#Nastadyne

[tyrantisterror]

A Hundred Some New ATOM Kaiju Pt. 5

On this installment of the unfinished ATOM kaiju showcase, we're finally showing off some that aren't retrosaurs. This batch will focus on big bugs, ANOTHER big category of ATOM kaiju (the third big category is aliens, and the fourth big category is "whatever else I felt like making").

Our first four are designed to make a sort of sentai team with Nastadyne. There's a red stag beetle (to Nastadyne's blue rhinoceros beetle - which also makes them a red two-horned oni and a blue one-horned oni, as a sort of two-fer deal on Japanese pop culture rival creatures), a pink ladybug, a green grasshopper, and a black and yellow cicada. The stag beetle would have a color scheme that takes cues from Kuwagamon, Tentomon, and the various Kabuterimons, to play on how Nastadyne's color scheme is based on Heracross and Pinsir. The grasshopper would take after some of the Kamen Rider suits, and the cicada has elements of Baltan and Zetton.

The arch enemies of the five heroic bugs are a pair of spiders, who take after malevolent spider yokai. Horusupaida is loosely based on a jorogumo, i.e. the giant spider that disguises itself as a woman, and Oksupaida is based on Ushi-oni, the bull-headed, sickle-footed spider yokai. Horusupaida and Oksupaida would firmly be on the comical end of antagonistic ATOM kaiju, being threats but not particularly evil or cruel.

The five bug heroes would also have a more serious nemesis in the form of a giant centipede, and dear god I would have struggled to ink this design even BEFORE I developed carpal tunnel syndrome.

Our final kaiju for this batch is Bumblor, who was inspired by me seeing a big bumblebee in my backyard and thinking how their huge bodies and clumsy flying styles are 1. very endearing and 2. would translate so well into a kaiju. Just a lot of personality built into those insects.

[iamthekaijuking]

@tyrantisterror Nastadyne just dropped as a hero for Overwatch. I shall now smite my enemies with Burning Justice!

[tyrantisterrorart]

I got a lot of kaiju files posted yesterday!  Starting with Karamtor(above), we also have:

Old Meg

Kutulusca

Burodon

Kurokame

And last but not least, Nastadyne!

[cerothenull]

ATOM Create a Kaiju #4 Onigoro

Name: Onigoro

Aliases: King Oni, Defender of Kyoto

Date Discovered: March 20th 1954

Place of Origin: Lake Biwa Yamaneon tunnels

Notable Stomping Grounds: Lake Biwa, Kyoto, Japan, Typhon Island

Height: 110ft

Biology: Onigoro is a humanoid Kaiju believed to be an Atomically Fossilized member of the primate group that both sasquatches and yetis belong to that lived hidden in Japan for centuries. Possessing the psionic abilities of their cousins their discovery has lead to many stories of Oni and Yokai being attributed to the reclusive creatures. Unlike the more peaceful Yeti and Sasquatches who's psychic abilities cause humans to forget they were ever seen the Oni utilize their abilities to instill fear and panic in intruders to drive them off. This ability is enhanced with Onigoro's size leading him to affect even other Kaiju to make them sloppy during a fight.

Covered in a dense black fur that thins or disappears around the face, hands, and feet where their bright red skin is on display and a pair of short curved horns sprouting from their forehead causes the Kaiju to resemble the Oni demons of old, its temper helping solidify the image. In battle they typically fight using their fists to pummel their foes into submission but they have been often seen using objects as makeshift clubs ranging from ancient trees to telephone poles to even train cars. If a fight drags on too long or their opponent antagonizes him enough he will fly into a berserker rage that makes him dangerous to even the few “allies” he has found among the Kajiu

Originating from the Yamaneon tunnels discovered under Japan where the rest of his kind live Onigoro is unique among for he is the only member of his "tribe" to have undergon atomic fossilization despite their close proximity to the anomalous material. Appearing above ground shortly after Nastadyne and other Japanese Kaiju began to appear he rampaged through the nearby Kyoto before returning to his home near Lake Biwa.

Onigoros kaiju powers include:

Super strength An enhanced healing factor Immunity to radiation Psionic shroud Psionic intimidation                                                                                             Berserker rage

Personality: Onigoro is a prideful Kaiju to say the least, viewing each brawl as a test of his physical might and takes defeat quite hard. Originally a common sight rampaging through Japan his first defeats were at the hands of Nastadyne leaving the kaiju cowed and disheartened for a time.

This defeat lead to the kaiju ape to view the heroic beetle as a rival and sought to fight them several times, each time leading to their repeated defeats. But rather than grow bitter by the defeats Onigoro seemed humbled. In time they started to fight off other Kaiju that appeared to threaten Japan, first in what was likely territorial disputes but eventually going out of their way in search of battles.

In one notable battle that grew out of hand was when the aquatic Osteogre appeared on the beaches of Japan to deposit a damaged human ship and Onigoro happened to be nearby. Challenging the stoic Kaiju with his typical bravado Osteogre ignored his taunts which only served to infuriate the Oni who began to attack. Not one to let an enemy attack her without retaliation Osteogre started to fight back, the stoic hybrid’s armor protecting her from all but the strongest of Onigoro’s attacks. As their battle raged they began to near human population centers and prompted Nastadyne to step in join with the battle as well until Onigoro was driven back to Lake Bima and Osteogre returned to the sea.

It is kept a secret from the public but Onigoro protects a tribe of the red-faced Oni primates that reside in the Yamaneon tunnels beneath Lake Biwa. Kyoto residents, believing the gifts are going to Onigoro himself, leave offerings of food on the edges of his "territory" on the shores of Lake Biwa. He will appear, take the offerings in hand then descend into the tunnels to distribute the offerings to his tribe.

In the events of the Beyonder Invasion Onigoro saw much combat to defend Japan alongside Nastadyne and the other Kaiju he grew to accept as brothers-in-arms. As a sign of their respect the people of Kyoto funded the creation of a large Kanabō to fit the large Kaiju and the Oni King used the weapon to great effect in defending against the alien attackers.

