Lore:Mantikora

Mantikoras
A Mantikora
Type		Race (Beastfolk)
Range		Craglorn Deadlands
Appears in		ESO, Legends

Mantikoras are unnatural composite creatures, artificially created to serve as soldiers by the Scaled Court circa 2E 572. They were created via their experiments with nirncrux, alchemy, and ritualistic magics. They combine the traits of numerous predators, such as crocodiles, welwas, scorpions, and specially bred wamasu. Additionally, captured Men and Mer were also utilized to give the creatures their sapience. Mantikoras were created to be used in the Serpent's plot to revert Tamriel back to the chaos of the Dawn Era. One was even possessed by him to battle his enemies.

Mantikoras are large, powerful, and exceptionally intelligent - and that makes them extremely dangerous. They are intelligent enough to communicate and barter with other races. They are aggressive creatures that like the thrill of the hunt, and they never kill their victim quickly to enjoy their fun. They typically wield huge javelins in combat, though they are also capable of producing a deadly venom. Their venom can cook their victims from the inside, leaving them as venom-charred husks. The venom of a specific Mantikora, Tapupezu Azzida, was used as a supplement in an illegal narcotic known as Daze in Fargrave. While Daedra could survive it, it is lethal to mortals, though regular Mantikora venom is devasting even to Daedra.

Only certain Mantikoras, known as progenitors, are created with the ability to breed.

History

Creation

A Juvenile Mantikora (ESO)

"Finally we got to the Serpent's Corruptery, and I saw what these bastards were up to: combining forbidden reagents with stolen Celestial power to create new monsters, unheard-of abominations the Courtlings said would revert Tamriel to the ages of chaos."
—Naryu Virian

The Celestial known as the Serpent had ordered the Scaled Court to build him an army, and the Mantikoras were demanded as the first recruits for his growing legion. The creation of these soldiers was spearheaded by Boward, the Regent of Wriggling Nightmares. As part of the preparation, he would acquire a powerful scorpion matron, a flawless crocodile matriarch, and a mighty wamasu eggbearer, all to provide eggs for the process. Their eggs, along with other components (such as captive Men and Mer), would be thrown into ancient spawning pools. Under the recommendation of the Regent of Serpentine Stratagems, nirncrux dust was mixed into the alchemical process. This dust mixed with the primeval, procreative nature of the pools, was able to quickly spawn the first Mantikora.

A specific progenitor Mantikora was created with the ability to breed, and the spawning pools were expanded to handle the increased production of new juvenile Mantikoras. While this first progenitor was killed, a secondary set of of pools where the the Scaled Court planned to create more progenitors was known to have been established.

The birthing of new Mantikoras from the spawning pools involved assistance from members of the Scaled Court. One member in particular, Brugurikh, recalled nursing the newborns from these pools, wiping the nirncrux from their eyes, and naming them by whispering into their ears. Brugurikh appeared to know Boward closely, and considered the Mantikoras to be the children he and Boward created together. He was incredibly protective towards the creatures, and considered them the Scaled Court's greatest gift to Tamriel.

Stolen "Children"

Several groups have attempted to steal, or copy the creation of Mantikoras for their own purposes. The Seven Secretives once attempted to steal the alchemical secret to their creation to pull off a coup of the current Morag Tong leadership, but they were stopped by Naryu Virian. The Daedric Prince Mehrunes Dagon had many Mantikora stolen from the Scaled Court for his own use. This theft was carried out by an Ogrim named Grilg, who brought the stolen Mantikoras to the Deadlands circa 2E 572. Grilg fed the creatures a concoction made from Deadlands herbs and Infernium blood to transform them into a savage and alien form. These Dagonic Mantikoras retain their cunning but become more compliant, possessing red hot scales and excoriated skin.

In 2E 582, information about Mantikoras was known to be documented within the Infinite Archive in Apocrypha. There, copies of various entities were subsequently created as maligraphies, creatures composed of vivified ink manifested by stories from books, serving as mindless extensions of the Daedric Lord Tho'at Replicanum. A Maligraphic copy of the Dagonic Mantikora Taupezu Azzida was formed, and was defeated by an adventurer or two who were aided by augmentations directly from Hermaeus Mora. In addition, Tho'at Replicanum replicated herself throughout the Archive, with the form of a Glass Mantikora being one of the shapes her copies took. During that same year, a number of Daedra in the form of Glass Mantikoras, sometimes known as Mirrormoor Mantikoras, were observed among the forces of Mirrormoor, who were in service to the Daedric Prince Ithelia, the Prince who Tho'at Replicanum is associated with.

Gallery

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  A Mantikora (ESO)

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  Mantikora (Legends)

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  Juvenile Dagonic Mantikora (ESO)

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  Dagonic Mantikora (ESO)

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  Mantikora possessed by The Serpent (ESO)

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  Glass Mantikora (ESO)

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  A Mantikora being transmogrified into an elk (Legends)

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  ESO Mantikora concept art (right)

Notes

• Mantikoras are not to be confused with the Chimeras, hybrid creatures which are also known as manticores, nor with Tharrikers, which are based off real-life depictions of manticores.

See Also

• Mantikora Names
• For game-specific information, see the Elder Scrolls Online and Legends articles.

References

Note: The following references are considered to be unofficial sources. They are included to round off this article and may not be authoritative or conclusive.