Abyss Watcher Dragons were released on October 31, 2023 as part of the 2023 Halloween event. As a limited-release dragon, they are only capable of producing more Abyss Watcher eggs during a brief period when Halloween is celebrated in October. They can still be bred year round, producing the partner's breed of egg.
Official descriptions[]
Egg[]
Soft bioluminescence shifts over the surface of this dark egg.
Hatchling[]
Aww... It’s a cute baby dragon. The scales on its belly glow faintly with an eerie blue light.
Mature hatchling[]
Aww... It’s a cute baby dragon. The scales on its belly glow faintly with an eerie blue light.
And look! It’s developed fins tipped with shining eye-like bulbs. It must be close to maturing!
Adult[]
Abyss Watchers are rarely seen for they dwell in the deepest parts of the ocean. The faint glow of their belly scutes and the eye-like bulbs that line their fins are used to lure in prey, which they entice within reach of their long, sharp teeth by slowly dimming the lights until those on their head shine the brightest. During early autumn, Abyss Watchers swim to the surface to begin the mating season. Their often sudden appearance can cause panic among nearby humans and other creatures who mistake their eerie glow for spirits or ghosts rising from the depths. Despite their terrifying appearance, they do not intend any harm and spend their time in the surface waters feeding on bioluminescent plankton. This particular food source helps heighten the glow of their lures, which serve a second purpose—blinking patterns of increasing complexity signal they are ready to mate. Only once the mating season ends do they descend again into the ocean depths.
Credits[]
- Schenanigans (All sprites)
- MoonShark (Concept, descriptions)[1]
Sprites[]
| Series | Egg | Hatchling | Mature hatchling | Adult |
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| Female | 
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| Male | 
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| Spriter's Alts | ||||
| Schenanigans's alternate Female |
– | – | – | 
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| Schenanigans's alternate Male |
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| MoonShark's alternate Female |
– | – | – | 
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| MoonShark's alternate Male |
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Egg sequence[]
| Stage 0 | Stage 1 | Stage 2 | Stage 3 | Stage 4 | Stage 5 | Dead |
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Encyclopedia entry[]
There are no notes available for this breed. Check back later; new information will be added periodically.
Trivia[]
- Due to an issue which caused fewer eggs being generated than previous years, Abyss Watchers appeared in the cave for 48 hours instead of the usual 24 hour window for new Halloween dragons.[2]
Additional information[]
“
- Hi, everyone! :D
Now that the Abyss Watcher adults have arrived, I'm delighted to come forward as their conceptor! This marks the tenth release that I have had a hand in, but it is the first release in which I concepted the dragon before the art was even begun. ❤️
I first wrote lore for these pretties back in 2019, inspired by everything from Antennarius striatus (the striped anglerfish) to Stauroteuthis syrtensis (the bioluminescent octopus) to the many-eyed Watchers of fantasy fame. Though they went through numerous changes in appearance from original concept to the beautiful sprites that Schen made this year, their general color scheme and their basic description did not change drastically.
I am incredibly thankful to Schen for taking on this project that is so dear to my heart. She did an absolutely fantastic job bringing these dragons to life. When she first completed the art, I couldn't help but stare at them for ages. She captured their essence perfectly, and I'm so very excited to see them on the site! ❤️
They do have encyclopedia notes (which will be uploaded hopefully soon), but here's a few fun facts about Abyss Watchers to tide you over!
Despite their rather solitary lifestyle during much of the year, Abyss Watchers can be quite sociable and especially enjoy listening to ghost stories and other creepy narratives. Particularly enterprising storytellers may even be able to bribe one to accent their tall tales with appropriately timed glowing.
Younger Abyss Watchers sometimes get too caught up in such stories, though, and decide to make some of their own...by scaring the daylights out of passersby! Smaller ships and fishing boats in particular should keep a sharp eye out when the currents shimmer with a bioluminescent glow.
Though their lures and their belly scutes glow brightest, their orange scales actually possess a faint bioluminesence of their own. Shed scales maintain this glow for a while, and it's not uncommon for children to comb beaches after an Abyss Watcher sighting, looking for loose scales that might have washed ashore.
That's all for now, but I'm happy to answer any questions folks have, to the best of my ability. I hope you all enjoyed this release, and I can't see what beautiful lineages are created with these! :D
(As a side note since it's been mentioned a couple times, I know nothing about Dark Souls 3, so any similarity to some boss there is completely coincidental. XD These creatures were born from my love for the ocean and all the mysteries embraced in its depths!)
(Also, I keep seeing folks refer to them as leviathans... They are actually wyrms! Their original name was even Abyss Wyrm, though I changed it to Abyss Watcher for the final version.)
“
- I also had a notebook page of some sketches that I whipped up into a quick little reference~
Thank you to everyone for their support and critiques, I can't wait to see the beautiful lineages made with them :D
References[]
- ↑ Forum post by MoonShark; 2023-10-31 - Happy Halloween!
- ↑ Forum post by TJ09; 2023-10-31 - Happy Halloween!
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