Art by Mark Nelson
The Typhonian Beast, Typhonian Animal, or Typhonic Beast was the name given to a creature of powerful malice created by Set by dark magic. The animal's own long-extinct species survives only through its association with the Antediluvian, while its original name is long-forgotten.
History[]
The creature known as the Typhonian Beast was a ghoul, a monster created from a now-extinct animal. The creature was described as destructive and hungry for blood. It is said that the Gangrel Antediluvian held it imprisoned with its powers of Animalism, preserving the creature's life because it was the last animal of its kind in the world.
Last of its kind[]
- Main article: Enkidu
Under the guidance of their clan-founder, the Gangrel of the ancient city of Ur began training the man named Enkidu to be a childe of the Antediluvian, one that would be able to be the guardian of the several rare creatures contained by the Antediluvian within its flesh. In the century of training that followed, the Setites and their allies eventually attacked the city of Ur, called by the Typhonian Beast as Enkidu struggled to contain it within his body, as his sire taught him.
The battle against the invading Followers of Set, desperate to retrieve the Typhonian Animal, was ferocious. Enkidu fought fiercely against the beast but was pressed to the point his rage made him monstrous. Wounded, he vanished into the night while the city burned - but the Setites were denied the Typhonian Animal, whom they believe could lead them to Set himself. After that night, although Enkidu would occasionally encountered other Gangrel, he never met his sire again.
Throughout the ages Enkidu has learned with the wisdom of spirits of the wilderness, that only by holding onto his Humanity could he continue to contain the Typhonian Beast – that never ceased its struggle to escape. In an effort to maintain his morality, the ancient Gangrel has splintered part of his personality into another form. Thus, he can transform himself into this form and maintain a mental grasp on human concepts.
Iconography[]
The Typhonic Beast remains one of the iconic elements of Set's image;[1] by that name, its image serves as the inspiration for the Setites' ability to transform into a bestial Typhonic war-form through the use of Serpentis.[2][3][4][5]
Trivia[]
For historical Typhonian animal, Set animal.
References[]
- ↑ VTM: Vampire: The Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition, p. 52
- ↑ VTM: Clanbook: Followers of Set Revised, p. 69-70
- ↑ VTM: Vampire: The Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition, p. 211
- ↑ VTDA: Vampire Twentieth Anniversary Edition: The Dark Ages, p. 252-254
- ↑ VTM: Lore of the Clans, p. 69-70
- VTM: The Kindred Most Wanted, p. 34-35