The Scythian Witch-Harpy is a flying enemy that can use both ranged attacks from afar and deliver a powerful melee attack at close range. First introduced in Serious Sam: The First Encounter, they have appeared in multiple Serious Sam titles.
Overview[]
The Scythian Witch-Harpy belongs to a race of winged humanoid creatures from an unknown planet. In all their appearances, they are seen wearing an outfit consisting of a metallic bikini. All contemporary Witch-Harpies are clones of a long extinct race that have been trained by Mental in close-ranged combat and casting spells.[1] Harpies have a pair of wings coming from their back, which allows them to fly and reach otherwise unreachable places and to attack their enemies from above. Despite the Harpy's mammalian and oversexualized appearance, this is mere mimicry intended to attract and confuse less intelligent species of primates (especially humans), so that they can be dispatched by the creature's razor-sharp claws.[2][3]
The origin of the Scythian Witch-Harpy is the subject of controversy in the scientific community, with some maintaining that it is actually a creature belonging to the clade Ornithodira that evolved on Earth in the far past, while others classify it as an exo-mammal and theorize it may have evolved on Sirius.[3]
Appearances[]
Harpies are quite common enemies in the series (although in some titles, they are scarce and seldom appear in large numbers), and are often positioned far away and in medium to large groups. Their main purpose is to distract the target while they are busy dealing with enemies on the ground. They can become a nuisance when they get close to the target in order to swipe them with their claws.
Serious Sam 1[]
Harpies are very common enemies in both Serious Sam: The First Encounter and Serious Sam: The Second Encounter. At first, they appear few at a time in small groups, but eventually start becoming more numerous in large swarms in the later levels.
In The First Encounter, Harpies are first seen in Oasis, but can appear earlier in Temple of Hatshepsut and Sand Canyon in secrets, as well as on higher difficulties. In Dunes, a massive horde of Harpies will appear after the player picks up a secret health inside an oasis out of the map boundaries.
In Serious Sam: The Second Encounter, Harpies are slightly more common than before. The first Witch-Harpies are seen in Sierra de Chiapas, after NETRICSA instructs the player to shoot them down with the newly acquired RAPTOR Sniper Rifle. Many more appear in small to medium groups later in the game and can occasionally even be seen carrying Beheaded Kamikazes.
Serious Sam 3: BFE[]
Unlike the previous game, Harpies are much rarer enemies, although they can be numerous when they do appear. The first Harpy is seen in a cutscene in Under the Iron Cloud, and large groups of them can be found throughout Cairo within the level. Despite their rarity, they are encountered as common enemies in the Jewel of the Nile levels.
Serious Sam 4[]
Harpies become now more common again in Serious Sam 4. Several of them first appear in A Breakfast in France, and then they become much more numerous in In Carcassonne and later levels.
Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem[]
Harpies start to appear from Siberiade onwards, sometime after the player has obtained the TCC-2 "Perun" Crossbow. They are much more numerous when playing on New Game+, as the enemy spawn multiplier increases with each playthrough. However, Harpies can also be found earlier in the the first level, if the player kills one of the seagulls in the starting area.
A flock of Harpies can be found in a secret in the level Crime And Punishment, guarding a Hoverboard Scooter. Picking up the scooter will cause a big fight to break out involving lots a big group of Harpies.
Behavior and skills[]
A Witch-Harpy in Serious Sam 3 revealing its true face.
The Scythian Witch-Harpy has been trained by Mental in both close combat and casting magic spells. They have two attacks: at medium to far range, she will fire a projectile at the player. These projectiles travel in the direction they are fired, and do not track the player. These projectiles are slow, easy to avoid and deal minimal damage. When the Harpy is within close enough range of the player, she will swoop down and perform a powerful kick with her claws. Her melee attack can be easily evaded by sidestepping, but will make contact with the player if they don't react quickly enough.
Serious Sam 1[]
Harpies have unique behavior in this installment compared to other enemies; they will fall to the ground if they are shot in the wings enough times, and will continue attacking, then fly back up a few minutes later. In the classic version of the game, a Harpy will fall to the ground when killed by gunfire or with the knife. In the HD and VR ports, Harpies are gibbed regardless of how they are killed.
Serious Sam 3: BFE[]
The Harpy has more complex AI than in the previous games. When they are first encountered, they can be seen perched on top of buildings. If a Harpy is attacked, any Harpies nearby will come to her aid and attack the player. They also tend to keep their distance compared to Serious Sam 1, but they will still try to use their melee attack when they get the chance. Their hitbox is also slightly off-center, often causing them to get stuck.
Serious Sam 4/Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem[]
The Harpy's behavior is more similar to her Serious Sam 1 counterpart, and she will swoop in and attack the player whenever possible rather than keeping her distance. Harpies, like other enemies in these titles, will take extra damage when she is shot in the head. The player can also deliver a instant kill to a Harpy with the knife when the on-screen prompt appears by pressing the Use key. This attack can only be initiated when she is close enough to the player.