@tyrantisterror

[dragonseeker-rex]

ATOM Create-A-Kaiju Contest Entry #3: Malzzang

Name:  Malzzang Aliases:  Rumi Kang, Buzzing Beauty, The Wasp Queen Of The Underworld, Super Osuzumebachi Date Discovered:  May 3, 1954 Place Of Origin:  Busan, South Korea Notable Stomping Grounds:  South Korea, Japan, Typhon Island Length:  190′ Biology:  A former human mutated by steady does of Yamaneon from her daily beauty regimen and the sudden induction of the stuff from her Yamaneon-irradiated Asian giant hornets she kept as pets/mascots/torture devices/subjects for experimentation.  Now, as Malzzang, she resembles those same insects while retaining her human face, albeit with some wasp-like features.  The other change visually is her thorax now resembles a nest from which she can deploy her pets-turned-minions.  This power, in addition to the standard kaiju ability set and the general fear of these insects exacerbated by the sight of a swarm of Andre The Giant-sized hornets emanating from a blimp-sized one makes for a terror-inducing sight like no other.

Personality:  Boss of the dominant General Wasp Gang, Rumi Kang was mainly known for two things, her ruthlessness and her beauty.  What was less known was her expertise as an avid apiarist, particularly the Asian giant hornet.  From adopting the animal’s yellow-orange coloring as her gang’s colors and mimicking their hierarchy to experiments with Yamaneon radiation to create obedient super hornets, Kang had intentions beyond mere racketeering.

One humid spring night however, she was caught unawares by a massive police sting(eh? ehhh?) operation, still wearing her Yamaneon-infused custom Boryeong mud mask.  In the ensuing chaos, she retreated into the habitat daring the police to come and arrest her.  The wasps however, agitated by the ruckus, set upon her, licking and biting.  To the observing officers this appeared to be an ironic final punishment, but Kang knew better.  This was a coronation.  Long live the queen.

Notes:  Rumi Kang was planning to expand her operations to Japan, though as Malzzang she could do so on an exponentially larger scale, though this task is made much more difficult by that meddler Nastadyne...

Malzzang is a portmanteau of ‘malbeol’, the Korean word for wasp, and ‘ulzzang’ a South Korean beauty concept and term for ‘good-looking’ or ‘pretty face’. Boryeong mud is mineral rich mud from the Boryeong Mud Flats and used in beauty aids.  I stumbled upon this simply by typing ‘Korean’ into Google, and ‘Korean mud festival’ popped up.

The General Wasp(Korean term for the Asian giant hornet) Gang is still around and Malzzang maintains a connection to it as a figurehead while Rumi Kang’s successor, Sung Pak has fulfilled her predecessor’s wish to expand to Japan. @tyrantisterror

[tyrantisterror]

ATOM Stop Motion Models: Karamtor

Been a while since the last one of these, huh?  Karamtor was a bit overdue - unlike the other unfinished models, I’ve actually finished Karamtor’s debut chapter, as all the other unfinished ones don’t appear until the last eight chapters in Volume 2.  So getting her finished was kind of a milestone - I’ve “caught up” to the draft now, which gives me a good chance of completing the rest in time for whenever I finish Volume 2.

I’m kind of amazed how well her model works - her skeleton is very top-heavy, so I wasn’t sure if she’d be able to stand up on two legs like I wanted her too.  I also managed to get her tongue to fit in her head when her mouth is closed, which is something I wasn’t sure was gonna work.  All in all, a good return to form.

[tyrantisterror]

A.T.O.M. Stop Motion Models: Arthropod Group Shots

Finally (for now), some group shots!  Some of these group shots will make more sense once the first two volumes of ATOM are published (VOLUME ONE COMES OUT AT THE END OF THIS MAY/START OF JUNE!).  There are still some exoskeletal monsters I need to do yet (Herant, Ajaxant, Achillant, Googora, and Crimorax), and a lot more kaiju in general to get done, but this was some good progress.

[tyrantisterror]

ATOM Stop Motion Puppets: Nastadyne

Nastadyne’s puppet was complicate for the same reason Bobo’s was - the material I use for exoskeletonpieces isn’t as flexible as, y’know, fabric, and so I had to make fabric skins over the joints and then curl the exoskeleton foam rubber over it and hope it sticks in the right shape.  Still, the end result is worth it - Nastadyne looks pretty swell!

[iamthekaijuking]

I knew something was familiar about that skin...

[tyrantisterror]

Ok, NOW we’ve done the last retrosaur.  Well, maybe not if we count Pathogen, but he’s really a whole lot of things in one.  Burodon takes even more liberties than his kind - fitting for a retrosaur that’s an homage to the creations of Eiji Tsuburaya.  He’s not alone today, as we also two other monsters in this batch:

Kurokame, seen above, is basically a crocodile and tortoise fused together with a little bit of Bowser thrown in for good measure.  His name is a combination of the Japanese words for crocodile and tortoise/turtle, though a friend of mine pointed out it could also mean “black turtle,” and thus be considered a reference to the mythological monster Genbu.  That’s a lot of stuff going on for a big freaky turtle, but appropriate considering the chapter he’s in is even more Godzilla/Gamera inspired than the others are.

Finally (for this batch), we have Nastadyne, a great big beetle monster.  Nastadyne’s design, like Crustakra’s, is repurposed from a Godzilla monster redesign I did years ago - specifically one for Megalon.  While A.T.O.M. focuses on Tyrantis’s journey, it’s my intention that there are actually a lot of OTHER kaiju running around independent of him and the ones he encounters.  Nastadyne is the hero of one of those other stories - or, perhaps more simply, he’s to Japan what Tyrantis is to the USA.  In older drafts Godzilla filled that role (this used to be fanfiction), so... I guess that makes Nastadyne Godzilla’s stand in, in a way?  Huh.

