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Description

Vagnosaurus

Intro: If it can be said that Kong is a living god of Skull Island, then so too can it be said that the devils live below. The subterranean caverns of the island have hosted a variety of hostile super species over millions of years, each evolved to challenge the ecosystem’s protectors for supremacy over the land of monsters. Kong’s kind successfully fended off many of these hostile creatures. But nothing lasts forever. Their greatest threat would come in the form of a twisted offshoot of their own ancient lineage; Vagnosaurus insatiabilis.

Story: By the time Skull Island was officially located and described by a joint FATHOM expedition in 1973, Kong was the last of his kind. The balance of the island hung precariously between him and the remaining clan of Vagnosaurs, which was ruled by an especially large, ruthless matriarch.

Though Kong himself was responsible for stranding a seismic survey team within the depths of the island, his motivations would soon become clear. The charges dropped by the team had unknowingly elicited a mass-awakening of Vagnosaurs. Some of these creatures would breach the surface offshore and nearly destroyed the awaiting transport ship, though they were driven off by the then-recently arrived Mothra Larvae.

As the survey team traveled the island, eventually making contact with the native Iwi, they would bear witness to several Vagnosaur attacks on native wildlife and Kong himself, the most spectacular of which involved three of the largest individuals attempting to bring him down all at once. Other attacks across the island were also fended off by Gorosaurus and his pack whenever they would stumble across a local Vagnosaur infestation. Despite this, and though he managed to defeat all those he encountered, the continuous attacks wore Kong down over several days. The matriarchal Vagnosaurus was rarely glimpsed, seemingly preferring to send her younger clanmates into battle.

Finally, one night atop Skull Mountain, Kong was ambushed in his lair by a traitorous human faction and the alpha Vagnosaurus herself. After managing to force Kong down a volcanic chasm, she victoriously awakened all remaining Vagnosaurs from atop the mountain. Meanwhile, the remaining FATHOM members were approaching the coast where the repaired ship was awaiting departure, assisted in both tasks by the Iwi. Such a concentration of humanoids was enough to draw the attention of Vagnosaurus, whose senses had evolved over millions of years to hone in on anything even remotely resembling Kong’s kind. With hast, she made straight for the humans. That night, the whole island echoed with the monsters’ war cries as they battled for dominance. Along with smaller florafauna, Gorosaurus, and even the mostly indifferent Kamakuras did their best to end the hypervore uprising. It appears as though even Biollante would occasionally attempt to slow the Vagnosaur matriarch down with encroaching vine thickets, and it was latter reported by the Iwi that her tremendous creepers had to seal off the whole village during the mass attack.

Vagnosaurus arrived at the escape point by dawn. Fortunately, for those survivors, so did Kong. After maneuvering through the Vagnosaurs’ own abandoned crawlways, he reemerged at the surface to do battle with one of his oldest enemies for the last time. Finally, the apex primate put an end to Vagnosaurus’ reign of terror via disembowelment. Thanks to this, the expedition was able to make its escape to report their findings…

Abilities: Vagnosaurus is a prime example of how the unique bio-geological activities of Skull Island can hurdled creatures down totally novel evolutionary paths, for better or worse. Surviving tissue samples indicate a basal primate ancestry, sharing a common origin with Kong’s ancestors. The creatures have become almost a complete inverse of their surface-dwelling relatives.

Adapted to life deep within Skull Island’s often volcanic and flooded caverns, Vagnosaurs’ serpentine bodies are agile and highly elastic, enabling them to hide out in narrower crevices than one would expect, and making them very maneuverable in combat. They are excellent swimmers as well, being able to absorb radiation directly. They are also known to move swiftly over land by occasionally curling their tails around and rolling forward. They have lost their eyes, but their whole skin has become photosensitive enough to detect light and movement. Details are rendered by highly sensitive heat receptors along the mouth and nasal region, enabling them to easily track radioactive and endothermic prey.

And seek prey they do, constantly. As hypervores, Vagnosaurs exhibit a faulty kaijufied digestive system that puts them in a perpetual state of starvation. They can actually hold very little at a time. Their spoils were gathered in collective Boneyards, where they’d come to wastefully regurgitate what they can’t eat before either attempting to eat it again, or heading off to bring down more prey.

This they’d accomplish mainly through strangulation and live consumption. Their spinal cords taper into long, constrictive tails tipped with a highly derived pelvis. What were once foot bones are modified into a deadly pincer that can strike with great accuracy. Along their tail are also redundant masses of intestines with lamprey-like “mouths” of their own that attempt to gnaw off whatever they could. Combined with muscular forelimbs and a powerful bite of septic teeth, makes a Vagnosaur’s grappling a most dire position.

Character: While most Vagnosaurs’ sole occupation seems to be perpetually awaiting and stalking their next meals, the former leader of what remains of the species displayed a more advanced disposition. According to eyewitness accounts by FATHOM survivors, stories told by the Iwi, and recovered footage of the Denham 1933 expedition, the Vagnosaurus matriarch was capable of a level of restraint and apparent planning beyond her smaller subjects. She would often send smaller members of her kind against threats in her stead, giving her time to feast at her own leisure before escaping. She only attacked Kong herself if a significant weakness was sensed. Though rarely seen, she made her presence known to him very often, even provoking other hypervore nests to cause as must distraction as possible. She seemed to enjoy gloating over her kills in the Boneyards whenever Kong or the Gorosaurs weren’t nearby. With her death, the Vagnosaurs are no longer a significant ecological threat to the island, and it is estimated that the species is headed for extinction.

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Vagnosaurus is copyrighted by Toho.

