Deadbeard

Deadbeard (Talos in Japan, which is a name shared by extremely strong enemies in Camelot's Shining series) is an optional boss monster located and fought in the lowest level of the optional dungeon Crossbone Isle. It is the strongest and most durable boss in the first Golden Sun game and is more dangerous than the game's proper final boss, and awaits daring players willing for the first game's biggest battling challenge.

Background and story
Deadbeard, like Crossbone Isle itself, is an entity which scarcely little tangible information about is provided within the games, so fans can only speculate as to what Deadbeard really is and might have used to be, as well as his origins. Deadbeard, however, is a monster that a few people around Weyard, mainly pirates, are aware of, and they describe it as an "ancient ghost pirate" that guards the treasures at Crossbone Isle. Pirate lore claims that whosoever may be able to slay Deadbeard in combat will have proven himself worthy of the title of leader of all pirates, and therefore will command the respect of buccaneers the world over. Deadbeard's name is an obvious play on the real-world pirate Redbeard and its own undead nature.

Deadbeard is a giant, supernatural entity that assumes the guise of a colossal red skeleton, twice the size of a normal human, clad in a thick suit of medieval-looking armor. Where his head/skull is supposed to be is his helmet which obscures his actual face (if Deadbeard even has a face as corporeal as his other features) so that the only visible aspects of the entity's facial area is a glowing pair of beady yellow eyes. He wields a thick-bladed sword that is longer than a human is normally tall.

Deadbeard haunts the delapidated Pirate Ship located at the bottom of Crossbone Isle, shored up at an underground lake, and presumably has for untold amounts of time. It can be speculated that this ship "belongs" to Deadbeard because of that. Late in Golden Sun, Isaac's traveling party of Adepts explores the island and picks it clean of its loot, defeating all of of the rare and powerful lesser monsters along the way. When they reach the underground lake and board the damaged vessel, Deadbeard attacks the party, and Isaac's group engages in its most intense brawl yet, but they weather Deadbeard's powerful Psynergy-based assaults and eventually slay the wraith, putting Deadbeard's soul to rest. A chest materializes on the front end of the boat after the battle and Isaac claims the sturdy but cursed Demon Mail before departing the now empty Isle.

Pirates across Weyard will somehow learn of Deadbeard's defeat, and that the identity of the one who defeated it and pillaged the isle clean is Isaac. Recalling the stories that the one who defeats Deadbeard will gain the honorific of leader of all pirates, buccaneers will start seeking out this apparently tough and reliable man to join his pirate crew. If the game file where Deadbeard is defeated is used for data transfer into Golden Sun: The Lost Age, then in the town of Alhafra, after the pirate Briggs flees the town on a ship and departs back for Champa, a pair of swashbucklers will appear in the second floor of Alhafra's inn as the town updates. The moment Felix's party comes in, an optional cutscene will occur where the two talk about how Crossbone Isle was picked clean and its feared ancient pirate ghost guardian was defeated by Isaac, which effectively means Isaac is their leader now, and that is why they are now looking for him so that they can join his crew. Then they will pass by Felix's group as they leave the inn on their search. It should be noted that this cutscene can occur anytime after when it can first occur, meaning that it can be triggered late in the game when Isaac's party has joined Felix's. In that case, though, the cutscene will play out exactly as it would otherwise, and the pirate pair will not realize they just passed by their new "leader" as they leave the inn in search of him.

As a boss
Deadbeard is a boss enemy stronger and better defended than even the final boss encounter at the end of Golden Sun, though he is completely optional to battle. Therefore he clearly fits the bill of Golden Sun's "Superboss", something a lot of RPGs feature for players willing to challenge. Though a tough battle any way you look at it, it is an exaggeration to call Deadbeard one of the hardest bosses in RPGs, a point made especially clear when Deadbeard is compared to the likes of the superboss of Golden Sun: The Lost Age. Unlike that enemy, a well-leveled-up and well-equipped party can battle and defeat Deadbeard through traditional battling methods.

Deadbeard is encountered in the bottom area of Crossbone Isle, on top of the worn-down Pirate Ship that is docked at an underground lake. Specifically, the battle will begin without warning if Isaac walks up the left flank of stairs towards the top area of the ship. Deadbeard, statistically, has far higher numbers than any other enemies for most of its statistics other than Agility: It has 6000 HP, 600 PP, 468 Attack, 178 Defense, and 60 Luck, all a grade higher than the stats the Fusion Dragon has. Its only statistic that is overtaken by other boss enemies' is Agility, which is an impressive 180, compared to the Fusion Dragon's 190 agility and Menardi's 220 agility. He is most resistant to Mercury assaults and has decreasing resistances to Jupiter, Mars, and then Venus. A very worthy opponent indeed, but when defeated in battle Deadbeard rewards the party with 8000 EXP, 9000 Coins, and a Water of Life, and a chest appears after the battle containing the unique Demon Mail, the armor in Golden Sun with the highest physical defense rating. Also, Isaac's party will gain the credit and distinction of having defeated Deadbeard, which will influence a cutscene in the future if the game file is used for data transfer into Golden Sun: The Lost Age.

