The Virages are a race of monsters encountered in the 1999 RPG The Legend Of Dragoon, having been supposedly created by the Winglies for use in the Dragon Campaign. In much the same way that Dragoons were used by the humans as trump cards against the Winglies, so to were the Virages cultivated as living weapons to counter the power of the Dragoons.
Though the Dragon Campaign ended over eleven thousand years prior to the start of the game and Winglies no longer have it in their power to create new Virages, some of these ancient beasts still cling to life in the ruins of ancient battlefields, slumbering through the millennia in a state of deathlike hibernation - until disturbed by the protagonists. As such, they appear as recurring bosses throughout the game.
For much of the game, the exact origins of the Virages are a mystery, most survivors of the Dragon Campaign assuming that they were the sole creation of the Winglies and nothing more. However, the finale reveals that the Winglies simply grew these beasts from samples they obtained from a creature known as the Virage Embryo, and in reality, the Virages were created by this unborn God of Destruction to serve as its bodyguards from the start of its incubation until the time of its apotheosis.
Appearance and Physiology[]
The common Virage
The overwhelming majority of Virages are gigantic, gray, vaguely-humanoid creatures with distinctly arthropod traits - including carapace-like skin, insectoid mouthparts and spider-like eyes. Approximately twenty feet tall on average, their bipedal frames sport long arms and backwards-bending legs with claw-tipped digits capable of clinging to sheer ledges, and later events in the game reveal that Virages possess collapsible wings that allow them to fly for considerable distances - though most of the ancient specimens are too wounded or deteriorated to use their wings. Despite their height, Virages possess a somewhat compacted physiology, their faces sitting in the middle of their torsos, effectively cutting down on the number of weak points an enemy can attack. Virages possess seven eyes, with six lesser ones mounted around its seventh primary eyeball; in battle, these eyes can be used to launch devastating beams of energy, with all six eyes deploying on stalks as they charge up the main eye's blast.
However, there exists a rare subspecies of Super-Virage quite dissimilar to its lesser brethren in appearance: the elite of their kind, the Super-Virages were almost as tall as the more commonplace specimens, but tended to possess heavier physiques more reminiscent of tanks than human beings. Mounted on two massive pillar-like legs, their gargantuan bodies are heavily armored with exoskeleton, and usually sport two massive built-in weapons: a massive blade-shaped appendage on the right side of the body, and a multi-barreled biological cannon on the left. Lacking the dexterous limbs of their lesser fellows, the Super-Virages instead manipulate the surrounding environments through tentacles contained in their blades.
As of yet, it is unknown if either breed of Virage is sentient or even capable of intelligent thought: however, over the course of the game, they appear to demonstrate both memory and emotion. Numerous Virages awaken in the presence of either the Moon Child or the Dragoons, either stirred by the approach of their true master or by their ancient enemies - the latter demonstrating that they are actually capable of holding a grudge for over eleven thousand years. Upon awakening, Virages will attack Dragoons on sight regardless of how badly they've been wounded, and will not retreat until the enemy is dead: even the loss of all four limbs and submergence in lava isn't enough to subdue a Virage's killing instinct, and wounded Super-Virages are fully prepared to expend the last of their energies on a suicide attack if it means an opportunity to take their opponents with them.
Powers and Abilities[]
All Virages possess immense physical strength, capable of flinging even the mighty Gigantos around like ragdolls, carving up solid rock with their claws, or - in the case of the Super Virages - shaking the ground violently enough to bring chunks of masonry tumbling down on their enemies; an especially dangerous attack used by intact Virages involves snatching up a single opponent, slowly crushing them between their fingers and slamming them against their eyeballs - usually killing the victim instantly.
However, they also possess significant magical strength: along with their famous ability to project beams of energy from their eyes, they can also launch "bubbles" of magic from their hands, and even cast fields of mind-disrupting power across the battlefield - inducing irrational terror in anyone not sufficiently armored against such attacks; Super Virages also possess biological laser cannons mounted on their bodies, through which they can channel enough energy to commit suicide attacks if necessary. For good measure, those Virages capable of flying can also use these techniques while in flight, making them lethal obstacles to targets on the ground and in the air.
