Fourth Deadly Siren: Sloth

Recommended song: [link] Boss Battle B from FF2. A sleepy boss battle theme for a sleepy mermaid.

She represents “spiritual or actual apathy.” Lazy and uncaring, Sloth will often do nothing unless provoked. Her Song of Slumber causes many people around her to fall asleep, which she then kills and devours silently. Some are able to resist it, but Sloth will simply sing it again until they too fall asleep. She can render any land she touches totally barren for extended periods. Her touches induce a spell that triggers laziness and stops growth. Sloth is still very aggressive when angered, and likes to slash at her enemies with her razor-sharp claws. She can also trigger earthquakes by pounding the ground with her tail. This also creates jagged rocks that can strike targets not touching the ground. She also possesses magic that hinders her enemy’s movement.

Sloth is the heaviest of the Sirens, and this is how her earthquakes pack so much force. The jagged rocks can pop up anywhere, so be ready to move. This type of attack can’t be easily weakened, so you better have enough stamina to survive the impact. Be ready to heal between earthquakes; Sloth uses this ability often. Silencing her won’t protect you, but it will make her unable to sing. Try to lure her away from the ground, which will limit the power of her earthquakes. She will often cast spells on you to reduce your movement speed and reaction time. She has very tough defense, so melee attacks won’t be very effective. However, lightning magic can easily damage her, like all of the other Sirens.

Also, be wary of her sharp claws. She can easily slice through armor and weapons with them, but it doesn’t hurt nearly as bad as a rock formation slamming you in the face. Blinding her will protect you somewhat. Sloth is the slowest of the Sirens, allowing a party of agile warriors to easily overpower her, until her spells slow you down.

Sloth appears half sleepy because oftentimes this sin associates with laziness, and depicts a person sleeping on the ground. This is why her eyes are half open. Her expression says, “Why did you wake me up!?” Her laziness is also represented by her arms hanging lifeless by her side. She also rarely combs her hair, which is why it appears messier than the other Sirens. This also references the uncaring trait the slothful tend to have. Sloth doesn’t care about her appearance, or what her sisters think about it. And because of her apathy, she never cracks a smile, nor does she laugh. She’s virtually emotionless. And don’t get me started on those split ends!

Sloth portrayed by other artists often has her covered in spider webs, indicating she has been laying there for a long time. I tried having her wear fishing nets as clothing to reference this, but I couldn’t get it to look right. This has been replaced by her ability to slow her enemies down, which is what the Spider’s Silk does in the Final Fantasy series. This would’ve been the reference. She now has a different feature separating her from the other Sirens: Tiger stripes.

Gray is not the usual color for this sin. It’s really supposed to be a pale blue, but those colors don’t get along with my scanner. Gray tends to be a boring color for me, so I found it fitting to give it to a Siren who best symbolizes boredom! She is not to be confused with my Black and White mermaid I made a few months ago.

Next Siren on the list: Wrath!