Salamander enemy line

The Salamander, Earth Lizard, and Thunder Lizard are species of monsters found in Golden Sun and Golden Sun: The Lost Age. These monsters, resembling real-life salamanders, are palette-swapped variants of each other that have differing levels of power and defense and are fought in different locations in the games. Unlike many other monster lines, the variants in this monster line also have differing levels of elemental powers and resistances.

Salamander
A  Salamander  is a variant with violet skin, a green underbelly and blue claws and mouth. Statistically, this monster has 212 HP, 18 PP, 158 Attack, 49 Defense, 50 Agility, and 6 Luck. In terms of resistance, it has a Mars Resistance rating of 193, a Venus and Jupiter Resistance rating of 100 each, and a Mercury Resistance rating of 25, and in regards to its abilities it uses its available Mars-based attacks with a Mars power rating of 100.

A Salamander can use the following battle commands:
 * Attack: Used 2 out of 8 times, this is this monster's standard physical attack.
 * 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 60 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). The attack was called “Fire Blessing” in Golden Sun.
 * Fireball: Used 2 out of 8 times, this is a Psynergy spell that causes a group of fire balls to spread out from the user and strike the party, dealing a Mars-based attack with a power rating of 65 and a range of 5. It consumes 12 of its user's PP.
 * Blast: Used 1 out of 8 times, this is a Psynergy spell that creates a small explosion, dealing a Mars-based attack with a power rating of 25 and a range of 3. It consumes 5 of its user's PP.
 * Guard: Used 1 out of 8 times, this is a Psynergy spell that increases the Defense rating of the user or an ally monster by 25%. It consumes 3 of the user’s PP.

Felling a Salamander yields 84 Experience Points and 190 Coins, and there is a 1/16 chance that the monster will randomly drop an Oil Drop. If it is felled by the effect of an offensive Mercury Djinni, its rewards increase to 109 EXP and 247 coins, and the chance it will randomly drop its item becomes 1/4. In Golden Sun the Salamander can be fought in Lamakan Desert, while in The Lost Age it is located in the Gabomba Statue.

In the first game the Salamander takes much more punishment than any of the other monsters it is fought alongside, though it is the slowest in the desert. It is pretty much the "standout" of the random monsters in Lamakan Desert, but in The Lost Age it is totally outperformed by the Red Demon (but it still has the second highest HP rating of the monsters there).

Earth Lizard
The Earth Lizards are variants with green skin, blue underbellies, violet claws, and orange mouths. Statistically, this is more of a “boss”-style monster, having 1550 HP, 48 PP, 278 Attack, 97 Defense, 102 Agility, and 17 Luck. In terms of resistance, it has a Venus Resistance rating of 193, a Mercury and Mars Resistance rating of 100 each, and a Jupiter Resistance rating of 25, and in regards to its abilities it uses its available Venus-based attacks with a Venus power rating of 120 and its available Mars-based attacks with a Mars power rating of 95.

The Earth Lizard uses the following battle commands:
 * Acid Breath: Used 88 out of 256 times, this Monster Skill has the monster generating a cloud of pink gas at the party of Adepts, dealing a Mars-based attack with a power rating of 190 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). The attack also has a chance of lowering the affected target’s defense by 12.5%.
 * Clay Spire: Used 53 out of 256 times, this is a Psynergy spell that causes a group of large stalactites to fall down from above onto the Adepts and shatter, dealing a Venus-based attack with a power rating of 85 and a range of 3. This ability consumes 13 of its user's PP.
 * Quake Sphere: Used 35 out of 256 times, this is a Psynergy spell that causes three rectangular sections of ground underneath the party jolt upward and retract into the ground quickly thrice in succession, bouncing each Adept three times, dealing a Venus-based attack with a power rating of 65 and a range of 7. It consumes 15 of its user's PP.
 * Mother Gaia: Used 29 out of 256 times, this is a Psynergy spell that strikes multiple Adepts with an eruption of earth-based energy and rocks from the ground, dealing a Venus-based attack with a power rating of 100 and a range of 5. It consumes 17 of its user's PP.
 * Attack: Used 28 out of 256 times, this is this monster's standard physical attack.
 * Cure Well: Used 23 out of 256 times, this is a Psynergy spell that restores roughly 150 HP to the user or an ally monster. It consumes 7 of its user’s PP.

Felling an Earth Lizard yields 545 Experience Points and 920 Coins. If it happens to be felled with the effect of an offensive Jupiter Djinni, its rewards increase to 708 EXP and 1196. In Golden Sun only two Earth Lizards are fought throughout the entire game, as one scripted boss encounter that occurs on the seventh "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 for the battle are 1090 EXP, 1840 Coins, and a single guaranteed Water of Life.

The encounter with two Earth Lizards can be expected to be about as difficult as the "sub-boss battle" on the sixth floor above with the Chimeras, and most likely more difficult than the battle in the floor above with the single Lizard King. In particular, Acid Breath can pile on damage rather well. 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 lizards.

Thunder Lizard
A Thunder Lizard is a variant with purple skin, a light green underbelly and orange claws and mouth. Statistically, this monster has 456 HP, 347 Attack, 133 Defense, 134 Agility, and 10 Luck. In terms of resistance, it has a Jupiter Resistance rating of 193, a Mercury and Mars Resistance rating of 100 each, and a Venus Resistance rating of 25, and in regards to its abilities it uses its available Jupiter-based attacks with a Jupiter power rating of 120.

The Thunder Lizard can use the following battle commands:
 * Attack: Used 5 out of 8 times, this is this monster's standard physical attack.
 * Storm Breath: Used 3 out of 8 times, this Monster Skill has the monster generating a stream of purple lightning, dealing a Jupiter-based attack with a power rating of 190 and 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). The attack also has a chance of inflicting Stun on the affected targets.

Felling a Thunder Lizard yields 422 Experience Points and 221 Coins, and there is a 1/128 chance that the monster will randomly drop a Blessed Mace, a unique piece of equipment. If felled by the effect of an offensive Venus Djinni, its rewards increase to 548 EXP and 287 Coins, and the chance it will randomly drop its item becomes 1/32. In Golden Sun the Thunder Lizard is fought randomly in the later "dungeon" portion of Venus Lighthouse as one of the "final" random monsters of the game. Two also appear as part of a scripted battle on the eighth floor of Crossbone Isle, as sidekicks to the Poison Toad.

The Thunder Lizard is one of the toughest random enemies in the original game, right up there with the Grand Golem and Fenrir, because it appears only in the game's final dungeon. Its Storm Breath can pile on a good amount of damage. Its rare drop, the Blessed Mace, is the weapon with the highest physical attack rating that Mia can have in the first game assuming she is not equipped with the Cursed Wicked Mace and the Cleric's Ring, but since it does not have an Unleash effect, many don't consider it as desirable as the Crystal Rod one can just buy in Lalivero. It can, of course, be gotten quickly through abuse of the Random Number Generator.

Salamander
While there is a real-life amphibian called a Salamander, Golden Sun’s was based off the mythical Salamander, which is depicted as a lizard-like creature affiliated with the fire element.