In Siberian Mayhem, a Harpy will occasionally fire three projectiles at the player instead of just one. This makes them harder to avoid than usual.
Tactics[]
General[]
- The Harpy's projectile and melee attack can be dodged by strafing at an angle. Strafing at an angle is better than simply strafing in one direction because it prevents a Harpy from charging at the player from a direction they can't look at.
- When paired with other enemies, Harpies are a medium-threat at close range and low-priority threat at long range. Their projectiles are very easy to dodge, and they usually spawn so far away that it'll take a while before they get close for a melee attack, even though they are fast. However, if they are close, they should be eliminated quickly because their melee attack is much more powerful than their projectiles are. Also, since they are airborne enemies, aiming upwards can distract the player from more dangerous ground-based enemies. They should be taken out whenever the player gets a chance or when they get too close.
Serious Sam 1[]
- Alone or in small groups, Harpies are easy to take down. Dual Schofield .45s can kill a Harpy with one magazine, while one scoped RAPTOR Sniper Rifle shot can kill one. Close-range Harpies can be killed with either the 12 Gauge Pump-Action Shotgun or Double Barrel Coach Gun. The Military Knife and P-LAH Chainsaw can be more useful as the knife kills a Harpy with a single hit and the chainsaw stuns a group of Harpies.
- Large groups can easily be dispatched with the Thompson submachine gun. Its accuracy is perfect, and its rate of fire is high enough to cause significant damage without wasting too much ammo.
- Very large swarms can be rounded up by circle strafing. With the MK III Grenade Launcher or XPML21 Rocket Launcher, firing a single grenade or rocket in the middle of a dense swarm will kill quite a few Harpies and damage several others.
- A grounded Harpy can be quite dangerous because of her quick speed and her small size, which makes it difficult to discern her from hordes of stronger enemies. If the player spots a Harpy falling to the ground, they should try to kill her before she can get close to them.
- In The Second Encounter, large groups of Harpies can easily be taken out with the XOP Flamethrower. The flame damage plus continuous fire will kill them quickly due to their low health.
Serious Sam 3: BFE[]
- Harpies are less threatening in this installment due to their reduced melee damage, but are slightly harder to hit due to their hit-box and their tendency to recoil downwards after being damaged. Try firing near the Harpy's feet with a rapid-firing weapon to get a clear shot.
- The M29 Infantry Assault Rifle is an excellent weapon against Harpies. It has perfect accuracy when aiming down the sights, letting the player hit the Harpy no matter where she is. It also has a good rate of fire, letting the player quickly tear through a Harpy. However, when using the assault rifle, note that the Harpy recoils downward and back when shot, so the player should make sure to slightly move the gun downward when they first hit the Harpy so that they don't waste a few bullets.
- The XM214-A Minigun is an effective weapon for killing Harpies, due to its high rate of fire and damage.
- Harpies charging at the player can be dispatched with the Double Barrel Coach Gun in one hit if most of the pellets connect. This is handy when the player is being attacked by Harpies at close range, no matter how many there are.
- The Sledgehammer and Axe can kill a Harpy in one hit. To hit them reliably, it is recommended to move towards them. Trying to hit them while sidestepping is very difficult.
- The A-24 Devastator and XPML21 Rocket Launcher work well against groups of Harpies. One rocket will kill a Harpy and damage the others. A follow-up rocket can kill two or more because of the damage from the first rocket.
- The Sirian Mutilator works well against groups of Harpies that are close.
- C-4 is even more effective at throwing one in the middle of a dense swarm, as it can kill several of them.
Serious Sam 4/Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem[]
- Just like with every other game they appear in, the Harpy's melee attack and projectiles can be dodged by strafing sideways.
- If the player has enough ammo to spare, the FRPCL is the ultimate anti-Harpy weapon. As the chainsaw projectiles fired from the weapon are extremely effective against most enemies in the game, one or two chainsaws are enough to slice up groups of Harpies almost instantly.
- Its alternate fire can also be used to destroy Harpies at close range.
- The assault rifle, AK-74MX, Devastator, rocket launcher, and sniper rifle remain great weapons to use against medium to large-sized groups of Harpies.
- The knife is effective against a single Harpy or for small groups, but is ineffective against large swarms.
- If the player has acquired the homing rocket upgrade for the rocket launcher, this makes it even more versatile and allow the player to lock onto and take down multiple Harpies at once.
- As groups of Harpies are much larger than before, rapid-fire weapons such as the lasergun and minigun should be used to quickly take them down. The lasergun is especially useful with its death ray upgrade installed.
- The crossbow is another effective weapon against medium to large-sized groups of Harpies.
- The XPMR "Burner" Raygun is the next best anti-Harpy weapon. The Burner can heat up a single Harpy and explode her quickly, severely damaging other nearby Harpies in the process. This makes the Burner highly effective against Harpies in any amount.
