Chimera enemy line

The Chimera, Chimera Mage, and Grand Chimera are species of monsters found in Golden Sun and Golden Sun: The Lost Age. These monsters, resembling a three-headed winged conglomeration of a beast with the heads of a goat, lion, and bird and a snakelike tail, are palette swaps of each other that have differing levels of power and defense and are fought at different locations in the games.

Chimera
A Chimera is a large variant with its features generally colored brown and yellow, and with a violet snake tail. Statistically, this monster is more of a "boss"-style monster, with has 1350 HP, 294 Attack, 48 PP, 90 Defense, 121 Agility, and 18 Luck. In terms of resistance, it has a Mars Resistance rating of 175, Venus and Jupiter Resistance ratings of 100 each, and a Mercury Resistance rating of 25, and in regards to its battle commands it uses its available Mars-based attacks with a Mars power rating of 115 and its available Venus-based attacks with a Venus power rating of 95.

In battle, the Chimera uses these battle commands:
 * Rabid Fang: Used 53 out of 256 times, this is a Monster Skill where a glowing red holographic image of a pair of jaws chomps at the position of a targeted Adept once, dealing a Venus-based attack equal to its normal physical attack with an additional 36 damage points, and having a chance to inflict Deadly Poison on the Adept.
 * Mad Dash: Used 47 out of 256 times, this is a Monster Skill where the monster charges towards a targeted Adept and unleashes 5 red glowing claw swipes in rapid, brutal succession, dealing a Venus-based attack equal to its normal physical attack with an additional 70 damage points.
 * Fire Breath: Used 41 out of 256 times, this Monster Skill has the monster generating a mass of fire at the party of Adepts, dealing a Mars-based attack with a power rating of 90 and a range of 3 (the Adepts at either side of the specifically targeted Adept will only take 50% of the attack's force, instead of the normal 80%, however).
 * Attack: Used 35 out of 256 times, this is this monster's standard physical attack.
 * Flare Storm: Used 29 out of 256 times, this is a Psynergy spell that generates a 3-stacked mass of fire that goes through multiple Adepts, dealing a Mars-based attack with a power rating of 80 and a range of 3. This ability consumes 12 of its user's PP.
 * Guard: Used 23 out of 256 times, this is a Psynergy spell that buffs up the user, increasing the user's current Defense by 25%. It consumes 3 of its user's PP.
 * Impair: Used 17 out of 256 times, this is a Psynergy spell that attempts to debuff a targeted Adept and lower its current Attack rating by 25%. It consumes 4 of its user's PP.
 * Bind: Used 11 out of 256 times, this is a Psynergy spell that displays a holographic symbol onto a targeted Adept, attempting to Seal that Adept's Psynergy capabilities. It consumes 4 of its user's PP.

Felling a Chimera yields 465 Experience Points and 800 Coins, and if felled by the attack effect of an offensive Mercury Djinni, its rewards increase to 604 EXP and 1040 Coins. In Golden Sun only two are fought throughout the entire game, together as one scripted boss encounter that occurs on the sixth "dungeon floor" of the optional Crossbone Isle as soon as you try to enter the door to that floor's puzzle room. Therefore, the minimum rewards of the battle are 930 EXP, 1600 Coins, and a single guaranteed Potion.

The encounter with two Chimeras can be expected to be about as difficult as the "sub-boss battle" on the seventh floor below, and likely more difficult than the battle in the floor above with the single Lizard King. In particular, Rabid Fang can be dangerous if its Venom-inducing effect connects. But this battle can most likely be conducted "as usual" and be won, and like the other sub-boss encounters in Crossbone Isle this battle can be "cheaply" won by having everyone use a 4-Djinn Summon on the first turn to annihilate the Chimeras.

Chimera Mage
A Chimera Mage is a normal-sized variant with its features generally colored violet and pink, and with a brownish-orange snake tail. Statistically, this monster has 413 HP, 326 Attack, 28 PP, 119 Defense, 145 Agility, and 16 Luck. In terms of resistance, it has a Mars Resistance rating of 175, Venus and Jupiter Resistance ratings of 100 each, and a Mercury Resistance rating of 25, and in regards to its battle commands it uses its available Mars-based attacks with a Mars power rating of 115 and its available Venus-based attacks with a Venus power rating of 95.

