Canus

Jurassic War Canus Tribe bannerAssyrian relief sculpture panel of spearmen lining the road from the King Ashurnasirpal lion hunt.
From Nineveh North Palace, Iraq, 668-627 B.C.
British Museum Assyrian Archaeological exhibit no ME 120859
(The one used in game might also be of Babylonians as depicted by Assyrians, these generic spearmen with shields just look a lot alike. It is ancient history you know)

Tribe of KANOOSE – Primitive Year 995

The Koomba had been attacked by the Moospell many times. Some of the Koomba with high intelligence had finally found a treatment and wanted to be faced with the Moospell. But the rest of the people desired to obey and dedicated some amount of food to the Moospell. So, people who had wanted to be against the Moospell left the village and formed a new one.

They changed their appearance and became enemies of the Moospell. They were altered to female sorcerers by some rite, and called themselves the „Kanoose”. The Koomba didn’t like them either.

Meanwhile, as time went by, the food requirement of the Moospell grew more and more, and the people in Koomba began to miss the Kanoose who had left before. They began to disorder to the Moospell and tried to build new defensive strength to bear with the Moospell’s harmful magic and external aggressions.


The Canus, or Kanoose, forked from the Kumba around year 995, making them the sixth tribe to form on the Island. They travelled northeast, to escape the harmful magic of Muspel who were harassing them from the west.

It is a magical clan that has access to healing and protection spells. Their spellcasters are female Elves created from regular cavemen by some rite. Their attacks deal double damage to Dilophosauruses and 60% bonus damage to Wizards.

It’s an easy tribe to play, as auto-casting healing frees much of the micromanagement in the early stages, and the powerful invincibility spell opens up new strategies in the late game. A bit lacking in the offense department, so OP training is a must.
The one caveat this tribe has is the bright pink low-contrast user interface which makes more casual players fail to notice useful pickups and new spells.

Mystical LiquorTheir legendary item is the Mystical Liquor. It enhances MP regeneration drastically when held by an Elf. An Elf with a decent amount of MP and HP and this flask, sent alone can win any map. Unless stunned, frozen, glitched with overkill damage or tricked into wasting her magic, that is.


Against other tribes

Their first enemy is the Tyrano tribe, which is fairly easy to conquer. The only hard part is getting past the earliest stage, when the overall mana pool for healing is still modest, and the AI can throw multiple Velociraptors (and somehow also Warriors) at you. I’d mention the double damage bonus that Elves get vs Dilophosauruses, but that’s just adding insult to injury, as pretty much anything wins against them.
Both tribes synergise well. Tyrano’s dinosaurs provide the muscle needed in the early stages. Huge health pool of Tyrano dinos combined with healing spells makes their alliance the ultimate tank. Together, they can also (try to) employ Dilophosauruses into battle, with Elves mitigating the friendly fire, but it is always risky with little payoff.

The next two tribes that live in the east are the Masai and the Romek. The Masai have weapons deadly to both Elves (Boomerang and Arrow) and Dinosaurs (Spears), and Romek Rangers deal additional damage to reptiles and Commoners. Elven healing magic can ward it all off though. Conquered, they form the four eastern tribes, who complement their strenghts and weaknesses nicely.

Against the Koaka, the Canus have the upper hand. Ranged Elven attacks, even without a bonus, decimate the frail Koaka Dinosaurs. Just remember to level up OP. A lot.

Against the Radumba, the Canus can win if they take care to avoid the Poison Arrows in large numbers. The Elves are resistant to Poison Arrows’ minuscule bonus damage (that other spellcasters suffer from), but take some more damage from regular Arrows instead. The Volcano Spear is the weakest legendary weapon against Spellcasters, but watch out for it anyway. Both clans are ranged, lack a reliable way to deal damage to the other, and have access to healing (Wild Ginsengs for the Radumba), so it is a war of attrition.

Against the Muspel, the Canus shine brightly. Huge Elven 60% boost to damage vs Wizards makes it an easy job. Draining their MP with a few invulnerable units is satisfying to watch. Watch out for freezing and Warlock AoE spells, and you’ll be fine.

Against the Kumba, their old friends, the Canus are a sure winner. They are a direct upgrade after all! Boomerangs can be deadly to Elves, but mitigating damage is a Canus specialty. The attack can take a long time due to Kumba’s hardiness, but hardiness is nothing compared to invulnerability.


Overall

Overall it is one of the best tribes to pick. A favorite of many. Spells are powerful in Jurassic War after all.
The definition of no risk. Invulnerabilty with their Liquor is a no-brainer, that can win maps alone. Even without it, their healing spells are annoying and a chore to get around. Watching out for freezing and stunning is all that’s needed to win. Sometimes it takes a lot of time, because the Canus have no sources of easy OP. Their Elves are cheap to train though, so making more is not hard.


Other stuff

Their building style looks like straight from Atlantis, or at least Santorini. Greek columns, huge gears and domes imply that the Canus are technologically inclined. Are they? The elf Training has the least HP of all the special training buildings! On the other hand, it means the facility is built the fastest, and can train units those few seconds quicker. And speed is often more important than hitpoints, especially when you have healing magic. Curious thing is, the Canus are pitched against (and later allied with) the Tyrano, who have the sturdiest buildings.

Their color, cyan, is a mixed color. Hints at something detached, arbitrary, aloof and neutral. An observer. It is a „good” color, but rather alien and mysterious. Often used to underline a modern technology or ancient magic. Bright colors of their base hint at innocence and purity. White color in Korea is linked to the harvest and the sun.
Elven dresses are strikingly red. Is it a reminiscence of Kumba heritage? The similar, basic unit of the Elves in the sequel is called RedElf, with White, Blue and Green elves having other roles and spells in the Elven faction. Perhaps it is derived from the eastern color meanings. Red in China and Korea is worn by the bride during a marriage ceremony. It represents luck and fire. Combined with blue, they symbolise life itself. Take a look at the red-blue taeguk symbol in the South Korean flag and you’ll start to notice where do the Canus get their color mythology!

The Elves are a whole distinct nation in the sequel, with RedElfs casting lightning strikes, BlueElf horsewomen dropping magic rocks from the sky, and GreenElf nymphs riding huge snails into battle. They employ dragons, phoenixes, healing unicorns, biblically accurate angels, biblically inaccurate angels; summon buildings out of thin air, encase enemies in huge bubbles, and that’s just scratching the surface.

Their alignment is good, maybe the most good of all. They directly challenge the malevolent Muspel tribe, their magic is used for healing, and the basic attack of Elves is a golden sunwheel, an ancient symbol of the sun, time and energy.

Canus Ambience


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