Nastadyne’s “Burning Justice” form was inspired by some fanart a friend of mine made that interpreted the beetle’s original, gaudier color scheme as a sort of power up.  It was a cool idea, and also one that’s fitting for the star of the Japanese chapter of Tyrantis’s story - it only makes sense to have a DBZ/Burning Godzilla style power up in that chapter, and it allows Nastadyne to work even better as Tyrantis’s Japanese counterpart without just giving him a death ray or something.  The name “Burning Justice” comes from the Transformers fandom.

[tyrantisterror]

Which Kaiju inspired each of your ATOM Kaiju?

Long reply below:

Tyrantis is inspired by Godzilla, Gamera, Yongary, Gorgo, Reptilicus, Lizzie from Rampage, Togera from War of the Monsters, and every other big, green, fire-breathing reptile kaiju that makes up that archetype, as well as Gwangi, the beast of Hollow Mountain, and the T.rexes from the Jurassic Park Franchise.

Ahuul is loosely inspired by Rodan (in that's he's a pterosaur monster paired with a fire-breathing theropod monster), though his character arc is more inspired by Kumonga (big voracious antagonist monster has a sudden face turn when it's time to fight aliens)

The myrmidants are inspired by the ants from Them!, while Girtabane is inspired by the black scorpion from The Black Scorpion, and also Sasori the giant scorpion from the Scott Ciencin young adult Godzilla books.

Tyranta is inspired by Gorgo's mother and the T.rexes from Jurassic Park. The Terror/MechaTyrantis is inspired by the various incarnations of MechaGodzilla (CyberGodzilla from Godzilla the Series being the most prominent). Tricerak is loosely inspired by Anguirus (in that he's a chimera of different herbivorous dinosaurs and has an enemies to friends arc with the main kaiju) and Toho's Kong (in that he likes to get drunk off soma berry juice).

Gorgolisk's personality is a loose homage to Mothra and King Shisa, being a heroic monster who's implied to have been worshipped at some point in her life. Mothmanud is inspired by the real life folklore of the Mothman.

Crustakra's design is actually based on a Destoroyah redesign I did when I was younger. Mantiresia is a loose homage to both The Deadly Mantis and Kamacuras. Chlorespa is a SUPER loose homage to the giant bees from The Monster of Green Hell - I actually came up with Chlorespa before I found out about that movie, and retroactively looked for a movie with giant wasps that she could fit the same way the other giant bugs do. Bobo is inspired by the giant spider from Tarantula, as well as various other giant spider movies, though her personality is also loosely based on Mothra's (big creepy crawly that's also the most explicitly benevolent monster).

The various dinosaur/retrosaur kaiju on Typhon Island are just me having fun making retrosaurs.

Karamtor is just me making a goofy retro alien monster, with, like, vague stylistic influences from the monster designs of 50's/60's/70's comic books and sci-fi magazines. Nastadyne, like Crustakra, is basically a redesign of a Godzilla kaiju I made as a teen (in this case, Megalon) that I repurposed as a new character. Kurokame wasn't inspired by anything at first, but the way I described his wail in the novel is inspired by Gamera's iconic scream. Burodon is inspired by Baragon and the various Ultraman kaiju who were built using Baragon's suit.

Herakoschei is loosely patterened after various clunky 50's/60's movie robots, as well as Cherno Alpha from Pacific Rim. Glypton and Mastemuth are purely original creations. Gorale is based on taking Godzilla's name (which is a combination of the Japanese words for Gorilla and Whale) very literally. The Writhing Flesh is inspired by various final bosses from the Resident Evil Franchise. Pathogen is based off of a monster I made while playing with dinosaur legos as a kid, though his personality and the dreadful violence he unleashes is in part inspired by/patterned off of Showa MechaGodzilla.

Minerva is based primarily off of the 50 foot woman from Attack of the 50 Foot Woman, though various other giant human movies from the 50's and 60's also inspired her. Kraydi is just a big dragony lizard. Promythigor is based on King Kong, Mighty Joe Young, George from Rampage, Congar from War of the Monsters, and the many other giant apes that make up that archetype in kaiju fiction, with his personality being a result of me trying to give that archetype a villainous spin in the same way I gave the fire breathing reptile an explicitly heroic one with Tyrantis.

Atomoton is more or less original, though his color scheme takes a little after Jet Jaguar.  Ullawdra is loosely inspired by Audrey II and Biollante. Kemlasulla is a flesh and blood version of the tripods from H.G. Wells's The War of the Worlds. Podritak is a flesh and blood version of the war machines from the 1953 adaptation of The War of the Worlds. Sombarvot is based on the big multi-legged lizards from the John Carter of Mars novels.

Frightron is just me having fun making a weird robot. Dhorazor is based on various space dragons in various stories, with Ghidorah being an inspiration for his name and role as a destroyer of Mars, but not much else. Pleprah is based on the one-eyed, one horned, flying purple people eater from the song Purple People Eater. Googora is based on those little novelty monster erasers that used to be so popular when I was a kid but now don't exist because the molds used to make them decayed into uselessness. The rest of the Beyonder aliens are just me having fun making goofy as fuck designs.

Diablosaurus is based on various attempts to make Carnotaurus the new T.rex in dinosaur media. Dominox is based on the Indominus Rex, Boney the Dinosaur from Weinerville, and outdated theoretical reconstructions of Deinochierus and Therizinosaurus from when we only knew what their arms looked like. Juggerdon is a Charles Knight-ified version of the Ultimasaurus from Jurassic Park: Chaos Effect.

Chowgarh Khan is more or less an original design. Sirinost is loosely based on la Carcargne from The Giant Claw. Raroga is more or less original but has the color scheme of Grimlock from the g1 Transformers cartoon.

Cudatra and Bigjaw are just me having fun making retrosaurs.

Kirclov is the Cloverfield monster if it was designed by Jack Kirby.