However, the most impressive ability of the Virage lies in its capacity to endure and regenerate: even after having all four of its limbs severed, the creature can not only continue fighting but eventually grow fresh limbs in a matter of minutes; younger Virages are capable of regenerating even faster. During flashbacks to the battle of Kadessa, one Virage is shown being sheared clean in half by Michael before being blasted with the Darkness Dragon's chest cannon; not only does it survive long enough to grow fresh legs, but close-ups show it continuously regenerating fresh limbs almost as quickly as Michael's cannon can tear them off - the creature only dying as a result of its wings failing to open before it reaches the ground.
Even when dealt injuries that its physiology cannot possibly withstand, a Virage can survive by retreating into a state of hibernation. In this state, Virages have survived being submerged up to their abdomen in molten lava and even being caught in the destruction of an entire Wingly metropolis; if left alone, they will happily wait out the millennia undisturbed, remaining in such comas for over 11,000 years without ill-effect - and upon waking, they can return to fighting almost instantly.
History and In-Game Encounters[]
The Divine Tree and the Dragon Campaign[]
Having presumably been created alongside their master, the Virage Embryo, the history of the Virages dates back to the creation of Endiness: the god Soa and his followers created the world from void and gave it life by planting the seed of the Divine Tree in its barren dust; eventually, this vast tree gave life to the world in the form of 108 fruits, and from each fruit, a new form of life emerged to populate the new world. However, the last of the fruits did not give life, instead remaining in dormancy until its appointed time: this 108th fruit was the Virage Embryo, the God of Destruction; should Endiness ever fall into stagnation and entropy, this unborn god would emerge from its incubation to destroy the entire planet, and then build a new world from its ashes. With this system established, Soa retreated to the heavens and left his creations to their own devices.
As such, both the Virage Embryo and the Virages lying dormant in its flesh both remained undisturbed until the Winglies rose to prominence as a global power: having formed a mighty empire based on the subjugation and enslavement of all other species, they were forever in search of new sources of power, and under the reign of Emperor Melbu Frahma, they reached borderline cosmic feats of influence. Having already gained the power to divert the souls of their enemies to Hell via Mayfil, their "Death City," Frahma hoped to obtain truly divine powers from the Divine Tree, and eventually discovered them in the form of the Virage Embryo.
Fearing the end of the world and his earthly reign, Frahma separated the God of Destruction's body from its soul in the hope that it would be enough to stop Soa's divine purification, eventually positioning the vacant flesh in open space above Endiness - where it was eventually named "The Moon That Never Sets." Unfortunately, Frahma was too greedy to simply discard the God's power outright: not only did he utilize the unborn deity's soul as a potent source of magical power, but he also took several specimens of Virage from the god's body for study and development.
When humanity finally rebelled against Wingly rule, Melbu Frahma was initially unperturbed, believing that the slave revolt would eventually be crushed without magical power of their own; however, the humans soon discovered the hidden power of Dragons, using their crystallized spirits in order to transform themselves into powerful magical warriors known as Dragoons - powerful enough to command live dragons in battle, eventually granting the war its popular label of "The Dragon Campaign."
With his forces struggling to contain the threat, Melbu Frahma eventually deployed the Virages he'd cultivated in order to counter the strength of the Dragoons. Though the Dragoons were undeniably powerful, they could not remain transformed indefinitely: not only did the Virages have a continuous advantage of strength, but they also had numbers on their side; Frahma could cultivate hundreds of the creatures at a time, while humanity only had seven Dragoons - upon which hundreds of Dragons depended on for command. However, through speed and clever tactics, the Dragoons were able to maintain the upper hand.
