–Frostwind
Frostwind is the boss of the Snow Gate and the first boss of the Drawn to Life series. It is an ancient Ice Dragon that is awoken by Wilfre to imprison Heather and to destroy The Hero as well as The Village. Frostwind resides in the fifth level of the Snow Gate.
Frostwind is awoken by Wilfre to destroy the village after he himself fails to steal the Book of Life, due to being confronted by The Hero, Mari, and Jowee. Shortly after he leaves the village, the ground begins to shake, sending the Raposa into a panic. The Mayor then instructs The Hero to go into the Snow Gate to defeat Frostwind, to keep it from destroying the village.
This boss battle is composed of three "phases" in which the player must navigate through in order to defeat Frostwind and to save Heather. Frostwind has four health, though it cannot be damaged by projectiles or regular jump-attacks, and inflicts damage to the player through contact and ice-spike projectiles.
Appearance[]
Frostwind is an enormous, limbless dragon with a forked snake-like tongue. It is covered in blue scales that become lighter in color near its stomach. Frostwind has a large head with a frill near its jaw, short horns, and sharp pointed teeth. There are two odd waving tentacle-like appendages near the end of its body.
Frostwind is composed of seven identical body segments (not including the head and tail).
Battle[]
The battle with Frostwind is separated into three sections, or phases.
In the first phase, Frostwind chases The Hero throughout a semi-flat segment of the level with many "bottomless" pits. Once the battle begins, the screen will auto-scroll to the right, forcing the player to keep moving at a steady rate. The player must stay in the center of the moving screen and fire occasionally at Frostwind using their Snowshooter in order to keep the boss from getting too close and inflicting damage through contact. Shots fired at Frostwind will not inflict damage to it, and will only prevent the boss from advancing closer to the player. At some points, Frostwind will fly into random pits in order to ambush The Hero as they approach.
At some point, the player will reach the end of the auto-scrolling segment and will advance to the second, and final, segment of the level. This marks the start of the second phase of the fight. Now, the player is limited to a single, small, flat, elevated platform [1] with Heather trapped in a cage hanging from a ledge far above the player. The player must now avoid projectile and contact-based attacks from Frostwind. Frostwind may now be damaged during this phase by shooting the boss to temporarily stun it, then butt-stomping (commonly called ground-pounding) its head.
After losing three-quarters of its health, Frostwind will gain a red tint and his attacks and movements will become faster. This indicates the third and final phase.
If the player runs out of ammunition or is heavily damaged during the second and third phases, Heather will occasionally throw out helpful items to assist The Hero.
Once defeated, the Shadow Cage containing Heather will fall and break, freeing her.
Trivia[]
- Frostwind cannot be damaged or stunned while it's firing ice-spikes at The Hero.
- The "Snowy World" tune is used in this level prior to Frostwind's initial introduction.
- A "perfect run" of the first phase, where the player passes through it as quickly as possible, takes exactly two minutes.
- Wilfre refers to Frostwind as, "[…] a little surprise for [the village]"[2]
- Frostwind's roar can be heard from the village. This suggests that it, and the physical locations within the Snow Gate, are closer to the village than those of any other World Gate.
- Frostwind is the only boss not to have Shadow Goo around its eye in the original Drawn to Life (unless another one counts Wilfre's Scorpion as a boss without Shadow Goo around its eye).
- This could suggest it was not corrupted by Wilfre, but rather destructive by nature.
- The area of the Snow Gate in which Frostwind resides is called "Snowy-Snow Mountain".[3]
- This is made clear by The Mayor when he instructs the player to defeat the boss.
- It looks similar to the Sea Serpent, an object from Scribblenauts.
- Frostwind is likely a Wyrm, a type of European dragon that typically lacks limbs and wings yet still has the ability to fly using magic.
- Frostwind could possibly be a reference to Jörmungandr, a character from Norse mythology who is the son of Loki (the god of mischief) and brother of Hel (the godess of death).
Media[]
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"Snowy World" theme played before Frostwind's introduction. |
"Trouble" theme heard in the village as Frostwind awakens. |
Frostwind's boss battle theme. |