- If the player is riding a Common Aludran Reptiloid, they can use the Reptiloid's homing projectiles to take out groups of Harpies easily.
Behind the scenes[]
- The Harpy had a very different model in Test 1. It is lower-poly and has a completely different skin. It appears that the beta model's animations weren't properly synced to her speed.
- In Test 2, the Harpy used the final model but used the Test 1 animations. Later promo art shows the final Harpy, but with a different helmet and/or face.
- The Harpy had a stronger counterpart, the Dragonman, in early versions of The First Encounter. It can be seen in early screenshots and its code is included with the SDK.
- Early Serious Sam 4 sketches of the Harpy depict it with a different design, featuring a nude, skinny creature covered in feathers with skeletal wings that have black feathers and a reddish tinge. Her jaws are open agape with a visible glow inside.
Related achievements[]
Serious Sam HD: The Second Encounter[]
|
| |
| Kill 100 Harpies with the Sniper rifle. |
Serious Sam VR: The Second Encounter[]
|
| |
| Kill 20 Harpies with the Sniper rifle. |
Serious Sam Fusion[]
|
| |
| Kill 20 Harpies with the Sniper rifle. |
|
| |
| Gib 20 enemies from close range with a shotgun. |
Trivia[]
General[]
- The Witch-Harpy is a reference to the Harpy, a creature that is half-bird and half-woman from Greek and Roman mythologies.
- If a player dies to a Harpy in co-op, an on-screen obituary message reading "A Scythian Harpy got [player name] spellbound." will appear.
- If the Harpy used her melee attack to kill a player, the message will instead read "[player name] was beaten by a Scythian Harpy."
- Harpies are mentioned by NETRICSA in Serious Sam's Bogus Detour, despite not appearing in-game.[4]
- The Harpy's name refers to a find of a gold figurine depicting a similar creature discovered by Dr. Hermann Stein at the Scythian tumulus of Kul-Oba near eastern Crimea. This suggests that they may have been encountered by humans in the past.[5]
- NETRICSA says that the Harpy in Serious Sam 3 is related to reptiles, whereas in Serious Sam 1 they are mammals. This could imply that they are a different species than the ones encountered in earlier games.
- The Harpy's appearance has varied to some extent throughout the series. They are also more nude in Serious Sam 3 compared to the previous games. In Serious Sam 4, the Harpy has been changed to resemble more of her Serious Sam 4 counterpart.
Serious Sam 1/Serious Sam HD[]
- Despite being able to use projectiles, the Harpy's AI makes her lean toward getting in close and using her melee attack.
- As mentioned above, in Serious Sam HD, the Harpy is gibbed regardless of how she is killed due to lacking a proper death animation scheme and her destruction config being set to trigger on any amount and type of damage upon death.
- However, viewing her model in the Serious Editor shows that she has proper death animations. With modifications, these death animations can be restored. The same can also be done with the Kleer Skeleton.
Serious Sam 3: BFE[]
- The Harpy's breasts have a very noticeable jiggle when moving, both in the sky and on the ground.
- The Harpy's projectile shares the same model as the one fired by the Serious Sam HD Harpy.
- The Harpy has an odd hitbox that is centered below her feet, which makes it hard for projectiles such as bullets to hit her. This has been fixed in Serious Sam Fusion.
- Sam's quote after he kills the first Witch-Harpy encountered in-game is a reference to When Doves Cry by Prince.[6]
Gallery[]
Artwork[]
Serious Sam 1[]
Pre-release[]
Retail[]
Serious Sam: The Random Encounter[]
Serious Sam 3: BFE[]
Serious Sam 4/Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem[]
References[]
- ↑ Serious Sam 1 NETRICSA description
- ↑ Serious Sam 3: BFE NETRICSA description
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Serious Sam 3: BFE NETRICSA description
- ↑ Auto Shotgun NETRICSA description
- ↑ The Art of Serious Sam 4, page 87
- ↑ "What's that Prince? This is what it sounds like when doves cry. Thought so." -Sam, Under the Iron Cloud, Serious Sam 3: BFE
List of appearances[]
- Serious Sam: The First Encounter (First appearance)
- Serious Sam (Palm OS) (non-canonical appearance)
- Serious Sam: The Second Encounter
- Serious Sam: Xbox (non-canonical appearance)
- Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter
- Serious Sam HD: The Second Encounter
- Serious Sam: The Random Encounter (non-canonical appearance)
- Serious Sam 3: BFE
- Serious Sam VR: The First Encounter (non-canonical appearance)
- Serious Sam VR: The Second Encounter (non-canonical appearance)
- Serious Sam's Bogus Detour (Mentioned only) (non-canonical appearance)
- Serious Sam VR: The Last Hope
- Serious Sam 3 VR: BFE (non-canonical appearance)
- Serious Sam Classics: Revolution (non-canonical appearance)
- Serious Sam 4
- Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem