Manticores are highly aggressive and extremely poisonous scorpion-like insects from the continent of Essos.
Biology
Manticores have an overall body-plan similar to scorpions, but can grow almost as large as a lobster. They possess six legs and larger stinger-tail, which curves up over the body to hang over the head. They have a series of threatening-looking spines on each body segment, running up the sides of the body and tail. They are mostly green in color.
Their most recognizable features are the designs on the plates of their bodies, particularly the marking on the final plate of their tails which resembles a human face.
Manticore venom is extremely lethal, and even a single sting is usually more than enough to kill a person.
History
Season 3
An envoy of the Warlocks of Qarth attempts to assassinate Daenerys Targaryen using a manticore hidden inside a hollow wooden sphere. Before the creature can harm Daenerys with its lethal sting, Ser Barristan Selmy impales it with a dagger, killing it.[1]
Qyburn theorizes that Manticore venom was used to poison Ser Gregor Clegane during his duel with Oberyn Martell.[2]
Image Gallery
In the books
In the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, manticores are venomous insects from Essos, said to live on the jungle-filled islands of the Jade Sea, between Qarth and distant Asshai. They have a poisonous sting that is fatal to humans and kills the instant it reaches the heart unless a clotting agent is used to thicken it and delay its fatal effects. Manticore venom is a highly sought after poison by alchemists, Maesters, and assassins. Thus the insects have been imported into private collections across Essos and Westeros.
Within the cultures of Westeros and Essos, the legendary manticore (after which the insect takes its name) is a chimeric creature with a human head, a lion's body, and a scorpion's tail. Dragonstone is adorned with gargoyles in the shape of manticores. A manticore is also the sigil of House Lorch.
See also
Manticore on A Wiki of Ice and Fire (spoilers from the books)
Manticore on Wikipedia
References
- ↑ "Valar Dohaeris"
- ↑ "The Children"
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