Why I like Aggedor
Aggedor is the sacred beast of Peladon, and the titular character (if you can call him that) of both "the Monster of Peladon" and "the Curse of Peladon." The name refers, by turns, to the (nearly extinct) species, the individual, and the deity. As Hepesh, High Priest of Peladon, explains it:
"[Aggedor is] the royal beast of Peladon, now extinct. It is written, Mighty is Aggedor, fiercest of all the beasts of Peladon. Young men would hunt it to prove their courage. His fur trims our royal garment. His head is our royal emblem. It is also written there will come a day when the spirit of Aggedor will rise again to warn and defend his royal master, King Peladon."
Maybe, just maybe, you shouldn't have hunted it to extinction to line your purple jewelled battle shorts guys! Fortunately, they didn't quite, and we do get to meet the animal himself. In the flesh, he is a large furry primarily quadripedal sort, bearlike with three horns and a porcine snout. That is to say, Aggedor is ridiculously cuddly. The statues don't do him justice - he's way fuzzier in person. He's also willing and able to claw your face off, so there's that to worry about, but he's not fundamentally savage - no animal is, and Aggedor is, at the end of the day, just an animal. And like any animal, how he treats you depends a lot on how you treat him.
Aggedor was probably captured by Hepesh as a cub, and tamed and trained by him (up to a point) as sort of a guard dog for the secret tunnels under the citadel. The idea of clicker training and positive reinforcement seems not to have made it out to Peladon yet - Hepesh seems to use fire to control Aggedor, and it's not really very effective. The Doctor uses Venusian lullabies, mild hypnosis, and tactile affection instead, and Aggedor seems to appreciate that a lot more. Aggedor tamed is very dog-like and seems to have comparable intelligence (and enjoys being scratched behind the ears); Aggedor riled, by contrast, is more like a bear: bad times. They even manage to use him as a bloodhound at one point, and he remembers those who were kind to him - and those who were cruel to him. Unlike a dog (or a bear), he has an impressively long lifespan: his two stories occur 50 years apart, and Aggedor is still hale and sound enough to sacrifice heretics to - to say nothing of the time between his capture and his first appearance. That's a long time! (By contrast the oldest known Black Bear died of natural causes at about 39). But what would Peladon be without Aggedor?
I often comment that when you've got a story with a lot of political intrigue and backstabbing and such, it can be very nice to have a good old-fashioned monster to sort of balance things out. Aggedor serves that purpose admirably, but unlike, say, the Magma Beast, he is also absolutely central to the plot. Both Peladon stories are on some level about Aggedor - Aggedor the Deity is an important piece in the political games and machinations being played, and so the arrival of Aggedor the Beast picks up all that semiotic weight. Aggedor provides legitimacy to our heroes and gives the lie to those who would use his legend against the Royal House of Peladon. Aggedor doesn't care about politics - he's a big furry teddy-bear who likes ear scritches and mauling things - but politics very much cares about Aggedor.
One thing I find interesting is that the reality of Aggedor the creature in no way undermines the power of Aggedor the Deity. The Doctor reveals that Aggedor is "no God, but a truly noble Beast" (and is accused of blasphemy for it)...but ultimately no one really cares. 50 years later, the Judgement of Aggedor is held as binding, and terrified miners will not oppose what they perceive as the Will of Aggedor. Learning about its roots doesn't discredit the religion - which perhaps we should expect, given that hunting and killing the creature and wearing its furs didn't undermine or discredit the religion either. And given that Aggedor does consistently protect the Royal House of Peladon in its time of need, maybe there's something to that.
I really love Aggedor. He's big and cuddlesome and reads very much as a Heroic Dog. He's prominent in both his stories but not overused nor really as much of a Deus ex Machina as you might expect, given that he's the avatar of a God. He's like I-Chayya the Sehlat, simultaneously cute and terrifying, and occupies a place somewhere between monster and character. I also dig the three-horned design and any excuse for Jon Pertwee to sing. And of course it's a fun word to say. Aggedor is a big old softie and a good time whenever he turns up. What a good doggo.
