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Description
OCCTULUS
The Benthic Eyes

Stats:
Height: 30 meters from tentacle base to mantle top
Length: 50 meters from mantle tip to tentacle tips
Mass: 5,000 metric tons
Type: Water/Mind
Diet: Carnivore
Rank: Lightweight
Faction: World Defenders, Kaiju Klash (Blue team)
Mana Glands:
----------Primary: Fused with brain, wraps around esophagus
----------Secondary: One within eye on each of the main tentacles
Heal Rate: Extreme
Team: Sea Monsters
Alignment: Lawful Good
Partner: -TBA-

Bio:
History:
The Terra Guard Tournaments: The final word in monster combat, these were the ancient matches that decided the overlords and heralds of the various aspects of life and the living and nonliving things on this planet. Of all of these, few have inspired more mystery and speculation than the ones that graced the Paleozoic, the era of creatures totally unlike anything known to man. Of the victors of the Paleozoic trials, only a scant few have survived to recount their journey. The most famous of course were Krak'eann and his children, for theirs was not just a story of ecological warfare, but also one of love, care, and devotion, the story of a family hell-bent on survival regardless of the toll.
Love is a subtrope of the most important distinction between what lives and what does not: reproduction. That role was assigned to one of the few Paleozoic kaiju whose form can still be recognized today, the great tentacled beast known as Occtulus, the Benthic Eyes. At the time, most of Krak'eann's hard-shelled offspring, born from the Cambrian Explosion, were armed to the teeth for battle, bestowed with such weapons as pincers, stinger tails, limbs tipped with razor-sharp blades, and so on. Like them, Occtulus was born with a hard shell, but one that was coiled, curved, and segmented like a prehistoric ammonite. Fossils of creatures that imitated this appearance are known from rocks up to the end of the Cretaceous. But Occtulus was not adapted for physical combat, not in the claw-to-claw sense of his siblings. Alone among Krak'eann's children, this kaiju had inherited his father's tentacles, fleshy extensions of his body lined with suction cups that gave him an adaptible, flexible, and precise grip. But adaptibility came at the price of physical power and, indeed, ammonites were even more reknowned as prey than as predators back in the Paleozoic era. His own siblings considered him as the runt of the family - even Carcinos, who cowered in his shell at the slightest noise despite having claws that could crush boulders, recieved better treatment than Occtulus did in his early years. It did not help that this octopus did not even want to fight regardless of the situation - all he wanted was to raise a family of his own, to prepare for the future. He believed that the key to success was not to win every fight, but to survive long enough to produce offspring, the goal of every organism that existed before or since. So regardless of the fact that weaker monsters wanted little to do with him, equal monsters ignored him, and stronger monsters generally treated him like shit, he was all and all content to go his own way and keep to himself. As far as he knew, the important part was that his father approved of him even if he was the only one who did, regardless of what he wanted out of life.
As word of the Tournaments began to spread, and as the family prepared for battle, Occtulus for the first time felt reluctance. He had never asked to fight against other monsters, and furthermore, he certainly did not take kindly to being used against his will. But Krak'eann saw the battles as a neccessity, for a position among the Terra Guards, as high as theoretically possible, would give the family the best chance of survival. It came as a shock that Occtulus's first match was against one of his own brothers, specifically the great decapod known as Carcinos, but in hindsight, it made sense. The Primal Overseer had sired a prodigious brood in the Cambrian which took up most of the kaiju population at the time, and a large family meant that his genes had a better chance of making it to adulthood regardless of how many of his children died out. The scandalous truth was that at the time he cared little for the fact that his offspring would soon be dying like the animals they were, which left a feeling of betrayal in his only tentacled son. Occtulus was quick to call his father out on the fact that the latter was basically abandoning his family to their potential deaths the way so many other species did. Wouldn't devotion and emotional support to those who proved themselves the strongest at the very least be beneficial to the family as a whole? After weighing the options, Krak'eann decided not to disappoint any of his children, and took Occtulus's opinion into account by agreeing to fight for the family's name as much as his own. However, he did point out that he had little tolerance for "impurity of spirit" with regards to his children and that they would be penalized appropriately if they tried anything underhanded. Occtulus and Carcinos both promised to fight fair; even though Carcinos was painfully shy, he swore he would do his best to make his father proud, and Occtulus likewise agreed not to take unfair advantage of his crustacean sibling's personal weaknesses. With their father in the stands along with the rest of the audience, the Benthic Eyes and the Claws of Creation took their positions in the middle of a vast coral reef, and were given the green light to battle.
Though both of them did not want to fight, they saw no other choice; Carcinos was the first to strike, lashing out with his enormous crushing pincer, bashing a good-sized hole into Occtulus's curved shell when he tried to retreat inside. The great cephalopod knew full well that despite Carcinos's great reluctance to do battle, if he were so inclined those pincers of his could clip off all of his tentacles with ease and quite possibly with a single snip. The great crab was unsure of why his brother did not react to his advances, and continued his beating without realizing exactly what he was about to provoke. Occtulus apparently had only the ability to spray powerful jets of water from his siphon to save himself, and he desperately tried to formulate a strategy concerning how to fend off the crab's claws, overcome attack and defense alike, and flip him over so that victory laid squarely in his tentacles with this attack alone. That was when, without warning, Carcinos was suddenly flung backwards as though an invisible bubble were expanding in front of him, pushing him back. Occtulus's brain had kicked into overdrive and, to his pleasant surprise, activated both his mana gland and a whole series of ganglions throughout his body, producing a psionic field that could be used for both offensive and defensive means. This allowed him to take the battle to his brother, projecting force fields onto his extendable tentacles to deliver punches and blows on par with the crab's own. Carcinos did manage to clip off two of his brother's tentacles, bringing him up short, but the fight overall swung in Occtulus's favor as he experimented with his offensive capabilities such as psionic bursts, ink spray, water jets, and of course, lots and lots of tentacles penetrating inappropriate places. Carcinos meanwhile found himself being pushed further and further towards his own limits, but he couldn't cower because it made him look weak, which was not favorable. His desperate attempts to fend off Occtulus led to him losing five of his legs and being flipped over. The crab lay there helpless as Occtulus moved in for the kill, clicking his claws in a panic... and sending a jolt through his opponent that caused the poor cephalopod to go stiff-tentacled and tingly for just long enough for the crab to make a return blow with a massive electromagnetic pulse that obliterated his brother's ammonite shell while the crab flipped himself back upright. Carcinos was startled to say the least at the revelation that his crusher claw held an electric organ inside, which could potentially cause powerful cavitation/discharge pulses if used right. Thus both crab and octopus were now on equal grounds and the final stretch of the match was dedicated to the two of them unleashing everything they could on each other. Ultimately, it was Occtulus's psionic abilities that gave him the victory despite him being physically weaker. Carcinos's electromagnetic field proved useful for deflecting physical projectiles, but magical and mental attacks were a different matter and with one last push, the Benthic Eyes finally managed to flip the Claws of Creation onto his back and prepared to drive his sharp beak into the crab's belly. The match was called, and Occtulus was declared the winner though by a fairly slim margin as Carcinos had put up his first good and fair fight as well and therefore was not required to be put down. Relieved that they could both live, Occtulus flipped Carcinos back right side up and gave him an affectionate pat on the head with one of his remaining tentacles, at the same time admitting, with not a trace of self-righteous flattery, that he liked and in fact admired the crab's dedication to staying alive regardless of the odds against him. Having been ignored and mocked by his brothers and sisters throughout his life for being "that pathetic little Wimp Shrimp", Carcinos was so touched by the first genuine compliment he had ever recieved that right then and there, he forged with his sibling one of the earliest and longest-lasting kaiju alliances known. Needless to say, Krak'eann was proud of both of them, and told them as much, but also reminded them that this would only be the beginning of their troubles, for newer and deadlier opponents awaited them. Both of them stated that they would be happy to make it out alive regardless of whether they won or lost, as long as the family remained intact. The Primal Overseer expressed his happiness that his two children knew the true values of living, and on that note he headed off into the open sea to face his own first opponent.
With his family's guidance and his own expanding potential, the Benthic Eyes, already eager to have this tournament over with, continued his forced journey facing newer and more powerful foes each time. As the most intelligent of the invertebrates even back then, his weapon was his brain, not just in terms of psionics but strategy as well. The loss of his shell gave him greater agility but also forced him to think in new ways to avoid being outright nommed, one of the most notable being the ability to read the psionic patterns of his foes, allowing him to ascertain to some degree the powers and abilities they had, and formulate a counterstrategy accordingly. But cunning and common sense could only get him so far; sooner or later, there would come someone who would overpower him through preparation, anticipation, and sheer badassery. That someone's razor-sharp dorsal fin split the ocean surface in twain as he coasted towards the quarter-finals, and Khondryk was not about to take rumors and legends lying down. What he needed was a chance to prove himself, and indeed his sleek, predatory build was basically in vogue as the jawed fish evolved. Fish were idolized throughout the Devonian seas for their streamlined, revolutionary design, but while sharks were capable and prolific predators, a whole host of bigger and nastier aquatic predators made progress difficult for them. It would not be until after the KT extinction event that sharks would finally get to fill the gaps left behind by these same predators and become one of the most varied and infamous oceanic vertebrate clades, but for now, they had to stick to the middle-tier of the food chain, which would have been good enough for the Sea Squire if the larger predatory placoderms weren't so damn snobbish and pompous. Fortunately for Khondryk, or so he thought, his quarter-finals match was against not one of those plate-skinned bullies, but what he assumed was a delicious little meat-sack of a cephalopod who was rumored to be a strategist and a lover rather than a fighter. The satisfaction of the percieved outcome and the victory feast that came with it would have made his mouth water if that were biologically possible. Occtulus, meanwhile, was afraid for the first time since he'd been signed up for the tournament, not of losing but of the possibility that he might not survive. Carcinos could do nothing to help him because he himself was terrified of sharks, having nearly lost his crusher claw to the very same shark kaiju whom Occtulus was pitted against. Krak'eann likewise stated that Occtulus was on his own this time, because despite fearing the worst, he knew full well that he couldn't do anything to protect his son without compromising the match.
Thus, as Khondryk arrived at the saltwater bay where the match was to take place, he was certain that he had a solid victory clenched between his jagged teeth. That certainty dwindled, however, when Occtulus discovered near the start of the match that without the constraints of a hard shell, his soft, squishy body offered far more manuverability than the shark's in shallow waters and tight spaces like the bay provided. Since he couldn't cut in close to Khondryk without being violently dismembered, the octopus's best survival strategy was to make himself scarce and attack from a distance. Jets of water and slime from who knows where, aimed at the gills to hamper breathing, pummeled the Sea Squire as he tried to flush out his foe. However, with the limited space the two of them had, Occtulus was essentially cornered and sure enough, the Sea Squire finally managed to poke his rough-skinned face in right where it counted. The response was a faceful of flailing tentacles/eye stalks as the octopus finally relented to the primal instinct of panic and proceeded to rain cephalopod-style hell and tentacle rape all over the shark's sensitive snout. Thrashing and snapping violently, Khondryk managed to take off five of Occtulus's arms and gobble them down before twisting himself free and slashing with his blade-like dorsal fin at the octopus's mantle, cleaving it open and leaving the dazed and wounded tentacle monster to drift to the sea floor. The match was handed to the Sea Squire, as he had already known, but the fight had been closer than he had expected and it had also in effect helped him realize that it had been closer than he thought. Additionally, the octopus's innocence intelligence, which had helped him greatly in battle, appealed to him more than he'd realized, and thus he felt a great pang of guilt for wanting to have him for dinner. In an act of true nobility, the Sea Squire gently coaxed his wounded opponent onto his snout and carried him back to the latter's father, apologizing for his conduct towards him and making a formal plea for survival. Krak'eann was naturally horrified that Occtulus would end up in such a state after the match, but he was also surprised and relieved that Khondryk had spared the life of his son and told him as much. The Sea Squire then confessed that because of his predatory and pelagic status, he had no home or family to speak of, and other monsters usually gave him the cold shoulder or else tried to kill him whenever he met them - but not Occtulus. This cephalopod was the original being who had originated the expression "Make love, not war" after all. So as a gesture of gratitude for returning his son to him rather than killing him outright, Krak'eann not only gave him a full pardon but also accepted him as part of the family and, not only that, he also helped Occtulus form his second alliance, this time with Khondryk. No wonder sharks and cephalopods alike have survived two mass extinctions, and remain principal clades in the world's oceans today.

