Hecatoncheir (known as Briareus in second installment) is a titanic beast sealed deep within one of the floating islands on the Forbidden Wood. The huge stakes impalled all around its body were an attempt to restrict this monster's brutal strength and keep it contained within its "cage".
It seems to be a patchwork of body parts and scars somewhat like the Frankenstein's monster, which indicates this was yet another failed experimental subject from the Overlord's research. Its furry head is reversed, having its eyes below its mouth, it possesses at least three legs, and a huge number of herculean arms of varying sizes, most of these holding a crude, gigantic weapon. Even though its arms and legs look humanoid, its overall look vaguely resembles a monstrous spider.
This is a postgame monster, and can only be found during a certain quest (you can fight it whenever you like afterwards).
Briareus (Etrian Odyssey II)[]
| Briareus | |
| |
| Description | |
|---|---|
| A man-made giant with weapons installed into its many arms, on an unstoppable rampage. | |
| Enemy Data | |
| HP | 12000 |
| ATK | 88 |
| DEF | 100 |
| EXP | 0 |
| Skills | Wail, Meteor, 100 Hits |
| Items | Giant Skin, Giant Post (Conditional) |
| Weakness |  
|
| Resistance |    
|
| Status Resistance |           
|
| Status Immune |  
|
Upon releasing the seal cast on the floating islands, the prison that kept the powerful monster Briareus was weakened, and it started to gradually free itself and brutally maul vanguard explorers from High Lagaard. As it was only a matter of time before the creature released itself and went berserk once again, and every attempt to reseal it has failed, the dukedom sees no other way than destroying the beast. They, of course, give the task to their most able explorers, and it falls to you to stop this powerful beast from roaming the labyrinth once again.
Skills[]
- Wail (Uses Head): Increases attack.
- Meteor (Uses Arms): Melee bash attack to the front row, may paralyze.
- Grind (Uses Arms): Melee bash attack to the entire party, may bind arms.
- 100 Hits (Uses Legs): Melee bash attack to the entire party, may cause panic.
- Spike (Uses Arms): Stab attack across random party members, may bind random body parts.
Drops[]
- Giant Skin (Worth: 9760 en)
- None.
- Giant Post (Worth: 50000 en)
Conditional Drop[]
- To obtain Briareus' Giant Post, you need to deal the finishing blow with a bash attack.
Hecatoncheires (Etrian Odyssey 2 Untold)[]
| Hecatoncheires | |
| |
| Description | |
|---|---|
| A construct whose many hands each hold a weapon. It unleashes a tireless barrage... | |
| Enemy Data | |
| HP | 77000 |
| ATK | 92 |
| DEF | 70 |
| EXP | 450000 |
| Skills | Hellish Wail Grinding Mace Colossal Meteor Binding Spike Hundred Strikes |
| Items | Giant Skin Broken Stake 
|
| Weakness |      
|
| Resistance |      
|
| Immune |    
|
Briareus, renamed as Hecatoncheires, returns in the Untold remake of Etrian Odyssey 2, keeping the same role as in the original games, as a post-game superboss. You fight it at the 28th floor of the labyrinth, after accepting the quest Shadow of the Castle, where a group of guards accidentally free the creature from its seal, forcing you to fight it in order to avenge the fallen guards and free the labyrinth from this abomination. Hecatoncheires is also the guardian of a powerful katana named Hyuga, which you extract from its body after winning the fight.
Skills[]
- Hellish Wail (Uses Head): Lowers the maximum HP of the entire party and may inflict curse on them.
- Grinding Mace (Uses Arms): Deals heavy bash damage to the front row and lowers their defenses for 3 turns.
- Colossal Meteor (Uses Arms): Massive bash damage to the entire party. Low accuracy.
- Binding Spike (Uses Arms): Massive bash damage to the back row, may bind head.
- Hundred Strikes (Uses Arms): Heavy bash damage to random targets 3-5 times. Lowers evasion for 3 turns and may inflict leg bind.
Drops[]
- Giant Skin (Worth: 23000 en)
- None.
- Broken Stake (Worth: 30000 en)
- Selling this to the shop unlocks the Wolfram Nail, the strongest claw for Beasts.
Conditional Drop[]
- In order to obtain Hecatoncheires' conditional drop, the Broken Stake, you must defeat him with a bash attack.
Strategy[]
- See Hecatoncheir/Strategy for more information.
Trivia[]
- Both of its names, Briareus and Hecatoncheires are references to the Hekatonkheires, a group of three multi-armed giants in Greek mythology who helped to overthrow the titans, and now serve as the guards of their prison, the gates of Tartarus. They are sometimes depicted as allies of the titans however. In these accounts, Briareos is said to have led an attack against Mount Olympus in which he failed, and was buried under Mount Aetna after his defeat.
- This creature seems to be the physical/non-elemental counterpart to the Elemental Dragons, dealing as much punishment to unprepared parties as these beasts just using physical skills.