Belzac impaled on a Virage's talons
The war finally came to an end in the Battle of Kadessa, held in the airborne capital city of the Wingly Empire. Here, all but one of the Dragoons were killed in action, most of them by Virages: a Super-Virage lurking within the city itself dealt mortal injuries to the Violet Dragoon Kanzas, and he resulted to a suicide attack in order to take the mighty beast with him; during the collapse of the palace, Belzac the Golden Dragoon attempted to save Shirley the White-Silver Dragoon from being crushed by the falling roof, but though he succeeded in catching the several-ton ceiling before it fell, a Virage was able to casually impale him through the chest with one of its claws in the process; unwilling to leave Belzac to die, Shirley stayed behind to fight, ultimately being killed along with him when the Virage opened fire on them. However, the last two Dragoons were able to corner Melbu Frahma in his palace and slay him - though it resulted in the Red-Eyed Dragon Zieg being fatally petrified. Ultimately, the war ended with the surrender of the Winglies, the apparent extinction of the Virages, and Rose the Darkness Dragoon as the only surviving member of humanity's greatest champions.
However, not all of the Wingly empire's trump cards had died: not only were the majority of the Virages still on the moon, but even after suffering apparently fatal injuries, several Dragon Campaign-era Virages were able to retreat into dormancy throughout the world, slowly recovering from their wounds in a state of hibernation that - in most cases - lasted for thousands of years. Ironically, Rose ended up following the Virages into immortality: having discovered the truth behind the Virage Embryo, she'd also learned that it's spirit had escaped from captivity and started reincarnating itself on Endiness in the form of a human known as the Moon Child; with help from Winglies sympathetic to her cause, she was able to make herself effectively immortal, allowing her to seek out each Moon Child and kill it before it could complete the destruction of Endiness.
Volcano Villude[]
The players' first encounter with a Virage occurs roughly halfway through the first disc, ultimately serving as the game's seventh boss battle: Dart, Shana, Lavitz and Rose are currently aiding Basil in the civil war with Sandora and have taken a detour through the volcano Villude in order to launch a surprise attack on the lair of Feyrbrand, a dragon currently being used by the Sandoran war effort. However, while the party are crossing the lava fields, Shana happens to sense something calling to her in a volcanic crater somewhere nearby, and finding herself unable to resist its psychic pull, hurries off to investigate.
The first Virage, lying dormant in lava
When Dart and the others catch up, they find her standing next to a gigantic figure lying half-submerged in a deep pool of lava; however, Rose is able to identify it as a Virage - as well as the fact that the creature is actually still alive despite having been soaking in lava for over eleven thousand years. As it happens, this particular Virage has been featured in rumors and tall tales from as far as the fortified town of Hoax, with numerous travelers reporting a strange statue lying somewhere in the volcano; at present, it's not known exactly how the creature ended up in the volcano in the first place, as there don't appear to be any Wingly ruins or ancient battlegrounds nearby. However, what is known is that upon all such occasions in the past, the "statue" has remained completely motionless. This time, the Virage awakens and immediately tries to attack the party.
At the time, Rose speculates that the Dragon Campaign left it with a lasting hatred of both humans and Dragoons in particular, and the presence of two of its ancient nemeses drove it to awaken in an attempt to take revenge; however, unknown to both her and the rest of the team, Shana is actually the current Moon Child, so it's equally possible that the Virage was actually stirred from dormancy by the presence of its master. Whatever the case, a boss fight quickly ensues.
Fortunately, thanks to the wounds it sustained in the Dragon Campaign and the several millennia spent lying in molten lava, this particular Virage is weak compared to others of its kind: it's missing both its legs and its right arm, and doesn't appear to be able to regenerate them at present. However, even in its crippled state, the Virage is still a dangerous opponent thanks to its eye beams, and this particular boss battle will usually be the toughest fight of the disc so far.
