This was something I meant to draw for April Fools last year, when I was into Ogre Battle 64. Didn't get around to it then, so I decided to make it happen this year.

In Ogre Battle 64, cockatrices are one of the more infamous obstacles you will face during your campaign. Aside from weak magic defense, they excel in both physical attacks and dodging. But their true infamy comes from their trademark petrification attack in the back row, which has a 50% chance to turn potentially multiple targets to stone for the rest of the mission. They WILL be back to normal once you finish it, so you can technically just shelf that unit to the side if you can afford to instead of paying to get the characters revived. Also, said petrification breath also does a fair amount of damage too.

The first time you encounter them in an enemy unit is at Mount Keryoleth: two of them in the back row, being lead by a freya, an upgraded valkyrie. And unlike in this picture, she is NOT positioned between her chickens, but off to the side, making her difficult to hit with both melee attackers, and ranged ones are obligated to attack rear targets first, going for one of the cockatrices. In other words, your first time dealing with cockatrices has you facing them in a very ideal unit format. If you don't have a solid fighting unit to take her out, or a unit designed to resist being petrified, you WILL have a rough time.

And this WILL not be the last time you encounter this unit either...