Faction - Lizalfos

[UndyingNephalim]

Lizalfos

Main Color: Grey
Religion: Lesser Deity Worship
Culture: Naturalistic
Rival Factions: The Deku Tribes, Ordona Province
Cordial Factions: None

Strengths, Weaknesses, and Abilities:
- Swift Reptiles: Lizalfos all have fairly long legs and streamlined bodies. As such their dismounted soldiers are able to run much faster then most other races.
- Wild Stance: Lizalfos prefer to blindly swing their weapons at anything around them. As such they rank up slower then most soldiers and can usually be outclassed.
- Temper Driven: Lizalfos are easy to anger and upset and are likely to declare war with any faction that comes to share a border with them in the campaign.
- Cold Blooded: The Lizalfos are unable to survive in sub zero temperatures, and tire very quickly in snow, though they excel in combat when fighting in hot temperatures like deserts.

How to Unlock in Campaign: Complete a short Campaign as the Gohma or a Long Campaign as any faction.

The Lizalfos are a primal and violent race of reptilian beings. It is believed that they are native to the Death Mountain range, though they have spread throughout the Kokiri Forest and can be found as far south as Ordona Province. A simple people, the Lizalfos enjoy a simple life. They also enjoy starting fights with non-Lizalfos. Regardless of their violent tendencies, the Lizalfos do not fight out of hatred or a need to conquer, they simply think fighting is a way to show that you respect your neighbor. Naturally this is backwards to many people, and as such the Lizalfos are considered by many to be a threat in need of extermination. They have a strong sense of community among their kind, and would rather fight in pairs or with a group along. For this reason the Lizalfos are renowned for their coordinated attacks and swift flanking tactics. This nature reflects in their armies as well as the Lizalfos tend to hide in their environment, split up their forces, and flank an enemy from multiple sides. Their affinity for melee and fast speed makes them very adept for charges, and an infantry charge of Lizalfos is almost as effective as even the most brutal cavalry charges. Despite their speed and clever minds, Lizalfos tend to prefer crude weaponry and very little armor other then helmets. While their scales are thicker then the skin of most races, they are still vulnerable to a well place blow from a sword. They may lack in durability, but even so the odds of an enemy surviving a Lizalfos that makes the first move are low and rightfully so.

Lizalfos Unit Roster

Standard Units
Finders
River-Runners
Tree-Hoppers
Bird-Catchers
Helmasaur Riders
Dinalfos Footmen
Darkhammers
Song-Sayers

Defensive Emplacements
None

Siege Weaponry
Catapults

Command Units
Queen Commanders
Queen Generals

Agents
Neck-Slicer

Heroes/Bosses:
Nardu the White
Okakusha the Green
Talik the Red
Vakat the Winged

Special/Other Units:
Aeralfos
Helmasaurus


Finders



Lizalfos tribes often venture out of their territory in search of new towns and cities to pillage, and Finders serve as scout parties that determine how large the following army should be before an attack. Quick on their feet and lightly armored, they carry nothing but a knife, a telescope, and their claws for a fight. Regardless of their light supplies, they can go days in the wild and survive off of nothing but what the land provides.

River-Runners



All purpose guardians of Lizalfos trribes, River Runners often patrol the many waterways that the Lizalfos have built to irrigate their forest crops. A lifetime in the water often atribbutes to their scales becoming a bluish green color. They might not be the best of soldiers, but anyone should be wary of a reptile armed with butcher knives.

Tree-Hoppers



Lizalfos gifted with legs much longer then most of their kind, Tree Hoppers have put them to good use. They are notable support troops that can easily outflank and bait an enemy while the main force moves in for the kill. They are perfect decoys and tools of misdirection in any Lizalfos army, and any enemy would be foolish to underestimate their combat prowess should they fail to fall for the trap.

Helmasaur Riders



The Kasorskos (more commonly known as Helmasaurs in the Hylian tongue), were a race driven from the Death Mountain Range much like the Lizalfos themselves. Infamous for their secondary exterior skulls, a Helmasaur can ram itself into targets much larger and durable then themselves and survive the impact. While little more then beasts, the Lizalfos have managed to tame the creatures and field them as effective war mounts.