Description

Vagnosaurus

Intro: If it can be said that Kong is a living god of Skull Island, then so too can it be said that the devils live below. The subterranean caverns of the island have hosted a variety of hostile super species over millions of years, each evolved to challenge the ecosystem’s protectors for supremacy over the land of monsters. Kong’s kind successfully fended off many of these hostile creatures. But nothing lasts forever. Their greatest threat would come in the form of a twisted offshoot of their own ancient lineage; Vagnosaurus insatiabilis.

Story: By the time Skull Island was officially located and described by a joint FATHOM expedition in 1973, Kong was the last of his kind. The balance of the island hung precariously between him and the remaining clan of Vagnosaurs, which was ruled by an especially large, ruthless matriarch.

Though Kong himself was responsible for stranding a seismic survey team within the depths of the island, his motivations would soon become clear. The charges dropped by the team had unknowingly elicited a mass-awakening of Vagnosaurs. Some of these creatures would breach the surface offshore and nearly destroyed the awaiting transport ship, though they were driven off by the then-recently arrived Mothra Larvae.

As the survey team traveled the island, eventually making contact with the native Iwi, they would bear witness to several Vagnosaur attacks on native wildlife and Kong himself, the most spectacular of which involved three of the largest individuals attempting to bring him down all at once. Other attacks across the island were also fended off by Gorosaurus and his pack whenever they would stumble across a local Vagnosaur infestation. Despite this, and though he managed to defeat all those he encountered, the continuous attacks wore Kong down over several days. The matriarchal Vagnosaurus was rarely glimpsed, seemingly preferring to send her younger clanmates into battle.

Finally, one night atop Skull Mountain, Kong was ambushed in his lair by a traitorous human faction and the alpha Vagnosaurus herself. After managing to force Kong down a volcanic chasm, she victoriously awakened all remaining Vagnosaurs from atop the mountain. Meanwhile, the remaining FATHOM members were approaching the coast where the repaired ship was awaiting departure, assisted in both tasks by the Iwi. Such a concentration of humanoids was enough to draw the attention of Vagnosaurus, whose senses had evolved over millions of years to hone in on anything even remotely resembling Kong’s kind. With hast, she made straight for the humans. That night, the whole island echoed with the monsters’ war cries as they battled for dominance. Along with smaller florafauna, Gorosaurus, and even the mostly indifferent Kamakuras did their best to end the hypervore uprising. It appears as though even Biollante would occasionally attempt to slow the Vagnosaur matriarch down with encroaching vine thickets, and it was latter reported by the Iwi that her tremendous creepers had to seal off the whole village during the mass attack.

Vagnosaurus arrived at the escape point by dawn. Fortunately, for those survivors, so did Kong. After maneuvering through the Vagnosaurs’ own abandoned crawlways, he reemerged at the surface to do battle with one of his oldest enemies for the last time. Finally, the apex primate put an end to Vagnosaurus’ reign of terror via disembowelment. Thanks to this, the expedition was able to make its escape to report their findings…

Abilities: Vagnosaurus is a prime example of how the unique bio-geological activities of Skull Island can hurdled creatures down totally novel evolutionary paths, for better or worse. Surviving tissue samples indicate a basal primate ancestry, sharing a common origin with Kong’s ancestors. The creatures have become almost a complete inverse of their surface-dwelling relatives.

Adapted to life deep within Skull Island’s often volcanic and flooded caverns, Vagnosaurs’ serpentine bodies are agile and highly elastic, enabling them to hide out in narrower crevices than one would expect, and making them very maneuverable in combat. They are excellent swimmers as well, being able to absorb radiation directly. They are also known to move swiftly over land by occasionally curling their tails around and rolling forward. They have lost their eyes, but their whole skin has become photosensitive enough to detect light and movement. Details are rendered by highly sensitive heat receptors along the mouth and nasal region, enabling them to easily track radioactive and endothermic prey.

And seek prey they do, constantly. As hypervores, Vagnosaurs exhibit a faulty kaijufied digestive system that puts them in a perpetual state of starvation. They can actually hold very little at a time. Their spoils were gathered in collective Boneyards, where they’d come to wastefully regurgitate what they can’t eat before either attempting to eat it again, or heading off to bring down more prey.

This they’d accomplish mainly through strangulation and live consumption. Their spinal cords taper into long, constrictive tails tipped with a highly derived pelvis. What were once foot bones are modified into a deadly pincer that can strike with great accuracy. Along their tail are also redundant masses of intestines with lamprey-like “mouths” of their own that attempt to gnaw off whatever they could. Combined with muscular forelimbs and a powerful bite of septic teeth, makes a Vagnosaur’s grappling a most dire position.

Character: While most Vagnosaurs’ sole occupation seems to be perpetually awaiting and stalking their next meals, the former leader of what remains of the species displayed a more advanced disposition. According to eyewitness accounts by FATHOM survivors, stories told by the Iwi, and recovered footage of the Denham 1933 expedition, the Vagnosaurus matriarch was capable of a level of restraint and apparent planning beyond her smaller subjects. She would often send smaller members of her kind against threats in her stead, giving her time to feast at her own leisure before escaping. She only attacked Kong herself if a significant weakness was sensed. Though rarely seen, she made her presence known to him very often, even provoking other hypervore nests to cause as must distraction as possible. She seemed to enjoy gloating over her kills in the Boneyards whenever Kong or the Gorosaurs weren’t nearby. With her death, the Vagnosaurs are no longer a significant ecological threat to the island, and it is estimated that the species is headed for extinction.

--------------------------------------------
Vagnosaurus is copyrighted by Toho.