As the Tournaments drew to a close, Khondryk was given the role as protector of the world's oceans and of the world's evolutionary arms race once Krak'eann had beaten his armored rival, and Occtulus and Carcinos were given responsibility of reproduction and adaptation, respectively, the two main aspects that kept going the forces of life and evolution that was Krak'eann's domain. For a while, harmony existed among the family. Under their caretaker's guidance, the shark, crab, and octopus formed a sort of team with the fish serving as the sweeper, the cephalopod serving as the strategist, and the crustacean serving as the defensive waller. Of course their different natures made their alliance that of rivals as much as friends, and that was reflected in the predator-prey relationships of their respective clades. Sharks, as the leaders, would develop a taste for both of the invertebrate groups. Crustaceans such as crabs would serve as defensive opponents and therefore fell under the role of the prey animal despite being able to take down either of the other two groups should they attain a suitable size. While cephalopods served as the link in the food chain between sharks and crustaceans, if they were big enough they could kill small sharks and if they were small enough they could serve as prey for big enough crustaceans. The groups served to balance each other, and took their respective places in the vast food web of the ocean while their monstrous representatives did the same.
But such harmony was not to last, for the Cretaceous period would yield many dangerous opponents. One of Krak'eann's other sons had been killed in the Paleozoic Tournament; his representatives, the Eurypterids, had died out eons ago. But the Trinity of Evolution remained strong, producing a variety of different forms. It was true that they were eclipsed by more dangerous sea monsters over the eons, but they held out in the middle rung of the food chain together, until the aforementioned eurypterid monster came. A temporal displacement from the phantom plane had let loose a mysterious essence of destruction, seeking a body to inhabit and wreak havoc with. The body of the eurypterid had already been fossilized, but the entity was staved off by all other monsters and had little choice. As stone turned to flesh and a mind long dead became a twisted, nightmarish abomination akin to some ancient virus, the beast rose from the depths and set off in search of things to destroy. Its enormous double-set of pincers and barb-encrusted tail had not been seen in millions of years, and the fauna of the Niobrara had no anticipation of what was to come. Mangled sub-kaiju bodies turned up by the hundreds, some partially eaten and others brutally dismembered, more than a few showing signs of having been partially corroded as well. The once-pristine blue water turned crimson, and for once, it did not throw the Sea Squire into a feeding frenzy the way it normally did, for to his alarm there was also the distinctively sour scent of acid. Requiring more evidence to support his suspicions, Khondryk went to fetch his companions and set out to find the mysterious killer.
There was nothing left in the sea, nothing in this area at least, for the sea scorpion to kill. But its body still hungered for the taste of blood in the water. It was ready to hit the surface and take on the fauna of the land when it saw two dark shapes, bigger than it had seen before, heading off into the distance. With a flash of murderous intent, it streaked headlong towards them, aiming for the softest target. Occtulus had barely picked up the incoming unknown when he felt a series of razor-sharp ridges close around his mantle. The distress signal sent Khondryk barreling straight towards his captive who desperately attempted to force his way through the chinks in the creature's armor and disable it from the inside, and as soon as the ironclad fish deduced what was happening he needed no further proof of his case and barreled in to deliver his trademark objection, ripping off one of the monster's pincers with one lightning-fast bite. It was the wrong pincer but the effect was the same; the scorpion relinquished its grip on the octopus and turned to retaliate. Occtulus took his chance and tried to latch onto the beast's face, but the tail came whipping forth to meet him and buried its tip under his tentacles, eroding his beak and radula. Acid screamed through his throat and, in his throes of agony and panic, he sprayed the monster full in the face with his slime attack. The creature screeched its disgust as it found its face smothered, but it had no need to breathe for it was merely a vessel of the entity inside. Unable to deduce its strategy and motivations, Occtulus felt panic for the first time in what seemed like a lifetime as the creature turned on him and proceeded to clip off all of his tentacles within a matter of minutes. The octopus tried to jet away in terror but the scorpion was having none of this and moved in to deliver the coup de grace, only to be bought up short when Khondryk's teeth closed down on its tail. Protected by his denticles, his resilient body kept the scorpion from killing his dying ally. The sea scorpion felt its tail ripped in half, and in its anger it dived straight to the bottom with the shark in his wake. Its destination was the deeper benthic zone where, with his harder and more armored body to withstand the crushing water pressure, it was the one who had the advantage.
However, it had not factored in the fact that there was a third member of the party who had fallen behind. That tardiness ultimately proved beneficial to the Trinity as Carcinos, who had to skitter across the sea floor, had not crossed into the abomination's radar until the two of them unexpectedly collided. Occtulus could only watch, sinking towards the deep as he went, while crab and eurypterid engaged in an ancient duel of legends that ultimately crippled both parties, and ended with the Niobrara being lit in a flash of white-hot light. Said flash was coupled with a similar explosion from many miles away. Occtulus now felt a much more primal fear, a fear for his family, and jetted away from the scene as fast as he could as Khondryk picked up the wounded Carcinos in his maw and sped off as well, the sea scorpion hot on their tailfins. They barely made it to the inter-dimensional rift their father had found and, as it closed behind them, the scorpion's pincer had come within a scale's breadth of it when the blast-front finally struck. With the world now full of corrupted beings like this monstrosity, Mana had set up a chain of events that was intended to wipe the slate clean, and already most of the surviving Terra Guards had taken cover in other planes of existence and would not emerge again for eons to come. Krak'eann and his family had found the Plane of Water, an unspoiled world entirely immersed in oceans with reefs, canyons, islands, and sea life everywhere in sight. Worlds like these were created to preserve life from all eras, past, present, and future. These same worlds could hold their protectors as well, and so it was here in the water plane that Krak'eann's charges finally set up a new residence and told their father the whole story. Familiar with the scorpion's intents, the Primal Overseer feared the worst once again and decreed that the three of them had to go their separate ways until they were ready to return to the surface. Khondryk would take to the bathyal zone from 700 to 2000 meters in depth to hunt for the family, Carcinos would roam the abyssal zone from 2000 to 6000 meters to forage, and Occtulus, who was the most at risk and the most grievously injured, would reside in the hadalpelagic zone below 6000 meters in depth until he recovered. So the evolution trinity was broken and the three of them conceded to part for each others' safety. It would not be until the rise of mankind that they would reunite, in the aftermath of the first Superwar, and spread the word of the coming storm to their fellow sea monsters, in the hope that all of them would soon band together to stave off the threat that was due to end them all.

