Dragon Review - The Hydra
It's time to review dragons!
Really, for no other reason other than because they're awesome. They pop up in cultures the world over, they show up in our media, and I'm writing about one at the moment. So let's begin a sporadic newsletter miniseries where I rank 'em. Up first is the Lernean Hydra, probably one of the earliest dragons I ever read about. So, What have we got? It's poisonous, Greek, and it has a lot of heads. Exactly how many differs depending on the storyteller, but the important thing is that they grow back when you cut them off (usually in a two-for-one deal). Solid ability—especially since it gives you even more mouths to bite villagers with at once.
Which is exactly what it does until Heracles comes along. Alas, muscle-headed demigods are a rough challenge even for a multi-headed dragon. Heracles cauterizes the heads of the wyrm as he cuts them off one-by-one until you've got a dead dragon. Though it's gotta be said that the Hydra has the last laugh. 2800 year old spoiler: Heracles gets poisoned by the Hydra's venom a bit later down the road.
I'm giving the Hydra a B+. At base it's a big serpent with a lot of heads, which isn't all that interesting visually. The Hydra has a ton of cool abilities though, so that puts it up above average. That's all this time around! Thoughts and opinions? Leave a comment!
