46, Slogra Lv.14/37/45, Phantom Sword Lv.15, Ghoul Lv.27/42/75, White Gravial Lv.27/43, Frost Demon Lv.28/38/43, Death Ripper Lv.29/40/75, Rapid Sniper Lv.31/40, Necromancer Lv.31/35, Armored Sprinter Lv.33/44, Wight Lv.35/36 |
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| Fairly easy to find, bright indigo in color and pretty heavy. Melts at high temperatures. | Sell: $35 |
Common Drop: Assassin Zombie Lv.24/34/44, Lizard Shaman Lv.28/43, Red Ogre Lv.25/48/75, Wolf Skeleton Lv.23 |
Evolve: Schiavona, Zaghnol, Long Spear, Knuckle Duster, Chain Mail, Sallet | |||||
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| Bronzed chest armor. | DEF +8 Sell: 375G |
Buy: 1,500G Drop: Lizardman |
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| A powerful shield glyph. | Consume: 5 MP |
No stats |
Drop: Lizardman |
Effect: Blocks/reduces damage Special: Glyph Unions: + any Scutum = Union Scutum; + Other = Pulsus | ||||
Gallery
