The first mention of Bone Dragons is found in the universe of Heroes of Might and Magic games back in 1993. Since then, this class of creatures has undergone a number of changes and appeared in other projects. This will be discussed in the article.
"Heroes of Might and Magic 2"
In all parts of this game series, the Bone Dragons are units of the undead army. Necromancers from the remains of the dead dragons call these creatures to serve in the army of the dead.
In the game Heroes of M&M ll, units are hired in a building called Laboratory, their cost is 1500 gold. They are excellent combat units, like all dragons in the game. They cannot attack two cells, but lower the morale of the enemy who was attacked by the Bone Dragon.
"Heroes of Might and Magic 3"
In this part, the dragon is already more interesting for the undead - it takes two cells on the battlefield, can fly, reduces the morale of the enemy, and can also lower that of the hero’s troops, if present in the same crowd with the living. Engaged in Dragon Crypt, price 1800 gold.
Improves in the Phantom Dragon - the most dangerous unit of the living dead. The price is prohibitively high - 3000 gold, but it pays off by the effectiveness of these creatures in battle. Unlike the Bone Dragon, the Phantom "is aging": the health of enemy soldiers can be reduced by half with a probability of about 20%. Thanks to this skill, the creature is equated with the rank of “especially dangerous”.
Other “heroic” projects
Further, in the setting “ Heroes of Might and Magic ” from the fourth part to the seventh, the appearance of the Bone Dragon was transformed, new features and skills were added. For example, immunity to damage from arrows (HoMM IV), the absolute inability to inflict poison damage or take control of consciousness (HoMM V) and theft of enemy mana on impact (HoMM VII).
And also in the fifth part, these creatures upgrade to the Ghost and Astral Dragons.
In the cinema
The creature also appears in the short animated film Legend of the Bone Dragon, based on How to Train Your Dragon.
The plot is based on nightly fears of the blacksmith Plevaki , who, according to his own statement, has been pursued by Kostoba since childhood. It is said that he collects bones to complete his own armor.
Icking and his friends undertake to help the old blacksmith on his journey in order to defeat a long-standing enemy. It is strange that they went on a dragrak , and did not fly on dragons, because the Night Fury gave the heat to Kostoboy .
As a result, it turns out that Plevaka wore the missing fragment of the bone armor of this creature all the time and, having given this small bone as a result, the blacksmith received a powerful lizard in his submission.
The image in the game "Heaven"
The Bone Dragon in the mentioned online project is available in the form of an image that appears as part of the Skin and Bones event .
A player who wants to take possession of the image must receive an appropriate medal, which is issued for the extraction of five " vertebrae " and hundreds of " bones " . The first are knocked out of Aranei , as well as during the adherent tournament. The second is similar from the tournament, and can also be found by killing the King of Hearts. Both ingredients are rewarded for defeating the Dragon of Sorrow.
The lucky one who has taken possession of this way will receive:
- 3% increase in health;
- increase in the amount of armor by 7%;
- treatment in the amount of 2,500 units.
HearthStone Winged Resident
The bone dragon appeared in this game as part of the latest update. Can be obtained from the Knights of the Ice Throne. This card is especially loved by those who use the " dragon decks " , thanks to the death rattle - a random dragon is put into the hand.
The cost of the card is 6 mana , has 6 damage and 5 health. It does not have any additional properties, therefore it is good only in combinations when using the above set.
The Dragon Priest deck is popular. It must contain cards that allow you to fill in the field from the first moves:
- Claw Priest from the Cabal .
- Twilight Whelpling.
- Twilight Guard.
- Dragon Messenger.
It is also necessary to have trump cards, which are the key for any deck of the Priest with dragons:
- Draconid spy.
- Historian of the Wrath of the Void.
- Brann Bronzebeard.
- Shadowwing destroyer.
In addition to creature cards, spells also go into battle:
- Word of Darkness: Pain.
- Word of Darkness: Death.
- Power Word: Shield.
- Dragonfire Potion .
All others, including the Bone Dragon, are already added taking into account the goals and capabilities of a particular player. It should be remembered that according to the death rattle, the card drops out absolutely randomly. For example, the dragon Icy Maw, although it has the ability to provoke, but in a hoarse way can destroy the entire " table " . And Deathwing will make you discard all cards from the player’s hand. Therefore, one should not immediately throw a novelty into the battle.
Finally
The projects of the series “ Heroes of Might and Magic ” had a huge impact on popular culture. It was from these games that such characters as Bone Dragons, Lichi , all kinds of Elemental and not only went.
Now few people think about the origin of these terms. For example, the Lich King character is one of the key villains in the Warcraft universe. And even Nick Perumov wrote about bone dragons in the book “ War of the Magician. Volume 2. Mittelspiel. "
The dragon itself is a very colorful and impressive creature, inspiring both horror and awe, because new " types " of these creatures appear either in one fantasy universe or in another.