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King of beasts
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King of Beasts is a fan title traditionally given to an exceptionally dangerous and powerful creature. It was historically awarded to elephants for their size, strength and immense thirst for dwarven blood. While elephants are no longer the beasts they were, there are currently quite a few contenders for the title.
Water[edit]
There are 2 contenders for the Aquatic King of Beasts.
Giant sponge: These horrifying monsters can only be killed in fair combat by mashing their bodies to a pulp, a feat that generally requires lots of patience and a gigantic hammer. They are not very aggressive, but Armok help you if you are next to them in water. Are still extremely dangerous despite being nerfed.
Giant sperm whale: Gigantic beyond all comparison, this creature is large enough to absorb an unbelievable amount of punishment and smash its way through nearly any amount of armor or natural durability with its mass alone.
Air[edit]
Giant kea: The uncontested Aerial King of Beasts. These brutal, green giant parrots have the distinction of looking harmless, but not only will they seek your fort for stealing stuff (such as your sole anvil, when you have not built your forge yet), but also tend to brutally murder any dwarf they meet in the dark corridors of your fort.
Land[edit]
There is currently no consensis on the Terrestrial King of Beasts. There are plenty of powerful creatures, but none stands out as the true strongest of the strongest. Here are some examples:
Giant cave spider: This large arachnid will eat most stuff in the caverns, including most dwarves you throw at them. It can shoot immobilising webs and injects a deadly toxin, making it incredibly dangerous.
Cave dragon: Cave dragons are as skilled in battle as your regular soldiers, if not more, and are far larger than them. The fun news? They come by the dozens with goblin sieges!
Giant dingo: A hell-spawned monster, the giant dingo not only is bigger, faster, and more aggressive than a bear, but it spawns in groups and is native to every savage biome. Few adventurers (or babies) will survive.
Giant elephant: A giant elephant. It is the biggest land creature and second-biggest creature, tied with giant orcas. Since they're "War Animals", "Hunting Animals" and "Exotic Mounts", they can also be fielded during elf, human and dwarf sieges!
Elephant man: Massive humanoids who can wear armor and use weapons. They are the biggest sapient land animal person - and the biggest sapient that is not a megabeast or semi-megabeast. You can play them in Adventure Mode - armor and clothes are made separately. And they sometimes come with sieges!
Historic Claims[edit]
Many creatures that once held this title have since had their power and/or agressiveness reduced.
Elephant: The first thing that comes to mind when thinking of the King of Beasts. They were infamous in the early versions for their massive strength coupled with their insane bloodlust. An elephant never forgets. An elephant never forgives...
Carp: Another infamous creature and perhaps one of the earliest holders of the title of the Aquatic King of Beasts. They were extremely agressive for a fish and had teeth that inflicted 3 times the amount of damage an unarmed dwarf did. They dragged unsuspecting fisherdwarves underwater where they would either drown, get mauled by the aforementioned teeth, or both at once.
Giant mosquito: The Giant Mosquito was the Aerial King of Beasts for the shortest amount of time. Before they were nerfed, they attacked in hundreds, overwhelming dwarwes with sheer numbers and lagging the game if too much of them are on the map at the same time. Now are nowhere near as powerful.
Giant Badger: The Giant Badger also briefly held the title of the Terrestrial King of Beasts. They appeared very frequently in groups and attacked dwarves mercilessly. They have since been made way rarer.
Unicorn: The Unicorn is mostly a docile creature, but in older versions and specifically in Adventure Mode, Unicorns were extremely agressive. Their main definition of 'good' is living in a fairyland full of feather trees while stabbing and kicking dwarves to death, which is bad news when they're bigger than a horse and have hooves.
Dwarf[edit]
There is an argument to be made that the Dwarf is the true King of Beasts. After all, only the Dwarves are capable of filling the entire map with rock juice, unleashing hordes of hidden fun stuff to terrorize the wildlife, intentionally driving species extinct and other similarly devastating feats. Dwarven philosophers deny this claim, saying that the Dwarves, as the ultimate species, are above any environmental consequences