Once the boss battle is over, Dart will perform a coup de grace that will send the Virage toppling into a far deeper pit of lava; unable to escape, the creature can only thrash around as it tries and fails to reach out for the party, sinking steadily lower into the crater. Alarmed by the disturbance of the magma, Dart and the others leave. However, Rose remains behind to watch as one of the relics of her time in the Dragon Campaign slowly vanishes beneath the lava, until Dart finally calls her away. The last the players see of the Virage, its head has been completely submerged in the magma, with only its fingertips protruding past the surface; with this in mind, it can safely be presumed that this particular Virage is well and truly dead.
The Valley Of Corrupted Gravity[]
The next encounter with a Virage occurs comparatively early in the second disc: in their pursuit of Lloyd, the party have been entrusted with the task of investigating the Gehrich Gang's activities and rescuing a hostage they have acquired over the course of the recent crime wave; unfortunately, to reach the gang's secret base in the far north of Tiberoa, Dart and the others have to venture into the Valley of Corrupted Gravity, an ancient battleground dating back to the Dragon Campaign. Having been subjected to the reality-warping collision of Dragoon magic and Wingly magic, physics in the area have been permanently distorted as a result - most prominently in the form of the gravity-resistant asteroids that make up the majority of the terrain. Despite the unfamiliar territory, it's not long before Shana begins to hear the voice of another Virage in her head.
The second Virage, petrified in the Valley of Corrupted Gravity
Eventually, the rest of the party discover that the creature in question is blocking the road ahead. Worse still, this particular Virage is completely intact, suffering none of the injuries that its predecessor in Villude had demonstrated. The boss battle is inevitable, and begins as soon as the player characters attempt to leave via the path to the north: though almost everyone in the party is a Dragoon by now with the exception of Meru (and Dart, thanks to Mappi's theft of his Dragoon spirit), the battle is still likely to be difficult - in no small part due to the fact that this particular Virage has the ability to instantly KO party members by crushing them in its fists and slamming them against its eyes, an attack that not even a Dragoon transformation can save them from. For good measure, it's functioning limbs make it a good deal more effective in combat than it's counterpart in Vilude: quite apart from being a great deal swifter than its massive size would suggest, it's also capable of stomping player characters with its feet or projecting devastating bubbles of energy from its hands.
Once again, Dart finishes the battle with a coup de grace that forces the monster to the brink of the current asteroid; however, the impact's not quite enough to send it over the precipice, and the Virage is able to latch on to a narrow outcropping - but only just. Then, while teetering on the very edge of the abyss, the Virage then makes a grab for Shana, perhaps in a misguided attempt to "rescue" the Moon Child from the Dragoons it hates so much. However, Shana instinctively manifests her latent powers in the form of a searing halo of energy; reeling from the sheer power, the Virage loses its balance and plunges to its death in the canyon below, bouncing off numerous asteroids on the way down.
The Forbidden Land[]
The third encounter with a Virage is technically optional, and only occurs if the players diverge from the main path during a mission towards the halfway point in Disc 3. In this particular instance, the Divine Dragon has emerged from captivity and is wreaking activity across Mille Seseau; as such, it falls to Dart and the player characters to acquire the Dragon Block Staff in an attempt to seal the legendary monster back in its prison. However, this requires them to venture into the ruins of Kadessa, regarded by modern Winglies as a place of shame and corruption; with the aid of the Wingly Elder Blano, Dart and the others are teleported into the desolate city and begin searching for any signs of the ancient artifact.
As labyrinthine as the city is, it may be possible to miss the Virage entirely, either due to a failure to investigate certain areas or simple frustration: the chamber where the third encounter may be found can only be accessed by deactivating five switches, each one of which is guarded by a security drone that will follow the players around the room and slow them down with unnecessary battles - easy to defeat but still frustrating due to the fact that the drones will immediately respawn upon being defeated.
The Super-Virage at Kadessa (note the distinctive right arm and the gash torn in the body)
Upon deactivating the final switch and accessing the chamber, it's immediately clear that this encounter is significantly different from previous occurrences: by this stage, Shana has left the party after being rejected by her Dragoon spirit and is currently recuperating at the Crystal Palace, her place on the team being filled by Miranda from this point onward; as such, there is no early warning of the Virage's presence, nor does Miranda's presence stir anything in the ancient monster's dormant psyche.
