Wyvern

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A wyvern (or wivern) is a winged reptilian legendary creature often found in medieval heraldry. Its usual blazon is statant (standing). The wyvern is similar to a European dragon, but it differs in that it has only two legs (thus making it rather bird-like), cannot breathe fire, and has a barbed or snake-like tail. Occasionally, it is said to be smaller than a dragon or to be able to breathe fire. The wyvern is similar to another mythical creature, the cockatrice, which is similar to the basilisk. Its sounds are similar to the tone of a whisle or flute.^{[[Citing sources citation needed]]}

Variants of the wyvern include the sea-wyvern, which has a fish-like tail. Of the dragon-like creatures, wyverns are said to be the most feline, having a cat-like intelligence and temperament. During the Middle Ages, they were supposedly the most useful of all dragons to sorcerers, as they had the unique ability to work easily with spells.^{[[Citing sources citation needed]]}

Wyvern and Symbolisms

In heraldry, the wyvern represents pestilence, conquest, or other such ideas.^{[[Citing sources citation needed]]} The wyvern also symbolises strength, power and endurance.

The portmanteau word "Wyvern" is associated with the area of Herefordshire and Worcestershire, as the rivers Wye and Severn run through Hereford and Worcester respectively. Therefore, the wyvern is often used as a mascot in that area. For example, one of the local radio stations is called Wyvern FM, and its first logo, in 1982, featured a wyvern dragon.

• A golden wyvern was featured on the flag of Wessex and is depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry.
• 43 'Wessex' brigade of the British Army have a golden wyvern as their symbol, worn on the left shoulder of the uniform.
• The wyvern was the emblem of the Midland Railway, which ran in Great Britain until 1923. The Midland Railway Centre in Derbyshire, England, publishes a magazine for its members called The Wyvern.
• A pair of wyverns appear on the club crest of Leyton Orient Football Club (based in East London), who play in the Football League 1.
• A red wyvern rampant is the school mascot of Saint Francis High School in Louisville, Kentucky.
• A wyvern adorns the crest of Alpha Chi Sigma, a professional chemistry fraternity.
• Fantastic pictures at Japanese Museum of Fantastic Specimens at http://www.pinktentacle.com/2006/07/gallery-of-fantastic-creatures/

Wyverns in popular culture

Wyverns are also featured in many fantasy settings. Their representation is not standardized: for example, in some fantasy works, wyverns have four legs instead of two.

• In Dungeons and Dragons, wyverns have a poisonous stinger on their tails.

• In Monster Hunter, most of the later combat in the game is against wyverns.

• In Heroes of Might and Magic III, wyverns are described as a dragon like creature with a pair of wings, two legs, no arms/front legs and some of them have a poisonous stinger tail. Wyverns belongs in the order of Draconians along with Dragon, Drake and Wyrm.

• Wyverns in the MMORPG Final Fantasy XI appear in two different forms. The grown wyverns are larger than a man, with two legs and two wings, but they can't fly. They have brown or black skin, except for the notorious monster known as Seiryu that has a light blue and purple skin. The other type of wyvern is used as a pet by the Dragoons (Dragon Knights). They are small compared to the grown wyvern; they have four legs and a pair of wings. The have blue and yellow skin and the ability to use different elemental breaths and healing breaths. Although referred to as wyverns, the fact that they have four legs technically makes them dragons.

• Wyverns are also present in the Warcraft game series. In these games, they appear much less reptilian, with the head and body of a lion (symbolic of their honor and courage), curved horns, an armored tail like a scorpion, and bat-like wings attached to their front legs. It seems to resemble a manticore more than it resembles other concepts of a wyvern. In the MMORPG World of Warcraft they are used as a means of public transportion.

• Wyverns appear in the Korean-made online RPG Redmoon Online as the most powerful monster in the entire game. They appear usually in only one optional map in the game, and it usually requires a group of max-leveled characters or one super-maxed character with hyper-strength equipment to stand a chance against a single wyvern. Their attacks consist of a fixed-60% damage Earthquake, teleporting right up in the face of their enemy, biting, and (opposite to their original interpretation) breathing a stream of fire.

• Wyverns are included as enemies in many other video games, including Shadowgate, Dragon Warrior, RuneScape, and Kingdom Hearts. Wyvern riders are included as units in the strategy RPG Fire Emblem.

• In the Ace Combat game series, one of the aircraft is called the X-02 Wyvern.

• Wyvern is the name of Kahran Ramsus' golden, winged Gear in the PlayStation RPG Xenogears.

• Masami Kurumada's anime series features a majestic body armor owned by a warrior named Radamanthys. When not worn by its master the armor takes the shape of a wyvern.

• Castle Wyvern is a mythical castle from the Gargoyles TV series that was moved from the coast of Scotland to New York in order to break a spell.

• Wyverns appear in Tamora Pierce's Immortals quartet and feature as villains in Meredith Ann Pierce's Birth of the Firebringer.

• A set in Lego's newly launched Toys "R" Us–exclusive "Vikings" product line is titled "Viking Boat Against the Wyvern Dragon."[link]

• Wyverns are the one of the main aspects in Capcom's online action adventure games from the Monster Hunter franchise. With the exception of the ability to breathe fire, the Rathalos featured in the game makes a good epitome of a wyvern.

• Wyverns appear as an enemy in the Sierra RPG:

• The Wyvern is the mascot for Kingswood-Oxford School

• The Wyverns is a gentlemens' club for male students of the University of Cambridge.

• The SK Wyverns are a team in the Korea Baseball League.

• Wyverns feature strongly in the fantasy book series Broken Sky, where they are ridden as flying mounts and bonded telepathically to their riders via a 'bonding stone.'

• Wyvern House is the name of the preparatory school for the exclusive Newington College, Sydney, Australia.

• Wyverns are bad-tempered, dragonlike monstrous mounts for Orc Heroes and Warlords in Warhammer Fantasy Battle, a tabletop strategy game.

See also

• Wyvern (online game)

External links

• [Image: Saint Seiya - Hades: Wyvern Radamanthys]
• [Encyclopedia Mythica: Wyvern]
• [Bestiary of Modern Fantasy: Wyvern]
• [Dave's Mythical Creatures and Places: Wyvern]
• [Draconika Dragons: Wyverns]
• [Bebo: Wyvern(the band)'s profile]

 

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