Personality and Fighting Style:
This giant many-eyed octopus is not, as one might be led to believe, a ship-sinking demon of the sea, and despite common belief he will never molest innocent attractive females of any species to save his life. He is bookish, soft-spoken, and rather geeky most of the time, though rather flirtatious. Other monsters tease him mercilessly as they have done since his youthful days, attempting to deflate his morale with sarcastic comments about how he will smother his tentacles upon them any time now, or else bat him around, often literally, because of his small size and lack of combat-oriented physique in any decent capacity. Despite being mocked as a loser all around, however, Occtulus has one thing going for him and that is the fact that he is proud to be who he is. Even though he isn't very strong physically, emotionally he is a loyal and valuable asset to the Sea Monsters, since his intellect can be used to sort out difficult situations and reconcile with those who disagree with them. Nonetheless, he still has the mindset of a socially awkward teenager, and often has difficulty interacting with other monsters because of the way they scoff him. Occtulus always looks to his father, Krak'eann, for guidance and protection, even preferring to inhabit the Primal Overseer's basement aka the benthic regions of the world's oceans over the hustle of the surface world.
Nonetheless, he does have a following, sentients (mostly adolescent females) who believe that his preference for peace and quiet is the proper way of living. They love him, in every sense of the word, and he loves them too because as long as there is someone in the world who does not hate him, that is what matters to him. Even from the bottom of the ocean, his telepathy can stretch out to the surface and communicate with his allies and followers from great distances; he encourages monsters and sentients alike to at least treat his cult with respect because they will never willingly wish harm on anyone else, and he cares for those he loves, even in the platonic sense. In fact, his major weakness is that he wants to love and to be loved back. He will take any offers that aren't invitations for an emotional/physical beating: even if he is asked to produce offspring with the offeror, he will comply, and in fact such trysts are a few of the reasons that tentacled sentients such as cecaelias exist in the first place, particularly among his cult. There is no rape, no molestation, because his lovers are willing to partake in his gifts in exchange for his protection. The downside of this is that this so-called "Seeing-Eye Cult" is subject to ridicule and trolling all around, as the rest of the world is more competitive and pacifism doesn't exactly get very far in a post-apocalyptic warzone. Nonetheless, considering how surprisingly effective in battle Occtulus is, neither he nor his cult are to be underestimated too much...
Occtulus prefers to avoid conflict whenever possible. But if push comes to shove, the Benthic Eyes packs a surprising secret and that is surprise itself. Most kaiju do not expect such a small, delicate-looking thing to beat them in battle, but his lack of armor allows him more manuverability particularly in enclosed spaces. Other monsters come expecting to beat this creature but, with cunning and elasticity by his side, they have difficulty preparing for the way he can stretch and shape himself to deflect and counter blows or the way he can attack from a distance with his ink and water jets. Nonetheless, he abhors close combat and will avoid it at any costs, because his soft body can be dismembered at a moment's notice and his small size and average build means larger and more powerful monsters can manhandle him fairly easily.

Combat Information:
Battle Stats:
Health: 85
Mana: 90
Attack: 75
Defense: 48
Speed: 80
Agility: 92
TOTAL AVERAGE: 78.33

