Dread Hound enemy line

The Dread Hound (ケルベロス Cerberus), Fenrir (フェンリル), and Cerberus (ヘルハウンド Hellhound) are enemies that are randomly battled in each game in the Golden Sun series. These monsters, which resemble two-headed dogs with manes in the GBA games but are redesigned with three heads in Dark Dawn, are palette swaps of each other that have differing levels of power and defense and are fought in different locations in the games. In Golden Sun only, the Cerberus is misspelled as the Cerebus (interestingly enough, the enemy is hidden in the game code of The Lost Age, like all other monsters introduced in the first game, but with its name spelled properly).

Dread Hound
A Dread Hound is a purple variant with turquoise tongues, and it is level 18 in Golden Sun and level 25 in Golden Sun: The Lost Age. In Golden Sun it is battled throughout Altmiller Cave. In The Lost Age it is first battled throughout Gaia Rock, and subsequently throughout Izumo Ruins.

In Golden Sun it is one of the strongest monsters in Altmiller Cave, right alongside the Golem. If you repeatedly fell Dread Hounds with Mercury Djinn until you get a Prophet's Hat, you'll most likely find that it is a valid incrememtal improvement to at least one of your mage-style Adepts' current headwear, assuming you get one after having come to Tolbi for the first time. In The Lost Age, the Dread Hound is generally "average" among the monsters in Gaia Rock, but the game's focus on stronger equipment artifacts acquired at earlier areas will most likely prevent the Prophet's Hat they can drop from being practical.

A Dread Hound's statistics are as follows:

A Dread Hound uses these battle commands:

Fenrir
A Fenrir is a slightly more violet level 28 variant with light-green tongues. In Golden Sun it is battled throughout the later "true" dungeon portion of Venus Lighthouse.

Of the various monsters of the first game that reside in Venus Lighthouse as the strongest of the first game's randomly encountered monsters, the Fenrir is at the height among those monsters, with about as much battling capability as the Grand Golem and perhaps only surpassable by the explosive kamikaze attacks of the Boulder Beast. Rather more noteable than its statistics, however, is its randomly droppable item, Kikuichimonji, which as already noted is usually equipped in place of the Swift Sword on Ivan if acquired because they're both candidates for his most ideal weapon in Golden Sun. The Fenrir's also the only monster in the first game that drops its item that rarely, however; these factors combine to make the Fenrir one of the most popular targets for Random Number Generator abuse.

A Fenrir's statistics are as follows:

A Fenrir uses these battle commands:

Cerebus

 * Cerebus redirects here. For the Psynergy, see Salamander Psynergy set.

A Cerebus is a larger, turquoise level 35 variant with violet tongues. In Golden Sun only two are fought throughout the entire game, together as one scripted boss encounter that occurs on the ninth "dungeon floor" of the optional Crossbone Isle as soon as you try to enter the door to that floor's puzzle room.

Compared to the "sub-boss" encounters at the previous eight floors of the dungeon, the two Cerebus monsters are much more powerful and durable, and may prove a legitimate challenge together. The usual "summon rushing" tactic of having everyone using all full-powered summons in the first turn works wonders as usual, provided all of your party members are faster than the Cerebuses even with that many Djinn On Standby; if not, though, then even that approach, which is often viewed as "cheap", carries risks, because a Cerebus can take out in one hit an Adept that hasn't summoned yet.

A Cerebus' statistics are as follows:

A Cerebus uses these battle commands:

Dread Hound
A Dread Hound is a dark green level 20 variant. In Golden Sun: Dark Dawn it is battled throughout Teppe Ruins.

A Dread Hound's statistics are as follows:

A Dread Hound uses these battle commands:

Cerberus
A Cerberus is a violet level 36 variant. In Golden Sun: Dark Dawn it is battled throughout the Passaj Mountain Climb late in the game when the Grave Eclipse is in effect.

A Cerberus' statistics are as follows:

A Cerberus uses these battle commands:

Fenrir
A Fenrir is a silvery gray level 43 variant. In Golden Sun: Dark Dawn it is battled throughout the Endless Wall and the Apollo Ascent.

A Fenrir's statistics are as follows:

A Fenrir uses these battle commands:

Cultural References
The overall enemy line was based off the Hellhound, which refers to a wide variety of demonic, supernatural dogs. Cerberus is one of the most well known Hellhounds.
 * Fenrir, in Norse tradition, was a monsterous wolf and the son of Loki and Angrboda. During Ragnarök, Fenrir killed and consumed the ruler of Asgard, Odin, but was in turn killed by his son, Víðarr.
 * Cerberus is a three-headed dog in Greek mythology who was employed by Hades to guard the gates of the Underworld. According to Greek mythology, Cerberus was a male and one of Typhon and Echidna's offspring. His brother was the two-headed hellhound, Orthrus.

The "Cerebus" misspelling in Golden Sun was, unusually enough, also made in a certain popular comic.