Bird-Catchers


Hunters, Sentries, and Watchmen, Bird Catchers are fairly versatile in their skills. Armed with a bladed bow, they can fire off a quick volley of arrows before going into a melee. It's not uncommon to see a full battalion of these soldiers in most Lizalfos establishments, even in the more civilized core of their empire.

Dinalfos Footmen



The primary soldier of the various Lizalfos peoples, these armored reptiles serve a very large vareity of roles, from police forces sent to maintain order in distant tribes to front-line shock troopers in large scale engagements. Unlike most Lizalfos these soldiers are donned in a suit of iron armor crafted from the pits of Faron.

Darkhammers



Strong in both mind and body, Darkhammers are a larger breed of Lizalfos descended from tribes that once lived in the Death Mountain Crater itself. Centuries of time away from their ancestral home has changed them little. Dressed in a full suit of iron plated armor and often wielding a variety of hammers and maces, a single Darkhammer could raid a village on his own and do as much damage as any other band of Lizalfos.

Song Sayers



The Lizalfos are ultimately matriarchal, and females almost always dominate over men. Song Sayers are the ruling chieftains of the central tribes of Faron and are often seen leading larger Lizalfos armies. They are masters of the Lizalfos language, and can at will break the mind of any lesser man and send them into a suicidal fit with a few well placed words. Those that speak the tongue of other races can easily tempt and seduce any man against their will into doing their bidding.

Aeralfos



Perhaps the oldest breed of Lizalfos, these flying reptiles trace their ancestry back to the winged creatures that used to live amongst the peaks of the Death Mountain Range. Their wars with various other natives and their very picky mating habits lead to a huge decline in their numbers, and now so few of them are left that it's believed they may only be a myth.

Lizalfos Catapult



Like catapults used by the other races, the Lizalfos variety is designed to tear down enemy walls for invasion. In addition however, Lizalfos can load their catapults with the carcasses of diseased animals to fling at enemy soldiers and establishments. While not a very damaging means of attack, the psychological effect of raining corpses is indisputable.

Neck-Slicer



The Lizalfos are not above dishonorable conduct in war. These shadowed women are able to slip into any fortified location and murder an important target in his or her sleep.

Okakusha the Green



A native of the northernmost borders of the Faron Woods, Okakusha throughout her life participated in raids into the Kokiri Forest and its denizens. Donning the attire of the Kokiri as an insult to them, Okakusha wishes to one day enslave their race and rule over the Kokiri Forest herself.

Vakat the Winged


One of the few living Aeralfos left in the world, Vakat takes pride in this fact and uses it as a means of authority. Few Lizalfos dispute his self imposed monarchy over the rest of their kind, if only because he's a sound leader that regularly satiates his people's need to fight their political neighbors in pitched combat.

Nardu the White



The sole Queen on the throne of Faron, Nardu the White claims to hold dominion over all of her kind. This is not exactly true, though only because she lacks the means to police and enforce her will over the various Lizalfos villages surrounding the heart of Faron. None know how she rose to power, though it's fair to say it was accomplished through backstabbing, murder, and the poisoned words of her mouth.

Talik the Red



A Dinalfos born of Death Mountain, Talik and her hidden colony was driven from their homes by the Gorons when she was young. For years she has been motivated to gather the Dinalfos and strike back at the Gorons to reclaim the Lizalfos homeland. While many of her kind agree with her, she often comes into conflict with Nardu the White, whom has far broader long term plans for the Lizalfos.

[Torvus]

Didn't see a bugfix thread, so I thought I'd post this here. but the Helmasaur riders have an issue with their arms. the arm that isn't carrying the spear is actually bent around the back instead of in front.

[mnviking]

Didn't see a bugfix thread, so I thought I'd post this here. but the Helmasaur riders have an issue with their arms. the arm that isn't carrying the spear is actually bent around the back instead of in front.

Bug center is right under development.