Moveset:
Melee - Combat Tentacles: As can be expected for an octopus, Occtulus's main weapons are his eight sucker-lined arms which are used to bash, grip, and fling. These tentacles are normally used to haul the octopus along the sea floor, but they also make excellent weapons in close combat. Like most octopi, they are controlled automatically by their own personal neural networks and are highly elastic, which is one of the reasons other kaiju fear and loathe being ensnared. These tentacles are more than capable of instantly wrapping around and constricting an opponent, drawing it in close enough for him to deliver his Toxic Barbs (see below).
----------Whip It Good (Strike 1): Given the elasticity of his arms, it's only natural that Occtulus will use them to smack, ram, and pound things with. They are surprisingly powerful, comprised of many layers of muscle as well as nerves and mana channels, and with no bones they can stretch to several times their compressed length like springs to sucker-punch and/or bitch-slap an opponent from a distance.
----------Suction Cups (Strike 2): The main arms are covered on the undersides in both suckers and small strands, called cirri, but only the double-rows of suckers are used in physical combat. These are far, FAR stronger than they look, all but impossible to pry off once they're attached, even when the tentacles are removed from the body. Barring the arms being torn or sliced off (he can regenerate them with enough resources), these can suction off entire stretches of skin and even armor, never mind the understandable horror should they find their way into any available orifice and wreak havoc on the flesh inside.
----------Barrier Ram (Charge): That soft mantle can't do very much where bashing is concerned. However, it does have a secret weapon - the Mana Gland inside supports an entire network of channels and ganglions that wraps around the innards like a fishing net. All of these can work together and in parallel to project a flexible but impenetrable force field over the skin for brief periods, indicated by the bright blush-sticker-pink rings that appear all over his body. The mantle can then shape itself into either a rounded bludgeon or a pointed pike, and then jet headlong into an opponent using the force field for reinforcement and protection.
----------Spin-Smother (Jump-Strike): The tentacles are connected by webbing that retracts when he needs to use them individually. When he jumps or is flung, he extends the webbing and spins like a propeller to slow his descent. This is not only convenient for turning him into a spinning disc of thrashing arms, but is also useful to cover opponents' faces, preventing them from breathing through the damp, slimy skin.
----------Constrict (Combo 1): Aside from Occtulus's eight main tentacles, he has 24 inner tentacles, without suckers but still prehensile, in three rings of eight surrounding his beakless mouth, primarily used for probing the seabed in search of food. When he ensnares his opponent, all 32 tentacles will wrap around the body and limbs, preventing the opponent from fighting them off as they proceed to encroach on inappropriate places.
----------Psy-Pummel/Psy-Cutter (Combo 2): Each of the main tentacles has an advanced ganglion of its own, containing the secondary mana gland. This can project a force field of its own, either a blunt club or a sharp-edged blade. Combined with Whip It Good above, this can make a formidable slashing and/or bashing weapon, and is likely to damage a foe coming in from any direction especially if multiple Psy-Pummels/Cutters are active at once.
----------Toxic Barbs (Combo 3): Dumbo octopi have weak beaks and no radula, and swallow their prey whole. Occtulus has traded up in that he lacks a beak altogether, but retains the radula, but more like cone snails than octopi, it is specialized for battle rather than feeding. Each chitinous fang is greatly enlarged, hollow, and barbed, embedded in his throat sac; it is attached to a proboscis that guides it towards its target and a poison gland to paralyze the victim. This is the weapon he uses to hunt and also to defend himself - the venom is a neurotoxic aphrodisiac that kills most sub-kaiju almost instantly, sends Lightweight to Middle-Lightweight kaiju into a paralyzed state that may last several days at least, and causes Middle-Heavyweight to Heavyweight kaiju to experience a strange fuzzy feeling similar to infatuation that slows down the reflexes and ruins coordination. Indeed, some monsters are addicted or simply flat-out insane enough to goad him into dosing them repeatedly, and heavily diluted samples (random drops) are still used in love potions today.
Ranged - Hydro Pump: Molluscs inhale/exhale through a siphon to draw water into the mantle cavity, over the gills, and back out the way it came. Octopi and squid use this same siphon to propel themselves quickly through open stretches of water and, as a cephalopod, Occtulus does the same. The most unexpected use of the siphon, however, is as a weapon - his gill chamber is capable of storing the processed water in a highly pressurized state to be ejected when the need arises, resulting in a lethally concussive, flesh-ripping blast that can best be described as a water jet cutter the size of a bus. Using the psionic field he generates when out of the water, he can replenish the ammo used by hydrokinetically drawing water molecules from the air through inhalation, and when preparing for battle he has a habit of "drinking" from the nearest body of water, ballooning up to three times his normal size to psyche up. However, this weapon works best underwater with an infinite supply of "ammo" and an expandable body to contain it. One might think that the siphon being in the back of the head will be disadvantageous where this technique is concerned but, given his elastic nature, he is more than capable of swiveling it in any direction he pleases before firing with pinpoint accuracy from either side of his body.
Short-Range Special - Whirlpool: This technique only works in water, and only when he has enough space to pull it off. Basically, those cirri mentioned under Suction Cups? This is where they come in handy, for they enable basal hydrokinesis and are primarily used to create currents of water to funnel prey into his maw. Floating just beneath the surface with the mantle pointed down, Occtulus opens up his tentacles and begins twirling rapidly, using the cirri to guide the currents into a vortex pointing straight towards his inner tentacles and of course, the dreaded Toxic Barbs. With the telekinetic field activated, this move pulls in other kaiju, friend or foe, at a rate proportional to their body weight and the buoyancy of the environment. Heavyweight and above monsters view it as an annoyance, Middleweight kaiju steer clear of it as much as possible, and Lightweight kaiju often shit themselves soiled, especially if they don't have a way to anchor themselves securely to the nearest immovable object - never mind sub-kaiju and sentients fleeing in terror at the mere discussion of this technique. Provided you're big enough to take him on safely, there are only two safe ways to intercept this attack: the first is to ride the whirlpool and aim your best ranged attack at the center to disarm the barbs, cirri, or both, or to take the proactive approach and dive to the bottom, preferably anchoring yourself if possible, and aim for the mantle, preferably before he starts spinning.
Long-Range Special - Gunk Shot: Like regular dumbo octopi, Occtulus lacks an ink sac. Instead, glands surrounding each of his eyes secrete a special type of mucus similar to that found in hagfish, and its microfibrous consistency traps water droplets and creates a fast-spreading, slow-dissipating viscoelastic slime, which covers the affected area in a suffocating fog underwater and smothers and clogs the orifices of the opponent above water. A series of special muscles around the eyes pressurizes it to the point that the gunk is ejected at over 200 mph. It's not as accurate as the Hydro Pump, but it has a much wider range, and as it's fired from his eyes, virtually anything he looks at is automatically in its targeting crosshairs.

Powers/Abilities:
Awesomeness by Analysis: As mentioned under Barrier Ram and Psy-Pummel/Cutter, the mana gland, ganglions, and nervous system prove useful in offense and defense alike. They also serve to boost his intelligence, and he plays it up appropriately because his soft body is not good for sustained combat. When not using the barrier, these project a weak psionic field that detects the brainwaves produced by opponents, allowing him to read them even in the heat of battle and communicate with their owners telepathically. Thus, not only can he detect the holes in the enemy's strategies and break out the appropriate countermeasures, but he can also tune into their entire nervous system, deducing their abilities and predicting their next moves before they are even used. The ganglions that grant him this ability work in parallel so if one is damaged, the field remains active, though with more ganglions disabled its power decreases accordingly.
Barrier Warrior: When active, the ganglion network projects a barely distinguishable but effective psionic barrier to dissuade attack, seal in atmospheric moisture, and even hover above the ground. Normally kept close to him, he can extend it outward to shield others, and extends it outward naturally outside of the water to keep himself hydrated. It's also useful for offense; see Barrier Ram above.
Rubber Cephalopod: Without bones or armor, Occtulus trades up defense for agility. His flabby-looking body is comprised mostly of highly elastic muscle, allowing him to change shape at will. Curling into a bouncy ball, flattening himself onto walls or floors, stretching his tentacles to attack from a distance, gliding like a parachute, squeezing through cracks as narrow as a human hand and, of course, inflating like an animated water balloon are all plausible where he is concerned. Because of his elastic properties, blunt-force attacks can be deflected to some degree by absorbing the momentum and snapping it back, with interest.
Miracle Eye: Those giant, adorable, anime-esque puppy-dog eyes are not just for show. The ridiculously large retinas and foveas are sensitive to all forms of radiation, and he uses them to see even in the total darkness of the deep sea. In normal conditions, Occtulus can distinguish the polarization of light and see wavelengths from infared to ultraviolet, allowing him to pick out even concealed or invisible opponents. Virtually all of his eyes are mounted on turrets of flesh and an autonomic response keeps them oriented so that the pupil slit is always horizontal; their positioning gives him a combination of stereoscopic and panoramic vision, and as a bonus he can turn any of the turrets like periscopes to peer above cover or behind the back of his head.

Weaknesses:
Squishy Wizard: Considering his extensive repertoire of abilities and attacks, Occtulus has been asked whether he is compensating for the fact that he is basically a delicate blob of muscles, nerves, innards, and mana channels, with no armor to save his life, and the general response is that such a statement is something he very much agrees with. When the force field is not active, edged/pointed weapons and energy attacks can and will rip him apart without much effort. He does have a very powerful healing factor to help him, but his inability to take attacks means that a few blows to the mantle with something sharp will waste it very quickly.
Go For The Eye: His large eyes are both an advantage and a disadvantage. Their large size makes them vulnerable to attacks of many kinds, and it does not help that they cannot blink. Disabling his eyes is a good way to end a fight pretty fast, because he primarily relies on his vision to guide him and finds that he cannot coordinate his attacks effectively if that sense is disabled.
Small-Bodied: Normally an asset, Occtulus's small size relative to other monsters has the unfortunate side effect of making him easy to pick on and even easier to beat up. He does inflate before battle as a bluff and has a practical use for it (see Hydro Pump above), but most enemies aren't fooled because most of the extra size is water that is often wrung or spilled out easily.
Brain-Dead: While the ganglions on both the mantle and tentacles can regenerate if damaged, if the main mana gland and/or brain is damaged then the psionic mechanism will not work. Enemies that realize this can save time that would normally be wasted trying to pick off all the ganglions, allowing them to finish fights with him more quickly.
Stealth-Mode Fail: Because he lives in the deep sea, Occtulus has no need for camouflage to avoid enemies because the darkness covers him effectively. However, in daylight conditions he cannot change color like other octopi can, and the best he can do is flash his blush-rings. His pale coloration also makes him difficult to hide, and his huge, reflective eyes do not help much either (see Go For The Eye). The best he can do when he doesn't wish to confront the enemy is to try his best to hide in the nearest crevice and hope he isn't seen until whatever is threatening him goes away.

Theme Song: Nana Mizuki - Wild Eyes

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I know I said I'm in my work period, but I never said I'm not posting artwork at that time (though full bios are unlikely, the one above was pre-written before the work period). Anyway, the design for Occtulus I finished a while ago is the one I'll be using for KK, with the bio modified to suit this design better. Granted, I like the previous one very much, but I plan to save that one for a more adult-oriented project, lest I come up with such a thing after the work period is over. Besides, KK is intended for a generic audience of teens/young adults, and I suppose anything even remotely erotic would likely have to be hard pressed to make it past the moral radar somehow.

