Thrall

Overview

Thrall are the basic undead foot soldiers of the Dark, and are far and away the most prominent in number. In comparison to other undead, they are simple to create, since they do not require a specific type of corpse (as do Ghasts, and by extension, Wights) or a large amount of effort on the summoner's part (as do Soulless). Any well-preserved cadaver can be converted into a Thrall regardless of how long the subject has been dead, which has led many necromancers over the years to raid ancient crypts and mausolea in order to bolster their armies. Fresh corpses make suitable candidates as well; much to the Legion's dismay, it has become a common practice for dark lords to draw reinforcements from the ranks of their slain foes or even to attack villages and other low-priority targets in order to forcibly "recruit" their inhabitants. From there, Thrall are each given an ax along with a rudimentary set of armor before going on to fulfill their normal duties as shambling executioners.

Characteristics

Though they can accept basic commands, Thrall are mindless undead, and therefor the subtleties of combat are lost on them. They cannot be made to understand flanking maneuvers or any specialized tactics for that matter more complicated than attacking the nearest foe. In lieu of strategy, most commanders tend to throw massive numbers of Thrall at their enemies in the hopes of overwhelming them with numbers alone, with the knowledge that any opponents killed will also feed their own numbers. Due to the sluggishness and lack of dexterity inherent to their decaying bodies, all Thrall are equipped with a large ax so that they might do as much damage as possible with each hit. Despite the ease of their creation and their expendable status, Thrall can take tremendous amounts of punishment, collapsing only when the magic that revived them is no longer sufficient to prevent their bodies from falling apart.

Role in the Series

While acknowledged by most to be the weakest unit in the series, Thrall are far from useless. Their lack of speed prevents them from being more than mildly threatening during the single-player portions of Myth, though in multiplayer their inexpensiveness compared to other units makes it relatively cheap to deploy even large numbers of them. Since Thrall are at a disadvantage against like numbers of non-Thrall melee units, it is usually advisable to purchase the maximum number available if one plans on using them at all. Though slow, their attack is fairly damaging, and a unit attacked by multiple Thrall simultaneously will not survive long. Their utility increases significantly on maps with bodies of deep water, as Thrall have no need to breathe, allowing them to remain hidden underwater until the player is ready to deploy them.