[Avatar of the Ice Wolf]

Didn't see a bugfix thread, so I thought I'd post this here. but the Helmasaur riders have an issue with their arms. the arm that isn't carrying the spear is actually bent around the back instead of in front.

Noted. Will verify and add that in. The Bug Center is in the Bugs/Technical Issues subforum.

EDIT: Verified. Adding it in now.

[Torvus]

Thanks guys. btw, the Lizalfos are really cool. Fav faction next to the Darknuts.

[joshino]

Thanks guys. btw, the Lizalfos are really cool. Fav faction next to the Darknuts.

I enjoy killing Lizafos!!!!!

[Eldren]

there's been talk on how pathetic Lizalfos Catapult are. if i Remember right. throwing pledged corpse in to the enemy city. killed population and the army over time. can some one check to see if that city you attacked with Lizalfos Catapults is Plagued on the campaign map? if that does not happen, then i agree they are useless. and need a buf. like increase scare aoe range on a flying diseased cow. or make it Plague cites, like I thought they would. that should satisfy the fans and critics.

PS: Plaguing Cities in ancient times was a very useful tactic. Leprosy and the black plague i know were used this way. not sure about typhoid throw.

[gaiachild]

Rather unimportant lore question: How do Aeralfos fly? I started thinking about this after rewatching some episodes of Gargoyles. See, that show had a fairly realistic explanation for the Gargoyles flight ability. Well, realistic for a cartoon, that is, but at least it acknowledged physics. As my father once explained to me, the reason there are no flying elephants and that the concept giant dragons flying is is because the more something weights, the harder it is to get it off the ground, needing bigger wings and more muscle mass to use them, adding more weight so that it becomes a lost cause. So a winged human should be too heavy to fly, and a human sized lizard with armor and weapons should be even more so.
Anyhow, in the Gargoyles cartoon they kinda sorta explained that with the gargoyles being unable to take of from the ground and only being able to fly after leaping off from tall buildings or mountains, which also wasn't real flight either, but gliding on the currents of wind, similar to eagles. Which i admit, with the size and muscle mass of gargoyles would probably still not work in the real world, but at least they tried to be somewhat reasonable.
Anyhow, how do Aeralfos fly? Do they just hover a bit above the ground with a bit of hopping thrown in like in the actual game, do they glide like Gargoyles, or is it simply the old "it's magic, we don't need to explain it"? The latter wouldn't fit that well, considering that REAL magic in the Zelda games is rather rare.
Or perhaps they just have really light bones? Or some sort of gas in their bodies that is used as an explanation for little winged creatures with fat bellies in Star Wars?

[Ulfgard the Unmaker]

If they're anything like birds (which I might suppose they are, given that birds evolved from lizards or something like that, and these are winged lizards) they may well have very hollow, lightweight bones.

[UndyingNephalim]

I'm going to guess hollow bones. It's how a lot of larger birds like an Albatross are able to fly. I have noticed Nintendo never really puts too much effort into the biology of their creatures, especially ones that fly. Just look at the tails of Loftwings, your head will spin a million miles an hour when you realize they based the mount of pride on a completely flightless land bird and gave it a wolf tail that would cause so much drag they'd be sucked out of the sky shortly after taking off.

If you notice the Aerolfos in game though, when you order them to fly they stay pretty close to the ground and struggle to keep themselves in the air.

[Nergali]

Just look at the tails of Loftwings, your head will spin a million miles an hour when you realize they based the mount of pride on a completely flightless land bird and gave it a wolf tail that would cause so much drag they'd be sucked out of the sky shortly after taking off.

While I haven't played Skyward Sword, I will point out that you are wrong here on one point. The bird upon which loftwing (mount of pride) is based upon, the shoebill, is fully capable of flight. As for the "wolf-like tail", I'm assuming that it's just an extension of modified tail feathers consisting of little bone and lots of plumage, which isn't as bad when compared to those of birds-of-paradise which can have much more exotic tails that are also longer than the rest of their bodies.


