Gorgodons, introduced in Nightfall, are a hybrid of four different animals that Lady Gisela created to guard her Nightfall. It consists of Flareadons for the fire resistance, Gorgonops for their fangs, Argentavises for their wingspans and Eurypterids for their stinging tails. They ended up much more deadly than Lady Gisela had expected, as genetics can be complex. It resulted in them having venomous fangs, wings, talons, spikes on their tail, the ability to fly, breathe underwater, scale walls, and the ability to camouflage themselves. Their tail also drops venom.
Unlike her original plan of making ten, which was the purpose of the Everblaze in Keeper of the Lost Cities, which was necessary for incubating the Gorgodon eggs which needed the pure untamed flame, only three survived as they turned out vulnerable to fire. Brant and Fintan had managed to steer the fire away from two of them, and Ruy protected one with a forcefield, leaving seven dead. To get past them undetected you must cover yourself in ash from Everblaze, which is how Sophie, Marella, Tam, and Biana got past them in Lady Gisela's Nightfall. The Neverseen then killed off two of them leaving another one to roam the halls of Vespera's Nightfall.
When Sophie and her friends go to Vespera's Nightfall, they struggle to fight the Gorgodon and have to use several methods to keep it at bay.
In Legacy, Wynn starts teleporting into the Gorgodon's cage, making the gnomes put layers of wires on the cage made of iron tempered with lumenite, which is extremely strong. Later in Legacy Sophie suggests that it's because Wynn knows what it's like to be the last of its kind and is trying to comfort the Gorgodon.
Trivia[]
- When Fitz Vacker, in Nightfall, heard that the four animals made up a "Gorgodon", said that the name should be "Gorgentaveridon" because all the animals should all get a part in the name.
- Some feel that the Gorgodons are now the rarest creature on the planet with only one left, but others argue that they aren't natural and shouldn't count. (Linh in particular feels sympathy for the lone creature in Havenfield and wonders why the Council isn't insisting on resetting the Timeline to Extinction.)
Quotes[]
“...it was huge, ugly, and as deadly as possible.”