In battle, the Chimera Mage uses these battle commands:
 * Fire Breath: Used 2 out of 8 times, this Monster Skill has the monster generating a mass of fire at the party of Adepts, dealing a Mars-based attack with a power rating of 90 and a range of 3 (the Adepts at either side of the specifically targeted Adept will only take 50% of the attack's force, instead of the normal 80%, however).
 * Rabid Fang: Used 1 out of 8 times, this is a Monster Skill where a glowing red holographic image of a pair of jaws chomps at the position of a targeted Adept once, dealing a Venus-based attack equal to its normal physical attack with an additional 36 damage points, and having a chance to inflict Deadly Poison on the Adept.
 * Mad Dash: Used 1 out of 8 times, this is a Monster Skill where the monster charges towards a targeted Adept and unleashes 5 red glowing claw swipes in rapid, brutal succession, dealing a Venus-based attack equal to its normal physical attack with an additional 70 damage points.
 * Eruption: Used 1 out of 8 times, this is a Psynergy spell that causes 2 columns of lava-like fire to spontaneously combust out of the ground at the position of the target Adepts, dealing a Mars-based attack with a power rating of 90 and a range of 3. This ability consumes 14 of its user's PP.
 * Recovery: Used 2 out of 8 times, this is a Monster Skill where the monster flashes orange and heals at least 150 HP.
 * Attack: Used 1 out of 8 times, this is this monster's standard physical attack.

Felling a Chimera Mage yields 362 Experience Points and 300 Coins, and there is a 1/64 chance that the monster will randomly drop a Spiked Armor. If felled with an offensive Mercury Djinni, its rewards increase to 470 EXP and 390 Coins, and the chance the monster will drop its item becomes 1/16. In Golden Sun it is first fought throughout Babi Lighthouse, then subsequently through Tunnel Ruins and the later "real" portion of Venus Lighthouse.

In Babi Lighthouse it is one of the stronger randomly fought monsters, about the level of the Wild Gryphon, but is soon overtaken by the Fenrir in Venus Lighthouse. The fact it drops a unique piece of equipment not findable anywhere else in the series makes it a popular target for Random Number Generator abuse, even though compared to other monsters' dropped items the chance to get the item is somewhat more common; whether the Spiked Armor is something one's party would actually use is another story.

Grand Chimera
A Grand Chimera is a normal-sized variant with its features generally colored dark blue and light blue, and with a dark-purple snake tail. Statistically, this monster has 313 HP, 28 PP, 336 Attack, 109 Defense, 168 Agility, and 27 Luck. In terms of resistance, it has a Mars Resistance rating of 175, Venus and Jupiter Resistance ratings of 100 each, and a Mercury Resistance rating of 25, and in regards to its battle commands it uses its available Mars-based attacks with a Mars power rating of 115 and its available Venus-based attacks with a Venus power rating of 95.

In battle, the Grand Chimera uses these battle commands:
 * Fire Breath: Used 2 out of 8 times, this Monster Skill has the monster generating a mass of fire at the party of Adepts, dealing a Mars-based attack with a power rating of 180 and a range of 3 (the Adepts at either side of the specifically targeted Adept will only take 50% of the attack's force, instead of the normal 80%, however).
 * Rabid Fang: Used 1 out of 8 times, this is a Monster Skill where a glowing red holographic image of a pair of jaws chomps at the position of a targeted Adept once, dealing a Venus-based attack equal to its normal physical attack with an additional 36 damage points, and having a chance to inflict Deadly Poison on the Adept.
 * Mad Dash: Used 1 out of 8 times, this is a Monster Skill where the monster charges towards a targeted Adept and unleashes 5 red glowing claw swipes in rapid, brutal succession, dealing a Venus-based attack equal to its normal physical attack with an additional 70 damage points.
 * Eruption: Used 1 out of 8 times, this is a Psynergy spell that causes 2 columns of lava-like fire to spontaneously combust out of the ground at the position of the target Adepts, dealing a Mars-based attack with a power rating of 90 and a range of 3. This ability consumes 14 of its user's PP.
 * Recovery: Used 2 out of 8 times, this is a Monster Skill where the monster flashes orange and heals at least 150 HP.
 * Attack: Used 1 out of 8 times, this is this monster's standard physical attack.

Felling a Grand Chimera yields 396 Experience Points and 300 Coins, and there is a 1/64 chance that the monster will randomly drop a Mist Potion. If felled with an offensive Mercury Djinni, its rewards increase to 514 EXP and 390 Coins, and the chance the monster will drop its item becomes 1/16. In Golden Sun: The Lost Age it is primarily fought throughout Magma Rock, and also fought in the Northern Reaches area where you control your ship through the ice floes.

The Grand Chimera is outright easier to defeat than the Chimera Mage because it has 100 less HP, and quite literally the only difference between their battle abilities is that its Fire Breath attack is twice as strong. For an 8-member party, it should hardly be tough at all, at least in comparison to the Lesser Demons in the area.

Cultural References
Origin: Greece

In Greek mythology a Chimera is a monstrous creature, which was made of the parts of different animals, usually a lion's head, a goat's body and a snake tail. It breathes terrible flames of bright fire, which probably explains why Golden Sun's Chimera is fire element.