Man Eater

The Man Eater (also spelled Maneater) is an enemy in the Castlevania series. It is a monstrous insect that subsists inside a great skull.
==Description==
A monstrous worm-like insect that lodges itself inside a gigantic skull and which attacks either by extending its tentacles and/or by shooting ripple lasers. The skull, being made of a hard material, is very resilient to damage, although the worm itself is vulnerable to slashing attacks.
This creature has played the role either as a boss, a miniboss or a normal enemy in the various games it has appeared in.
==Appearances==
===Super Castlevania IV===
First appearance of this creature in the series, appearing as a miniboss midway through the Outer Keep. It attacks either by lashing the worm that lives inside the skull as a manner of tongue or by causing debris to fall from the ceiling every time it is damaged. Its translucency might imply being of ghostly nature.
In the international versions of the game, this creature is known as Puweyxil. Spelled backward, "Puweyxil" reads "lix yew up"; this can be interpreted as "licks you up", which is one of its attacks.
===Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow===
In this game, all three of the Man-Eater's worms must be killed in order to destroy the whole enemy. Interestingly, it is the only enemy in the game to deal Water damage. Even though using Time Stop won't stop the Man-Eater itself, it will affect its ripple lasers.
A Man-Eater also appears in Boss Rush Mode. Judging from some other leftover data, this enemy was supposed to be a boss in a scrapped area.
Each one of the Man-Eater's worms has 666 HP and 666 MP, in reference to the Number of the beast.
===Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia===
The Maneater is the boss of the Skeleton Cave. Unlike previous incarnations, it now looks like a flying, giant, multiple-faced skull with tentacles coming out of its many mouths. It attacks either by hurling bouncing bones, smashing onto the player from above, shooting lasers from its tentacles, or by reaching out with them. When the tentacles are damaged by any means, they will retract inside the skull and stop attacking for a while.
It has three attacks:
*Shoots ripple lasers from the tips of its tentacles. Even though they can be dodged by jumping away from their way, they are still hard to dodge.
*Smashes down with great force in an attempt to crush the player below.
*Throws bones that rebound all across the room. These remain bouncing around for a considerable amount of time.
The skull is weak to Strike damage, while the tentacles are weak to Slash damage. Since the skull is generally easier to hit, it is advisable to equip the Vol Macir glyph and target it during the encounter. Starting the battle by repeatedly casting the Union Macir Glyph Union until the player runs out of Hearts and then giving it the finishing blows by any other means is a good strategy to end the fight quickly. Summoning more passive familiars, like Zombies (Fidelis Caries) or Skull Spiders (Fidelis Aranea), will help keeping the bouncing bones at bay. Additionally, usage of the Luminatio glyph will hit the monster multiple times, dealing good cumulative damage.
The reward for defeating the Maneater is the Ordinary Rock relic, which allows Shanoa to perform double jumps and this way access new areas of the game (namely, the unexplored section in the Tymeo Mountains).
==Item Data==
==Gallery==
C4 Puweyxil.JPG|Puweyxil from the Super Castlevania IV instruction booklet.
Super Castlevania IV - Puwexil - 01.png|Puweyxil from the All About Akumajō Dracula guide for Super Castlevania IV.
AoS 065.png|Man-Eater enemy list entry from Aria of Sorrow.
ManEaterData.PNG|Maneater enemy list entry from Order of Ecclesia.
==Trivia==
*The Man Eater from Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow resembles the Tentacle enemies from the Gradius series. Interestingly, this enemy drops the Ripple Laser soul, which is another reference to that series.
*The Maneater in Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia resembles Legion from Castlevania: Circle of the Moon, except that this one is larger and with skulls instead of humanoid faces.
**It also resembles the second phase of Dracula in Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse.
*thumb|In Order of Ecclesia, the crack on the skull across its eyehole makes it resemble an eye patch; added to that, the worms going through it can also resemble snakes, making the Maneater resemble the symbol of Outer Heaven from the Metal Gear series (also made by Konami). The logo was introduced on Metal Gear Solid 4, which came out earlier the same year Order of Ecclesia did.
*Both the Man Eaters in Aria of Sorrow and Order of Ecclesia shoot ripple lasers from their tentacles, although those in Aria of Sorrow actually resemble the ion rings commonly shot by Moais in the Gradius series, while the ones in Order of Ecclesia properly resemble the standard Ripple Laser shot by the Vic Viper.
Category:Dark Bosses
Category:Flying Bosses
Category:Flying Enemies
Category:Ice Bosses
Category:Ice Enemies
Category:Insects
Category:Original Castlevania Lore
Category:Aria of Sorrow Enemies
Category:Order of Ecclesia Bosses
Category:Super Castlevania IV Bosses