Instead, upon passing through a series of teleporters to a ledge just above of a deep pit in the ruins, Dart finds himself at a dead end and moves to leave - whereupon he and Rose notice the Virage lying comatose in the chasm below. However, Rose quickly establishes that this is no ordinary variant, but one of the dreaded Super-Virages; more specifically, it's the one that Kanzas suicide-bombed over eleven thousand years ago, and despite having been at ground zero at an explosion powerful enough to consume much of the district, it's somehow still alive - though horribly scarred.
This time, the boss awakes entirely due to the presence of the Dragoons, and a battle follows: as with all optional bosses, it's a particularly devastating one, for though the Super-Virage is barely clinging to life thanks to the injuries Kanzas dealt it, the fact that it's effectively on death's doorstep makes it even more determined to take the party with it. After ten turns, the Super-Virage will self-destruct, dealing massive damage to the party members - enough to kill all three of them if not adequately prepared. However, if players so chose, they can not attack the monster at all, instead remaining on the defensive until the boss finally expires - as the prizes and experience rewarded remain the same regardless of what approach the player takes.
The Moon That Never Sets[]
In an unusual departure from the norm, the players encounter Virages at least three times over the course of the fourth and final disc: having discovered the revived Zieg's plan to reunite the Moon Child with her original body and allow the Virage Embryo to destroy all of Endiness, the players set off to stop him by attempting to block his access to the three signet spheres that prevent the Moon That Never Sets from descending. However, in all every single instance, the spheres are destroyed before the Dragoons can mount an effective defense, forcing them to stop Zieg on a more direct basis before he can complete his apocalyptic mission: this requires them to venture to the Moon That Never Sets itself as it descends from the sky and lands in its original position atop the Divine Tree.
However, once the Moon settles in the branches and begins rooting itself back into the tree, dozens of craters begin opening across the surface of the Virage Embryo's body, and from each crater, a new Virage is born. As the party approaches aboard their magical steed Coolon, the Virage army takes to the air and begins circling the Moon, opening fire on anything that gets too close - including Coolon. Struck by the energy beams of one of the defenders, Coolon fatally crash-lands in the roots of the Tree, forcing Dart and the others to slowly ascend through the inner conduits in order to avoid being caught by the patrolling army.
The Super-Virage on guard at the center of the Moon
The second instance - also the third-last boss in the entire game - occurs once the players have made their way through the labyrinth of landscapes conjured up by the Virage Embryo and reached the very center of the Moon; blocking the way to the heart of the God's body is a Super-Virage, and unlike its counterpart at Kadessa, it's completely intact. Already a formidable opponent due to its complete roster of powers and unhindered regenerative capabilities, this gatekeeper Super-Virage also possesses the same ability to self-destruct if it wants to take the enemy with it, forcing players to keep HP high and defenses up in order to avoid being caught off-guard.
The final encounter with Virages in The Legend Of Dragoon occurs during the last boss battle with Melbu Frahma; having taken Shana's place and fused with the core of the Virage Embryo, he has become the God of Destruction and now possesses the ability to command Virages. As such, one of his attacks in the first stage of this battle involves him summoning an entire trio of Virages into the field, having them land feet-first on the party-members, and them blast them with their eye-beams at point-blank range before vanishing in a massive fireball.
Ultimately, Melbu Frahma is slain in battle and the Moon That Never Sets is destroyed; as such, the remaining Virage population are presumably killed, either in the initial explosion or the death of their progenitor.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- The text for the encounter with the Super-Virage at Kadessa contains a slight error: Rose claims that this is the Virage that killed Belzac, even though the creature that fatally impaled the Gold Dragoon was an ordinary Virage, and Belzac had no opportunity to leave scars of any kind on his attacker. In reality, it's the Virage that killed Kanzas.