Komodo Dragon

This article is about the animal in Age of Empires II HD: Rise of the Rajas and Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties. For the related huntable in Age of Mythology: Tale of the Dragon, see Lizard.

The Komodo Dragon or Monitor Lizard is a carnivore treasure guardian in Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties and a hostile wild animal in Age of Empires II HD: Rise of the Rajas. They are the largest species of lizard in the world and featured in Southeast Asian maps, in both games.

Age of Empires

Komodo Dragon
Animal
Introduced in	Age of Empires: Return of Rome
Hit points	20
Melee attack	3
Maximum food	100
Recommended no. of gatherers	2-3

Komodo Dragons were introduced once Age of Empires game mode was launched in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Return of Rome.

Age of Empires II

Komodo Dragon
Animal
Introduced in	Age of Empires II HD: Rise of the Rajas
Hit points	25
Melee attack	3
Rate of Fire	2
Armor class	Predator Animals
Speed	Walking: 0.7 Running: 1.05
Line of Sight	12
Maximum food	0
Recommended no. of gatherers	2-3 (only to kill)

The Komodo Dragon appears in Rise of the Rajas, and is one of several hostile animals that the player may encounter in unexplored areas. It holds no food and attacks Villagers and even some military units on sight. As it will most likely prevail against Villagers that do not have the Loom upgrade, it is recommended to research it before sending them in unexplored areas.

Unlike the animal that appeared in the third game, it has more realistic proportions, albeit slightly larger size than a Tiger. They appear exclusively in South East Asian maps, as today they only live in modern-day Indonesia.

Trivia

• This is technically the second dragon unit to be featured in Age of Empires II. A typical fantasy dragon (enormous, bipedal, winged, and fire-spitting) is an Scenario Editor unit in the mod version of Forgotten Empires.
• The stereotypical Medieval map legend Hic sunt Dracones ("Here be Dragons") is actually only found in two European globes from the 1503-1507 period that were likely copied from the other. The text appears roughly over the Komodo Island area and is believed to reference Komodo dragons. The actual map legend for uncharted lands in the Medieval period was Hic sunt Leones, "Here be Lions".
• A Komodo Dragon appears as the serpent slain by Ragnar Lodbrok in Gotland in the Ragnar scenario in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Victors and Vanquished.

Gallery

A pair of Komodo Dragons in-game

Age of Empires III

Kermond the Pet Monitor Lizard
Information
Introduced in	Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties
Type	Pet Hand infantry Sees stealth*
Training
Cost	110 Food
Train time	17 seconds
Train limit	12
Statistics
Hit points	95
Resistance	10% Hand
Speed	5.0
Line of Sight	12
Train XP	11
Kill XP	11
Hand attack
Damage	12 Hand
Rate of Fire	1.5
Bonus damage	2.0x vs. Guardian 0.1x vs. Villager

Kermond the Pet Monitor Lizard is a pet Komodo Dragon in Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties.

They are far from the strongest pets in the game, but can still be viable against treasure guardians, and are also available very early in the game; the Japanese can use two Home City Cards, one bringing three Kermonds, whereas another is a TEAM shipment, shipping two Kermonds for the entire team. They can also be rescued from Treasures on Yellow River and Silk Road.

Both shipments are available from the Exploration Age, thus providing an advantage at Treasure hunting.

Upgrades

Kermond the Pet Monitor Lizard, like all other pets, upgrades automatically each Age:

• +20% hit points and damage
• +30% hit points and damage
• +40% hit points and damage
• +60% hit points and damage

Further statistics

Unit strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Treasure guardians
Weak vs.	Villagers
Improvements
Hit points	Maya Cotton Armor (+20%) Infantry Breastplate (+10%) Gadaa System (+5%; Ethiopians only) Tar Kilns (+5%)
Attack	Zapotec Cult of the Dead (+20%) Carib Kasiri Beer (+10%) Master Lessons (+10%) Gadaa System (+5%; Ethiopians only) Wind Horses (-10% Rate of Fire)
Speed	Push of Pike (+10%; Swedes only) Apache Endurance (+5%) Wind Horses (+0.5)
Line of Sight	Town Watch (+3)

Home City Cards

Click for a list of Home City Cards related to the Buttercup the Kermond the Pet Monitor Lizard

Some cards are highlighted with:
Green	TEAM Shipment that is sent to each player in a team
Red	Shipment that can be sent twice
Blue	Shipment that arrives fast (5 seconds)

Chinese

Card	Description	Age
Year of the Dragon	Delivers 1 Flamethrower for each Town Center and 1 Kermond the Pet Monitor Lizard for each Village present on the map
Western Reforms	Unit hit points and damage +8%

Ethiopians

Card	Description	Age
Ignatian Spirituality	Unit (except herded animals) hit points +5%, regeneration rate +1.0 (even in combat)

Europeans

Card	Description	Age
Wanderlust	Land military and land villager hit points +5%; land villager and construction wagon speed +5% (can be sent 3 times)

• "Wanderlust" is available to the British and Dutch upon revolting to South Africa.

