Connection between The Beast and the Dragon Kings?

[Kardas]

So as I was playing the Brave New World dungeons I remembered a little story detail from Underworld. Possible spoilers if you haven't completed Underworld BTW.
Basically, I think there might be a connection between The Beast and the Dragon Kings. My argument is based on the story level 'The Demon's Seed'. I copied it down below for ease of reference:



The Clairvoyant: have you noticed all these strange objects lying around?
Eddie:…
The Clairvoyant: Yes, they do almost do look like scales. (sic)
The Prisoner: What you see are just empty husks – those have already been used. The Dark Lord uses them to power his army of demons. They are called “Talismans”
The Clairvoyant: What!? You’re saying Talismans come from… these things!?
The Prisoner: There are tales of an enormous, primordial creature in league with the Dark Lord… It is believed the Talismans come from the hide of that beast.
The Clairvoyant: I don’t know of any God or Eternal like what you describe… Let’s hope we don’t meet the creature these scales came from!


I think the Dragon King is the primordial creature in league with The Beast. Why?
- It's truly enormous. The biggest enemy in the game by a long shot.
- BNW drops Talismans as loot. You could argue that Talismans you pick up from BNW levels are loot taken from the Dragon King's body. We know for a fact the Dragon King is corrupting and enslaving the people (and Droids) of the BNW Gardens. The Dragon King even grants them some of his Talismans for them to use on higher levels.
- Not only do you fight corrupted and undead people and droids in BNW, but also Demon Spawn. These Demon Spawn are another connection to The Beast. Either The Beast granted them, or they spawned from the Dragon King itself, establishing his demonic nature, even if the Dragon King and Demon Spawn aren't too related visually.

Of course, one easy counter argument to all this though is that there's three Dragon Kings instead of one, but for the rest I think this theory adds up.
Thoughts?

[Mariner-1212]

I remember that, good pull! I recently went back through UW in full to see if there was any Alchemist info I missed in the story and read that.

I like your theory. Another one I tossed around are that these Dragon Kings are just 'arms' of the giant creature in league with the beast. There are tentacles all over BNW, demolishing everything. We run through the levels beating many iterations of these dragon kings, which are part of a larger, inclusive demon. The demon spawns are similar to the spiders the DK tosses out of his mouths. It has a huge "Alien (movie)" feel to it, and reminds me of the classic game Contra.

Essentially, they're building pieces around the story, with layers upon layers for longevity of the storyline. Just my humble opinion.

[druid138]

I think you're on to something. A LotB Facebook post that just went up refers to the primordial Dragon King.

[The Educated fool]

I remember that, good pull! I recently went back through UW in full to see if there was any Alchemist info I missed in the story and read that.

I like your theory. Another one I tossed around are that these Dragon Kings are just 'arms' of the giant creature in league with the beast. There are tentacles all over BNW, demolishing everything. We run through the levels beating many iterations of these dragon kings, which are part of a larger, inclusive demon. The demon spawns are similar to the spiders the DK tosses out of his mouths. It has a huge "Alien (movie)" feel to it, and reminds me of the classic game Contra.

Essentially, they're building pieces around the story, with layers upon layers for longevity of the storyline. Just my humble opinion.

That is a very interesting theory indeed! Both you and Kardas are definitely correct that the dragons are (or at least, are part of) the source of talismans though, for sure, since during the (roughly ;) ) fifty years BNW was "Coming Soon," the write-up point blank claimed that the player would "discover the origin of the talismans."

I agree with your analogy too... definitely an old school, Contra feel!

[kkkreg5]

...and I thought there was no room for expansion of the story... silly me!!

[Dank Brew]

Awesome catch. I never would have realized the connection! That's why I love this game, so many hidden references and stories. And of course the artwork haha

[thealchemist]

There are 3 dragon kings of 3 class types it seems, but The Beast in NOTB changes class during battle so why couldn't the Dragon King change between dungeons? I think your theory more than holds up Kardas.

[Kardas]

I remember that, good pull! I recently went back through UW in full to see if there was any Alchemist info I missed in the story and read that.

I like your theory. Another one I tossed around are that these Dragon Kings are just 'arms' of the giant creature in league with the beast. There are tentacles all over BNW, demolishing everything. We run through the levels beating many iterations of these dragon kings, which are part of a larger, inclusive demon. The demon spawns are similar to the spiders the DK tosses out of his mouths. It has a huge "Alien (movie)" feel to it, and reminds me of the classic game Contra.

Essentially, they're building pieces around the story, with layers upon layers for longevity of the storyline. Just my humble opinion.

I'm not really familiar with Contra so I had to look it up, but I can see what you mean with it. Your 'arm' theory is a pretty interesting interpretation as well!


There are 3 dragon kings of 3 class types it seems, but The Beast in NOTB changes class during battle so why couldn't the Dragon King change between dungeons? I think your theory more than holds up Kardas.

Hah, I hadn't considered that at all! Nice one!

[Caretaker]

"Kardas the storyteller" :cool:
And talismans are your treat. Love the reference, could be used in a comic and you should be awarded for the idea, though I doubt it was intended :p