Gryphon enemy line

The Gryphon, Wild Gryphon, and Wise Gryphon are species of monsters found in Golden Sun and Golden Sun: The Lost Age. These monsters, resembling the stereotypical image of the half-bird, half-lion monster it is named after, are palette swaps of each other that have differing levels of power and defense and are fought at different locations in the games. This is a monster line that was introduced in Golden Sun and expanded upon in The Lost Age.

Gryphon
A Gryphon is a large variant with wine-colored plumage and orange and yellow talons, legs, and beak. Statistically, this monster is more of a "boss"-style monster, with has 1100 HP, 36 PP, 213 Attack, 56 Defense, 98 Agility, and 19 Luck. In terms of resistance, it has a Venus Resistance rating of 152, a Mercury Resistance rating of 110, a Mars Resistance rating of 72, and a Jupiter Resistance rating of 48, and in regards to its abilities it uses its available Jupiter-based attacks with a Jupiter power rating of 110.

In battle, the Gryphon uses these battle commands:
 * Wing Flutter: Used 53 out of 256 times, this is a Monster Skill that shoots out small sets of sharp glowing yellow plumage through multiple Adepts, dealing a Jupiter-based attack with a power rating of 70 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).
 * Tornado: Used 47 out of 256 times, this is a Psynergy spell that causes two large, electrically charged tornadoes to cycle through the positions of the party of Adepts, dealing a Jupiter-based attack with a power rating of 80 and a range of 5. This consumes 14 of its user's PP.
 * Twin Beaks: Used 41 out of 256 times, this Monster Skill has the monster shooting 2 purple projectiles at a targeted Adept, dealing a Jupiter-based attack equal to the user's normal attack with an additional 30 damage points, and there is a chance that the resulting damage will be doubled.
 * Impact: Used 35 out of 256 times, this is a Psynergy spell that buffs up 1 target on the user's side of the field by increasing the target's current Attack rating by 25%. This ability consumes 7 of its user's PP.
 * Attack: Used 29 out of 256 times, this is this monster's standard physical attack.
 * Sonic Slash: Used 23 out of 256 times, this is a Psynergy spell that projects three wide glowing swaths of energy through the party of Adepts, dealing a Jupiter-based attack with a power rating of 120 and a range of 5. This costs 20 of its user's PP, which means that each Gryphon can't use this more than once in a battle.
 * Bind: Used 17 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.
 * Ward: Used 11 out of 256 times, this is a Psynergy spell that buffs up 1 target on the user's side of the field by increasing each of the target's Elemental Resistances by 40. This ability consumes 3 of its user's PP.

Felling a Gryphon yields 303 Experience Points and 1900 Coins, and if felled by the attack effect of an offensive Mercury Djinni, its rewards increase to 393 EXP and 2470 Coins. In Golden Sun only two are fought throughout the entire game, together as one scripted boss encounter that occurs on the fourth "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 606 EXP, 3800 Coins, and a single guaranteed Potion.

The encounter with two Gryphons can occur as the fourth and last battle if you're exploring Crossbone Isle earlier in the game through the hidden method of the Tolbi-bound Ship. When fought at that point, this battle can actually be quite challenging, since each Gryphon is quite a bit more powerful and durable than the mini-bosses in the earlier floors. Like the bosses on the earlier floors, it's possible to end this battle in the first turn by having everyone use a full-powered summon; however, the Gryphons are strong enough that if you try this at the earlier point in the game rather than later, your underleveled and weakened Adepts might actually be downed before they can summon, and that would cause problems. A method that's both less risky but fast nonetheless is to only have Ivan summon Thor once, and conduct the rest of the battle normally.

Wild Gryphon
A Wild Gryphon is a normal-sized variant with with light-green-colored plumage and light-green and yellow talons, legs, and beak. Statistically, this monster has 370 HP, 8 PP, 332 Attack, 112 Defense, 170 Agility, and 10 Luck. In terms of resistance, it has a Venus Resistance rating of 152, a Mercury Resistance rating of 110, a Mars Resistance rating of 72, and a Jupiter Resistance rating of 48, and in regards to its abilities it uses its available Jupiter-based attacks with a Jupiter power rating of 110.

