Orc enemy line
The Orc, Orc Captain and Orc Lord are enemies that are randomly battled in Golden Sun. These monsters, resembling muscular pig-like humanoids armed with scimitars, are palette swaps of each other that have differing levels of power and defense and are fought in different locations in the game.
This line is noteworthy for being the only enemies in the entire Golden Sun series to have vulnerabilities to the Haunt and Death Curse secondary effects; neither of these susceptibilities individually occur among any other enemy.
In Golden Sun
Orc
- For the Orc Psynergy, see Wild Wolf Psynergy set.
An Orc (オーク) is a level 14 variant with pink skin and blue pants. Orcs are fought throughout Lamakan Desert.
Orcs are more or less the statistical standouts among the random monsters fought in its area, not counting the much higher Agility of the Fighter Bee and the much stronger but scripted and independently fought Ant Lion.
An Orc is especially likely to be affected by Haunt- and Death Curse-inflicting effects. Its statistics are as follows:
| Name | HP | PP | Attack | Defense | Agility | Luck |
| Orc | 148 | 0 | 156 | 41 | 54 | 3 |
| Elemental Resistances and Levels | Exp | Coins | Item Dropped | Drop Rate | ||
 100 (Lv 3)  72 (Lv 2)  72 (Lv 2)  48 (Lv 2)
|
68 | 113 |  Nut
|
1/32 | ||
An Orc can use the following battle commands with low intelligence:
| Command | Chance to use |
Elem. Stats used with * |
Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attack | 6/8 (75%) |
-- | Standard physical attack. |
| Spasm | 2/8 (25%) |
100 Power
|
Enemy ability that briefly cloaks the user in a fiery aura. It briefly restores the user's HP by roughly 40. |
Orc Captain
An Orc Captain (ハイオーク High Orc) is a level 21 variant with light orange skin and green pants. Orc Captains are fought in the overworld region of Gondowan encompassing Gondowan Passage and Lalivero, as well as throughout Suhalla Desert.
The Orc Captain's abilities, since they do not include enhanced damage or area-of-effect damage, can be said to actually detract from its ability to battle using just its attack, so it is only an average monster among the monsters fought in Gondowan and Suhalla Desert.
An Orc Captain is especially likely to be affected by Haunt- and Death Curse-inflicting effects. Its statistics are as follows:
| Name | HP | PP | Attack | Defense | Agility | Luck |
| Orc Captain | 231 | 0 | 248 | 69 | 90 | 4 |
| Elemental Resistances and Levels | Exp | Coins | Item Dropped | Drop Rate | ||
| 100 (Lv 3) 72 (Lv 2) 72 (Lv 2) 48 (Lv 2)
|
125 | 142 |  Smoke Bomb
|
1/16 | ||
An Orc Captain can use the following battle commands with moderate intelligence:
| Command | Chance to use |
Elem. Stats used with * |
Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attack | 5/8 (62.5%) |
-- | Standard physical attack. |
| Stand Ready | 2/8 (25%) |
-- | Enemy ability that is identical to the standard Defend command which halves all damage the user takes during this turn. |
| Spasm | 1/8 (12.5%) |
100 Power
|
Enemy ability that briefly cloaks the user in a fiery aura. It briefly restores the user's HP by roughly 40. |
As a not-unintelligent enemy that carries stocked items, one of the 12.5% "ability slots" composing each of the Orc Captain's 25% chance to defend with Stand Ready, the Orc Captain's 62.5% chance to Attack, and the Orc Captain's entire chance to Spasm with a given action, will instead cause the Orc Captain to use one of its stocked items if it has any items remaining in stock and is able to use them applicably; if either it no longer has items in stock or the battlefield conditions do not allow its currently "individually available" item type to be used to a difference-making effect, it will use the called ability as normal. Its full inventory of items is structured in the following order, with each item's entire stock having to be used up before the next type of item can be available for use:
1 Smoke Bomb: An item that attempts to inflict Delusion to a targeted Adept.
1 Elixir: An item that cures the user or its ally of any of the Sleep, Stun, Delusion, Psynergy Seal, and Death Curse status conditions, if any of these conditions are present.
Orc Lord
An Orc Lord (オークロード) is a slightly larger level 25 variant with light purple skin and red pants. Orc Lords can be fought throughout the Road to Babi Lighthouse and the Tunnel Ruins.
Much like the Orc Captain, the Orc Lord is not much of a threat both ability-wise and statistically, among the other monsters it is fought alongside. What makes it notable, however, is its drop: It is the only monster in either GBA game that randomly drops Lucky Medals, making it the only technically infinite source of them, but it appears only in the first game. It only drops Lucky Medals as rarely as other monsters drop rare equipment, so abusing the Random Number Generator is advised. Players wanting to collect as much of the second game's equipment as possible may want to use the RNG to amass spare Lucky Medals, and then have them in the party's inventory for when data is transferred to The Lost Age.
An Orc Lord is especially likely to be affected by Haunt- and Death Curse-inflicting effects. Its statistics are as follows:
| Name | HP | PP | Attack | Defense | Agility | Luck |
| Orc Lord | 278 | 18 | 302 | 98 | 70 | 3 |
| Elemental Resistances and Levels | Exp | Coins | Item Dropped | Drop Rate | ||
| 127 (Lv 3) 100 (Lv 2) 100 (Lv 2) 72 (Lv 2)
|
260 | 198 |  Lucky Medal
|
1/128 | ||
An Orc Lord can use the following battle commands with moderate intelligence:
| Command | Chance to use |
Elem. Stats used with * |
Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attack | 5/8 (62.5%) |
-- | Standard physical attack. |
| Sleep | 2/8 (25%) |
Level 2
|
Psynergy costing 5 PP that causes a flock of sheep to fall around the position of the party. Up to three Adepts have a chance to be afflicted with the Sleep status ailment. |
| Spasm | 1/8 (12.5%) |
100 Power
|
Enemy ability that briefly cloaks the user in a fiery aura. It briefly restores the user's HP by roughly 40. |
As a not-unintelligent enemy that carries stocked items, one of the 12.5% "ability slots" composing the Orc Lord's 62.5% chance to Attack, as well as the Orc Lord's entire chance to Spasm with a given action, will instead cause the Orc Lord to use one of its stocked items if it has any items remaining in stock and is able to use them applicably; if either it no longer has items in stock or the battlefield conditions do not allow its currently "individually available" item type to be used to a difference-making effect, it will use the called ability as normal. Its full inventory of items is as follows:
- 1 Elixir: An item that cures the user or its ally of any of the Sleep, Stun, Delusion, Psynergy Seal, and Death Curse status conditions, if any of these conditions are present.
Cultural references
Orcs are a popular creature in the fantasy genre, particularly in the stories written by the late English writer John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (best known for titles such as The Lord of the Rings, which also features Orcs). They're often described as tough, warlike humanoid creatures with faces that resemble a cross between a pig and a primate.