Inca

Card	Description	Age
Road Building	Land military speed +10%

Indians

Card	Description	Age
Dravidian Martial Arts	Unit all melee attack damage +15%; Rajput hand attack damage +20% instead, +1 Hindu Villager
TEAM Shivaji's Tactics	Unit hit points and damage +5%

Japanese

Card	Description	Age
3 Monitor Lizards	Delivers 3 Kermond the Pet Monitor Lizards
TEAM 2 Monitor Lizards	Delivers 2 Kermond the Pet Monitor Lizards

Maltese

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Knights of the Round Table	Delivers 1 Hospitaller for each Town Center and Command Post present on the map; unit hit points +2%

Mexicans

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Mariachi	For the next 30 seconds, military building training and research work rate +400%, unit speed +10%
Colegio de San Nicolas	Delivers 1 Large Collection of Books (500 XP); unit Line of Sight +4; building (except Wall) Line of Sight +8; reveals enemy units' positions for 20 seconds
National Servant	Unit (except herded animals) hit points +10%; Padre heal work rate +200%	Imperial Age

• "Colegio de San Nicolas" is available upon selecting the Michoacán Federal State.
• "National Servant" is available upon selecting the Estado de México Federal State.

Spanish

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Hand Infantry Attack	Hand infantry damage +15%
Archaic Infantry Hitpoints	Hand infantry and foot archer hit points +15%; Rodelero hit points +20% instead
Archaic Infantry Combat	Hand infantry and foot archer hit points and damage +15%
TEAM Spanish Inquisition	Delivers 1 Inquisitor; military and economic unit Line of Sight +10

Swedes

Card	Description	Age
Hand Infantry/Hand Cavalry Hitpoints	Hand infantry and hand cavalry hit points +15%

Treasure guardian

Monitor Lizard
Information
Introduced in	Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties
Type	Guardian
Statistics
Hit points	125
Speed	7.0
Line of Sight	9
Kill XP	8
Hand attack
Damage	10 Hand
Rate of Fire	1.5

The Komodo Dragon appears in The Asian Dynasties on maps such as Indochina and Borneo. They aren't the most resilient of treasure guardians, being only slightly stronger and tougher than Wolves. It is interesting to note that they are referred to as Monitor Lizards, an umbrella term referring to the family of lizards (Varanidae) to whom the Komodo Dragon belongs.

History

“	Scientific Name: Varanus komodoensis Approx. Size: 6-10 ft. long, 150-300 lb. Diet: Carrion, small mammals, reptiles and their eggs, birds, insects With a size dwarfed only by its enormous appetite, the Komodo Dragon is the world's largest living lizard, inhabiting the Indonesian island of Komodo, and neighboring islands of the Lesser Sunda archipelago. It is a product of island gigantism, meaning it has grown to its immense proportions as a result of a lack of carnivores in its environment; its size makes the Komodo an apex predator - a predator that is not prey to any other animal in its ecosystem. The Komodo is one of the monitor lizards, among the oldest living lizards on Earth, descendents of the mosasaur, a marine lizard that lived roughly 136 million to 65 million years ago and reached lengths of up to 33 feet. The male Komodo Dragon is bigger than the female. Its skin color ranges from dark grey to a brick red, while a female features more of an olive green coloring, with patches of yellow dotting the throat. A Komodo Dragon's tail is often as long as its body, and the lizard is able to stand up on its hind legs if it needs to catch prey that is out of reach. Using it its peculiar tongue, the Komodo detects both taste and smell, and can locate a dying animal from up to 6 miles away. This sense also proves advantageous when the lizard is moving through the dark. An eating machine, the Komodo Dragon feeds by tearing large chunks out of its prey, holding the body down with its forelegs and ripping into the flesh with its serrated teeth, which can often grow to one inch or longer. It has a loosely articulated jaw, flexible skull, and expandable stomach to make it easier to swallow large meals. The Komodo Dragon doesn't need to worry about choking on its food, since a small tube under the tongue connects to the lungs, allowing the lizard to eat and breathe simultaneously. Recently there has been debate over whether or not the Komodo's distinctive red saliva contains venom that weakens or even kill's the lizard's prey. Fifteen strains of virulent bacteria have already been isolated in the lizard's saliva. This bacterium is known to cause sepsis of the bloodstream and weaken prey, causing dysfunction of the circulatory system.	”
—In-game history section

Some of these claims have been proven false since the game came out or were already erroneous:

• Although the Komodo dragon is indeed the largest lizard alive and an apex predator, it is not an example of island gigantism. Dragons apparently evolved in Australia (where there were even larger species, like Megalania), and were already large when they colonized Komodo.
• Komodos do indeed carry venom and it is used to kill prey, along with simple blood loss caused by biting and tearing. While they have bacteria and can cause sepsis, the nature of this bacteria is ordinary, much like that found in other carnivore animals. Claims that Komodos would bite prey and just follow them and wait until they were killed by sepsis were based on misunderstood observations of prey that escaped Komodo attacks. The Komodo that might appear to be 'following' such prey may not even be the original attacker, but an opportunist who lucked out and found already weakened prey.

Trivia

• His default name (Kermond) is a reference to Muppets character Kermit the Frog, who was originally conceived as a lizard-like creature in Jim Henson's 1955-1961 TV series Sam and Friends.

Gallery

An in game Monitor Lizard

A lone Monitor Lizard guarding a Treasure in Indochina

The Monitor Lizard's history portrait

Monitor Lizard image from the Compendium section

A Monitor Lizard guarding a treasure in the Definitive Edition