In battle, the Wild Gryphon uses these battle commands:
 * Attack: Used 3 out of 8 times, this is this monster's standard physical attack.
 * Twin Beaks: Used 2 out of 8 times, this Monster Skill has the monster shooting 2 purple projectiles at a targeted Adept, dealing a Jupiter-based attack equal to the user's normal attack with an additional 30 damage points, and there is a chance that the resulting damage will be doubled.
 * Bind: Used 2 out of 8 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.
 * Wing Stroke: Used 1 out of 8 times, this is a Monster Skill that shoots out wide sets of massive glowing yellow feathers through multiple Adepts, dealing a Jupiter-based attack with a power rating of 140 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).

Felling a Wild Gryphon yields 322 Experience Points and 290 Coins, and there is a 1/128 chance that the monster will randomly drop a Feathered Robe, a unique piece of armor. If felled with an offensive Jupiter Djinni, its rewards increase to 418 EXP and 377 Coins, and the chance the monster will drop its item becomes 1/32. In Golden Sun it is first fought throughout Babi Lighthouse, then subsequently through Tunnel Ruins and the later "real" portion of Venus Lighthouse. In The Lost Age it is fought in Shaman Village Cave.

In the first game, it is the strongest, fastest, and most durable monster fought in Babi Lighthouse, but is outperformed in power and durability by the Fenrir at the end in Venus Lighthouse (but still retains its title as the fastest random monster of the original Golden Sun). In the second game it is much stronger and more durable among the monsters in Shaman Village Cave, which otherwise are the exact same as what you encounter on land in the overworld areas of the Great Western Sea, but is no longer the fastest monster. To say that its rare drop is desirable is an understatement: the Feathered Robe is not only the best bodywear for mage-style Adepts in the first game, it is one of the best pieces of bodywear for mages to wear as endgame equipment by the end of The Lost Age. The Wild Gryphon is thus, of course, targeted by Random Number Generator abuse a lot for the sake of getting multiple of these robes.

Wise Gryphon
A Wise Gryphon is a normal-sized variant with with dark-purple-colored plumage and violet talons, legs, and beak. Statistically, this monster has 297 HP (noticeably much less than the Wild Gryphon), 33 PP, 367 Attack, 111 Defense, 215 Agility, and 18 Luck. In terms of resistance, it has a Venus Resistance rating of 152, a Mercury Resistance rating of 110, a Mars Resistance rating of 72, and a Jupiter Resistance rating of 48, and in regards to its abilities it uses its available Jupiter-based attacks with a Jupiter power rating of 110.

In battle, the Wise Gryphon very literally uses the same assortment and arrangement of battle commands in the same way as the Wild Gryphon:
 * Attack: Used 3 out of 8 times, this is this monster's standard physical attack.
 * Twin Beaks: Used 2 out of 8 times, this Monster Skill has the monster shooting 2 purple projectiles at a targeted Adept, dealing a Jupiter-based attack equal to the user's normal attack with an additional 30 damage points, and there is a chance that the resulting damage will be doubled.
 * Bind: Used 2 out of 8 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.
 * Wing Stroke: Used 1 out of 8 times, this is a Monster Skill that shoots out wide sets of massive glowing yellow feathers through multiple Adepts, dealing a Jupiter-based attack with a power rating of 140 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).

Felling a Wise Gryphon yields 487 Experience Points and 320 Coins, and there is a 1/64 chance that the monster will randomly drop a Psy Crystal. If felled with an offensive Jupiter Djinni, its rewards increase to 633 EXP and 416 Coins, and the chance the monster will drop its item becomes 1/16. In The Lost Age it is fought throughout Magma Rock.

The Wise Gryphon is no longer a particularly special enemy to note during battle because of how it is outperformed by the various other monsters throughout Magma Rock, such as the Lesser Demon and the Phoenix.

Cultural References
Origin: Greece

The griffin (another common spelling for "gryphon") is a legendary creature with the body of a lion and the head and often wings of an eagle. As the lion was traditionally considered the king of the beasts and the eagle the king of the birds, the griffin was thought to be an especially powerful and majestic creature. Griffins are normally known for guarding treasure. In antiquity it was a symbol of divine power and a guardian of the divine.