Ferocious rabbits that can be encountered in ASCII's 1993 Uiza-dorii Gaiden III: Yami no Seiten (Wizardry Side Story III: Scripture of the Dark) Nintendo Gameboy roleplaying video game. Said title was one of the many Wizardry spinoffs published exclusively in Japan. The Vorpal Bunny is a recurring enemy in the franchise that made its first appearance in 1981's Wizardry I: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord.
The Vorpal Bunny concept is obviously inspired by the deadly Rabbit of Caerbannog ("caer bannog" is Welsh for "turrented castle") depicted in the classic 1975 comedy, Monty Python and the Holy Grail. The term "vorpal" comes from the name of the sword that was used to behead the Jabberwock in Lewis Carroll's 1872 book Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There. In the Sword & Sorcery genre, it is a fairly common practice to use vorpal as an adjective to describe enchanted weapons or creatures that are particularly talented at performing decapitations.
A Vorpal Bunny's greatest asset in combat is that adventurers, especially novices, tend to grossly underestimate the threat that it poses. Until one actually sees it firsthand, it's difficult to imagine the sheer violence that these fluffy white rabbits are capable of. Stumbling upon the headless corpses of individuals that have run afoul of one of these little beasties is, unfortunately, an all too common sight.
Vorpal Bunny
Japanese: Bo-paru Bani-
|
Unidentified:
Four-Legged Animal/Beast
Japanese: Yotsuashi Kemono
|
Classification:
Animal
Japanese: Doubutsu
|
Vorpal Bunny
Four-Legged Animal/Beast |
Experience Level:
1
|
Experience Points:
960
|
Hit Points:
5-20 (1d16+4)
Average: 12.5
|
Armor Class:
6
|
Number Appearing:
2-6 (1d5+1)
Average: 4
|
Physical Attacks:
4-13 (1d10+3) damage.
Average: 8.5
4-16 (3d5+1) damage.
Average: 10
May cause decapitation.
Maximum damage range: 8-29.
Average: 18.5
|
|
Special Properties:
May run away (10% chance.)
Vulnerable to sleep and confusion.
|
Encounters:
Sometimes friendly.
Can be found in Forest A2; City A2 and A3.
Often accompanied by Giant Rats (20% chance.)
|
Materials:
Newsprint, tissue paper, white glue, fishing line, marker, watercolor paint, and acrylic paint.
Dimensions
(excluding whiskers):
3.3 cm/ 1.3 in. x 3.4 cm/ 1.3 in. (widest point x highest point)
Time:
Two days: October 2 and 3, 2012.
The figure was modeled on the second, and I made a few small modifications
before painting it and adding the whiskers on the third.
While exploring the countryside, the party has stumbled upon a trio of Vorpal Bunnies.
If they want to keep their heads on their shoulders, they'd best dispatch them quickly!
The adventurers are confronted with the shadowy forms of five quadrupedal beasts, but what exactly are they? Attack Dogs? Giant Rats? Or, Gnilda forbid, Vorpal Bunnies? In the Wizardry franchise, randomly encountered monsters aren't always immediately recognizable (which makes battles more exciting/dangerous), unless you cast the Level 3 Priest spell, Latumapic.
  
Above are several examples of ways that the Vorpal Bunny enemy has been graphically interpreted in Wizardry over the years. The first three images all come from different versions of Wizardry I: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord [left to right, NEC PC Engine CD (1993), Microsoft Windows (1997), and Bandai Wonderswan Color (2003)]. The fourth image, which is an updated/colorized version of the gray-scale sprite found in Wizardry: Scripture of the Dark, is from the Super Famicom's 1996 entry in the franchise, Wizardry: Throb of the Demon's Heart. The final two images are from Wizardry: Dimguil (Playstation, 2000). The left picture is an unidentified Vorpal Bunny and the right image is the identified creature.
A couple of screenshots of the Vorpal Bunny's inspiration, the Rabbit of Caerbannog, from 1975's Monty Python and the Holy Grail movie.
REFERENCES:
Japanese comprehensive Wizardry site (I made use of the bestiaries in particular.)
Lewis Carroll's Jabberwocky poem.
Wikipedia Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Rabbit of Caerbannog and Wizardry articles.
Wizardry: Scripture of the Dark Gameboy video game.
« Return To My Wizardry Gallery Index Page
This is a nonprofit web site.
Any and all copyrighted imagery, terminology, etc., depicted here belongs to its respective holders/owners, namely ASCII/Sir-Tech Software.
The repeating background graphic is a cutscene from the game.
The midi music playing is the "Maze" track from Wizardry I: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord.
|
