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Description
--::Accessing United Nations Department of Emergency Response, Xenoform Database Alpha Kai, Registered Kaiju::--

Classification: Ultraspecies, Chimera Class

Callsign: GR-1

Common Name: Taroban

First Seen: Fayetteville, North Carolina, USA
Last Seen: Amsterdam, The Netherlands

(SUBJECT DECEASED - COD: SUCCUMBED TO WOUNDS BATTLING FLEUREX)

Primary Range: Continental North America, usually in proximity to Ganuuk

Dietary Preference: Thermal, Electrical Energy

Official Description: A crude mashed up totem of various species, the now deceased creature dubbed Taroban was hard to describe through painting broad strokes. A heavily armored creature with a centaur-like build, a chitinous upper body and long, elastic limbs that end with skull-shaped pincers may seem unlike anything on earth that we are used to, but break it down to each individual piece and you start to get a better grasp of it. The lowermost portions of it's body closely resembled the legs of the common snapping turtle, a species native to the Grove, but the carapace appears to bear more resemblance to a crustacean's, most notably a crab, but with four large sensory eyespots that can track heat and movements. At the front of this shell, where the crabs mouthparts would be, you see an abdominal structure resembling an ants, but positioned upright as though to serve as a facsimile of hips, and upwards from there you encounter a true genetic chimera of vertebrate and invertebrate anatomy, with muscle fibers running beneath hard chitin armor plating, with three separate snapping turtle heads at the upper end, one on each arm, which have little changes from their parent species, but third, atop the central neck, possesses crab-like eyestalks and antennae like an insect. This truly alien appearance belied a gentle, curious nature, as Taroban was not known for destructive impulses many kaiju are governed by. It was still highly capable of localized structural damage and collateral of all kinds, but at the very least it is not placed anywhere near the top of any recognized threat lists.

Defense Protocols: Taroban, while alive, was not deemed much of a threat on it's own, it lacked the aggression many of it's brethren clung to so tightly. However, it was rather infamous for a couple of things, which still kept it firmly on watch 24 hours a day. The creature was rarely far from the much larger, more aggressive kaiju Ganuuk, and would often aid him in battle against his various foes. The other was it's rather curious, innocent disposition, namely following any red vehicle it would see driving down the road as far as it could go. This was about the only thing that could separate the crablike beast from it's protector, and often hours would pass before it realized how far it had traversed. Any buildings in the path of it's wide gait would be recklessly bulldozed down without a second thought, which meant for a time the purchase and usage of red colored cars of any kind was made illegal.

Noteworthy Abilities:

-Adaptive Genetics: Less a distinctive ability and more just a common feature of most 'younger' kaiju, Taroban's genetic code was far more likely to enter the rapid adaptive state most kaiju would have to be mortally wounded to initiate. This is both a strength and a weakness, as in this state a kaiju is far more likely to acquire new skills and traits, but any damage dealt will be far more damaging, and in worst case scenarios, end in a horrific, conjoined body plan with the two kaiju sharing a single body.

-Acid Spray: A trait taken from Umbara, albeit in a less powerful state, Taroban could shoot out streams of acid that could partially neutralize a kaiju's healing factor, giving it a bigger advantage against them in physical combat.

Behavioral Observations: Taroban, unlike many kaiju, was observed many times over the course of it's lifespan out of combat, and it's mannerisms have been placed under extensive study. Given it's chimeric origins and relative youth, there were many attempts to psychoanalyze what exact traits each parent species brought to the metaphorical table. The first thing most parties pointed out was it's strange fixation on anything small and red moving away from it, usually automobiles, like a cat chasing a laser pointer. It's believed to be a part of the fire ant DNA, a proclivity for following what it might have perceived as one of it's own. This could lead it great distances, several miles before it looked up and realized it didn't recognize the landscape. It never attempts to catch said vehicle, but that hasn't stopped most auto manufacturers from ceasing all production of red paint jobs. Beyond this quirk, Taroban showed exceptional emotional intelligence, especially directed towards Ganuuk, whom it followed like a loyal squire, observing its approach to combat and contributing whenever it could.

