Salamander (legendary creature) in popular culture

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References to the legendary salamander in popular culture - in fiction (especially fantasy fiction), role-playing and video games, animation, and so on - can be categorized in three ways: as a fantastic (sometimes magical) beast with an affinity with fire, as a true fire elemental,[1] and allusions to the salamander's fiery nature.

Contents

[edit] Fantastic beasts

Books
  • In Estates and Empires of the Sun and Moon, Cyrano de Bergerac depicts a battle between the salamander as fire-creature and the remora as ice-creature, culminating in the triumph of the remora.
  • In C.S. Lewis's Narnia novel The Silver Chair (1953), salamanders are said to be very wise creatures that live in the flames of Bism and speak to the gnome-like Earthmen there.
  • In Piers Anthony's Xanth novel A Spell for Chameleon (1977), salamanders are lizards who breathe magical fire.
  • In Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, salamanders are used by iconographers to create the flash for their pictures. See, for example, The Truth (2006).
  • Salamanders appear as magical beasts in J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series (1997-2007). The are bright-orange lizards that can live in fireplaces.
  • In the Spiderwick series of children's books by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black (2003 onwards), salamanders appear as lizards with many paws that can live in the fire without burning and evolute to wyrm dragons as they become adult. Goblins, griffins and giants are shown eating salamanders, the latter being able to breathe fire when they do so.
  • In Emily Gee's novel The Thief With No Shadow (2007), salamanders are humanoid fire-breathing troglodytes with blood-red skin, (figuratively) flaming eyes, spiny crests, and snake-like tails: "Not lizard, not man, but something else."
Games
  • In the RuneScape MMORPG, salamanders can be caught and used as weapons that shoot fire.
  • Throughout the entire Final Fantasy media franchise, salamanders can be found as fire-breathing enemies.
  • In the World of Warcraft MMORPG, the salamander (beast) is a monstrous reptilian quadruped with a fiery breath weapon, reaching about 40 feet long and weighing close to 4,000 pounds.[2] Compare salamander (elemental), below.
  • In the tabletop fantasy wargame Warhammer Fantasy Battle, a salamander is a giant, predatory amphibian that inhabits jungle swamps and estuaries and can vomit a fiery venom.
  • In the tabletop space opera wargame Warhammer 40,000, the Salamanders are a chapter of the Imperium's Space Marines, named for the lizards native to their volcanic homeworld, themselves named for the legendary salamander.
  • The digimon Salamandermon has fiery qualities to it and a flame pattern on its back.
  • In the Pokémon media franchise, Charmander is a salamander-like Pokémon with some of the fiery characteristics of the legendary salamander.
  • In the Age of Wonders PC game, a salamander is a type of Lizardman that is born once in a generation. It is "born of fire" and delights in lighting things ablaze. Lizardmen hate and fear fire, and think of salamanders as outcasts. However, the salamanders are still fiercely loyal to their lizardmen brethren, and will fight for them in battle.
  • In the PlayStation 2 video game Odin Sphere, Salamanders are small, lizard-like reptiles that are enemies in the fiery Volkenon region.
  • In the online game AdventureQuest The player can fight the fire creatures Young Salamanders and Salamanders.
  • In Dungeon Keeper 2, the salamander is a creature that resists lava and can launch fire balls from its mouth.
  • In the NES game The Magic of Scheherazade, Salamander is the fire demon fought at the end of the fourth chapter.
Other
See also 
Reptilian humanoids in fiction

[edit] Fire elementals

  • In Poul Anderson's short story "Operation Salamander" (1956), fire elementals appear as lizard-shapes hidden in flame.
  • In the Mercedes Lackey's Elemental Masters series (1995-2005), salamanders are portrayed as lesser fire elementals.
  • In Dungeons & Dragons, salamanders are serpentine beings who dwell in metal cities in the Elemental Plane of Fire. [3]
  • In the Secret of Mana video game, the elemental of fire, Salamando, takes its name, properties and appearance from the legendary salamander.
  • In the World of Warcraft MMORPG, the salamander (elemental) is the flame-loving cousin of the fire elemental, originating from the Firelands on the Elemental Plane.[2] Compare salamander (beast), above.
  • In the Castlevania: Circle of the Moon video game, Nathan can summon Salamander to provide him with fire-elemental magic.
  • In the Nintendo DS Lost Magic game, the Salamander is one of the four elementals, found in Blaze Lake; attacks using fireballs.
See also
Elementals in fiction

[edit] Allusion

Books
Games
  • In the BattleTech franchise, the Salamander is a Clan anti-battlemech and anti-infantry battle armor that utilizes a flamethrower-type weapon in conjunction with incendiary missiles.
  • In the second and third installments of the games in the Mega Man: Battle Network series, a player with a style aligned with fire can harness the power of fire and sent a great flame in the shape of the creature flying at the enemy, a powerful attack known as the Salamander.
Other
  • In the manga/anime Fullmetal Alchemist, Colonel Roy Mustang, known as the Flame Alchemist has a salamander depicted on the transmutation circle on his gloves. While wearing the gloves, with a snap of his fingers, he can set anything ablaze.
  • In the anime Digimon Frontier, Kanbara Takuya's human evolution Agnimon has three attacks, two of which are Salamander Break and Burning Salamander. In addition, Takuya's theme song is "Salamander", performed by Takeuchi Junko.
  • Jethro Tull's song "Salamander", from Too Old to Rock 'n' Roll: Too Young to Die!, contains several allusions in its lyrics; for example: "born in the sun-kissed flame" and "burn for me and I'll burn for you".
  • In "See Homer Run", an episode of The Simpsons, Homer Simpson becomes the Safety Salamander, a fire-safety mascot.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Langford, David (1997). "Elementals". The Encyclopedia of Fantasy. Ed. Grant, John, and Clute, John. London: Orbit/Little, Brown and Company. 313-314. ISBN 1857233689. 
  2. ^ a b Salamander - WoWWiki, the Warcraft wiki
  3. ^ Williams, Skip; Tweet, Jonathan; and Cook, Monte (2003). Monster Manual: Core Rulebook III v.3.5. Renton: Wizards of the Coast, 218-219. ISBN 078692893X.  (d20 open content)