Description
OCCTULUS
The Benthic Eyes

Stats:
Height: 30 meters from tentacle base to mantle top
Length: 50 meters from mantle tip to tentacle tips
Mass: 5,000 metric tons
Type: Water/Mind
Diet: Carnivore
Rank: Lightweight
Faction: World Defenders, Kaiju Klash (Blue team)
Mana Glands:
----------Primary: Fused with brain, wraps around esophagus
----------Secondary: One within eye on each of the main tentacles
Heal Rate: Extreme
Team: Sea Monsters
Alignment: Lawful Good
Partner: -TBA-

Bio:
History:
The Terra Guard Tournaments: The final word in monster combat, these were the ancient matches that decided the overlords and heralds of the various aspects of life and the living and nonliving things on this planet. Of all of these, few have inspired more mystery and speculation than the ones that graced the Paleozoic, the era of creatures totally unlike anything known to man. Of the victors of the Paleozoic trials, only a scant few have survived to recount their journey. The most famous of course were Krak'eann and his children, for theirs was not just a story of ecological warfare, but also one of love, care, and devotion, the story of a family hell-bent on survival regardless of the toll.
Love is a subtrope of the most important distinction between what lives and what does not: reproduction. That role was assigned to one of the few Paleozoic kaiju whose form can still be recognized today, the great tentacled beast known as Occtulus, the Benthic Eyes. At the time, most of Krak'eann's hard-shelled offspring, born from the Cambrian Explosion, were armed to the teeth for battle, bestowed with such weapons as pincers, stinger tails, limbs tipped with razor-sharp blades, and so on. Like them, Occtulus was born with a hard shell, but one that was coiled, curved, and segmented like a prehistoric ammonite. Fossils of creatures that imitated this appearance are known from rocks up to the end of the Cretaceous. But Occtulus was not adapted for physical combat, not in the claw-to-claw sense of his siblings. Alone among Krak'eann's children, this kaiju had inherited his father's tentacles, fleshy extensions of his body lined with suction cups that gave him an adaptible, flexible, and precise grip. But adaptibility came at the price of physical power and, indeed, ammonites were even more reknowned as prey than as predators back in the Paleozoic era. His own siblings considered him as the runt of the family - even Carcinos, who cowered in his shell at the slightest noise despite having claws that could crush boulders, recieved better treatment than Occtulus did in his early years. It did not help that this octopus did not even want to fight regardless of the situation - all he wanted was to raise a family of his own, to prepare for the future. He believed that the key to success was not to win every fight, but to survive long enough to produce offspring, the goal of every organism that existed before or since. So regardless of the fact that weaker monsters wanted little to do with him, equal monsters ignored him, and stronger monsters generally treated him like shit, he was all and all content to go his own way and keep to himself. As far as he knew, the important part was that his father approved of him even if he was the only one who did, regardless of what he wanted out of life.
As word of the Tournaments began to spread, and as the family prepared for battle, Occtulus for the first time felt reluctance. He had never asked to fight against other monsters, and furthermore, he certainly did not take kindly to being used against his will. But Krak'eann saw the battles as a neccessity, for a position among the Terra Guards, as high as theoretically possible, would give the family the best chance of survival. It came as a shock that Occtulus's first match was against one of his own brothers, specifically the great decapod known as Carcinos, but in hindsight, it made sense. The Primal Overseer had sired a prodigious brood in the Cambrian which took up most of the kaiju population at the time, and a large family meant that his genes had a better chance of making it to adulthood regardless of how many of his children died out. The scandalous truth was that at the time he cared little for the fact that his offspring would soon be dying like the animals they were, which left a feeling of betrayal in his only tentacled son. Occtulus was quick to call his father out on the fact that the latter was basically abandoning his family to their potential deaths the way so many other species did. Wouldn't devotion and emotional support to those who proved themselves the strongest at the very least be beneficial to the family as a whole? After weighing the options, Krak'eann decided not to disappoint any of his children, and took Occtulus's opinion into account by agreeing to fight for the family's name as much as his own. However, he did point out that he had little tolerance for "impurity of spirit" with regards to his children and that they would be penalized appropriately if they tried anything underhanded. Occtulus and Carcinos both promised to fight fair; even though Carcinos was painfully shy, he swore he would do his best to make his father proud, and Occtulus likewise agreed not to take unfair advantage of his crustacean sibling's personal weaknesses. With their father in the stands along with the rest of the audience, the Benthic Eyes and the Claws of Creation took their positions in the middle of a vast coral reef, and were given the green light to battle.
Though both of them did not want to fight, they saw no other choice; Carcinos was the first to strike, lashing out with his enormous crushing pincer, bashing a good-sized hole into Occtulus's curved shell when he tried to retreat inside. The great cephalopod knew full well that despite Carcinos's great reluctance to do battle, if he were so inclined those pincers of his could clip off all of his tentacles with ease and quite possibly with a single snip. The great crab was unsure of why his brother did not react to his advances, and continued his beating without realizing exactly what he was about to provoke. Occtulus apparently had only the ability to spray powerful jets of water from his siphon to save himself, and he desperately tried to formulate a strategy concerning how to fend off the crab's claws, overcome attack and defense alike, and flip him over so that victory laid squarely in his tentacles with this attack alone. That was when, without warning, Carcinos was suddenly flung backwards as though an invisible bubble were expanding in front of him, pushing him back. Occtulus's brain had kicked into overdrive and, to his pleasant surprise, activated both his mana gland and a whole series of ganglions throughout his body, producing a psionic field that could be used for both offensive and defensive means. This allowed him to take the battle to his brother, projecting force fields onto his extendable tentacles to deliver punches and blows on par with the crab's own. Carcinos did manage to clip off two of his brother's tentacles, bringing him up short, but the fight overall swung in Occtulus's favor as he experimented with his offensive capabilities such as psionic bursts, ink spray, water jets, and of course, lots and lots of tentacles penetrating inappropriate places. Carcinos meanwhile found himself being pushed further and further towards his own limits, but he couldn't cower because it made him look weak, which was not favorable. His desperate attempts to fend off Occtulus led to him losing five of his legs and being flipped over. The crab lay there helpless as Occtulus moved in for the kill, clicking his claws in a panic... and sending a jolt through his opponent that caused the poor cephalopod to go stiff-tentacled and tingly for just long enough for the crab to make a return blow with a massive electromagnetic pulse that obliterated his brother's ammonite shell while the crab flipped himself back upright. Carcinos was startled to say the least at the revelation that his crusher claw held an electric organ inside, which could potentially cause powerful cavitation/discharge pulses if used right. Thus both crab and octopus were now on equal grounds and the final stretch of the match was dedicated to the two of them unleashing everything they could on each other. Ultimately, it was Occtulus's psionic abilities that gave him the victory despite him being physically weaker. Carcinos's electromagnetic field proved useful for deflecting physical projectiles, but magical and mental attacks were a different matter and with one last push, the Benthic Eyes finally managed to flip the Claws of Creation onto his back and prepared to drive his sharp beak into the crab's belly. The match was called, and Occtulus was declared the winner though by a fairly slim margin as Carcinos had put up his first good and fair fight as well and therefore was not required to be put down. Relieved that they could both live, Occtulus flipped Carcinos back right side up and gave him an affectionate pat on the head with one of his remaining tentacles, at the same time admitting, with not a trace of self-righteous flattery, that he liked and in fact admired the crab's dedication to staying alive regardless of the odds against him. Having been ignored and mocked by his brothers and sisters throughout his life for being "that pathetic little Wimp Shrimp", Carcinos was so touched by the first genuine compliment he had ever recieved that right then and there, he forged with his sibling one of the earliest and longest-lasting kaiju alliances known. Needless to say, Krak'eann was proud of both of them, and told them as much, but also reminded them that this would only be the beginning of their troubles, for newer and deadlier opponents awaited them. Both of them stated that they would be happy to make it out alive regardless of whether they won or lost, as long as the family remained intact. The Primal Overseer expressed his happiness that his two children knew the true values of living, and on that note he headed off into the open sea to face his own first opponent.
With his family's guidance and his own expanding potential, the Benthic Eyes, already eager to have this tournament over with, continued his forced journey facing newer and more powerful foes each time. As the most intelligent of the invertebrates even back then, his weapon was his brain, not just in terms of psionics but strategy as well. The loss of his shell gave him greater agility but also forced him to think in new ways to avoid being outright nommed, one of the most notable being the ability to read the psionic patterns of his foes, allowing him to ascertain to some degree the powers and abilities they had, and formulate a counterstrategy accordingly. But cunning and common sense could only get him so far; sooner or later, there would come someone who would overpower him through preparation, anticipation, and sheer badassery. That someone's razor-sharp dorsal fin split the ocean surface in twain as he coasted towards the quarter-finals, and Khondryk was not about to take rumors and legends lying down. What he needed was a chance to prove himself, and indeed his sleek, predatory build was basically in vogue as the jawed fish evolved. Fish were idolized throughout the Devonian seas for their streamlined, revolutionary design, but while sharks were capable and prolific predators, a whole host of bigger and nastier aquatic predators made progress difficult for them. It would not be until after the KT extinction event that sharks would finally get to fill the gaps left behind by these same predators and become one of the most varied and infamous oceanic vertebrate clades, but for now, they had to stick to the middle-tier of the food chain, which would have been good enough for the Sea Squire if the larger predatory placoderms weren't so damn snobbish and pompous. Fortunately for Khondryk, or so he thought, his quarter-finals match was against not one of those plate-skinned bullies, but what he assumed was a delicious little meat-sack of a cephalopod who was rumored to be a strategist and a lover rather than a fighter. The satisfaction of the percieved outcome and the victory feast that came with it would have made his mouth water if that were biologically possible. Occtulus, meanwhile, was afraid for the first time since he'd been signed up for the tournament, not of losing but of the possibility that he might not survive. Carcinos could do nothing to help him because he himself was terrified of sharks, having nearly lost his crusher claw to the very same shark kaiju whom Occtulus was pitted against. Krak'eann likewise stated that Occtulus was on his own this time, because despite fearing the worst, he knew full well that he couldn't do anything to protect his son without compromising the match.
Thus, as Khondryk arrived at the saltwater bay where the match was to take place, he was certain that he had a solid victory clenched between his jagged teeth. That certainty dwindled, however, when Occtulus discovered near the start of the match that without the constraints of a hard shell, his soft, squishy body offered far more manuverability than the shark's in shallow waters and tight spaces like the bay provided. Since he couldn't cut in close to Khondryk without being violently dismembered, the octopus's best survival strategy was to make himself scarce and attack from a distance. Jets of water and slime from who knows where, aimed at the gills to hamper breathing, pummeled the Sea Squire as he tried to flush out his foe. However, with the limited space the two of them had, Occtulus was essentially cornered and sure enough, the Sea Squire finally managed to poke his rough-skinned face in right where it counted. The response was a faceful of flailing tentacles/eye stalks as the octopus finally relented to the primal instinct of panic and proceeded to rain cephalopod-style hell and tentacle rape all over the shark's sensitive snout. Thrashing and snapping violently, Khondryk managed to take off five of Occtulus's arms and gobble them down before twisting himself free and slashing with his blade-like dorsal fin at the octopus's mantle, cleaving it open and leaving the dazed and wounded tentacle monster to drift to the sea floor. The match was handed to the Sea Squire, as he had already known, but the fight had been closer than he had expected and it had also in effect helped him realize that it had been closer than he thought. Additionally, the octopus's innocence intelligence, which had helped him greatly in battle, appealed to him more than he'd realized, and thus he felt a great pang of guilt for wanting to have him for dinner. In an act of true nobility, the Sea Squire gently coaxed his wounded opponent onto his snout and carried him back to the latter's father, apologizing for his conduct towards him and making a formal plea for survival. Krak'eann was naturally horrified that Occtulus would end up in such a state after the match, but he was also surprised and relieved that Khondryk had spared the life of his son and told him as much. The Sea Squire then confessed that because of his predatory and pelagic status, he had no home or family to speak of, and other monsters usually gave him the cold shoulder or else tried to kill him whenever he met them - but not Occtulus. This cephalopod was the original being who had originated the expression "Make love, not war" after all. So as a gesture of gratitude for returning his son to him rather than killing him outright, Krak'eann not only gave him a full pardon but also accepted him as part of the family and, not only that, he also helped Occtulus form his second alliance, this time with Khondryk. No wonder sharks and cephalopods alike have survived two mass extinctions, and remain principal clades in the world's oceans today.

As the Tournaments drew to a close, Khondryk was given the role as protector of the world's oceans and of the world's evolutionary arms race once Krak'eann had beaten his armored rival, and Occtulus and Carcinos were given responsibility of reproduction and adaptation, respectively, the two main aspects that kept going the forces of life and evolution that was Krak'eann's domain. For a while, harmony existed among the family. Under their caretaker's guidance, the shark, crab, and octopus formed a sort of team with the fish serving as the sweeper, the cephalopod serving as the strategist, and the crustacean serving as the defensive waller. Of course their different natures made their alliance that of rivals as much as friends, and that was reflected in the predator-prey relationships of their respective clades. Sharks, as the leaders, would develop a taste for both of the invertebrate groups. Crustaceans such as crabs would serve as defensive opponents and therefore fell under the role of the prey animal despite being able to take down either of the other two groups should they attain a suitable size. While cephalopods served as the link in the food chain between sharks and crustaceans, if they were big enough they could kill small sharks and if they were small enough they could serve as prey for big enough crustaceans. The groups served to balance each other, and took their respective places in the vast food web of the ocean while their monstrous representatives did the same.
But such harmony was not to last, for the Cretaceous period would yield many dangerous opponents. One of Krak'eann's other sons had been killed in the Paleozoic Tournament; his representatives, the Eurypterids, had died out eons ago. But the Trinity of Evolution remained strong, producing a variety of different forms. It was true that they were eclipsed by more dangerous sea monsters over the eons, but they held out in the middle rung of the food chain together, until the aforementioned eurypterid monster came. A temporal displacement from the phantom plane had let loose a mysterious essence of destruction, seeking a body to inhabit and wreak havoc with. The body of the eurypterid had already been fossilized, but the entity was staved off by all other monsters and had little choice. As stone turned to flesh and a mind long dead became a twisted, nightmarish abomination akin to some ancient virus, the beast rose from the depths and set off in search of things to destroy. Its enormous double-set of pincers and barb-encrusted tail had not been seen in millions of years, and the fauna of the Niobrara had no anticipation of what was to come. Mangled sub-kaiju bodies turned up by the hundreds, some partially eaten and others brutally dismembered, more than a few showing signs of having been partially corroded as well. The once-pristine blue water turned crimson, and for once, it did not throw the Sea Squire into a feeding frenzy the way it normally did, for to his alarm there was also the distinctively sour scent of acid. Requiring more evidence to support his suspicions, Khondryk went to fetch his companions and set out to find the mysterious killer.
There was nothing left in the sea, nothing in this area at least, for the sea scorpion to kill. But its body still hungered for the taste of blood in the water. It was ready to hit the surface and take on the fauna of the land when it saw two dark shapes, bigger than it had seen before, heading off into the distance. With a flash of murderous intent, it streaked headlong towards them, aiming for the softest target. Occtulus had barely picked up the incoming unknown when he felt a series of razor-sharp ridges close around his mantle. The distress signal sent Khondryk barreling straight towards his captive who desperately attempted to force his way through the chinks in the creature's armor and disable it from the inside, and as soon as the ironclad fish deduced what was happening he needed no further proof of his case and barreled in to deliver his trademark objection, ripping off one of the monster's pincers with one lightning-fast bite. It was the wrong pincer but the effect was the same; the scorpion relinquished its grip on the octopus and turned to retaliate. Occtulus took his chance and tried to latch onto the beast's face, but the tail came whipping forth to meet him and buried its tip under his tentacles, eroding his beak and radula. Acid screamed through his throat and, in his throes of agony and panic, he sprayed the monster full in the face with his slime attack. The creature screeched its disgust as it found its face smothered, but it had no need to breathe for it was merely a vessel of the entity inside. Unable to deduce its strategy and motivations, Occtulus felt panic for the first time in what seemed like a lifetime as the creature turned on him and proceeded to clip off all of his tentacles within a matter of minutes. The octopus tried to jet away in terror but the scorpion was having none of this and moved in to deliver the coup de grace, only to be bought up short when Khondryk's teeth closed down on its tail. Protected by his denticles, his resilient body kept the scorpion from killing his dying ally. The sea scorpion felt its tail ripped in half, and in its anger it dived straight to the bottom with the shark in his wake. Its destination was the deeper benthic zone where, with his harder and more armored body to withstand the crushing water pressure, it was the one who had the advantage.
However, it had not factored in the fact that there was a third member of the party who had fallen behind. That tardiness ultimately proved beneficial to the Trinity as Carcinos, who had to skitter across the sea floor, had not crossed into the abomination's radar until the two of them unexpectedly collided. Occtulus could only watch, sinking towards the deep as he went, while crab and eurypterid engaged in an ancient duel of legends that ultimately crippled both parties, and ended with the Niobrara being lit in a flash of white-hot light. Said flash was coupled with a similar explosion from many miles away. Occtulus now felt a much more primal fear, a fear for his family, and jetted away from the scene as fast as he could as Khondryk picked up the wounded Carcinos in his maw and sped off as well, the sea scorpion hot on their tailfins. They barely made it to the inter-dimensional rift their father had found and, as it closed behind them, the scorpion's pincer had come within a scale's breadth of it when the blast-front finally struck. With the world now full of corrupted beings like this monstrosity, Mana had set up a chain of events that was intended to wipe the slate clean, and already most of the surviving Terra Guards had taken cover in other planes of existence and would not emerge again for eons to come. Krak'eann and his family had found the Plane of Water, an unspoiled world entirely immersed in oceans with reefs, canyons, islands, and sea life everywhere in sight. Worlds like these were created to preserve life from all eras, past, present, and future. These same worlds could hold their protectors as well, and so it was here in the water plane that Krak'eann's charges finally set up a new residence and told their father the whole story. Familiar with the scorpion's intents, the Primal Overseer feared the worst once again and decreed that the three of them had to go their separate ways until they were ready to return to the surface. Khondryk would take to the bathyal zone from 700 to 2000 meters in depth to hunt for the family, Carcinos would roam the abyssal zone from 2000 to 6000 meters to forage, and Occtulus, who was the most at risk and the most grievously injured, would reside in the hadalpelagic zone below 6000 meters in depth until he recovered. So the evolution trinity was broken and the three of them conceded to part for each others' safety. It would not be until the rise of mankind that they would reunite, in the aftermath of the first Superwar, and spread the word of the coming storm to their fellow sea monsters, in the hope that all of them would soon band together to stave off the threat that was due to end them all.

Personality and Fighting Style:
This giant many-eyed octopus is not, as one might be led to believe, a ship-sinking demon of the sea, and despite common belief he will never molest innocent attractive females of any species to save his life. He is bookish, soft-spoken, and rather geeky most of the time, though rather flirtatious. Other monsters tease him mercilessly as they have done since his youthful days, attempting to deflate his morale with sarcastic comments about how he will smother his tentacles upon them any time now, or else bat him around, often literally, because of his small size and lack of combat-oriented physique in any decent capacity. Despite being mocked as a loser all around, however, Occtulus has one thing going for him and that is the fact that he is proud to be who he is. Even though he isn't very strong physically, emotionally he is a loyal and valuable asset to the Sea Monsters, since his intellect can be used to sort out difficult situations and reconcile with those who disagree with them. Nonetheless, he still has the mindset of a socially awkward teenager, and often has difficulty interacting with other monsters because of the way they scoff him. Occtulus always looks to his father, Krak'eann, for guidance and protection, even preferring to inhabit the Primal Overseer's basement aka the benthic regions of the world's oceans over the hustle of the surface world.
Nonetheless, he does have a following, sentients (mostly adolescent females) who believe that his preference for peace and quiet is the proper way of living. They love him, in every sense of the word, and he loves them too because as long as there is someone in the world who does not hate him, that is what matters to him. Even from the bottom of the ocean, his telepathy can stretch out to the surface and communicate with his allies and followers from great distances; he encourages monsters and sentients alike to at least treat his cult with respect because they will never willingly wish harm on anyone else, and he cares for those he loves, even in the platonic sense. In fact, his major weakness is that he wants to love and to be loved back. He will take any offers that aren't invitations for an emotional/physical beating: even if he is asked to produce offspring with the offeror, he will comply, and in fact such trysts are a few of the reasons that tentacled sentients such as cecaelias exist in the first place, particularly among his cult. There is no rape, no molestation, because his lovers are willing to partake in his gifts in exchange for his protection. The downside of this is that this so-called "Seeing-Eye Cult" is subject to ridicule and trolling all around, as the rest of the world is more competitive and pacifism doesn't exactly get very far in a post-apocalyptic warzone. Nonetheless, considering how surprisingly effective in battle Occtulus is, neither he nor his cult are to be underestimated too much...
Occtulus prefers to avoid conflict whenever possible. But if push comes to shove, the Benthic Eyes packs a surprising secret and that is surprise itself. Most kaiju do not expect such a small, delicate-looking thing to beat them in battle, but his lack of armor allows him more manuverability particularly in enclosed spaces. Other monsters come expecting to beat this creature but, with cunning and elasticity by his side, they have difficulty preparing for the way he can stretch and shape himself to deflect and counter blows or the way he can attack from a distance with his ink and water jets. Nonetheless, he abhors close combat and will avoid it at any costs, because his soft body can be dismembered at a moment's notice and his small size and average build means larger and more powerful monsters can manhandle him fairly easily.

Combat Information:
Battle Stats:
Health: 85
Mana: 90
Attack: 75
Defense: 48
Speed: 80
Agility: 92
TOTAL AVERAGE: 78.33