EDITORIAL: As mentioned in my previous file pertaining to Umbara , the Cape Fear River was profoundly living up to it's name in the early stages of the kaiju incursion after being exposed to massive amounts of kaiju blood. The sheer number of horrific organisms that crawled out of the Grove could form years worth of files on their own, so much so that in spite of many requests to cover one over another, I have decided to only focus on two of them for the sake of saving time. The ones I've chosen had a noticeable impact on the status quo of the world, and in my humble opinion, there's few that did better than Taroban. Hardly the largest or most fearsome of the kaiju to emerge from the Grove, it was a bizarre fusion of snapping turtle and crab, and it was running from a much larger creature, the one that most now call Verminator, from which it only escaped after another newborn kaiju entered the fray. In the weeks following the Umbara incident, the US military was hardly in shape logistically or politically to combat these giant monsters. In any other window of time, the little crab creature would probably have been snuffed out then and there, but it got lucky and escaped to greener pastures, silently skittering about in the rapidly growing Wasteland of the eastern seaboard without much to stop it. It was an unpleasant season, a lawless time where many cities and industrial centers fell to pieces as many a young kaiju duked it out for supremacy. Ganuuk , the last true juggernaut on the continent, had been slumbering in torpor in the ruins of Chicago ever since it's last fight ended, and though several searches were being conducted globally to find more of them on the seafloor, no one honestly wanted to.

Taroban eventually encountered Ganuuk while fleeing from Umbara's darkest progeny near Chicago, accidentally waking up the larger monster and forcing it into combat once more. The fight was brief, but Ganuuk was still all to eager to depart the ruins and seek solitude once more. Taroban, for some unknown reason, followed him. And this pattern became very frequent for many years. The old bear seemed completely unwilling to regard the smaller creature for a long time, but it never lashed out or drove it away. Eventually something of a relationship formed, and the pair worked together in many a battle, a rarity in any circumstance. And then, during the Syyd incursion, Fleurex killed it. For most, that's all there is, just a footnote. But honestly, we owe this little guy a lot. Ganuuk's personality has always been severe, but that crab centaur thing really brought him out of a much darker space. He probably wouldn't have bothered fighting half the battles he did if not for Taroban brightening it's life, and just kept to itself as we fell apart at the seams. And there were a couple of times where we really needed it's help.

----------------------------

Remember when I said that some kaiju would undergo some changes and facelifts? Here's a good first example! Taroban, once much more overtly crablike, has gotten a new lease on life. In my efforts to clean up and refine the silhouettes as well as dig up and repurpose many of my older designs, I combined the boy with Ronis, my extremely old coconut crab centaur kaiju, and gave birth to what I consider a much stronger design and personality to boot. He's something of an Anguirus to the narrative, albeit much more young and innocent.

Anyway, hope you enjoy the new file, it was a blast to put together! And I've got two more on the way, hopefully to be posted in the next few hours or so. Until then!

Description
--::Accessing United Nations Department of Emergency Response, Xenoform Database Alpha Kai, Registered Kaiju::--

Classification: Ultraspecies, Chimera Class

Callsign: GR-1

Common Name: Taroban

First Seen: Fayetteville, North Carolina, USA
Last Seen: Amsterdam, The Netherlands

(SUBJECT DECEASED - COD: SUCCUMBED TO WOUNDS BATTLING FLEUREX)

Primary Range: Continental North America, usually in proximity to Ganuuk

Dietary Preference: Thermal, Electrical Energy

Official Description: A crude mashed up totem of various species, the now deceased creature dubbed Taroban was hard to describe through painting broad strokes. A heavily armored creature with a centaur-like build, a chitinous upper body and long, elastic limbs that end with skull-shaped pincers may seem unlike anything on earth that we are used to, but break it down to each individual piece and you start to get a better grasp of it. The lowermost portions of it's body closely resembled the legs of the common snapping turtle, a species native to the Grove, but the carapace appears to bear more resemblance to a crustacean's, most notably a crab, but with four large sensory eyespots that can track heat and movements. At the front of this shell, where the crabs mouthparts would be, you see an abdominal structure resembling an ants, but positioned upright as though to serve as a facsimile of hips, and upwards from there you encounter a true genetic chimera of vertebrate and invertebrate anatomy, with muscle fibers running beneath hard chitin armor plating, with three separate snapping turtle heads at the upper end, one on each arm, which have little changes from their parent species, but third, atop the central neck, possesses crab-like eyestalks and antennae like an insect. This truly alien appearance belied a gentle, curious nature, as Taroban was not known for destructive impulses many kaiju are governed by. It was still highly capable of localized structural damage and collateral of all kinds, but at the very least it is not placed anywhere near the top of any recognized threat lists.

Defense Protocols: Taroban, while alive, was not deemed much of a threat on it's own, it lacked the aggression many of it's brethren clung to so tightly. However, it was rather infamous for a couple of things, which still kept it firmly on watch 24 hours a day. The creature was rarely far from the much larger, more aggressive kaiju Ganuuk, and would often aid him in battle against his various foes. The other was it's rather curious, innocent disposition, namely following any red vehicle it would see driving down the road as far as it could go. This was about the only thing that could separate the crablike beast from it's protector, and often hours would pass before it realized how far it had traversed. Any buildings in the path of it's wide gait would be recklessly bulldozed down without a second thought, which meant for a time the purchase and usage of red colored cars of any kind was made illegal.

