Talk:Mimic (Dungeons & Dragons)

Incomplete references
Place incomplete references here.--Robbstrd 03:32, 18 December 2006 (UTC)

Possible refs
This is probably reliable. According to toplessrobot.com, they are a part of village voice media. The author seems to be a bit of a scholar and a fantasy novelist (I think) and has been commented on in the media. - 05:34, 27 August 2009 (UTC)
 * I think mania.com may be reliable as well, although it doesn't say a ton. Maybe it's comment could be used in conjunction with the primary source it describes. - Peregrine Fisher (talk) (contribs) 05:37, 27 August 2009 (UTC)

Moved from article

 * We may want some of this later, I don't know. - Peregrine Fisher (talk) (contribs) 18:44, 27 August 2009 (UTC)


 * Mimics in other games and media

In the NetHack computer game, a mimic is very similar to the D&D creature it is based on.

In many Computer role playing games (CRPGs), a mimic resembled a treasure chest and would attack you when you tried to open it. A noteworthy fact is that not all of these are shapeshifters. For example, the Ragnarok Online version of the monster has the shape of a treasure chest and is also called Mimic, but despite this, it has no shapeshifting abilities.

In the Ultima series of computer games, a mimic resembled a treasure chest and shot poison at victims from a distance.

In the Dungeon Siege series, Mimics started appearing in the second chapter. These used death magic, and were known for their high damage and good treasure dropped. In the game Nox, mimics would resemble treasure chests as well. If one attempts to open one, the creature will turn into an enormous insect and lash its claws at you, doing high damage. Normally, players could identify mimics by looking at the circle if the cursor is held on a potential mimic (normal chests would have blue circle, mimics would have a red one). It is often debated whether this was intentional or a glitch.

In the Nintendo DS games Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow and Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin, players could find blue treasure chests that, upon drawing near or attacking (by soul or sword), would leap in the air on froglike legs and reveal themselves as long-toothed monsters. They did moderate damage, provided meager experience and the Dawn of Sorrow version had no itemdrops (The Portrait of Ruin version had an Abalone Brooch). Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia also had mimics that resembles real chests in the games; when "opened," the mimcs would reveal their fangs and slide across the floor to attack. TheDragon Quest mimic is similar to this, minus the frog legs. Stronger versions are capable of many spells.

The Dark Chronicle series also has a mimic enemy, which is a chest that sprouts arms and a toothy maw when disturbed. There are also "King Mimics", which are significantly larger and stronger. Mimics often drop keys, and common items dependent on the dungeon they appear in.

Mimics also appeared in the Seiken Densetsu series games, though they were usually called Mimic Boxes or in some cases Kaiser boxes (for the blue color-swapped and more powerful version) instead of simply Mimics. This may have been to distinguish from Mimic (or the mistakenly named Mime, erroneous since they do not make silent motions but repeat actions), the character class, as it sometimes shows up in other Squaresoft games, like Final Fantasy Tacticsor Final Fantasy V.

In the 2005 RPG Fate, there is a Mimic with the description of the Dungeons and Dragons creature.

The Metroid series has included enemies which disguise themselves as health and missile upgrades before attacking. They do little (no more than any other enemy) damage and usually have a real item nearby.

In Ancient Domains of Mystery a mimic is depicted with random item symbol in any random color which may already give the creature's true nature away. When the player attacks it or stands next to it, it will depict itself as an "m" (the game's symbol for generic monsters) instead. One can still attack a mimic via ranged means, such as magic and archery.

Mimics are also found in the game Rogue Galaxy, where they appear as normal treasure chests. Mimic chests usually open slowly, and when they do open, they will surprise your party leaving them unable to attack for a short period of time.

In Dragon Quest VIII, mimics are also represented by a treasure chest, and they are very difficult to defeat if your party is at a low level. They usually deal a lot of damage, and can also instantly K.O. your party.

Grandia III has a couple of mimics that can be found in the Melc Ruins and Surmania castle. They are level 40 to 47 beasts and can deal a lot of damage. They also have a magic attack called Erebos that can instantly K.O. a party member and Kamikaze, an attack extremely dangerous, which makes the mimic self-destruct and possibly kill your entire party.

In Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts, mimics are treasure chests that begin hopping when approached by a player. A tiny dragon/lizard looking creature then peeks out of the treasure chest and flies into the direction of the player.

In Trickster Online, Mimics can be found in Relics Field 2 - Hand of Giant, Relics Field 3 - Monkey Statues, and Relics Field 4- Altar of Round. They are level 61 monsters who are have Physical resistance and a weakness to Light.

InTales of Symphonia, certain treasure chests are mimics, and attack the party upon being opened. They are immune to physical damage, but vulnerable to magic.

In both Golden Sun games, certain treasure chests will also attack the party. Once defeated, they will drop a semi-rare item that cannot be bought in a store.


 * I think most of this information can be sourced, I would suggest moving it all back to the main article. I added the unreferenced section tag just to denote that it needed sources, not that it all needed to be removed.  Narthring (talk  • contribs) 20:55, 27 August 2009 (UTC)
 * I also think much of this should be restored as it helps prove notability. I was surprised the NetHack mimic wasn't mentioned somewhere in the article, until I looked here. Mark Hurd (talk) 14:44, 29 August 2009 (UTC)
 * Do whatever you think is best (especially sourcing). - Peregrine Fisher (talk) (contribs) 16:06, 29 August 2009 (UTC)

I added that mimics are included in Borderlands (series) to the article and used the Borderlands wiki as a citation, but it was removed as not a reliable source. What would be a reliable source as to whether something exists in a piece of media? Would a news outlet have to write an article including this fact, or would it have to be included in a published book? noktulo (talk) 04:54, 16 June 2019 (UTC)
 * I noticed that the PC Gamer article already cited in this article mentions multiple games including Mimics, so I included these examples in the article. noktulo (talk) 05:11, 16 June 2019 (UTC)
 * It's probably the fact that you were trying to use a wiki as a source, and wikis themselves (including Wikipedia) are not considered reliable sources. PC Gamer on the other hand, that should be legit. 76.231.73.99 (talk) 12:56, 16 June 2019 (UTC)