"[Aggedor is] the royal beast of Peladon, now extinct. It is written, Mighty is Aggedor, fiercest of all the beasts of Peladon. Young men would hunt it to prove their courage. His fur trims our royal garment. His head is our royal emblem. It is also written there will come a day when the spirit of Aggedor will rise again to warn and defend his royal master, King Peladon."
Maybe, just maybe, you shouldn't have hunted it to extinction to line your purple jewelled battle shorts guys! Fortunately, they didn't quite, and we do get to meet the animal himself. In the flesh, he is a large furry primarily quadripedal sort, bearlike with three horns and a porcine snout. That is to say, Aggedor is ridiculously cuddly. The statues don't do him justice - he's way fuzzier in person. He's also willing and able to claw your face off, so there's that to worry about, but he's not fundamentally savage - no animal is, and Aggedor is, at the end of the day, just an animal. And like any animal, how he treats you depends a lot on how you treat him.
Aggedor was probably captured by Hepesh as a cub, and tamed and trained by him (up to a point) as sort of a guard dog for the secret tunnels under the citadel. The idea of clicker training and positive reinforcement seems not to have made it out to Peladon yet - Hepesh seems to use fire to control Aggedor, and it's not really very effective. The Doctor uses Venusian lullabies, mild hypnosis, and tactile affection instead, and Aggedor seems to appreciate that a lot more. Aggedor tamed is very dog-like and seems to have comparable intelligence (and enjoys being scratched behind the ears); Aggedor riled, by contrast, is more like a bear: bad times. They even manage to use him as a bloodhound at one point, and he remembers those who were kind to him - and those who were cruel to him. Unlike a dog (or a bear), he has an impressively long lifespan: his two stories occur 50 years apart, and Aggedor is still hale and sound enough to sacrifice heretics to - to say nothing of the time between his capture and his first appearance. That's a long time! (By contrast the oldest known Black Bear died of natural causes at about 39). But what would Peladon be without Aggedor?
I often comment that when you've got a story with a lot of political intrigue and backstabbing and such, it can be very nice to have a good old-fashioned monster to sort of balance things out. Aggedor serves that purpose admirably, but unlike, say, the Magma Beast, he is also absolutely central to the plot. Both Peladon stories are on some level about Aggedor - Aggedor the Deity is an important piece in the political games and machinations being played, and so the arrival of Aggedor the Beast picks up all that semiotic weight. Aggedor provides legitimacy to our heroes and gives the lie to those who would use his legend against the Royal House of Peladon. Aggedor doesn't care about politics - he's a big furry teddy-bear who likes ear scritches and mauling things - but politics very much cares about Aggedor.
One thing I find interesting is that the reality of Aggedor the creature in no way undermines the power of Aggedor the Deity. The Doctor reveals that Aggedor is "no God, but a truly noble Beast" (and is accused of blasphemy for it)...but ultimately no one really cares. 50 years later, the Judgement of Aggedor is held as binding, and terrified miners will not oppose what they perceive as the Will of Aggedor. Learning about its roots doesn't discredit the religion - which perhaps we should expect, given that hunting and killing the creature and wearing its furs didn't undermine or discredit the religion either. And given that Aggedor does consistently protect the Royal House of Peladon in its time of need, maybe there's something to that.
I really love Aggedor. He's big and cuddlesome and reads very much as a Heroic Dog. He's prominent in both his stories but not overused nor really as much of a Deus ex Machina as you might expect, given that he's the avatar of a God. He's like I-Chayya the Sehlat, simultaneously cute and terrifying, and occupies a place somewhere between monster and character. I also dig the three-horned design and any excuse for Jon Pertwee to sing. And of course it's a fun word to say. Aggedor is a big old softie and a good time whenever he turns up. What a good doggo.