Noteworthy Abilities:

-Adaptive Genetics: Less a distinctive ability and more just a common feature of most 'younger' kaiju, Taroban's genetic code was far more likely to enter the rapid adaptive state most kaiju would have to be mortally wounded to initiate. This is both a strength and a weakness, as in this state a kaiju is far more likely to acquire new skills and traits, but any damage dealt will be far more damaging, and in worst case scenarios, end in a horrific, conjoined body plan with the two kaiju sharing a single body.

-Acid Spray: A trait taken from Umbara, albeit in a less powerful state, Taroban could shoot out streams of acid that could partially neutralize a kaiju's healing factor, giving it a bigger advantage against them in physical combat.

Behavioral Observations: Taroban, unlike many kaiju, was observed many times over the course of it's lifespan out of combat, and it's mannerisms have been placed under extensive study. Given it's chimeric origins and relative youth, there were many attempts to psychoanalyze what exact traits each parent species brought to the metaphorical table. The first thing most parties pointed out was it's strange fixation on anything small and red moving away from it, usually automobiles, like a cat chasing a laser pointer. It's believed to be a part of the fire ant DNA, a proclivity for following what it might have perceived as one of it's own. This could lead it great distances, several miles before it looked up and realized it didn't recognize the landscape. It never attempts to catch said vehicle, but that hasn't stopped most auto manufacturers from ceasing all production of red paint jobs. Beyond this quirk, Taroban showed exceptional emotional intelligence, especially directed towards Ganuuk, whom it followed like a loyal squire, observing its approach to combat and contributing whenever it could.

EDITORIAL: As mentioned in my previous file pertaining to Umbara , the Cape Fear River was profoundly living up to it's name in the early stages of the kaiju incursion after being exposed to massive amounts of kaiju blood. The sheer number of horrific organisms that crawled out of the Grove could form years worth of files on their own, so much so that in spite of many requests to cover one over another, I have decided to only focus on two of them for the sake of saving time. The ones I've chosen had a noticeable impact on the status quo of the world, and in my humble opinion, there's few that did better than Taroban. Hardly the largest or most fearsome of the kaiju to emerge from the Grove, it was a bizarre fusion of snapping turtle and crab, and it was running from a much larger creature, the one that most now call Verminator, from which it only escaped after another newborn kaiju entered the fray. In the weeks following the Umbara incident, the US military was hardly in shape logistically or politically to combat these giant monsters. In any other window of time, the little crab creature would probably have been snuffed out then and there, but it got lucky and escaped to greener pastures, silently skittering about in the rapidly growing Wasteland of the eastern seaboard without much to stop it. It was an unpleasant season, a lawless time where many cities and industrial centers fell to pieces as many a young kaiju duked it out for supremacy. Ganuuk , the last true juggernaut on the continent, had been slumbering in torpor in the ruins of Chicago ever since it's last fight ended, and though several searches were being conducted globally to find more of them on the seafloor, no one honestly wanted to.

Taroban eventually encountered Ganuuk while fleeing from Umbara's darkest progeny near Chicago, accidentally waking up the larger monster and forcing it into combat once more. The fight was brief, but Ganuuk was still all to eager to depart the ruins and seek solitude once more. Taroban, for some unknown reason, followed him. And this pattern became very frequent for many years. The old bear seemed completely unwilling to regard the smaller creature for a long time, but it never lashed out or drove it away. Eventually something of a relationship formed, and the pair worked together in many a battle, a rarity in any circumstance. And then, during the Syyd incursion, Fleurex killed it. For most, that's all there is, just a footnote. But honestly, we owe this little guy a lot. Ganuuk's personality has always been severe, but that crab centaur thing really brought him out of a much darker space. He probably wouldn't have bothered fighting half the battles he did if not for Taroban brightening it's life, and just kept to itself as we fell apart at the seams. And there were a couple of times where we really needed it's help.

----------------------------

Remember when I said that some kaiju would undergo some changes and facelifts? Here's a good first example! Taroban, once much more overtly crablike, has gotten a new lease on life. In my efforts to clean up and refine the silhouettes as well as dig up and repurpose many of my older designs, I combined the boy with Ronis, my extremely old coconut crab centaur kaiju, and gave birth to what I consider a much stronger design and personality to boot. He's something of an Anguirus to the narrative, albeit much more young and innocent.

Anyway, hope you enjoy the new file, it was a blast to put together! And I've got two more on the way, hopefully to be posted in the next few hours or so. Until then!