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Description

Siren Jaw: This giant spinosaurid is among the top predators of Skull Island’s waterways, particularly within the Flooded Forest. Their skin becomes more bark-like with age, promoting the growth of symbiotic algae and mosses, and eventually allowing oxygen to be extracted directly from the water, enabling the creature to remain submerged for weeks. Before resuming activity, they emit a series of very low-resonance calls that can travel for miles through the water to reaffirm their territories, but also in preparation for hunting. At close range, these calls appear to have a sedentary effect on other creature’s senses, rendering them less attuned to their surroundings and easier targets. Siren Jaw hunts are therefore infrequent, but rarely unsuccessful. Length: 175 to 350 feet.

Carnictis: Among the most dreadful lurkers of dark waters across Skull Island are the Carnictis; man-sized parasites hypothesized to have become kaijufied over time by becoming infected with the radioactive proteins common in many larger kaiju. Besides feeding off larger creatures, their flexible and constrictive bodies also make them capable predators in their own right when presented with smaller prey, which their rows of tooth-rimmed mouths along the ventral surface make short work of. Though hermaphrodites, they require partners to reproduce, and will gather in large numbers to form “leech dens” in dark, humid areas when conditions are just right. During this period, these giant leeches will attack smaller victims to take back alive, paralyzed with sedative venom, to their lairs to feed upon at leisure. It is also not uncommon for stronger Carnictis to cannibalize the weaker among them, growing larger to produce more spawn of their own. Length: 6 to 24 feet.

Wyndham’s Triffid: The category of “florafauna” not only applies to plant-like animals, but also to animal-like plants. One of the most intriguing endemic botanical families of Skull Island is that of the Triffids. These highly evolved pitcher plants have developed hydraulic neuromuscular systems analogous to animal tissue, making them capable of periodic rapid, powerful motion. There are several species of varying shapes and ecologies, but perhaps the most dangerous is Wyndham’s Triffid, named after its discoverer. These Triffids are usually solitary sit-and-wait predators of small to man-sized creatures. They sense prey via tactile vibrations and eye-like photoreceptors upon their short primary stalks. A tail-like, thorn-covered stalk is used for defense, while the flower stalk emits sweet pheromones to attract prey. A sharpened pistil delivers an immobilizing toxin before the prey is consumed whole by the flexible, snake-like “mouth”. Wyndham’s Triffids are most dangerous during their breeding season, when they migrate with limb-like roots into large gatherings. Their combined sweet odors attract larger creatures into their midst, where the plants proceed to poison them en masse. Individually, a single Triffid’s venom is not enough to kill larger kaiju that may possess immunity. But different Wyndham’s Triffids extract different toxins from the prey they consume in their own territories, so that a mass poisoning by a variety of different deadly compounds is sometimes enough to bring down much bigger targets. Such potentially coordinated, pack-like group behavior has yet to be observed in any other member of the plantae kingdom. When a sufficient victim is felled, the Triffids pollinate and leave their seeds within the poisoned corpse, providing nourishment for the next generation before heading their separate ways again. Height: 8 to 12 feet.

Diretherium: These proboscidean beasts are well to be avoided. While other species of elephantine kaiju, such as the mammoths, are relatively peaceful, Diretherium are highly aggressive and will charge at the slightest provocation. Their tusks and barbed trunks are normally used to strip the bark and branches of trees for consumption, though they can just as easily (and perhaps more eagerly) gore and strangle any unfortunate creatures that dare approach them. Such unchecked aggression seems to resemble a heightened state of “musth”, a state of frenzy experienced by some male animals during rutting season, and may be the result of an atomic mutation effecting their hormonal balance. These beasts have even been observed challenging and dueling with their mammoth cousins in attempts to expand their territories. Being morphologically similar to the extinct Deinotherium, the Diretheres certainly live up to that name. Height: 105 to 154 feet.

Yongary: The holotype member of this species was first observed off the coast of the Korean peninsula, and was later killed and consumed by Godzilla during the Battle of Mu. At first mistaken for some type of marine-adapted reptile or amphibian, this monster from the deep has turned out to be something far stranger. Studies of the holotype’s remains have revealed it to be a highly evolved tetrapod-equivalent form of Chondrichthyes, most possibly a type of kaiju Holocephalid, or Chimaera fish. Other specimens have since been sighted near petroleum and natural gas deposits off various coastlines, which they appear to utilize as a primary nutritional source. They always seem to gravitate toward either Mu or Skull Island, though, so they are not considered a primary threat to humanity. They seem to further replenish themselves with the radioactive runoff of both islands, more so around Skull Island itself, where there is also more competition. To compensate, they will sometimes travel inland to hunt larger prey. As a defense, they can vomit a stream of burning oil, as well as charge their nasal horn with an enormous electrothermal shock. Why they make such migrations is currently not known for certain, though a sort of reproductive cycle seems likely. Their proficiency in metabolizing fossil fuels has led some to suggest further study, or even attempted control of their biology for the benefit of mankind, though this is currently considered unfeasible by most. Length: 72 to 165 feet.

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Creature Inspirations:
Siren Jaw: Creature of the same name from Skull Island: The Birth of Kong comic 2017, the Spinosaurus of Jurassic Park III 2001, and the Hypospino of The Isle video game 2015.
Carnictis: The “meat weasels” of The World of Kong artbook 2005, and Attack of the Giant Leeches 1959.
Wyndham’s Triffid: Original Day of the Triffids novel by John Wyndham 1951, original movie of the same name 1962, and 1981 tv series.
Diretherium: Deinotherium are mentioned in Pellucidar novel series by Edgar Rice Burroughs 1929.
Yongary: Yongary: Monster from the Deep 1967.