Arsenal
Deadbeard's arsenal of battle commands is certainly damaging to the party, though interestingly he does not actually have any Monster skills to call his own, instead relying on top-of-the-line area-of-effect offensive Psynergy on his opponents and casting buffing psynergy on himself (him having 600 PP means he has plenty of reserves to cast his Psynergy). He is an opponent that acts twice per turn, and with each action he can:
 * Attack: Strike a single party member with a single physical attack. Since he has the highest physical attack rating in Golden Sun, his attack will do more damage than that of any other opponent, and this command becomes a lot deadlier and more damaging if Deadbeard has cast Impact on himself once or twice.
 * Freeze Prism: The strongest area-of-effect Mercury Psynergy. It will do heavy damage to most if not all party members, and will cost him 31 PP.
 * Inferno: Strong area-of-effect Mars Psynergy. It will do moderate damage to most if not all party members. It costs Deadbeard 23 PP.
 * Spark Plasma: Practically the strongest area-of-effect Jupiter Psynergy. It will do heavy damage to most if not all party members, and will cost him 37 PP.
 * Impact: Increases Deadbeard's Attack rating to 125%, and if he uses it again his attack rating is raised to 150%, the maximum. It will always increase his Attack rating by 117 points each time, and his physical attack will become very strong. It costs 7 PP.
 * Guard: Increases Deadbeard's Defense rating to 125%, and if he uses it again his defense rating is raised to 150%, the maximum. It will always increase his Defense rating by 44 the first time and 45 the second time, making physical attacks against him far less damaging than it should. It costs 3 PP.
 * Ward: Increases Deadbeard's Resistances to all elements by 40, lowering the effectiveness of any assault on him that is based on one of the four elements. It costs him 3 PP.
 * Break: Deadbeard removes all buffing effects that the party members had applied to themselves with Psynergy and other effects at this point. This effectively prevents players from increasing their party's battling abilities to battle Deadbeard equally as he increases his own stats. It costs Deadbeard 5 PP.

Strategies
Many fans have come up with strategies for defeating Deadbeard more efficiently:


 * Summon spells in Golden Sun games deal damage proportional to the size of each struck opponent's maximum HP meter, meaning in Deadbeard's case 4-Djinn summons such as Judgment will do immense damage over 1000 and that even a 1-Djinn summon such as Mars will do several hundred damage points. A great way to maintain a constant flow of damage upon Deadbeard's health meter is to have each Adept alternate between using a Djinni effect and then using that standby Djinni for a level-1 summon the next turn, every two turns. Since Deadbeard is constantly increasing his own stats in areas of attack and defense, it is not as useful to use attack-oriented Djinn as it is to use healing and support Djinn to maintain your party's health, such as the Venus Djinni Granite, the Mars Djinn Flash and Corona, the Jupiter Djinn Breeze and Zephyr, and the Mercury Djinn Spritz and Dew. (Deadbeard may remove the buffing effects instantly with Break, but regardless it is still more useful than attack Djinn because Deadbeard is immune to many status effects.)


 * Playing on the above point of summon spells being especially damaging against bosses with huge health meters, even Deadbeard will most likely succumb to a complete rush-summoning in which all twenty-eight Djinn are On Standby and all level four Summons are cast on the first turn, and all level 3 turns cast the second (or vice versa). Assuming most of the party is lucky enough to survive Deadbeard's assaults in between summoning, it is possible to defeat Deadbeard and his 6000 HP in two turns. (Note that when a summon is used, the Adept's elemental power for that element sharply increases, which will largely crank up the power of his next summoning of that element.) The risk of this tactic not fully depleting Deadbeard's HP to zero even if all eight summonings are successfully pulled off manifests if Deadbeard casts Ward early on to increase his resistance. In that case, hopefully your weakened party will survive long enough that their remaining physical assaults can cross the finish line in time. You can decrease the chances of this scenario occuring if your party is holding equipment that increases elemental power effectively, such as a Feathered Robe for Ivan and the Gaia Blade and Warrior's Helm for Isaac.


 * Deadbeard can be hit by effects that seal Psynergy, and since all of his commands save his physical attack are Psynergy, you can limit him to merely attacking for a turn, which can be effective in preserving your party's health. You should only expect the psynergy seal to last for one turn, though, and if Deadbeard has already cast Impact to sharply increase his attack rating, then a Psynergy Seal on him might end up only causing more harm to your party.