Cassowary (Home World)
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Japanese Name
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テングルフ (Tengurufu)
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The Cassowary is an enemy appearing in Chrono Cross. Cassowaries appear to be well-built, with a bird's head and a human's body. Two large feathers can be found growing on the top of their heads, and their feet resemble that of a bird's. They are dressed rather primitively, wearing necklaces and bangles which are made out of bones and feathers, alongside a pair of blue-colored shorts. Found solely in the Shadow Forest, Cassowaries are commonly seen in the deeper depths of said location. If the player chooses to take Nikki's route to Viper Manor, three Cassowaries may be fought as bosses. A Cassowary may also be fought in the final round of the Grand Slam tournament.
Cassowaries usually appear in groups of two, even though they have been known to appear in fours, as seen from the boss battle involving Nikki. They use intricately-designed scepters as their weapons of choice, which are used to bash their targets, alongside various punches and kicks. Cassowaries also use a fairly wide range of Yellow elements, alongside their unique personal tech, TheOld1-2-3, which may inflict fairly heavy damage to foes with low defenses.
Cassowaries in real life are ratites, very large flightless birds. In this case, the Cassowary enemy is observed to be fairly large, and is also unable to fly, hence making the name a befitting one.
The Japanese name of the Cassowary enemy is, in actuality, a combination of Tengu and Rufu. Tengu (天狗, Heavenly Dogs) are a class of supernatural creatures in Japanese folklore. Although the name was taken from a dog-like Chinese demon, the tengu were originally thought to take the forms of birds of prey, and they are traditionally depicted with both human and avian characteristics. The earliest tengu were pictured with beaks, but this feature has often been humanized as an unnaturally deep nose. Rufu are also known as rocs or rukhs. A roc is an enormous legendary bird of prey, often white, reputed to have been able to carry off and eat elephants. (Information taken from Chrono Compendium).