Stardrac is just me having fun making a big weird bat.

Gorilladon was inspired by an art jam here on tumblr where we drew apes that were built like tyrannosaurs.

Kramplauf is the yeti to Promythigor's sasquatch.

The Facsimile Ape is inspired by those hideous animatronic cymbal clapping monkey toys.

Deluxman is inspired by various Ultramans, Red Man, and the evangelions from Neon Genesis Evangelion.

Gomorel is a hybrid of Red King, Gomora, Baltan, and a loose vibe taken from Neon Genesis Evangelion's angels.

Big Iron is inspired by big clunky 1950's robots and also Megatron from Transformers. Cukaroch is inspired by the rad roaches from Fallout. Gulgek is inspired by the giant geckoes from Fallout. Necronychus is inspired by the deathclaws from Fallout. Lobjob is inspired by the mirelurks from Fallout. Helhornet is inspired by the cazadors from Fallout. Cerberat is inspired by the giant mole rats from Fallout. Gabelgill is inspired by the Mirelurk kings from Fallout, and also the Gill Man from Creature from the Black Lagoon. Atomic Frankenstein is inspired by the super mutants from Fallout, and also Frankenstein. Pamultimate is inspired by the Final Pam from Monster Factory's Fallout 4 arc, as well as various Resident Evil bosses.

And that's all of them so far!

[tyrantisterror]

I did a four part series of trivia posts when ATOM Volume 1: Tyrantis Walks Among Us! came out, and that was pretty fun!  You can see that set of trivia posts here if you’d like.  I thought it’d be fun to do another now that ATOM Volume 2: Tyrantis Roams the Earth! is out - just one this time, because a lot of the trivia I talked about with Volume 1 still applies.

I’m gonna divide this into two sections: non-spoiler trivia, for things that really don’t give a lot of plot points away, and spoiler trivia, for things that DO give away major plot points.  I recommend not reading the spoiler trivia until after you’ve read Tyrantis Roams the Earth!, for obvious reasons, and will put the spoiler trivia under a cut.

Ok, let’s go!

- So if you read ATOM Volume 1, you probably noticed that the book is split not only into chapters, but “episodes,” which consist of four chapters a piece.  It’s kind of a nod to how the series owes a great deal of its DNA to various monster of the week shows, with Godzilla: the Series and The Godzilla Power Hour being obvious influences.  It also allowed me to pepper in some illustrations and cheesy b-movie style titles into each volume.

- The first “episode” of Volume 2, Tyrantis in Tokyo, pays explicit homage to the giant monster movies of Japan, perhaps even moreso than the chapters that came before it.  Given how much Japanese media influenced ATOM - from tokusatsu like the Godzilla, Gamera, and Ultraman franchises to anime like Digimon and Evangelion (hell, the title of this episode itself is a tip of the hat to Tenchi Muyo by way of one of its spinoffs) - it kind of felt obligatory that Tyrantis visit Japan and pay his respects.

- Tyrantis in Tokyo also fits in a tribute to another staple of Atomic Age pop culture: Rock and Roll.

- Kutulusca, the giant cephalopod that appears in Tyrantis in Tokyo, is one of the oldest kaiju in this series, dating back to the first iteration of Tyrantis’s story that I put to paper back in 2001 or so.  It’s changed a lot since then, but its fight with Tyrantis goes more or less the way it originally did.

- Old Meg, the giant placoderm/shark, and Nastadyne, the bipedal beetle, both owe their existence directly to Deviantart’s Godzilla fandom.  Old Meg originated as a dunkleosteus monster I submitted to a “create a Godzilla kaiju” contest held by Matt Frank, while Nastadyne is based on a Megalon redesign I made during the “redesign all the Godzilla kaiju” phase of DA’s kaiju fandom.

- The second episode, Tyrantis vs. the Red Menace, gets dark as we visit the USSR, which had enough REAL horror with atomic power in its history to make creature features seem a bit defanged by comparison.  It’s probably the episode with the strongest horror elements - ATOM’s always been influenced by Resident Evil, and this is probably where that influence shows the most strongly.

- It also features the first fully robotic mecha in the series, the mighty Herakoschei!  Its name is a combination of “Heracles” and “Koschei the Deathless,” with the former part being added by its Russian creators to make it seem a bit more international as they offer it to the U.N. in hopes of gaining aid for a very extreme kaiju problem they’ve developed.

- Most of Tyrantis vs. the Red Menace takes place in the Siberian Monster Zone.  Its name is a reference to the Lawless Monster Zone in Ultraman, which is such a cool fucking name I wish that I wish I could go back in time and steal it.

- The next episode, Tyrantis’s Revenge, is... full of spoilers, so we’ll move on for now.

- The penultimate episode, Tyrantis vs. the Martian Monsters, is a love letter to MANY different sci-fi stories that involve life on Mars, though the most prominent of them is of course The War of The Worlds (one of my top 3 favorite books) and its various adaptations.  From its tentacles sapient martians, the tripodal leader of the titular monsters whose name includes the word “ulla” which is uttered by said sapient martians, the plant monster made of red vines, the cylinder-shaped spacecraft the Martian monsters are sent to earth on, the copper-skinned stingray-esque flying martian who shoots lasers from its tail, and the fact that every chapter title in this episode is a quote from the book, the H.G. Wells influence is STRONG.

- The final episode, Invasion from Beyond!, is shamelessly inspired by Destroy All Monsters, although there’s a dash of “To Serve Men,” Godzilla vs. Monster Zero, and The Day the Earth Stood Still mixed in as well.  It’s also sort of a tribute to my first “published” bit of a kaiju fiction - a rewrite of Destroy All Monsters that included EVERY Godzilla monster that had appeared at the time, which my middle school self wrote back in 2002 or so for Kaiju Headquarters, a kaiju fansite I’m not sure exists anymore.  Invasion from Beyond! is just as ambitious (but hopefully better executed) as my DAM Remake, with dozens upon dozens of different kaiju duking it out, earthlings vs. aliens.

