General Graardor

General Graardor is the leader of the army of Bandos within the God Wars Dungeon. He is one of the last known surviving members of the ourg race, a species of powerful ogre-like creatures who served Bandos' armies, and which almost completely died out over the course of numerous wars.

General Graardor can be fought inside Bandos' Stronghold in the God Wars Dungeon. He has no weakness and moderately high defence, and cannot be stunned or poisoned. He attacks with a powerful arm thrust that can frequently hit over 1500 damage. He also has a Ranged attack that is capable of hitting all players in the room for up to 500+ damage. Additionally, he has three minions: Sergeant Strongstack, who uses melee; Sergeant Steelwill, who uses Magic; and Sergeant Grimspike, who uses Ranged. Since the update on the 28th of January increasing Graador's maximum hit by 800-900 and the ease of K'ril Tsutaroth, he became the second most popular God Wars boss, with the prior having full worlds and several people attempting to take said worlds every hour. He is the only monster in the game to drop the Bandos hilt, used to construct the popular Bandos godsword. Because he is the second most popular God Wars Dungeon boss, the supply of Bandos hilts is the second highest of all godsword hilts. He drops the highly coveted parts of the Bandos armour set, making competition fairly intense.

Graardor's melee attack can deal large amounts of damage, up to 2200+. In addition, he may perform a ranged attack by punching the ground with his right fist creating a shock wave that hits everyone in the room. Also of note, General Graardor has very high range defence. It is not advised to use this combat style when fighting him, as even those using Ascension Crossbows will struggle to hit him.

To reach General Graardor, players must enter the Bandos encampment of the God Wars Dungeon to the north-west, requiring 70 Strength. To enter his lair, the player needs to have killed 40 Bandos followers. Many players choose to kill goblins and Spiritual rangers to achieve the killcount, as they are the weakest followers of Bandos.

Early history


Details regarding General Graardor's history are sparse. The ourg race, inclusive of Graardor, arrived at 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' 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, which has the fabled power to kill a god.

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' 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 frozen in time with its warring armies 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 neighboring 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, seemingly unaware that centuries have passed since the end of the wars.

The World Wakes
When the archaeologist Orlando Smith discovered the last resting place of Guthix in 169 of the Fifth Age, Graardor was the leader of the Bandosians trying to infiltrate the temple in their Attempt to assassinate Guthix. Graardor, not very intelligent, was the last general from the God Wars Dungeon to arrive. Trying to reach the central chamber, each of the gods' factions attacked one store room wing (while Zilyana and her army stormed in after the others were defeated). Graardor eventually managed to brutally make his way into one of the store rooms, only to be met by Thaerisk Cemphier, Chaeldar and a powerful adventurer. Determined to slay Guthix, bring Bandos back to Gielinor, and fight in another God Wars, Graardor charged the trio with his minions. After a tough battle, he was defeated and, forced to flee, exited the room speedily.

Missing, Presumed Death
Graardor accompanied Bandos to Sliske's "Grand Ascendancy". After the Dragonkin Strisath is released by Sliske, he and the other god followers leave the Empyrean Citadel.

The Mighty Fall
After learning of Bandos's death, Graardor and with several other Bandosian followers launched an attack on Zanik and the Dorgeshuun, claiming them as responsible for the death of Bandos. However, the Bandosians are delayed by arguments over who is the leader and they agree to decide it with the traditional Kyzaj Tournament, which Graardor has won many times in the past. In the tournament, Graardor easily defeats his first two opponents Hobnob and Bork, but is ultimately defeated in the final round by the World Guardian. He outright kills Hobnob and tries to kill Bork, but is stopped by Zarador, as arbiter, who chose to spare Bork as he did not wish to see the orks wiped out, aware that it would one day happen to the ourgs. If the player spares Zanik, he refuses to serve as Zanik's lieutenant. If the player kills Zanik, he will tell the player that he is happy with their choice and makes an excuse saying that he had a bad day. Regardless of the player's choice, Graardor goes back to the Temple of Lost Ancients to claim the Godsword.

Hard Mode/The World Wakes
When fought in hard mode and during The World Wakes, General Graardor has a selection of attacks and abilities at his disposal, which he will use periodically. They are as follows.

Running under Graardor will result in the player getting dealt with 250 damage and be bound for three ticks.

Graardor Smash

General Graardor will yell "Graardor smash!", smashing his fist into the ground and causing rocks to fall from the ceiling. Shadows will appear in the area they are about to fall, and they can be avoided by running away. Players will be dealt with 600-1000 damage per rock, and being hit by multiple rocks is extremely dangerous.

Graardor Protect

When General Graardor crouches in a defensive stance and says "Graardor protect!", half of the damage dealt will be sent back to the player, similar to Deflect Curses. It's easy to counter it by not attacking him.

Graardor Mad

When General Graardor yells "Graardor mad!", he will stop moving and rapidly punch the area in front of him for massive damage. This can be avoided by running behind him and continuing to attack him from there.

The Mighty Fall
When fought during The Mighty Fall, Graardor wields a Kyzaj which he uses to attack the player. He has three special attacks in this fight. He will also deal heavy damage to players who stand underneath him for too long.

Kyzaj swing

Graardor holds his Kyzaj to his side momentarily before performing a horizontal swing. This deals 40% of the player's maximum life points in damage if it hits. This can be avoided by moving away from where he aims.

Shockwave

Graardor strikes the arena and creates a shockwave which deals unavoidable damage. This attack deals less damage to the player if they are further away from the middle of the arena.

Arena strike

Graardor slams his Kyzaj onto the arena and breaks part of it off, making it smaller. This deals heavy damage to a player stood on the part of the arena that gets destroyed. He will perform this attack 4 times during the fight - when he's at 80, 60, 40 and 20% of his full health.

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!"
 * "GRRRAAAAAR!"
 * "FOR THE GLORY OF THE BIG HIGH WAR GOD!"

Trivia

 * When you kill General Graardor, your Adventurer's log will say "I killed General Graardor, a huge warchief."
 * Killing more than one will result in "I killed # General Graardors, all huge warchiefs."
 * A puzzle box featuring Graardor can be obtained on Elite Treasure Trails.
 * 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.
 * Prior to an update, Graardor's 100% drop were big bones rather than the ourg bones he drops as of now.
 * An update changed Graardor's maximum hit due to complaints on how easy he was due to the Evolution of Combat.
 * During The World Wakes or doing Graardor in hard mode, when Graardor uses his special attack, he shouts "Graardor Smash!". This is a reference to the Incredible Hulk's "Hulk Smash!".
 * It is shown that Graardor has excessive pride, as he seems to make an excuse to cover his defeats up. In Missing, Presumed Death, if the player asks about defeating him in Cres' chamber, he will say that he "wasn't there" when Guthix died. In The Mighty Fall, he'll state that he had a "bad day".
 * Graardor is the only general in the God Wars Dungeon that doesn't have wings.
 * Graardor is known to be angered by the word "peacefully" and its variants, threatening to "smash" the player for saying it during The Mighty Fall.

Gallery
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