Moveset:
Melee - Combat Tentacles: As can be expected for an octopus, Occtulus's main weapons are his eight sucker-lined arms which are used to bash, grip, and fling. These tentacles are normally used to haul the octopus along the sea floor, but they also make excellent weapons in close combat. Like most octopi, they are controlled automatically by their own personal neural networks and are highly elastic, which is one of the reasons other kaiju fear and loathe being ensnared. These tentacles are more than capable of instantly wrapping around and constricting an opponent, drawing it in close enough for him to deliver his Toxic Barbs (see below).
----------Whip It Good (Strike 1): Given the elasticity of his arms, it's only natural that Occtulus will use them to smack, ram, and pound things with. They are surprisingly powerful, comprised of many layers of muscle as well as nerves and mana channels, and with no bones they can stretch to several times their compressed length like springs to sucker-punch and/or bitch-slap an opponent from a distance.
----------Suction Cups (Strike 2): The main arms are covered on the undersides in both suckers and small strands, called cirri, but only the double-rows of suckers are used in physical combat. These are far, FAR stronger than they look, all but impossible to pry off once they're attached, even when the tentacles are removed from the body. Barring the arms being torn or sliced off (he can regenerate them with enough resources), these can suction off entire stretches of skin and even armor, never mind the understandable horror should they find their way into any available orifice and wreak havoc on the flesh inside.
----------Barrier Ram (Charge): That soft mantle can't do very much where bashing is concerned. However, it does have a secret weapon - the Mana Gland inside supports an entire network of channels and ganglions that wraps around the innards like a fishing net. All of these can work together and in parallel to project a flexible but impenetrable force field over the skin for brief periods, indicated by the bright blush-sticker-pink rings that appear all over his body. The mantle can then shape itself into either a rounded bludgeon or a pointed pike, and then jet headlong into an opponent using the force field for reinforcement and protection.
----------Spin-Smother (Jump-Strike): The tentacles are connected by webbing that retracts when he needs to use them individually. When he jumps or is flung, he extends the webbing and spins like a propeller to slow his descent. This is not only convenient for turning him into a spinning disc of thrashing arms, but is also useful to cover opponents' faces, preventing them from breathing through the damp, slimy skin.
----------Constrict (Combo 1): Aside from Occtulus's eight main tentacles, he has 24 inner tentacles, without suckers but still prehensile, in three rings of eight surrounding his beakless mouth, primarily used for probing the seabed in search of food. When he ensnares his opponent, all 32 tentacles will wrap around the body and limbs, preventing the opponent from fighting them off as they proceed to encroach on inappropriate places.
----------Psy-Pummel/Psy-Cutter (Combo 2): Each of the main tentacles has an advanced ganglion of its own, containing the secondary mana gland. This can project a force field of its own, either a blunt club or a sharp-edged blade. Combined with Whip It Good above, this can make a formidable slashing and/or bashing weapon, and is likely to damage a foe coming in from any direction especially if multiple Psy-Pummels/Cutters are active at once.
----------Toxic Barbs (Combo 3): Dumbo octopi have weak beaks and no radula, and swallow their prey whole. Occtulus has traded up in that he lacks a beak altogether, but retains the radula, but more like cone snails than octopi, it is specialized for battle rather than feeding. Each chitinous fang is greatly enlarged, hollow, and barbed, embedded in his throat sac; it is attached to a proboscis that guides it towards its target and a poison gland to paralyze the victim. This is the weapon he uses to hunt and also to defend himself - the venom is a neurotoxic aphrodisiac that kills most sub-kaiju almost instantly, sends Lightweight to Middle-Lightweight kaiju into a paralyzed state that may last several days at least, and causes Middle-Heavyweight to Heavyweight kaiju to experience a strange fuzzy feeling similar to infatuation that slows down the reflexes and ruins coordination. Indeed, some monsters are addicted or simply flat-out insane enough to goad him into dosing them repeatedly, and heavily diluted samples (random drops) are still used in love potions today.
Ranged - Hydro Pump: Molluscs inhale/exhale through a siphon to draw water into the mantle cavity, over the gills, and back out the way it came. Octopi and squid use this same siphon to propel themselves quickly through open stretches of water and, as a cephalopod, Occtulus does the same. The most unexpected use of the siphon, however, is as a weapon - his gill chamber is capable of storing the processed water in a highly pressurized state to be ejected when the need arises, resulting in a lethally concussive, flesh-ripping blast that can best be described as a water jet cutter the size of a bus. Using the psionic field he generates when out of the water, he can replenish the ammo used by hydrokinetically drawing water molecules from the air through inhalation, and when preparing for battle he has a habit of "drinking" from the nearest body of water, ballooning up to three times his normal size to psyche up. However, this weapon works best underwater with an infinite supply of "ammo" and an expandable body to contain it. One might think that the siphon being in the back of the head will be disadvantageous where this technique is concerned but, given his elastic nature, he is more than capable of swiveling it in any direction he pleases before firing with pinpoint accuracy from either side of his body.
Short-Range Special - Whirlpool: This technique only works in water, and only when he has enough space to pull it off. Basically, those cirri mentioned under Suction Cups? This is where they come in handy, for they enable basal hydrokinesis and are primarily used to create currents of water to funnel prey into his maw. Floating just beneath the surface with the mantle pointed down, Occtulus opens up his tentacles and begins twirling rapidly, using the cirri to guide the currents into a vortex pointing straight towards his inner tentacles and of course, the dreaded Toxic Barbs. With the telekinetic field activated, this move pulls in other kaiju, friend or foe, at a rate proportional to their body weight and the buoyancy of the environment. Heavyweight and above monsters view it as an annoyance, Middleweight kaiju steer clear of it as much as possible, and Lightweight kaiju often shit themselves soiled, especially if they don't have a way to anchor themselves securely to the nearest immovable object - never mind sub-kaiju and sentients fleeing in terror at the mere discussion of this technique. Provided you're big enough to take him on safely, there are only two safe ways to intercept this attack: the first is to ride the whirlpool and aim your best ranged attack at the center to disarm the barbs, cirri, or both, or to take the proactive approach and dive to the bottom, preferably anchoring yourself if possible, and aim for the mantle, preferably before he starts spinning.
Long-Range Special - Gunk Shot: Like regular dumbo octopi, Occtulus lacks an ink sac. Instead, glands surrounding each of his eyes secrete a special type of mucus similar to that found in hagfish, and its microfibrous consistency traps water droplets and creates a fast-spreading, slow-dissipating viscoelastic slime, which covers the affected area in a suffocating fog underwater and smothers and clogs the orifices of the opponent above water. A series of special muscles around the eyes pressurizes it to the point that the gunk is ejected at over 200 mph. It's not as accurate as the Hydro Pump, but it has a much wider range, and as it's fired from his eyes, virtually anything he looks at is automatically in its targeting crosshairs.

Powers/Abilities:
Awesomeness by Analysis: As mentioned under Barrier Ram and Psy-Pummel/Cutter, the mana gland, ganglions, and nervous system prove useful in offense and defense alike. They also serve to boost his intelligence, and he plays it up appropriately because his soft body is not good for sustained combat. When not using the barrier, these project a weak psionic field that detects the brainwaves produced by opponents, allowing him to read them even in the heat of battle and communicate with their owners telepathically. Thus, not only can he detect the holes in the enemy's strategies and break out the appropriate countermeasures, but he can also tune into their entire nervous system, deducing their abilities and predicting their next moves before they are even used. The ganglions that grant him this ability work in parallel so if one is damaged, the field remains active, though with more ganglions disabled its power decreases accordingly.
Barrier Warrior: When active, the ganglion network projects a barely distinguishable but effective psionic barrier to dissuade attack, seal in atmospheric moisture, and even hover above the ground. Normally kept close to him, he can extend it outward to shield others, and extends it outward naturally outside of the water to keep himself hydrated. It's also useful for offense; see Barrier Ram above.
Rubber Cephalopod: Without bones or armor, Occtulus trades up defense for agility. His flabby-looking body is comprised mostly of highly elastic muscle, allowing him to change shape at will. Curling into a bouncy ball, flattening himself onto walls or floors, stretching his tentacles to attack from a distance, gliding like a parachute, squeezing through cracks as narrow as a human hand and, of course, inflating like an animated water balloon are all plausible where he is concerned. Because of his elastic properties, blunt-force attacks can be deflected to some degree by absorbing the momentum and snapping it back, with interest.
Miracle Eye: Those giant, adorable, anime-esque puppy-dog eyes are not just for show. The ridiculously large retinas and foveas are sensitive to all forms of radiation, and he uses them to see even in the total darkness of the deep sea. In normal conditions, Occtulus can distinguish the polarization of light and see wavelengths from infared to ultraviolet, allowing him to pick out even concealed or invisible opponents. Virtually all of his eyes are mounted on turrets of flesh and an autonomic response keeps them oriented so that the pupil slit is always horizontal; their positioning gives him a combination of stereoscopic and panoramic vision, and as a bonus he can turn any of the turrets like periscopes to peer above cover or behind the back of his head.

Weaknesses:
Squishy Wizard: Considering his extensive repertoire of abilities and attacks, Occtulus has been asked whether he is compensating for the fact that he is basically a delicate blob of muscles, nerves, innards, and mana channels, with no armor to save his life, and the general response is that such a statement is something he very much agrees with. When the force field is not active, edged/pointed weapons and energy attacks can and will rip him apart without much effort. He does have a very powerful healing factor to help him, but his inability to take attacks means that a few blows to the mantle with something sharp will waste it very quickly.
Go For The Eye: His large eyes are both an advantage and a disadvantage. Their large size makes them vulnerable to attacks of many kinds, and it does not help that they cannot blink. Disabling his eyes is a good way to end a fight pretty fast, because he primarily relies on his vision to guide him and finds that he cannot coordinate his attacks effectively if that sense is disabled.
Small-Bodied: Normally an asset, Occtulus's small size relative to other monsters has the unfortunate side effect of making him easy to pick on and even easier to beat up. He does inflate before battle as a bluff and has a practical use for it (see Hydro Pump above), but most enemies aren't fooled because most of the extra size is water that is often wrung or spilled out easily.
Brain-Dead: While the ganglions on both the mantle and tentacles can regenerate if damaged, if the main mana gland and/or brain is damaged then the psionic mechanism will not work. Enemies that realize this can save time that would normally be wasted trying to pick off all the ganglions, allowing them to finish fights with him more quickly.
Stealth-Mode Fail: Because he lives in the deep sea, Occtulus has no need for camouflage to avoid enemies because the darkness covers him effectively. However, in daylight conditions he cannot change color like other octopi can, and the best he can do is flash his blush-rings. His pale coloration also makes him difficult to hide, and his huge, reflective eyes do not help much either (see Go For The Eye). The best he can do when he doesn't wish to confront the enemy is to try his best to hide in the nearest crevice and hope he isn't seen until whatever is threatening him goes away.

Theme Song: Nana Mizuki - Wild Eyes

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I know I said I'm in my work period, but I never said I'm not posting artwork at that time (though full bios are unlikely, the one above was pre-written before the work period). Anyway, the design for Occtulus I finished a while ago is the one I'll be using for KK, with the bio modified to suit this design better. Granted, I like the previous one very much, but I plan to save that one for a more adult-oriented project, lest I come up with such a thing after the work period is over. Besides, KK is intended for a generic audience of teens/young adults, and I suppose anything even remotely erotic would likely have to be hard pressed to make it past the moral radar somehow.