Lynel (species)

Creatures→ Giants→ Lynel

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     Lynels appear as towering beasts with the head of a lion, the horns of a goat, the torso and arms of a bestial hylian, and the body of a four-legged stallion such as a horse or zebra. Their bodies are filled with muscle and mostly or entirely covered in fur. The race is renowned for its short temper and physical brutality. Despite their bestial appearance and nature, lynels are exceptionally cunning, and are known to be extraordinary craftsmen.
     Aggressive Brutality. A lynel will rarely tolerate another creature being close to it. Indeed, anything that wanders near is quickly subjected to the creature's wrath in a most violent fashion. The lynel race seems to be filled almost universally with brutally powerful warriors who wear almost no clothing, but carry at least two different weapons on them at all times. The sheer combat prowess of a lynel is only enhanced by their race's occasional magic abilities. The weapons lynels craft and wield for themselves are valuable treasures, not only because of their unusually skilled craftsmanship, but the rarity and difficulty in obtaining them. Even one lynel bow or lynel shield is considered an invaluable treasure among the Races of Light, and is not relinquished easily by the lynel who crafted it.
     Nomadic Predators. Lynels are drawn to open fields where their fleet feet can be put to good use, and the field a lynel chooses to occupy is usually vacated by anything that wishes to preserve its own life. A typical lynel requires an immense amount of nutrition to maintain its extremely athletic form, so it often travels from field to field—purging each one of prey, nuts, and fruits. Although most lynels are loners, occasionally a handful of eight or fewer will form a loose and often short-lived tribe to share resources, train together, or reproduce.
     Enlisted by Ganon. Like the more common blins, lynels have a great reverence for the demon beast known as Ganon. Unlike blins, lynels' reverence is almost entirely derived for their collective respect for his power. Ganon's forces are fortunate if they include lynels, as these warriors can often be the most powerful individual soldiers available.
     Color Hierarchy. Like many species in Hyrule, the coloration of a lynel cues to its physical prowess. The following section lists each variety from weakest to strongest.

Lynel creatures

Orange lynel	CR ?	One of these is a nightmare compared to almost any humanoid warrior, but still considered among the least potent of its race. It is one of the few lynels with no magical mastery over flame.
Red lynel	CR 10	Often of similar appearance but darker shade than orange lynels, red lynels distinguish themselves with fire breath, greater physical prowess, and even a rarely-seen teleporting spell. These lynels are often considered to be the most abundant.
Blue lynel	CR 15	Blue lynels are distinguished by forging and wielding superior, "mighty" weaponry. They are also just a bit faster, stronger, and more cunning than their red counterparts. In the rare instances of temporary lynel gatherings, blues are usually the strongest and most well-respected.
Silver lynel	CR ?	Like other silver monsters, a silver lynel has been transformed through vile magic from one of the lower colorations. These fear-inspiring titan of a warrior usually only exists due to the direct blessing and influence of Ganon. Any silver lynel's physical and magical prowess is so immense that other lynels may revere it as akin to a demigod. Like other silver monsters, a silver lynel is believed to be exceedingly rare.
Golden lynel	CR ?	Even other golden monsters are incredibly mighty, but golden lynels are on an entirely new level. This exceeding rare, legendary form of lynel is said to only exist when a silver lynel is struck by divine lightning. Indeed, a golden lynel may embody both evil and good blessings instilled in one of the most ferocious warrior races in existence. Even lynels fear it. Some say one alone could even slay Ganon himself in his ultimate form.

Player-character details

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Despite being very masculine by hylian standards, lynels indeed have two sexes and reproduce in a way expected of mammals. Lynel children are expected to mature very quickly compared to hylians, and will usually grow distant from their parents before reaching adolescence around age 10.
 Alignment. Lynels are murderously aggressive towards almost everything, and are ferociously independent of anything that would restrict their will or their freedom. As a whole, they have a strong tendency towards chaotic evil.
 Age. Lynels reach maturity quickly, and are considered adults by 10 years at the latest, though they may continue physically growing for decades after this. Although it is very common for lynels to live short and violent lives, the oldest among them can live to an age of 300.
 Diet. Lynels are omnivorous, but greatly favor meat and will usually only eat fruit or other flora when on the verge of starvation. As a Large giant, each day you must consume 4 pounds of food and 4 gallons of water to avoid starvation.

Player-character traits

 Ability Score Increase. Choose either Strength or Constitution. Your chosen score increases by 2, while the other increases by 1.
 Size. A typical Lynel is about 10 feet tall and weighs in the neighborhood of 1800 pounds. Your size is Large. You function a little differently than a Medium or Small creature would. See Large player-characters. Despite your immensity, you still use Medium weapons due to the size of your upper body.
 Speed. You gallop like a horse and pounce like a jaguar. Your base walking speed is 50 feet.
 Hybrid Nature. You have two creature types: giant and humanoid. You are affected by a game effect if works on either of your creature types.
 Natural Armor. Your AC is than 14 + your Dexterity modifier, unless you have another AC which exceeds this. A shield can add to this AC.
 Large Target. Your Armor Class is always reduced by 1, even when using your natural armor.
 Menacing. The mere sight of lynel instills fear in most. You have proficiency in the Intimidation skill.
 Cantrip. Most lynels can wield basic magic innately. You know one cantirp of your choice from fire bolt, power beam, or wizzward. Charisma is your casting ability for this spell.
 Predation. You have advantage on any ability check to hunt or find food in grasslands or plains.
 Languages. All lynels speak Blin. A minority, including all lynel player-characters, speak Hylian as a second language.

The material on this page is based on content found throughout the Legend of Zelda series, which is copyright Nintendo Co., Ltd.