- There were three different documents I made to outline the final battle of Invasion from Beyond!  It’s the largest episode of the series so far and more than half of it is that fucking fight.  My inner child is pleased, though, so hopefully you will be too.

Ok, that’s all I can share without spoilers.  READER BEWARE WHAT FOLLOWS BELOW THE CUT!

JUST MAKING SURE you know that SPOILERS will follow from here on out.  Read at your own peril!  YOU WERE WARNED!

(I’m gonna start with lighter ones just in case you scrolled too far and want to turn back)

- There’s a number of explicit Spielberg homages in ATOM Volume 2, from a “we need a bigger boat” joke during a chase with a giant shark to the fact that Invasion from Beyond! opens with a group of people flying to an island of monsters to review whether or not it should get more funding.

- When Tyrantis appears in the first chapter, I snuck in modified lyrics of The Godzilla Power Hour’s theme song.  “Up from the depths”... “several stories high”... “breathing fire”... “its head in the sky”... Tyrantis!  Tyrantis!  Tyrantis!

- The two rock bands in Tyrantis in Tokyo have real life inspirations ala Gwen Valentine, albeit a bit more muddled than hers.  The Cashews are inspired by The Peanuts (see what I did there), while The Thunder Lizards are a mix of The Rolling Stones, the Beatles, Buddy Holly, and the Big Bopper.  I wanted The Thunder Lizards to be more akin to the myth of a famous rock and roll band than the reality - less the real Beatles and more the Yellow Submarine cartoon version of them.

- The song The Thunder Lizards write for Tyrantis was written to fit the tune of “The Godzilla March” from Godzilla vs. Gigan, though ideally if someone made an actual song of it it would be its own song.  I got the idea from Over the Garden Wall, which used the Christmas song “O Holy Night” as a a starting point for “Come Wayward Souls.”

- Perry Martin, UNNO reporter and peer of Henry Robertson, is a nod to Raymond Burr, with his name being a combination of two of Burr’s most famous roles: Perry Mason, and Steve Martin from Godzilla King of the Monsters (1956).

- Dr. Rinko Tsuburaya is a few homages in one.  Her name comes from Rinko Kikuchi (who played Mako Mori in Pacific Rim), while her last name is obviously in homage of Eiji Tsuburaya.  Her being the daughter of an esteemed scientist is inspired by Emiko Yamane from the original Gojira.

- Nastadyne’s Burning Justice mode is named after a similar super mode from various Transformers cartoons, though it’s more directly inspired by the Shining/Burning Finger super move from G Gundam.

- Martians sending kaiju to different planets via shooting them out of cannons (with or without cylinder spaceships around them) is another War of the Worlds shoutout.  So is martians living on Venus after their homeworld was made uninhabitable, actually.

- Kurokame’s vocalizations are described as wails in explicit homage to Gamera.  His name can be translated as either “black tortoise” (a reference to the mythical guardian beast Genbu, which can also be construed as a Gamera reference thanks to Gamera: Advent of Irys implying Gamera and Genbu are one and the same) or a portmanteau of the Japanese words for crocodile and turtle - “crocturtle.”

- Burodon’s name is just a mangling of “burrow down.”  It also sounds vaguely like Baragon, who Burodon is loosely inspired by.  AND, since Burodon is sort of a knockoff/modified Baragon, that kinda makes him a reference to various monsters in Ultraman!

- The final battle of Tyrantis in Tokyo is sort of a hybrid of the finales of Ghidorah the 3 Headed Monster and Destroy All Monsters.  

- The Japanese kaiju teaching Tyrantis the art of throwing rocks at your enemies is both a joke on the prominence of rock throwing in Japanese kaiju fights AND the tired trope of an American hero learning secret martial arts from a Japanese mentor ala Batman, Iron Fist, etc.  In this case, the secret martial art is throwing rocks at people.

- When introduced to Herakoschei and its pilot, we are told that the strain of piloting this early mecha is so intense that many pilots have died in the process, with the current one passing out on more than few occasions.  This is of course a Pacific Rim homage - sadly, no one invents drifting.

- Herakoschei’s design is a loose homage to Robby the Robot and Cherno Alpha, because big boxy robots are cool.

- The Writhing Flesh and ESPECIALLY Pathogen are both hugely influenced by Resident Evil and The Thing.  Giant body horror piles of raw flesh, tendrils, mismatched mouths and limbs may be a bit outside the main era of monster design ATOM homages, but they fit the themes and bring a nice contrast.

- I came up with Pathogen long before Corona but MAN it definitely feels different in 2021 to have a giant monster whose name is a synonym for disease driving other creatures crazy in a quarantine zone than it did when I plotted out the story in 2016.

- The chapter title “Hello, Old Foes” is a riff on “Goodbye, Old Friend”

- Minerva, the kaiju-fied clone of Dr. Lerna, is meant to be an homage to Attack of the 50 Foot Woman, which is a genuinely good giant monster flick.  I am sure many of you will also believe I included her because I’m a pervert whose into tall women, but you’d be wrong!  I included the seven foot tall Russian mecha pilot Ludmilla Portnova because I’m a pervert whose into tall women.  Minerva’s inclusion was just coincidental, I swear!

- Since Promythigor is a play on the archetypal ape kaiju to contrast Tyrantis as a play on the archetypal fire-breathing reptile kaiju, their fight has a lot of nods to King Kong movies.  Promythigor attempts the famous jaw-snap maneuver of Kong (with less success), J.C. Clark paraphrases the “brute force vs. a thinking animal” line from the King Kong vs. Godzilla American cut, and Tyrantis slides down a mountain to knock Promythigor off his feet in a reversal of Kong doing the same in King Kong vs. Godzilla.

- Tyrantis sliding down a mountain on his tail doubles as a Godzilla vs. Megalon homage.

