General Graardor


 * General Graardor is a God Wars Dungeon boss and is called the 'Bandos Boss' in RuneScape's Quick Chat feature.

General Graardor is the leader of the army of Bandos within the God Wars Dungeon. He is the last known surviving ourg, a species of powerful ogre-like creatures who were bred by Bandos himself for his armies, and which almost completely died out over the course of numerous wars. With a combat level of 624, General Graardor is the sixth strongest monster in the game.

General Graardor attacks with a powerful melee attack that can hit up to 610 damage. He also has a Magic-based Ranged attack that is capable of hitting all players in the room for up to 355 damage. Additionally, he is aided in combat by three bodyguards: Sergeant Strongstack, who uses melee; Sergeant Steelwill, who uses Magic; and Sergeant Grimspike, who uses Ranged. Nonetheless, General Graardor is the most popular God Wars Dungeon boss to kill, as he is considered by some to be the easiest of the five leaders. He is the only monster in the game to drop the Bandos hilt, used to construct the popular Bandos godsword. Because he is the most popular God Wars Dungeon boss, the supply of Bandos hilts is the highest of all godsword hilts. As such, the Bandos godsword has the lowest price of all godswords.

To reach General Graardor, players must enter the Bandos encampment of the God Wars Dungeon, which requires 70 Strength and a hammer or golden hammer, and kill forty followers of Bandos. Many players choose to kill goblins, as they are the weakest followers of Bandos.

Early history
Details regarding General Graardor's history are virtually impossible to find. The ourg race, of which Graardor is a part, was brought to Gielinor from Yu'biusk in the early Third Age along with ogres, goblins, and orks. However, it is likely that Graardor was born some time during the God Wars.

Graardor, during the late Third Age, was one of Bandos's most favoured soldiers. Like many ourgs, such as Yokrad and Blorgak, his talents earned him many leadership positions in Bandos's army. His strategic military tactics, as well as his simple physical strength, made him an ideal leader. Graardor's physical strength was such that he eventually learned to fight both with weaponry and with his bare hands.

Guthixian campaign
Most of Graardor's accomplishments during the God Wars have been long-forgotten. As seen in the FunOrb strategy game Armies of Gielinor, Graardor is known to have actively participated in the Bandosians' efforts to repel Guthixian forces in what is now the Wilderness, in what would have been the late Third Age. Given the game's approach to Canon, certain elements of Graardor's role in the game may not be canonical.

Graardor appears in both the "God Wars" and "End of An Age" levels, and in both features as a prominent enemy of the player, who commands Bandos's forces. During the "God Wars" level, which is set in the northwest Wilderness, Graardor commands the Bandosian army in what gradually becomes an all-out five-way battle between the forces of Bandos, Saradomin, Armadyl, Zamorak, and Guthix. Other key Third Age leaders such as Pazuzu, Wingman Skree, and Brother Constantius were amongst those whom Graardor faced.

Graardor also makes an appearance in the game's final level, "End of An Age." The level represents one of the God Wars' final battles, during which many forces clashed with the Guthixian army. Graardor, Commander Zilyana, Dag'eth, and other Third Age leaders are amongst those present. Although Guthix is ultimately victorious during the battle, Graardor and a number of other leaders evidently managed to escape, and later re-emerged.

The Godsword
Graardor's last task in Bandos's forces came in the late Third Age, when a hasty alliance between Bandos, Saradomin, and Armadyl fought against Zamorak in what is now called the God Wars Dungeon of Troll Country. The battle was evidently fought in an effort to claim the godsword, an extremely powerful weapon crafted by the Icyene.

Although initially the battle was fought only between Zamorak and the Alliance, distrust between the Gods' armies quickly led to the conflict erupting into four-way chaos. Graardor, content with this, oversaw the construction of a rudimentary base of operations in an offshoot of the cave. This fortress, now known as "Bandos's Stronghold," served to house both Graardor and troops rotating out of combat in the main chamber. Graardor himself was placed under the protection of Goblin Sergeants Strongstack, Steelwill, and Grimspike.

During the course of the fighting, a spell cast by an unknown army backfired upon the entire cavern, freezing the entire cave perfectly in place. Graardor was amongst those left imprisoned. Very shortly after this occurred, the god Guthix established the Edicts of Guthix, preventing the direct involvement of any deity in Gielinor. The departure of the world's Gods and the subsequent end of the God Wars meant that the cavern was forgotten, and Graardor would remain imprisoned with its populace for more than 2,000 years to come.

In the recent Fifth Age, investigations by both the dwarven explorer Nestor Peregrine and the Asgarnian Temple Knights nearly resulted in the cave's (and Graardor's) rediscovery. In 169, tectonic movement in the neighbouring Wilderness caused large portions of the cave to defrost, eventually leading to the release of most of the cavern's population. Unaware that the God Wars have ended, Graardor and the rest of the battle's leaders have resumed the battle for the godsword once again.

Quotes
When in battle, General Graardor may utter the following quotes, all of which are voiced as of 10 January 2011:


 * "Death to our enemies!".
 * "Brargh!".
 * "Break their bones!".
 * "For the glory of Bandos!.
 * "Split their skulls!".
 * "We feast on the bones of our enemies tonight!".
 * "CHAAARGE!".
 * "Crush them underfoot!".
 * "All glory to Bandos!".
 * "GRAAAAAAAAAR!".

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Trivia

 * Prior to the release of The Chosen Commander on 17 March 2009, General Graardor referred to Bandos as the "Big High War God" in his battle cries.
 * Oddly, the armor Graardor wears is huge to fit his enormous frame, yet when worn by players, it seems to scale down to their size.
 * Until an update on 6 May 2009, General Graardor dropped big bones instead of ourg bones.
 * General Graardor drops goblin skulls, used for the quest Rag and Bone Man, despite not belonging to the goblin race.
 * It is thought that, like Zilyana, because he was frozen during the Godwars, he escaped as the single survivor of his race. There is precious little mention of the ourgs, suggesting that Graardor is the last remaining.

Appearances outside the God Wars Dungeon


General Graardor makes brief cameo appearances throughout both RuneScape media and the game itself. He is like a logo to RuneScape.


 * General Graardor makes an appearance on the main menu as a picture for the French servers release. He can be also seen on the members' benefit page, and is included in Postbag from the Hedge Issue 39's top ten most powerful monsters.
 * Graardor is one of several in-game characters to feature on a set of downloadable RuneScape Duel Cards.
 * During the 2009 Easter Event and 2010 Easter event, while sorting the defected nuts, players could also find various other objects. One of these was a Graardor plush toy; in the 2010 event the squirrel Big Ben mentions that they arrived as part of a shipping error.
 * A poster depicting General Graardor can be purchased from the Jagex Store. Shortly before the release of The Chosen Commander, a t-shirt depicting the face of Bandos was also made available; however, its appearance was nearly identical to that of Graardor. He also appears on 12-month RuneScape membership cards.
 * A computer wallpaper depicting Graardor can be found on the Official RuneScape Website.
 * Graardor features in various Armies of Gielinor adverts sometimes seen on the Funorb website. In it, he is shown punching towards the viewer before the game's logo appears.
 * In December 2009, the Jagex Store was temporarily taken down while parts of the site were re-worked. When visiting the website, the only accessible page featured a picture of General Graardor, along with the message "Coming This December."
 * On the official RuneFest website, Graardor can be seen on a panel offering event tickets.
 * A puzzle box featuring Graardor can be obtained during Treasure Trails.
 * In a recent update, General Graardor along with all of the other GWD bosses, were given voice acting.

General Graardor General Graardor