You know, the ones that had a go at Kyle and his hunting buddies in the original PD. Like to sneak up behind you. Purple coloured.
I think those were a variation of the creatures called Sand Mites.
My answer to the question is worryingly encyclopaedic. I apologise in advance.
There seem to be at least four versions of those critters in different games in the series:
- Purple-coloured ones in the PD1 opening sequence.
- Longer, brownish ones in PD1 Episode 2.
- Spikier yellowish ones in PD2 Episode 2.
- The snow version from PDO Episode 5.
The English PD1 manual refers to the ones Kyle’s hunting as “Burrowers”, but given what we know of the Saturn translations this could just be a made-up name. We do have an “official” name for the variant from PD2: their profile in the Die Welt von Panzer Dragoon Zwei book calls them “Goliathe”. Also, the entry in PDO’s Encyclopedia for the snowy variety (Erkists) refers to them as a “subspecies” of the species called “Goraias”, which is clearly just a different transliteration of “Goliathe”.
So you have two options: the direct English name Burrower which is quite possibly just made up, or the name Goraias or Goliathe which may not be correct for the specific kind seen in PD1. (And which may or may not be intended as a plural…)
Also, I always thought the Sand Mites Legaia mentioned were meant to be a relative too. Kimimi’s retranslation of the creature names has them as “Worm Shishi”.
So the Golia Hunters/Trackers would hunt these?..
Do you mean because of the Golia / Goliathe name similarity or something else? If it was the names, probably not, as Golia is just the (made-up-for-translation) English name for those guys. The original name was “Hanuman”, which (I’m sure someone pointed this out here in the past) seems to be a real-world reference, as it’s the name of a monkey-like Hindu deity (and Golias are rather ape-like):
This seems to be a similar issue to the “forest worms” in Zwei and Saga being officially called Naga:
Oh , I thought the “Goraias” you were talking about was also the english name for the creature in question.
[quote=“Lance Way”]My answer to the question is worryingly encyclopaedic. I apologise in advance.
There seem to be at least four versions of those critters in different games in the series:
- Purple-coloured ones in the PD1 opening sequence.
- Longer, brownish ones in PD1 Episode 2.
- Spikier yellowish ones in PD2 Episode 2.
- The snow version from PDO Episode 5.
The English PD1 manual refers to the ones Kyle’s hunting as “Burrowers”, but given what we know of the Saturn translations this could just be a made-up name. We do have an “official” name for the variant from PD2: their profile in the Die Welt von Panzer Dragoon Zwei book calls them “Goliathe”. Also, the entry in PDO’s Encyclopedia for the snowy variety (Erkists) refers to them as a “subspecies” of the species called “Goraias”, which is clearly just a different transliteration of “Goliathe”.
So you have two options: the direct English name Burrower which is quite possibly just made up, or the name Goraias or Goliathe which may not be correct for the specific kind seen in PD1. (And which may or may not be intended as a plural…)
Also, I always thought the Sand Mites Legaia mentioned were meant to be a relative too. Kimimi’s retranslation of the creature names has them as “Worm Shishi”.[/quote]
Dont forget the Sand Mites from PDS!
…I didn’t; I mentioned them at the bottom there. 
The reason I didn’t put them in the list was because last time I looked at them in the enemy gallery, I realised they don’t look quite as similar to the other burrowing creatures as I’d thought (they’re more crab-like with scuttling legs) and have very different attacks (projectiles as opposed to leaping at you), so I guessed they might not be intended as the same thing. But that was definitely the impression I had from memory (that they were the same thing): do they use the same sound effects as those other creatures or something like that?
Panzer Dragoon Zwei’s Goliathes
http://pdsoasis.panzerdragoon.net/sm22.jpg
Panzer Dragoon’s Burrowers
http://pdsoasis.panzerdragoon.net/sm1.jpg
http://pdsoasis.panzerdragoon.net/sm2.jpg
Panzer Dragoon Saga’s Sand Mites
http://pdsoasis.panzerdragoon.net/sandmitem.jpg
Panzer Dragoon Orta’s Erkists
http://pdsoasis.panzerdragoon.net/sm3.jpg
I think the Goliathes and the Burrowers look very similar. They may be different colors but they both have crab like appendages and elongated tales.
The Burrowers from Episode 2 of PD seem to be a different species altogether. These ones are brown and have fin like things on their tail.
The Sand Mites from PDS are still in a desert area, but it’s features have changed. Aside from having crab like appendages, it now has 3 appendages protruding from the left and right sides of the creature, as well as two back legs.
The Erkists from PDO are totally indistinguishable from the others. The only similarities are: having a long protruding tail, two fin-like arms, and the fact it burrows in the snow instead of the sand. The Exkists look nothing like the Burrowers, Goliathe, or the Sand Mites. They also live in a cold climate unlike the others who live in desert climates.
I assume each creature evolved in different ways developing different features to adapt to their varied climates. Well, that’s my analysis anyway. 
That works for those that don’t share the desert with each other. =D Unless their ancestors were one of the first species to arrive in the desert and went on to fill several niches in the environment.
Had a look at the various data files on a PDS disk. The file MENUEN.PRG says that Sand Mites use the files PGORAIAS.MCB and PGORAIAS.CGB, so that clinches that I think.
Ahah! If I knew about that I’d completely forgotten it. (Though I do remember that the file names give away the Hanuman thing, too.)
What exactly are you talking about? What do you mean that the Sand Mites
use the files PGORAIAS.MCB and PGORAIAS.CGB. What are these files and what purpose do they serve?
Sorry, I’m not so much of a techy. :anjou_embarassed:
Not quite sure how detailed an answer you’re asking for, but…
Saturn game discs are (generally speaking) just CDs that have data files saved to them. If you pop one in your PC, you can usually see the files with no trouble. (But note: the files on the Panzer Dragoon Saga discs are actually marked as “hidden”, so if you’re using Windows and you haven’t set the general option to view hidden files, you’ll need to do that.)
There are over a thousand files on each disc, and MENUEN.PRG is (presumably) the program code for the enemy gallery (the “Data on Defeated Enemies” thing; that). Looking in the file with a hex editor (I’m checking it now) you can see the text description of the Sand Mites, the one that says they’re parasites that feed off of worms etc. Straight after that are the names of the two files that Seeking mentioned, which presumably means those files have something to do with the Sand Mites (well, all of the enemy descriptions have two files listed after them).
To answer “what are they and what purpose do they serve?”, I’d suspect that those files contain the model, textures and animation data for the enemy (and possibly other things too, but the model and its animations is what the enemy gallery definitely uses).
Thanks for the explanation. What’s the Hanuman thing?
Mentioned somewhere above. ^
Ah, I see, very interesting.