- Though Promythigor is the archetypal Ape and Tyrantis the archetypal Fire-Breathing Reptile, I think it’s fun to note that in some ways, Promythigor is the Godzilla equivalent in their matchup, and Tyrantis the Kong.  Promythigor has a slight size advantage, was scarred by humans performing unethical weapons technology, and is associated with violent explosions.  Tyrantis is a good-at-heart prehistoric beast who humanized in part by his unlikely friendship with a human woman.

- Of course, in the context of the famous quote from the American cut of King Kong vs. Godzilla, they remain in their archetypal lanes.  Promythigor is the more intelligent of the two (though not necessarily wiser), and Tyrantis is in many ways a brute reptile.  Their battle is a rebuttal of sorts to the assertion that Kong is the “better” animal because he is closer to human.  Promythigor’s near human creativity and emotions don’t make him the kinder/more benevolent monster, but instead fuel a very self-centered and destructive attitude that makes him the far more dangerous threat.  On the other hand, Tyrantis, who is less intelligent, limited in communication with others by his reptilian mindset and instincts, and simple in his thoughts and desires, is nonetheless a sweet creature that is easily dealt with when others consider his animal needs and mindset.  There’s a quote from Hellboy I love that probably sums up all of my writing thus far: “To be other than human does not mean the same as being less,” and that’s what the matchup between these two in particular tries to illustrate: the “less” human Tyrantis is nonetheless more benign than the “more” human Promythigor.

- Kraydi the psychic lizard began life as a soft sculpture I made of the Canyon Krayt Dragon from The Wildlife of Star Wars.  The sculpture didn’t look much like the illustration, but I liked how it came out, and so I made it an original monster named Kraydi (see what I did there).  Figuring out an explanation for that name in ATOM’s world was possibly the most difficult kaiju naming task in the series, but it worked out in the end.

- Kraydi and Promythigor having psychic powers is a result of my time on Godzilla fan forums in my middle school years.  Most of the forums had OC kaiju battle tournaments, and SO many of those kaiju had a wide array of beam weapons and psychic powers just to win the tournaments by beam-spamming and mind controlling their foes into oblivion.  There’s a special kind of rage you get when your original creation is beaten by “Fire Godzilla” because he has a genius level intellect and the power of unstoppable telekinesis.  Kraydi began as (and still is I suppose) my attempt to do a psychic kaiju well, while Promythigor’s villainy being tied to psychic powers being forced on him is sort of my passive aggressive commentary on people foisting powers on a monster without any real thematic reason for them.

- Henry Robertson and Dr. Praetorius chewing out the laziness of people giving kaiju completely unaltered names of mythic beasts will probably be seen as a jab at the Monsterverse and/or the numerous writers in the kaiju OC scene who do the same, but it’s ACTUALLY a jab at my past self, who had DOZENS of kaiju whose names were just Greek mythological figures verbatim.  There are dozens of kaiju named Hydra, Scylla, Charybdis, Chimera, etc., past me, try to make the names stand out!  Oh wait you did.  I mean, don’t pat yourself on the back too much, you still went with “Mothmanud” as a canon name and never came up with something better, but, like, good on ya for trying I guess.

- Dr. Praetorius takes his name from the evil mad scientis in Bride of Frankenstein, who basically has all the wicked traits that Universal’s Frankenstein downplayed in their take on Dr. Frankenstein.  Ironically, ATOM’s Dr. Praetorius is a bit less evil than his fellow mad scientists in ATOM.  I really like how his character turned out, he surprised me.

- Isaac Rossum, the pilot of the USA mecha Atomoton, is named for Isaac Aasimov, whose robot stories are to robot fiction what Lord of the Rings is to high fantasy.  His last name is a reference to Rossum’s Universal Robots, which is where the word “robot” came from.

- The unfortunate pilots of MechaTyrantis in ATOM Volumes 1 and 2 are all nods to Jurassic Park.  John Ludlow = John Hammond and Peter Ludlow, Ian Grant = Ian Malcolm and Alan Grant, Dennis Dodgson = Dennis Nedry and Lewis Dodgson.

- A good way to pitch Invasion from Beyond! would be “what if the staff and monsters were able to fight back when the Kilaaks tried to take over Monsterland?”

- Ok, here’s a fun joke that no one will get but me because it requires a very specific chain of logic based on some obscure and loosely connected nerd bullshit.  There’s a rocker in ATOM’s universe named Sebastian Haff, right?  One of his songs, “Darling Let’s Shimmy,” is referenced right before a mothmanud larva emerges from the ground in both ATOM Vol. 1 and 2.  Ok, so, in the Bubba Hotep, an aging Elvis impersonator named Sebastian Haff claims he is actually the real Elvis Presley, having changed places with the real Sebastian Haff as a sort of Prince and the Pauper deal that went wrong.  Got that?  Ok, so, in UFO folklore, a common joke is the theory that Elvis didn’t die, but was rather abducted by aliens (or he actually WAS an alien the whole time - the whole “Elvis didn’t die, he just went home” joke in Men in Black is a good example of this).  Ok?  Ok.  So, in ATOM’s universe, we can surmise that their equivalent of Elvis, whose name is Sebastian Haff, WAS abducted by aliens, and that his song “Darling Let’s Shimmy” is subconsciously influenced by his repressed memories from his time aboard the Beyonder spaceships, which is why it accidentally awoke a Mothmanud larva in Volume 1.  There’s a lot of bullshit jokes I put into ATOM, but this is perhaps the bullshittiest of them all.

- One of the most common bits of feedback on ATOM Volume 1 I got was “I kept waiting for something to eat Brick Rockwell, he’s such an asshole.”  And I had to smile and go, “Oh, yeah, guess he never got his, huh?” the whole time without letting on that he was going to die here all along!

