#rock bug

[astoundingbeyondbelief]

Skull Island character sheets, from the Powerhouse Animation Twitter.

[monarch-afterdark]

Superspecies History: The Maritime's Bestiary

Welcome once again to Monarch: After Dark, the digital gateway between you and the organisation dedicated to understanding and navigating this troubled new world we live in.

Here we are, the end of the road for our Skull Island fauna coverage...kind of. While there are quite a handful of other superspecies we are yet to talk about, we do not yet have access to their profiles, and as such we can't really talk about them. Once we can, however, we will be returning to Skull Island.

For now at least, let us end the coverage with another round-up of creatures known to Monarch, but do not have enough information known about them to warrant giving them individual entries. You may remember we did something similar a while back for the remaining Titans awakened in 2019, and this entry will be similar in presentation, but for the superspecies encountered by survivors of the cryptid-hunting vessel Once Upon a Maritime in 1993.

(Pictured above: Artwork drawn by a younger Annie, depicting herself and her animal familiar "Dog" battling a scorpion-like creature)

Now, given that these events transpired prior to the 1995 expedition to Skull Island, and thus prior to any Monarch presence on the island, all we have on the following creatures are the testimonies of those who had encountered them firsthand. With that said, let us dive in.

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"Dog"

(Pictured above: Artistic depiction of "Dog" and Annie together)

The nickname given to a large, canine-like superspecies, "Dog" was first met by Annie as a pup after their fathers had killed each other. Developing a strong bond, they would spend the next 10 years together on an island Annie named after herself, battling monsters. The two would wind up on Skull Island together whilst escaping mercenaries hired by Annie's mother.

Dog's current status is unknown, as he and Annie were separated following Kong's killing of the Skull Island Kraken, and Annie being taken to the mainland by her mother. Monarch's attempts at getting much information out of Annie were made more difficult by her constant demands to be reunited with the animal.

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Trapdoor Crab

(Pictured above: Artistic rendition of a Trapdoor Crab, by Monarch cryptoartist Jung-Ha Kim)

Trapdoor Crabs are beach-dwelling ambush predators that lurk beneath the sands on Skull Island's coasts. A group of Trapdoor Crabs attempted to kill Once Upon a Maritime crew members Charlie and Mike once they'd washed ashore on Skull Island, but the duo were rescued by Annie. More would attack the trio later, but the sounds of Kong's roar scared them off.

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Rock Bug

(Pictured above: Artist sketches of a Rock Bug, by Jung-Ha Kim)

Rock Bugs were insectoid monsters capable of curling their bodies to disguise as simple rocks. Even as babies, their bodies are highly durable. Their underbellies are composed of similar material to a diamond, mesmerizing potential prey or predators.

Rock Bugs were apparently first encountered by Charlie's father, and captain of the Once Upon a Maritime, Cap. Charlie himself had accidentally thrown a baby Rock Bug into a swarm of Trapdoor Crabs, and according to Annie, Kong threw a Rock Bug at the Kraken during their battle.

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Aloe Turtle

(Pictured above: Artist's rendition of an Aloe Turtle)

A related subspecies to the Magma Turtle, the Aloe Turtle is a florafauna reptilian with aloe leaves growing on its back in place of the conventional shell turtles have. Their leaves secrete a gel that can be used to treat venom-related injuries.

A lone Aloe Turtle was spotted by Cap and Irene, Annie's mother, whilst they were getting acquainted. Irene later used one of the aloe leaves from the species to treat a venomous wound Mike had sustained during the Kraken's attack on the Once Upon a Maritime.

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Hawk Monster

(Pictured above: Artistic depiction of the Hawk Monster resting on Kong's arm)

A large red avian creature, the Hawk Monster was apparently a beast companion for Kong during his time on the island. According to later analysis of a temple-like structure high on Skull Island's mountains, Kong seemed to have met the Hawk Monster during the 1980's.

While the Hawk Monster is presumed dead by Monarch as of 2021, as it had not been seen with Kong during Monarch's time on the island, it had been spotted in 1993 menacing Irene's team, and had brought Charlie and Dog to Kong's temple, presumably as food.

