Dread Hound monster line

The Dread Hound, Fenrir, and Cerebus are species of monsters randomly battled in Golden Sun and Golden Sun: The Lost Age. These monsters, resembling two-headed dogs with manes, are palette-swapped variants of each other that have differing levels of power and defense and are fought in different locations in the games. Unlike many other monster lines, the variants in this monster line also have differing levels of elemental powers and resistances.

Dread Hound

A Dread Hound is a purple variant with turquoise tongues. Statistically, this monster has 252 HP, 211 Attack, 56 Defense, 90 Agility, and 13 Luck. In terms of resistance, it has a Mars Resistance rating of 175, Venus and Jupiter Resistance ratings of 100 each, and a Mercury Resistance rating of 25, and in regards to its abilities it uses its available Mars-based attacks with a Mars power rating of 115 and its available Venus and Jupiter-based attacks with elemental power ratings of 95.

The Dread Hound uses these battle commands:

• Attack: Used 2 out of 8 times, this is this monster's standard physical attack.
• Fire Breath ("Fire Blessing" in the first game): Used 2 out of 8 times, this Monster Skill has the monster generating a mass of fire at the party of Adepts, dealing a Mars-based attack with a power rating of 90 and a range of 3 (the Adepts at either side of the specifically targeted Adept will only take 50% of the attack's force, instead of the normal 80%, however).
• Double Fang: Used 2 out of 8 times, this is a Monster Skill that where a glowing blue holographic image of a pair of jaws chomps at the position of a targeted Adept either once or twice, dealing a Venus-based attack equal to its normal physical attack with an additional 35 damage points, and there is a chance that it may do double the resultant damage.
• Wicked Howl: Used 2 out of 8 times, this is a Monster Skill that launches rings of dark red energy through a targeted Adept, dealing a Jupiter-based attack with a power rating of 60 and may inflict Stun on that Adept.

Felling a Dread Hound yields 116 Experience Points and 176 Coins, and there is a 1/64 chance that the monster will randomly drop a Prophet's Hat, a unique piece of headgear. If it is felled by the attack effect of an offensive Mercury Djinni, its rewards increase to 150 EXP and 228 Coins, and the chance to drop its item becomes 1/16. In Golden Sun it is battled throughout Altmiller Cave. In The Lost Age it is first battled throughout Gaia Rock, and subsequently throughout Izumo Ruins.

In Golden Sun it is one of the strongest monsters in Altmiller Cave, right alongside the Golem. If you repeatedly fell Dread Hounds with Mercury Djinn until you get a Prophet's Hat, you'll most likely find that it is a valid incrememtal improvement to at least one of your mage-style Adepts' current headwear, assuming you get one after having come to Tolbi for the first time. In The Lost Age, the Dread Hound is generally "average" among the monsters in Gaia Rock, but the game's focus on stronger equipment artifacts acquired at earlier areas will most likely prevent the Prophet's Hat they can drop from being practical.

Fenrir

A Fenrir is a slightly more violet variant with light-green tongues. Statistically, this monster has 406 HP, 357 Attack, 125 Defense, 141 Agility, and 9 Luck. In terms of resistance, it has a Mercury Resistance rating of 175, Venus and Jupiter Resistance ratings of 100 each, and a Mars Resistance rating of 25, and in regards to its abilities it uses its available Mercury-based attacks with a Mercury power rating of 115 and its available Venus and Jupiter-based attacks with elemental power ratings of 95.

The Fenrir uses these battle commands:

• Attack: Used 2 out of 8 times, this is this monster's standard physical attack.
• Ice Breath ("Ice Blessing" in the first game): Used 2 out of 8 times, this Monster Skill has the monster generating a mass of small chunks of ice at the party of Adepts, dealing a Mercury-based attack with a power rating of 180 and a range of 3 (the Adepts at either side of the specifically targeted Adept will only take 50% of the attack's force, instead of the normal 80%, however).
• Double Fang: Used 2 out of 8 times, this is a Monster Skill that where a glowing blue holographic image of a pair of jaws chomps at the position of a targeted Adept either once or twice, dealing a Venus-based attack equal to its normal physical attack with an additional 35 damage points, and there is a chance that it may do double the resultant damage.
• Wicked Howl: Used 2 out of 8 times, this is a Monster Skill that launches rings of dark red energy through a targeted Adept, dealing a Jupiter-based attack with a power rating of 60 and may inflict Stun on that Adept.

Felling a Fenrir yields 402 Experience Points and 212 Coins, and there is a 1/256 chance that the monster will randomly drop a Kikuichimonji, a unique weapon often compared to the Swift Sword as the best weapon for Ivan in the first game. If it is felled by the attack effect of an offensive Mars Djinni, its rewards increase to 522 EXP and 275 Coins, and the chance to drop its item becomes 1/64. In Golden Sun it is battled throughout the later "true" dungeon portion of Venus Lighthouse.