- Dr. Lerna and Brick Rockwell’s nature as foils to each other is probably most apparent in Invasion from Beyond!, where both are given fairly similar situations - a nonhuman approaches them with a solution to a global crisis - and react to it very differently.  I worry that some people may think they both made the same choice and got different results, and that that’s hypocrisy on my part, but I hope I wrote it so you can see how their choices and situations actually differ in key ways, and why their decisions, while similar on the surface, are ultimately very different, and thus result in almost opposite outcomes.

- So, when I planned out this book in 2016, I swear I didn’t know about the Orca from 2019′s Godzilla King of the Monsters.  Having the plot hang around Dr. Lerna deciding whether or not to use a sonic device to rouse all the kaiju to save the earth was not INTENDED to be a Monsterverse reference - it came about from me looking at Pathfinder’s take on kaiju, who are all explicitly influenceable by music, and thinking, “Oh, wow, music and songs DO have a major connection with kaiju in a lot of media, I should do something with that.”  Whem KOTM came out a few days after Volume 1 came out I realized I was kinda fucked here, because the comparison was definitely going to be made, but I’d also set this all up already and you can’t just change suddenly to avoid looking like a copy cat and make a good story, so... I dunno, I leaned into it a bit, but it is what it is.

- While most people will probably think they’re a reference to the Reptoids of UFO folklore, the Reptodites are more inspired by the Dinosapien of speculative evolution fame and, even morso, by the Reptites from Chrono Trigger.  Me wanting to avoid the “lizard people control the government” conspiracy theory trope is one of the main reasons why Reptodites have this non-interference clause with humanity.

- Lieutenant Gray is a bunch of different humanoid aliens rolled into one - a little Hopskinville goblin, a little classic gray, a little this one weird alien with five-fingered zygodactyl hands, etc.

- There’s some Beyonder Mecha in this volume that are basically kaiju-fied versions of the Flatwoods Monster.  The species that built them ALSO engineered the Mothmanuds, because connecting Mothman and the Flatwoods Monster is fun!

- Pleprah is, obviously, a one-eyed one-horned flying purple people eater.

- Tyrantis’s brush with death, in addition to being so very anime, was inspired by my dad outlining how mythic heroes often have to travel to the underworld/land of the dead before they can finish their journey.  It’s one of the plot points that I’ve had planned for this series since middle school.

- I’m sure some will view it as hackneyed and corny, but as a person who’s battled with depression for decades, having Tyrantis’s choice to live be the big heroic turn of the finale was very important to me.  Tyrantis incorporates elements of a lot of imaginary friends I made as a kid, and in many ways he’s kind of the face of my more positive side in my head.  He’s been telling me to choose to live for a while, and while maybe to an outsider it may seem hackneyed, it’s just... very Tyrantis.  He chooses life and kindness in the face of pain and struggle.  That’s Tyrantis.

- Tyrantis’s powered up form is called “Hyper Mode,” which is another Gundam reference.  Originally it was a lot gaudier and involved him turning gold like a fuckin’ Super Saiyan.  I opted for something a little more toned down here.  

- Also, speaking of KOTM references, I decided to make Hyper Mode Tyrantis’s final duel with Pathogen be a sort of foil to Burning Godzilla’s final bout with Ghidorah in KOTM.  Instead of ravaging the city, Hyper Tyrantis’s pulse of energy rejuvenates his fallen allies, and as a result he is “crowned” not out of fear for his supremacy in the wake of killing a powerful enemy, but in gratitude for his kindness.  See?  Leaning into it!

- And now I can finally reveal that Yamaneon is ATOM’s equivalent of The Monolith Monsters - that is, a kaiju that is also a mineral.  I took the “strange continuously growing rock” thing in a very different direction, though, as unlike The Monolith Monsters, Yamaneon is actually alive.

- At various points in the pre-writing process, either Promythigor, MechaTyrantis, or both were going to die fighting Pathogen.  I ultimately decided to let them both live, with MechaTyrantis even getting his flesh and blood body back, because I think it’s more interesting and thematically consistent that way.  They get a chance to heal their wounds by changing their ways.

- The Great Beyonder and Dorazor both almost didn’t make the cut, as I felt they didn’t have the same pull as villains that Pathogen, Promythigor, and MechaTyrantis did.  But then I thought that could actually be the gag - build them up as the final boss, only to have Pathogen take their crown.  I want to explore post-face turn Dorazor a bit more, though.  We’ll have to see about that in a later volume.

- Volumes 1 and 2 make up what I call “The Ballad of Tyrantis Arc” for ATOM.  I call it that because Tyrantis’s storyline in these two volumes was patterend after Chivalric ballads like Yvain the Knight of the Lion.  Tyrantis, a heroic warrior who is kind but dumb of ass, learns of strange goings on outside his home and investigates.  During his journey into the unknown he falls in love with a powerful woman, whose favor he tries to win.  Through happenstance he is separated from his love and, distraught, wanders around fighting various foes to prove his worth, before finally returning to his love a better hero.  Invasion from Beyond! could even be seen as a sort of Morte d’Artur, with Tyrantis and a bunch of other kaiju heroes (including Nastadyne and Kemlasulla, who are built up as Hero Kaiju of Another Story) take part in a huge battle that threatens their idealic kingdom (of monsters).

- Volume 2 isn’t the end of ATOM, but it’s designed to work as an ending if you want to tap out here.  As a reader I feel a definitive ending is important, but as a writer I’m always tempted to revisit my beloved characters, so I feel giving closure while leaving a few doors open for possible future adventures is a good compromise between these positions.  There will be more ATOM stories, some (but not all!) following Tyrantis and Dr. Lerna, but if you want to know that Tyrantis and Dr. Lerna get an ending and the resolution to their arcs such a thing promises, here you go.  An ending, if not THE END.

[tyrantisterror]

Are Tyrantis, Tyranta, the Terror, Dioblosaurus and/or their ancestors proto-dragons due to the fact that they can breathe fire, similar to how Nastadyne and Bobo have human features, or is that just Yamaneon mutation?

