Guardian of the Talion

Guardian of the Talion
Occurrence	Tomb Raider II Ice Palace
Enemy Type	Sub Boss
Classification	Mythical Creatures
Weapons	Arms
Weakness	Low maneuverability

Guardian of the Talion (often referred to as Bird Monster) is an enemy in Tomb Raider II. It belongs to the class of Mythical Creatures.

Lara encounteres the Guardian of the Talion during her search for the Talion artefact in Tibet. And as the name implies this opponent's purpose is to protect the Talion artefact, which is hidden within the Ice Palace.

The only way for Lara to make the Ice Place accessible is to ring a Gong with the Talion Guardian depicted on it. By ringing the gong an icy door to the palace shatters. But upon picking up the Talion resting inside the guardian is awakened.

Killing the guardian will end the level, thus making him a boss for the Ice Palace level.

Types

The Guardian of the Talion is one of two Bird Monsters Lara encounters during her adventure. The second encounter is with the Guardian of the Kingdom, in the Tomb Raider II Add On The Golden Mask, where a differently coloured (golden-yellow) bird creature guards the Kingdom against intruders.

Appearance

The guardian is a bird creature with a beak and claws as hind-legs. But instead of wings it has huge arms giving it an appearance very similar to the Yeti also encountered in Tibet. Its feathery components are a silvery white.

Occurrence

• Tomb Raider II
  • Ice Palace

Strategy

The guardian is not very agile but due to its size it can still be a danger to Lara. Its main attack is a swing of one of its arms. Lara can dodge these attacks by staying on her toes and jumping around all the time, or she can choose to retreat to a safe spot like the roof of the temple or a depression inside the temple from where she can target the guardian.

If choosing the action-oriented approach, it is advised to use a powerful weapon that does not take much time to aim like the Uzis or the Grenade Launcher. When choosing to use the sniper tactics using anything but the Pistols is basically a waste of ammunition.

Similar Enemies

• Guardian of the Kingdom

Another Bird Monster, encountered in The Golden Mask

See also

• Talion

The artefact the Guardian of the Talion guards

Further Information

Mythological Background

The creature seems to be a Garuda, a large mythical bird or bird-like creature that appears in both Hindu and Buddhist mythology. The garuḍa are enemies to the nāga, a race of intelligent serpent- or dragon-like beings, whom they hunt. This has a relation with the Guardian of the Talion and the Dragon of Xian. The Garuda guards the Talion, which can open the way to the dagger, it means, the dragon.