The History of Battledome Challengers, Part 5

     Welcome to the final chapter of our in-depth analysis of the different Battledome challengers. For the last four weeks we have looked at twenty opponents you may have fought in the Battledome, or are getting ready to challenge. We looked at their motivations for battling, their involvement in Neopian history, or just talked about the terrible things they've done. This week we will be doing a special edition for the 850th issue of the Neopian Times where we will be highlighting five of the strongest, hardest to beat opponents, all who have a maximum difficulty HP of over 850...usually a whole lot more than that.

     Before we dive in too deep, let's recap last week for those who missed it:

     First we talked about an easier challenger, S750 Kreludan Defender Robot and his history guarding the Kreludan Mining Corp. He also had a brief involvement in the Lost Desert Plot and was a strong competitor in Better Than You.

     Then we talked about the thieving Shadow Usul and her love of the shadows. She hides out around Neopia Central and jumps unsuspecting users, stealing their precious items.

     But she wasn't the only thief, we also talked about the much weaker Pant Devil. While he is significantly weaker than the Shadow Usul, he has much stickier fingers and will steal anything he can get his grubby hands on, and he does it often. There are very few players who have had less than a dozen encounters with this villain.

     We wrapped up with The Brain Tree and Esophagor, a genius duo who have never met because they are trapped in their respective places in the Haunted Woods. The Esophagor will pass on information in exchange for food, and The Brain Tree can only get his knowledge this way and will reward you heavily in exchange.

     Now let's get to the strongest of them all!

     Punchbag Bob

     Difficulty HP: 5,000, 10,000, 20,000

     Unlocks: Default challenger.

     Punchbag Bob is one of the staples of the Battledome. He is a punching bag used for practicing your attacks and testing your strength. He will never fight back, unless you get unlucky and his brother Punchbag Sid is visiting the Battledome. He was a special feature in Ultimate Bullseye and has a NeoDeck card dedicated to him. He's also been in the Caption Contest and is the icon for the Battledome Neoboard!

     Punchbag Bob is legendary and it is a rite of passage for any user to defeat him. While he is not hard, since he doesn't fight back, he does have a ton of HP you need to chip through. Battles with him can last hours, if not days for the unprepared. Beware if his brother shows up, Sid is equipped with Neopia's most powerful weapon: Ultra Attack Chive of Death. Bob is one of the easiest opponents to beat as long as you have patience, but Sid is the hardest challenger, so be careful.

     The Drenched

     Difficulty HP: 600, 15,000, 33,000

     Unlocks: When you check the weather in Maraqua and it is stormy out.

     Three on one isn't really fair but The Drenched don't care. They are a trio of evil Water Faeries who live on the exterior of Maraqua. They are rumored to sneak into the city on stormy days to gather supplies. No one really knows where they originated from but their evilness is undisputed.

     During the Curse of Maraqua plot, they kidnapped Jacques, best friend of Garin, and made him their prisoner. They gave him a magic potion to make him breathe underwater, which doesn't seem evil until you realize they did it so they can keep him captive and torture him daily. It is important to fight them in the Battledome if you are strong enough to remind them that they can be defeated and keep their evil at bay. Who knows when they will decide to launch a magic attack again, maybe this time taking all of Maraqua prisoner. Be careful battling them, they have a whole stampede of Meepits at their disposal.

     Chiazilla

     Difficulty HP: 500, 15,000, 30,000

     Unlocks: While visiting Maraqua.

     Maraqua is home to some of the strongest opponents if you haven't noticed yet. Chiazilla is not really a villain, as he is the former protector of Mystery Island and current protector of Maraqua, but people still feel uneasy around him. He needs to be given frequent offerings by the citizens of the undersea city, otherwise he may turn on them.

     Chiazilla was actually partially responsible for the start of the Battledome. There was a great explorer who discovered the Battledome but wanted to keep it a secret from Dr. Sloth, so he took his secrets to Maraqua. Once Sloth found out the explorer was there he sent a horrible creation called the MechaChiazilla to battle for it. The Chiazilla and MechaChiazilla engaged in a great battle, but the Chiazilla came out on top. After this, the explorer released the secrets of the Battledome to Neopia so that they could all have control rather than Dr. Sloth.

     Giant Hungry Malevolent Chomby

     Difficulty HP: 500, 1,750, 3,500

     Unlocks: He can be found at the Giant Omelette.

     The Giant Hungry Malevolent Chomby has an insatiable sense of hunger and is always feeding on the Giant Omelette. If it runs out for the day, I'm sure he is responsible for it. Before the omelette was a real option for him, he used to take off on rampages across Neopia. On one particularly bad day he ate all the soup from the Soup Faerie, leaving hundreds of poor pets starving. He became a real enemy when he ate a part of the famous hero Judge Hog's house! His rampage was only ended after being defeated in the Battledome. Now players challenge him to keep him subdued, making sure he doesn't go on a new rampage and destroy a whole city next time!

     The Snowager

     Difficulty HP: 650, 16,250, 37,700

     Unlocks: If you wake him from his slumber.

     The Snowager is a drowsy ice worm living in the Ice Caves. He protects a giant pile of treasure, featuring Neggs and other expensive goodies. Neopians visit him during certain hours of the day when he takes a nap to try and get some of his items, but many wake him up accidentally and get blasted by ice. If you make him mad enough he will appear in the Battledome and try to take you on any time. There is a rumor that he is an overgrown Snowickle, having a lot of similarities with the Petpet.

     He has a game centered around him called Wrath of the Snowager and was an opponent in this game for a round of Better Than you. He is also the strongest Battledome challenger that is always available (Punchbag Sid is rare, and there have been some stronger plot opponents). So if you really want a tough match, take him on on his highest difficulty.

          And with that, we will end our list. There are still many, many challengers out there for you to learn about and take on. Don't let this list be the end of your research, go out and discover some more on your own! Thanks for taking this journey with me, I hope you had as much fun as I did and feel motivated to train your pets!