A Chimera was a mythological creature known for its cruelty and monstrous body. The only one appeared in the entire series, in "Dreamscape" from Season 2. It was trapped deep into Professor Rotwood's subconscious and accidentally set loose by Jake.
Physical Appearance[]
In the series, the Chimera was a dark red bipedal creature that had three heads: a lion's in the middle, a goat's on the right and a cobra's on the left. It had the upper body of a humanoid lion possessing clawed hands, its legs had cloven hooves like a goat and it had a long scaly tail resembling that of a snake.
Magical Powers[]
A Chimera in general was very powerful. It had superhuman strength and, although this only applied in the Dream Realm, could cause physical harm to humans. Whenever it appeared into someone's dreams, it would cause horrifying nightmares that would make that person sleep-deprived, hostile and anti-social the next morning.
The Chimera was incapable of speech and often acted from its instincts. It was extremely dangerous when on the loose as it would invade all the dreams it could in one night to cause as much havoc as possible.
Current Status[]
In "Dreamscape", Lao Shi explains that the only way to catch a Chimera is to absorb it inside a magical snare. This will shrink it to the size of the trap, but the beast will recover its true form once freed. Jake and his friends manage to catch the Chimera after a hectic battle, and then set things back to normal by sending it back into Rotwood's mind where it belongs.
It was currently unclear why Rotwood was unaffected by the fact that a Chimera lived in his subconscious. It was possible that, because of past traumatizing events and his rough (and unhappy) childhood, the Chimera was nothing compared to what he had already experienced early on in his life.
Trivia[]
- In most myths, the Chimera could breathe fire and usually had the body of a lion, a snake for a tail and a goat head on its back;
- The term "chimera" was derived from the ancient Greek "khimaros", which means "she-goat";
- The modern word "chimera" was often used to describe an impossible or foolish fantasy;
- The Chimera was one of the Top 13 Threats to the Magical Community;
- The Chimera's roar was a mix of snake hisses and a distant howl.
- In some tales, the Chimera was believed to stand on two legs which were a lion with a goat's head on its back and a entire snake or a tail.
- In other legends, the Chimera was also said to have an eagle's head or even a dragon's head. Also, some legends show that a Chimera had four heads, instead of three.