The Arachnithid Matriarch is the third boss of Serious Sam: Tormental and a minor antagonist, serving as the boss of the third level of the game, "Nightmare Caves".
Overview[]
The Arachnithid Matriarch is a large arachnid-like creature that resembles a giant scorpion. She made the deepest holes of the Nightmare Cave her home and from there she spawns her many children.[1]
Across the universe, many civilizations of sentient creatures find eight-legged creatures with chitinous bodies to be incredibly unsettling, as if a sort of universal rule in the cosmos, with the exception of sentients that happen to be chitinous and many legged in the first place (they find this fear heavily insulting). It's as if the fear of these creatures was somewhat primal, ancient to most non-insectoid species.[1]
Mental, obviously, sees the nightmare-inducing qualities of these creatures as incredibly useful in terrorizing the galaxy, and the base idea of such a creature manifested as the Arachnithid schema. Many different creatures in Mental's Horde represent this schema, including the Arachnoid species and the Antaresian Spiders, among others.[1]
Appearances[]
Serious Sam: Tormental[]
The Matriarch is encountered in the final chamber of "Nightmare Caves". She will reside within the topmost part of the room, and countless Arachnithids will spawn at her command at random intervals to attack the player.
Behavior and skills[]
The Matriarch's primary attack is to deliver a powerful bite when the player gets too close to her. She also has the ability to summon her Arachnithid children and a nightmare creature called the Devouer to help support her during the fight. The more damage she takes, the quicker the Arachnithids will spawn. Unlike the other types of Arachnithids, she does not move, though in "Nightmare Caves V2" and in further iterations of the level, she does move, but rather slowly.
When the Matriarch's health is below 10%, her body will become deflated and the player can finish her off with a brutal kill. After the Matriarch is killed, any remaning Arachnithids, Arachnithid Terrors and Devouers in the room will die as well.
Tactics[]
- The Matriarch is a fairly easy boss, though the Arachnithids that spawn can make the fight challenging should the player get distracted when attacking the Matriarch.
- Since the Matriarch does not move during the entire fight in the first run, this can allow the player to deplete her health quickly if they have strong weapons. Still, the player should keep their distance from her when attacking.
- Serious weapons with a high rate of fire and/or deal a lot of damage such as the Electric Shotgun, Mini Cannon Rapid Circlefire and Shotgun are very useful against the Matriarch and any Arachnithids that are spawned in the fight.
- The player should concentrate their fire on the Matriarch as much as they can. It is best to kill her as soon as possible before the player gets swarmed by the Arachnithids that spawn in the arena.
Trivia[]
- According to the Matriarch's Mindmap description, its gender has been confirmed as female.[1]
List of appearances[]
- Serious Sam: Tormental (First appearance) (non-canonical appearance)
References[]