Of the various monsters of the first game that reside in Venus Lighthouse as the strongest of the first game's randomly encountered monsters, the Fenrir is at the height among those monsters, with about as much battling capability as the Grand Golem and perhaps only surpassable by the explosive kamikaze attacks of the Boulder Beast. Rather more notable than its statistics, however, is its randomly droppable item, Kikuichimonji, which as already noted is usually equipped in place of the Swift Sword on Ivan if acquired because they're both candidates for his most ideal weapon in Golden Sun. The Fenrir's also the only monster in the first game that drops its item that rarely, however; these factors combine to make the Fenrir one of the most popular targets for Random Number Generator abuse.

Cerebus

Cerebus redirects here. For the Psynergy, see Cerberus.

A Cerebus is a turquoise variant with violet tongues. Statistically, this monster is a "boss"-style monster, having 2200 HP, 42 PP, 369 Attack, 130 Defense, 151 Agility, and 22 Luck. In terms of resistance, it has a Mercury Resistance rating of 175, Venus and Jupiter Resistance ratings of 100 each, and a Mars Resistance rating of 25, and in regards to its abilities it uses its available Mercury-based attacks with a Mercury power rating of 115 and its available Venus and Jupiter-based attacks with elemental power ratings of 95.

The Cerebus uses these battle commands:

• Double Fang: Used 88 out of 256 times, this is a Monster Skill that where a glowing blue holographic image of a pair of jaws chomps at the position of a targeted Adept either once or twice, dealing a Venus-based attack equal to its normal physical attack with an additional 35 damage points, and there is a chance that it may do double the resultant damage.
• Ice Breath ("Ice Blessing" in the first game): Used 53 out of 256 times, this Monster Skill has the monster generating a mass of small chunks of ice at the party of Adepts, dealing a Mercury-based attack with a power rating of 180 and a range of 3 (the Adepts at either side of the specifically targeted Adept will only take 50% of the attack's force, instead of the normal 80%, however).
• Attack: Used 40 out of 256 times, this is this monster's standard physical attack.
• Restore: Used 35 out of 256 times, this is a Psynergy spell that removes the Sleep, Stun, Delusion, and Death Curse from either itself or one unit on its side of the field. This consumes 3 of its user's PP.
• Wicked Howl: Used 23 out of 256 times, this is a Monster Skill that launches rings of dark red energy through a targeted Adept, dealing a Jupiter-based attack with a power rating of 60 and may inflict Stun on that Adept.
• Ice Missile: Used 11 out of 256 times, this is a Psynergy spell that shoots a mass of ice spikes down onto multiple Adepts, dealing a Mercury-based attack with a power rating of 160 and a range of 3. This ability consumes 23 of its user's PP.

Felling a Cerebus yields 1863 Experience Points and 3200 Coins, and if felled by the attack effect of an offensive Mars Djinni, its rewards increase to 2421 EXP and 4160 Coins. In Golden Sun only two are fought throughout the entire game, together as one scripted boss encounter that occurs on the ninth "dungeon floor" of the optional Crossbone Isle as soon as you try to enter the door to that floor's puzzle room. Therefore, the minimum rewards of the battle are 3726 EXP, 6400 Coins, and a single guaranteed Psy Crystal.

Compared to the "sub-boss" encounters at the previous eight floors of the dungeon, the two Cerebus monsters are much more powerful and durable, and may prove a legitimate challenge together. The usual "summon rushing" tactic of having everyone using all full-powered summons in the first turn works wonders as usual, provided all of your party members are faster than the Cerebuses even with that many Djinn On Standby; if not, though, then even that approach, which is often viewed as "cheap", carries risks, because a Cerebus can take out in one hit an Adept that hasn't summoned yet.

Interestingly, the Cerebus' name is properly spelled "Cerberus" in the game code for The Lost Age (note that all monsters that were introduced in the first game are in fact present in the data of the second, but many of those are unused).

In Golden Sun: Dark Dawn

A Dread Hound appears in the E3 2010 battle mode demo for Golden Sun: Dark Dawn. Unlike in the previous games, it now resembles a green dog with three heads.

Cultural References

The Dread Hound monster line was based off the mythical Hellhound, a demonic dog from hell.

Fenrir

Origin: Norse

Fenrir was the name of a giant wolf in Norse mythology. It is the son of the gods/giants Loki and Angrboda and was appointed to kill Odin at the time of Ragnarök.

Cerberus

Origin: Greek

"Cerebus" is a misspelling of Cerberus, the three-headed dog of Hades in Greek mythology. Interestingly, a certain popular comic also made this mistake.