Description

Siren Jaw: This giant spinosaurid is among the top predators of Skull Island’s waterways, particularly within the Flooded Forest. Their skin becomes more bark-like with age, promoting the growth of symbiotic algae and mosses, and eventually allowing oxygen to be extracted directly from the water, enabling the creature to remain submerged for weeks. Before resuming activity, they emit a series of very low-resonance calls that can travel for miles through the water to reaffirm their territories, but also in preparation for hunting. At close range, these calls appear to have a sedentary effect on other creature’s senses, rendering them less attuned to their surroundings and easier targets. Siren Jaw hunts are therefore infrequent, but rarely unsuccessful. Length: 175 to 350 feet.

Carnictis: Among the most dreadful lurkers of dark waters across Skull Island are the Carnictis; man-sized parasites hypothesized to have become kaijufied over time by becoming infected with the radioactive proteins common in many larger kaiju. Besides feeding off larger creatures, their flexible and constrictive bodies also make them capable predators in their own right when presented with smaller prey, which their rows of tooth-rimmed mouths along the ventral surface make short work of. Though hermaphrodites, they require partners to reproduce, and will gather in large numbers to form “leech dens” in dark, humid areas when conditions are just right. During this period, these giant leeches will attack smaller victims to take back alive, paralyzed with sedative venom, to their lairs to feed upon at leisure. It is also not uncommon for stronger Carnictis to cannibalize the weaker among them, growing larger to produce more spawn of their own. Length: 6 to 24 feet.

Wyndham’s Triffid: The category of “florafauna” not only applies to plant-like animals, but also to animal-like plants. One of the most intriguing endemic botanical families of Skull Island is that of the Triffids. These highly evolved pitcher plants have developed hydraulic neuromuscular systems analogous to animal tissue, making them capable of periodic rapid, powerful motion. There are several species of varying shapes and ecologies, but perhaps the most dangerous is Wyndham’s Triffid, named after its discoverer. These Triffids are usually solitary sit-and-wait predators of small to man-sized creatures. They sense prey via tactile vibrations and eye-like photoreceptors upon their short primary stalks. A tail-like, thorn-covered stalk is used for defense, while the flower stalk emits sweet pheromones to attract prey. A sharpened pistil delivers an immobilizing toxin before the prey is consumed whole by the flexible, snake-like “mouth”. Wyndham’s Triffids are most dangerous during their breeding season, when they migrate with limb-like roots into large gatherings. Their combined sweet odors attract larger creatures into their midst, where the plants proceed to poison them en masse. Individually, a single Triffid’s venom is not enough to kill larger kaiju that may possess immunity. But different Wyndham’s Triffids extract different toxins from the prey they consume in their own territories, so that a mass poisoning by a variety of different deadly compounds is sometimes enough to bring down much bigger targets. Such potentially coordinated, pack-like group behavior has yet to be observed in any other member of the plantae kingdom. When a sufficient victim is felled, the Triffids pollinate and leave their seeds within the poisoned corpse, providing nourishment for the next generation before heading their separate ways again. Height: 8 to 12 feet.

Diretherium: These proboscidean beasts are well to be avoided. While other species of elephantine kaiju, such as the mammoths, are relatively peaceful, Diretherium are highly aggressive and will charge at the slightest provocation. Their tusks and barbed trunks are normally used to strip the bark and branches of trees for consumption, though they can just as easily (and perhaps more eagerly) gore and strangle any unfortunate creatures that dare approach them. Such unchecked aggression seems to resemble a heightened state of “musth”, a state of frenzy experienced by some male animals during rutting season, and may be the result of an atomic mutation effecting their hormonal balance. These beasts have even been observed challenging and dueling with their mammoth cousins in attempts to expand their territories. Being morphologically similar to the extinct Deinotherium, the Diretheres certainly live up to that name. Height: 105 to 154 feet.

Yongary: The holotype member of this species was first observed off the coast of the Korean peninsula, and was later killed and consumed by Godzilla during the Battle of Mu. At first mistaken for some type of marine-adapted reptile or amphibian, this monster from the deep has turned out to be something far stranger. Studies of the holotype’s remains have revealed it to be a highly evolved tetrapod-equivalent form of Chondrichthyes, most possibly a type of kaiju Holocephalid, or Chimaera fish. Other specimens have since been sighted near petroleum and natural gas deposits off various coastlines, which they appear to utilize as a primary nutritional source. They always seem to gravitate toward either Mu or Skull Island, though, so they are not considered a primary threat to humanity. They seem to further replenish themselves with the radioactive runoff of both islands, more so around Skull Island itself, where there is also more competition. To compensate, they will sometimes travel inland to hunt larger prey. As a defense, they can vomit a stream of burning oil, as well as charge their nasal horn with an enormous electrothermal shock. Why they make such migrations is currently not known for certain, though a sort of reproductive cycle seems likely. Their proficiency in metabolizing fossil fuels has led some to suggest further study, or even attempted control of their biology for the benefit of mankind, though this is currently considered unfeasible by most. Length: 72 to 165 feet.

----------

Creature Inspirations:
Siren Jaw: Creature of the same name from Skull Island: The Birth of Kong comic 2017, the Spinosaurus of Jurassic Park III 2001, and the Hypospino of The Isle video game 2015.
Carnictis: The “meat weasels” of The World of Kong artbook 2005, and Attack of the Giant Leeches 1959.
Wyndham’s Triffid: Original Day of the Triffids novel by John Wyndham 1951, original movie of the same name 1962, and 1981 tv series.
Diretherium: Deinotherium are mentioned in Pellucidar novel series by Edgar Rice Burroughs 1929.
Yongary: Yongary: Monster from the Deep 1967.