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Croc Monster

(Pictured above: Artistic depiction of the Croc Monster)

Unlike the Sirenjaw, the Croc Monster was a more traditional-looking crocodilian superspecies, keeping the core traits associated with modern crocodilian species. This creature was capable of both quadrupedal and bipedal movement.

A Croc Monster had menaced Charlie and Mike briefly after killing one of Irene's mercenaries. Charlie recalled the pair diving off a waterfall to evade the beast, only for the Croc Monster to dive down after them. It was grabbed from the water and eaten by Kong before it could attack the boys further.

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Giant Dodo

(Pictured above: Artistic rendition of the Giant Dodo)

The Giant Dodo...is a rather self-explanatory animal to explain. The name really speaks for itself here.

A Giant Dodo briefly menaced Charlie and Mike before it was swiftly killed by Dog. The boys realised that Annie had used them as bait to kill the creature, and the group roasted the Giant Dodo over a fire with the intent to eat it.

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Giant Ant

(Pictured above: Artistic rendition of the Giant Ant)

A large insectoid species that dwelled in underground pits on Skull Island, connected by a series of tunnels. They had durable exoskeletons, and may have been prone to cannibalising on deceased Giant Ants. It is unknown whether or not the Giant Ants may be a caste of Snarehunter, due to the limited information at hand.

One attacked Charlie, Mike and Annie in a pit after dragging off the carcass of one of its own. When an ancient sword Charlie uncovered shattered against it, Annie played dead in front of the Giant Ant to attract Dog, who chased it off.

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Jovian Flytrap

(Pictured above: Artistic depiction of a Venus Fly Trap Creature)

Another example of "faunaflora" (a reverse instance of florafauna where plants take on animalistic traits), the Jovian Flytrap seemed to be the Skull Island equivalent of carnivorous plants known to the surface world. This creature was referred to initially as just a "Venus Fly Trap Creature", but a search through the Skull Island database found the creature already catalogued as the Jovian Flytrap.

Irene, Cap, and mercenary Sam encountered a group of Jovian Flytraps, one of which attempted to eat Irene while she had her back turned to it. The creature was killed in the effort to free Irene, who later found it ironic that she, as a botanist, was almost killed by a plant.

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Nightboy

(Pictured above: Artistic rendition of the Nightboys, by Jung-Ha Kim)

Nightboys were pale-skinned, demonic creatures that would collectively hide around bare trees, turning them into spined formations. They were highly aggressive to anyone who disturbed the group, but could be fended off by an inexperienced teen with a club, and thus aren't quite as deadly as other fauna on the island.

Charlie recalled accidentally startling a group of Nightboys attempting to ignite a tree to get the attention of Irene's party. This brought the attention of Irene's mercenaries and Annie, who reunited with Dog as the mercs gunned down the creatures.

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And that's all she wrote for the Maritime's bestiary! Or, at the very least, that's all in terms of what we were actually told by those who were involved with the 1993 incident. Refusal to co-operate with Monarch, the unreliability of human memory and lack of enough time to explain them all played a part in the limited selection and information we have presented here.

Still, a shoutout is due to Monarch's talented crew of artists who were able to bring mere word-of-mouth descriptions to life as fantastic and terrifying creatures.

Until next time,

Monarch: After Dark

[gnarl3ne-blog]

Diabolical Ironclad Beetle - Phloedes diabolicus by Arlene Schag Via Flickr: I love these beetles, called them rock-buggies until I learned their official name. They aren't really diabolical, in fact they are probably the sweetest beetle around. Some of the other ones will stink you or run away, but not these beetles. They move slowly. Sometimes they will pull their legs in snug against their body and pretend to be a rock. One inch in length. They come out to forage for tasty decomposing plant material. Southern California, Chaparral / Oak Woodland habitat along Santa Margarita River - Fallbrook.

[yudol-skorbi]

smoke break from saving the world

[hinamie]

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[bedupolker]

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[cioror]

[braindos]

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[lovepokemontcg]

illus. sowsow "Lunatone" from Crown Zenith

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[deltapelagicpetrel]

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