Tarasque
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Tarasque or Tarrasque was a fearsome monster tamed in a legendary story about Saint Martha.
The Tarasque is also a legendary marine creature reported to live in Vietnam's Halong Bay.[1]
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[edit] Legend
Legend has it that the creature inhabited the area of Nerluc in Provence, and devastated the landscape far and wide. The Tarasque was a sort of dragon with six short legs like a bear's, an ox-like body covered with a turtle shell, and a scaly tail that ended in a scorpion's sting. It had a lion's head.
The Tarasque was said to have come from Galatia which was the home of the legendary Onachus, a beast which burned everything it touched. Some speculate that the story of the Onachus may be related to either that of the Unicorn or the Phoenix. The Tarasque was the offspring of the Onachus and the Leviathan of biblical account; basically—though disputably—a giant sea serpent.
The king of Nerluc had attacked the Tarasque with knights and catapults to no avail. But Saint Martha found the beast and charmed it with hymns and prayers, and led back the tamed Tarasque to the city. The people, terrified by the monster, attacked it when it drew nigh. The monster offered no resistance and died there. Martha then preached to the people and converted many of them to Christianity. Sorry for what they had done to the tamed monster, the newly-Christianized townspeople changed the town's name to Tarascon.
The story of the Tarasque is also very similar to the story of Beauty and the Beast and King Kong. The monster is beguiled and weakened by a woman and then killed when brought back to civilization.
[edit] Memory
The Tarasque is featured on the coat of arms of the city of Tarascon.
A festival is held every year on the last Sunday of June to remember the tarasque and Tartarin, the main character of Alphonse Daudet's Tartarin de Tarascon.
The name Tarasque has been used by the French military as the common name for a towed 20 mm anti-aircraft gun.
On 25 November 2005 the UNESCO included the Tarasque on the list of Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.[1]
[edit] Inspiration for modern fiction and games
The tarrasque features in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, as a magical beast, in which it is quite possibly the most powerful monster in existence (aside from the oldest dragons). The tarrasque (usually spelled here with two rs) is a Colossal creature (one of the largest in the game) that beheads its foes with its claws and fangs, resists almost all weapons and magical spells, regenerates, and can only be permanently slain by the granting of a powerful magical wish after overcoming its potent defenses. Fortunately, it is usually active for only a few weeks before lying in dormancy for a year or two. Only one tarrasque exists in each gameworld in the Greyhawk campaign setting, although not all settings make it unique: Faerûn, for instance, has multiple tarrasques.
A similar monster exists in StarCraft, the Torrasque. This version is a powered-up version of a Zerg Ultralisk, which, if slain, can be resurrected again and again, until the Zerg Cerebrate that created it is killed.
The tarasque appears in the Xanth novel Crewel Lye: A Caustic Yarn by Piers Anthony.
Tarasque is found in the MMORPG Anarchy Online, where it is actually a dragon and is probably the most famous (and hunted) boss monster in the game.
The Tarasque can also be found in Irth Online, a MMORPG by Magic Hat Software. The Tarasque is a fearsome and powerful foe, taking groups of people to slay, and is the rarest encountered creature in the wilds.
It is also a Russian RPG forum: tarrasque.net
On the Warcraft III map Defense of the Ancients, the Heart of Tarrasque is a strong item increasing a hero's strength and vitality.
In the Neoquest 2, an RPG on Neopets, a more dragonlike version is the final boss, King Terask.
In the Multi-User Dungeon LegendMUD, the Tarasque makes an appearance as a fearsome opponent and the ultimate monster of the dark Paris sub-sewers.
Tarasque is Monster in My Pocket #57.
A Tarasque appears in multiple Shin Megami Tensei games, such as Shin Megami Tensei : Devil Summoner Raidou Kuzunoha vs. the Souless Army.
In the Wild Arms game series, tarasque appears as boss monsters, often biomechanical in nature. In the first game, it is called Turask. In Wild Arms 2 and Wild Arms 3, it appears under the name Trask. In Wild Arms 4, it appears as Tarasque. All have similar appearances - that being of a giant spined tortoise.
In the game Final Fantasy XII, a toad-shaped Tarasque appears as one of the 80 Rare Monsters.
The tarasque is mentioned in the song "Sleestak and Yeti" by the Lovecraftian rock band The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets.
[edit] External link
[edit] Notes
- ^ "Ha Long Bay." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2007. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 28 Feb. 2007 <http://www.secure.britannica.com/eb/article-9107385>.
