January 9th, 2009
Photoshop and drawingtablet

I don't know why, but I suddenly felt like drawing the Chimera. I think I've taken a liking to Greek mythological creatures, or something.
Anyway, the Chimera is was described as a lion on the front, a goat in the middle and a serpent or a dragon at the end. It's quite a vague description and most artists interpret it as meaning that the Chimera has the body and the head of a lion, an additional goat's head, which is often depicted sticking out of the creature's back and facing backwards (which I think is somewhat odd) or right next to the lion's head. And finally, the Chimera is often depicted with a rather small snake for a tail. I decided to tweak the design a little, but I'll get back to that later.

The Chimera is generally considered female (contrary to common misconceptions), so it isn't really supposed to have manes. She can breathe fire and any sightings of the Chimera are interpreted as bad omens. If I saw this thing coming at me, I'd take it as a bad sign too... :P

Anyway, on to the design. Like the Manticore, the Chimera is often depicted with batwings, but I saw no evidence for wings in ancient art, so I ditched them. I decided to give the Chimera a big snake for tail and not a small one, mostly because it just looks so cool. The biggest challenge was deciding how to deal with the goat's head. I didn't want to make it face backwards, because that was just too weird for my taste. But I also didn't want to place it right next to the lion's head, because that is the lazy way out and not really true the creature's description. So I stuck the head of the goat on top of the lion's head. And I gave it fierce teeth, because your regular goat just doesn't scream 'monster' to me.

I also have a certain take on how this creature might work on a biological level. The way I see it, the Chimera has a brain in each of its heads. The brains in the lion and goat heads are the most important ones, because together they form the creature's mind. Each of these two heads contains part of their brain and together they work just like the left and right half of our brains do. We have a dominant and a subordinate side in our brains. Which side is dominant in us determines whether we'll be left-handed or right-handed (among other things). It's the same with the Chimera, except its brain is distributed over two heads. In some specimens the goat head may be dominant, while in others the lion is dominant (note that in myth however, the Chimera is a unique creature).
The snake's head has its own, independent mind. However, it has no control over any part of the body, except over the tail itself. The snake is connected to the main body's blood stream and this is where it gets it's nutritients. However, because it has its own mind, it has been known to sometimes catch and eat small animals while the entire creature was on the move. It may also quarrel with the other two heads, something which will never happen between the goat and the lion. The snake is poisonous, but the Chimera is immune to it. Generally, however, all three heads get along. Especially when the Chimera is in danger, all three heads will work together to protect themselves.
Even though it has three brains, the Chimera only has a normal amount of other organs: one heart, two lungs, two kidneys, etc. All three heads may breathe for the entire creature. When swimming, the Chimera may dive, using its snake head as a snorkel. Contrary to popular belief, you do not need to chop off all three heads to kill this creature. Lopping off one of the main two heads will do just fine. Just like would happen to you and me, losing half of its brain usually proves fatal. Going for the vital organs is equally effective, although reaching them may be difficult due the creature's speed and agility. After the main body dies, the snake's head may live on for a short amount of time. It is advised to stay away from the corpse after killing the Chimera, as the snake may suddenly lash out, bite and poison an unwary adventurer. Chopping off the snake's head will not kill the Chimera, but it will cripple it. The tail is vital for maintaining balance, and without the snake head the tail becomes a dead and useless appendage. Most Chimeras will bite it off at the base if they lose their snake head, to prevent the tail from getting in the way. Not that it really matters. Without the snake's tail to watch the Chimera's back, the creature will often die quite soon after losing the tail. Neither of their two other heads are able to face backwards, making them vulnerable to attacks from behind.


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