Dragons in my little mythos are evolved from monitor lizards, while Tyrantis, Diablosaurus, and any other fire-breathing retrosaur kaiju are, like all retrosaurs, pseudosuchian archosaurs, so the fact that these two different groups can breath fire is not a result of an evolutionary link.

[maplesamurai]

This is actually something I’ve occasionally thought about myself, so let’s see how many I can think up for this...

Tyrantis: Asset Colchis- After Medea’s home island in the Argonautica, and specifically, the dragon guarding the Golden Fleece in the same myth, with Dr. Lenrna being the Medea in this analogy, because Clark is exactly petty enough to call Lerna a deceptive witch by implication.

Ahuul: Asset Stymphalia- After the Ancient Greek town that the imfamously vicious Stymphalian Birds of the Twelve Labours of Hercules ravaged and were named for. I orignally considered calling him Asset Zeus because of the eagle being Zeus’s sacred animal, but there’s another ATOM kaiju more deserving of that name we’ll get to later...

Tricerak: Asset Khalkotaurus- After the bulls of Colchis that Jason had to yoke in order to sow the dragon’s teeth to create the Spartoi. I can imagine this actually being a compromise between Clark and Praetorius; “Clark, there’s even a name of a specific bull you can use, and it doesn’t even change the name all that much; just please don’t name a large, charging animal simply ‘Taurus!’”

Gorgolisk: Asset Medusa-  Yes, of course Clark would name Gorgolisk after the single most well known mythological being with a similar powerset. Honestly, only reason he probably wouldn’t be more obvious and name it “Asset Basilisk” is because the first redorded mention of basilisks came from the writings of Pliny the Elder, a Roman naturalist, because while most people treat Greek and Roman mythologies interchangeably, I can imagine Clark splitting hairs about it.

Mothmanud: Asset Thanatos- Clark seemed to know exactly what this creature’s awakening meant for humanity, so nothing could be more fitting than the harbinger of death.

Bronton: Asset Zeus- One of Typhon Island’s strongest residents and he has lightning powers? I told you I had a better candidate for this name than Ahuul!

Old Meg: Asset Charybdis- A giant gaping maw that lives in the sea, next!

Kutulusca: Asset Scylla- I was seriously tempted to name it “Asset Cetus” after in a super meta reference to Cetus from the Perseus and Andromeda myth being replaced with the Kraken in Clash of the Titans, but Clark would probably want to complete the duo with Charybdis and lacks the real world context to make that joke. 

 Burodon: Asset Myrmecoleon- A half ant half lion makes enough sense for a burrowing carnivore.

Nastadyne: Asset Antaeus- Given Nastadyne’s upright boxer stance, a nigh undefeatable wrestler works perfectly. I would have called him Asset Heracles after the genus of beetle he’s mutated from, but that name’s taken by Deluxman (fittingly enough, since the two actually fought each other).

Kurokame: Asset Aspidochelone- Yeah, that’s the only Greek mythological turtle I could find, so to Kurokame it goes (you think Clark would finally give in and let Spooks give kaiju codenames from other mythologies at this point?). 

Mastemuth: Asset Odontotyrannus- It’s fitting as a giant horned beast with a major temper, and a Midgaheim reference!

Pathogen: Asset Kronos- Tried looking up vampiric being in Greek mythology, but none of them felt right, so I decided to reference Pathogen’s ravenous hunger instead. And let’s face it, a being that literally ate gods is pretty fitting for this kaiju devouring abomination...

Glypton: Asset Gorgon- Might seem like a bit of a stretch, but Edward Topsell's History of Four Footed Beasts and Serpents did use "gorgon" as the name for an armored quadruped, so there's that at least.

Gorale: Asset Chimera- Obvious Clark name is obvious, and also haha, the earliest Tyrantis stories had a kaiju named Chimera (in a crossover with another writer, but it still counts), and since I’ve invested way too much time into this post, let’s wrap things up with...

Wow, that took a lot out of me! And I skipped over most of the Typhon Island residents and didn’t even bother with any but one of the alien kaiju!

If the other ATOM Kaiju had codenames like the Green Hell Kaiju, what would they be?

The Asset names come from the Spooks Organization, which names all of its assets after figures from Greek Mythology.

I invite others to take that prompt and figure out what each ATOM kaiju's Asset name would be.

[tyrantisterror]

Which of your bug Kaiju are Fairies?

None of them, but some had ancestors who almost became fairies.

At some in Bobo and Nastadyne’s respective family trees, they had at least one distant ancestor who spent some time in fairyland and partially attuned to magic, exhibiting varying levels of homofalsum as their final fairy forms would do.  They escaped fairyland before the process finished, and bred with non-magic members of their own species.  The human-imitating genetic mutations affected their offspring, even though the magical attunement that initially caused it didn’t get passed down.

This happened way more often to way more creatures than one might think - Bobo and Nastadyne are lucky in that some of their ancestors also stumbled into Yamaneon tunnels before the end of the Lost Epoch, and thus survived the purge that would otherwise wipe them off the face of the earth.

Chlorespa, Girtabane, and Mantiresia might be in the same boat as those two, or they might just be really weird for unrelated, mundane evolutionary reasons, like Crustakra or Glypton.

[tyrantisterror]

What is the origin of some of your monsters names?

A lot of them are just portmanteaus: Tyrantis = Tyrannosaurus + Gigantis, Gorgolisk = Gorgon + Basilisk, etc.  Some are portmanteaus that I then slurred to make more monster-y: Mothmanud = Mothman + Flatwood(s Monster).  Some are just made by fucking with the name of the creature they’re based on: Cerator = Ceratosaur, Nastadyne = Dynastinae (i.e. rhinoceros beetles).  Some are literary references: Promythigor = Prometheus + Myth + “gor”, Kemlasulla = a slurred version of “Sarmek” + Ulla, words for and used by fictional martians in literature.  And some are just me making up gibberish: Googora, Ugugular, etc.