Mandrake

The Mandrake is an Unversed that is found in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep.

Design
A Mandrake is a small Unversed with dark green skin, wide hips, and short legs. It has green and light green highlights on its body and lacks arms. It has a spherical, white head partially surrounded by a dark green "collar". Its eyes are red and set in a sorrowful expression and it has a red marking between them resembling a mouth. The Mandrake’s most prominent features are the three white, leaf-like blades on its head. These blades end in pale green, arrowhead tips that are vaguely reminiscent of the spikes on the Nobody symbol.

In Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Final Mix, the Mandrake receives a palette swap which gives it a orange body with yellow highlights. Its leaf-like blades are changed to a light shade of yellow-green.

The Mandrake is based on a recurring monster in the Final Fantasy series, which is in turn based upon the mythical Mandragora.

Strategy
At close range, a Mandrake is an easy opponent. While halfway buried, it shoots leaf blades which can be deflected back with Guard for damage, or dodged by jumping. Once approached, It leaps out of the ground and flies around dispelling poisonous pollen, at which time it's best to wait until it lands. Once on the ground, it attempts to ram players, causing confusion status if successful. Its tackles can be guarded, leaving it open to damage from Counter Hammer, Counter Rush or Counter Blast.

However, while fighting other enemies at long range, it becomes rather annoying, firing its Leaf Cutter at you as you deal damage to other enemies and interrupting your combos and commands. For this reason, it is wise to eliminate these first where possible.

Attacks

 * Leaf Cutter: Fires razor sharp leaves from its head.
 * Poison: Hovers around dispelling posionous pollen.
 * Head Butt: Rams the player, causing confusion status if successful.