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Grumble...snore...what!?  Scroll down and quit bothering me, can't you see I'm trying to sleep?




Humpty Dumpty shall be avenged!

Clodhopper

Yes, I mugged one of Santa Claus' elves to get my attire, what's it to you?



Riding the merry-go-round isn't as egg-citing as I thought it would be...


Gaudily-dressed walking eggs that can be randomly encountered in Sega's 1991 Shining in The Darkness Genesis/Megadrive roleplaying video game, which was developed by Climax Entertainment/Sonic! Software Planning. More recently, said title has also been made available as a download for the Nintendo Wii Virtual Console and as a selection on the Microsoft Xbox 360 and Sony Playstation 3 Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection compilation. Shining in The Darkness is notable for being the first game released in the ongoing Shining RPG franchise, although, in terms of gameplay, it's a first-person dungeon crawler, not a tactical warfare simulation like the more popular Shining Force installments of said series. The monsters Clodhopper, Deathgrin, and Mazerunner all share the same base game sprite, although they do have different color schemes and attributes.

The exact origin of these strange creatures is unknown, but scholars believe that such a ridiculous-looking organism could only have arisen as a direct result of some arrogant wizard playing god (the most popular hypothesis involves a hungry sorcerer by the name of Gongge and his disastrous attempt to create enchanted eggs that could hard-boil themselves.) Regardless of how they came into existance, Clodhoppers, Deathgrins, and Mazerunners can be found wandering, in great numbers, throughout the corridors of the mysterious Labyrinth in the Kingdom of Thornwood. While their comical appearance and jovial grins might lead the inexperienced adventurer to consider them harmless, or, even worse, friendly, these strutting eggs are malicious and dangerous combatants. During battle, these monsters exhibit an uncanny ability to find any weak points their adversaries may have, often crippling, or even killing, a foe with a single well-placed kick to an unprotected vital area.


Monster
Species
Group
Size
Hit
Points
Attack Defense Speed Experience
Points
Gold Encounter
Locations
Special
Attributes
Clodhopper

I hop clods--lumps of sod or idiots, it's all the same to me.
1-3 21-24 75 38 42 22 26 Trial of Courage n/a
Deathgrin

I grin in the face of death, but he still kills me anyway.
1-4 27-30 85 44 50 39 32 Trial of Truth. Often scores Critical Hits with kicks.
Mazerunner

I run through mazes, but never with scissors.
1-4 44-47 122 54 72 108 62 Trial of Wisdom. Often scores Critical Hits with kicks.

Materials:
Newsprint, tissue paper, wire twist ties, white glue, acrylic paint, sand, plastic (transparent base only), and super glue.

Dimensions:
4.3 cm/1.7 in. x 5.0 cm/2.0 in. (widest point x highest point)
(4.0 cm/1.6 in. tall without the hat.)

Time:
Two days; August 5 and 7, 2011.


Clodhopper photo collage.




For comparison/informational purposes, below are some relevant images:

The party of heroes wages battle against three Clodhoppers within the Trial of Courage.

When these three get together, you're the one that's going to get scrambled!



REFERENCES:


  •   Shining in The Darkness Sega Genesis video game.

  •   Wikipedia Shining in The Darkness article.

  •   RPG Classics Shining in The Darkness bestiary.

  •   Various GameFAQs.com Shining in The Darkness game guides.

  •   Google Shining in The Darkness image search.



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This is a nonprofit web site.
Any and all copyrighted imagery, terminology, etc., depicted here belongs to its respective holders/owners, namely Sega.
The repeating background graphic is the in-game map of Thornwood, and the foreground stone pattern is an edited graphic from Shining Force 2.