As for the aerolfos, I concur with the hollow bones given how thin they look, especially in the concept art, and combine that with their large wings. I also assume they might have air sacs like birds, perhaps even having modified ones containing lighter-than-air gases to provide them with a little extra lift.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

[Eldren]

if hot air helps in blimps. then that same factor could be the reason dragons can fly. with their internal flame.

[Nergali]

Wait a second, internal flame? I thought dragons could only breath fire by incorporating platinum into their diets so as to use it as a catalyst for a combination of oxygen, hydrogen, and methane that is naturally formed in their bodies/breathed in, and that the resulting combustion was how they breathed flames.
(credit to anyone who gets the reference)

With that aside, this could also explain how some lizalfos and dinalfos subspecies have been able to breath flames in some Zelda games. The organs used towards flight in the aerolfos are instead used by their relatives for the ability to breath out fire.

[Eldren]

@ any one.
scientific biology question.

if magnetic fields are stronger than gravity. then a magnetic producing organ, could help undo the law of gravity. letting Bugs grow to the size of humans. and letting dragons fly.

but that's on the same type of topic as psychic's now.

@Nergali
whats your opinion Nergali?

[Nergali]

A slight flaw with that is that how would it turn the magnetic producing organ off? Well that and the fact that gravity it technically much, much stronger that magnetic fields, the only reason it seems weaker is due to the fact that is must affect all dimensions, not just one like magnetics.


On a different note, will the lizalfos based on those from skyward sword be making an appearance? I thought their design was interesting, especially the dark lizalfos, though I admit that I find it strange that they don't use some sort of bladed weapon in their other hand, like a dagger, to stab with while defending. An arm guard, especially one made of hard iron, makes for an interesting contrast to the regular shields throughout a series, especially since it could allow for the wielder to outright grab the bladed edge of an opponents sword, but I felt it lacks in terms of attacking/retaliating due to how slow a (though possibly goron-like devastating) punch would be. I also felt that the morning star on the tail might actually be more dangerous for the lizalfos, given that swinging it with the intent of inflicting blunt damage might actually break the tail, and would require some sort of extension in order to stiffen the tail and prevent this.

Also, it is kind of interesting that the dark lizalfos have daira-like crests. (hybrids?)

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

[Eldren]

I think those lizalfos would be a good addition to the faction. their not wearing much armor. just 2 weapons. maybe a fast hard hitter. with high shield stats but low armor.

[UndyingNephalim]

The bird upon which loftwing (mount of pride) is based upon, the shoebill, is fully capable of flight.

The Loftwings are based on Shoebills, which the last time I checked "technically" are capable of low altitude flight, but are so large and clumsy they can barely fly at all and rarely ever bother trying which is one of the contributing reasons as to why they are an endangered species. Considering they can barely make it off the ground at low altitudes, it seems like a really poor base for a high altitude mount designed to carry heavy people on their backs.

http://www.cracked.com/article_19469...-world_p2.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoebill

As for the "wolf-like tail", I'm assuming that it's just an extension of modified tail feathers consisting of little bone and lots of plumage, which isn't as bad when compared to those of birds-of-paradise which can have much more exotic tails that are also longer than the rest of their bodies.

Keep in mind those are all low altitude birds. The Loftwings are flying above cloud layers, which is full of nasty things like jet streams. They would be sucked out of the sky in no time, especially if they were carrying riders.

[Eldren]

Keep in mind those are all low altitude birds. The Loftwings are flying above cloud layers, which is full of nasty things like jet streams. They would be sucked out of the sky in no time, especially if they were carrying riders.

like how Link and Zelda Were thrown to the surface world be a twister.

[UndyingNephalim]

like how Link and Zelda Were thrown to the surface world be a twister.

Considering how obnoxiously tired to the point of panting to death Zelda's Loftwing was after barely carrying Link for a short time after he was pushed off a cliff, maybe Nintendo did take into account that Shoebills are amongst the worst fliers since chickens.

[Emrys]

Magic. They surround themselves with a bubble of Goddess inspired magic that protects them and generates lift.