Normus was created by Connor Ricks for the ATOM Create a Kaiju Contest.  Connor Ricks retains all the rights to Normus, and the illustration and profile here are adapted from his work.  While Normus is not an official part of ATOM’s canon, he and the other contest entries posted on this site are considered semi-canonical – the Star Wars Legends to ATOM’s Star Wars.  Connor Ricks has a whole pantheon of his own monsters posted on his art blog, from the fabulous space opera antics of his Clowns vs. Mimes setting, to his own take on my 30 Day Retrosaur Challenge, and much, much more!

Aliases: Asset Spartoi, The Incredible Titanic Beast-Man

Date Discovered: June 30, 1958

Place of Origin: Outpost X

Notable Stomping Grounds: Outpost X, Echidna Island

Height: 90 feet

Length: 200 feet

Biology: A product of both genetic engineering and radioactive testing, Normus is a hybrid of human, Tyrantis, “the Terror,” and Stegronox.  Originally a soldier in the USA army, Lt. Geoffrey Isidor Normus was approached by a shadowy branch of the military industrial complex with an offer to become “the ultimate soldier.”  He was spliced with DNA samples of the aforementioned monsters and then exposed to a sudden burst of Yamaneon radiation, resulting in a titanic hybrid of man and beast.  His hybrid anatomy, while more stable than that of similar mutants like The Writhing Flesh and Dreg, is still somewhat chaotic, and Normus particularly struggles with controlling his internal temperature.

Thankfully, this unstable monster’s power set is mostly standard:

• Super strength
• An enhanced healing factor
• Immunity to radiation
• Fire breath (explosive bursts)

Personality: Torn between his distant and fuzzy human memories and a newfound set of intense primal instincts, Normus is an unpredictable monster prone to violent mood swings.  At times he will be very calm and peaceful, observing the world around him in an almost serene trance, only to snap without any apparent cause and go on a rampage.  In combat he is almost completely feral, lashing out with all his strength and little regard for his own safety or that of innocent bystanders.  Thankfully, his poor thermoregulation puts an end to these tantrums fairly quickly, and Normus will often dart out of a battle prematurely in order to submerge himself in the nearest body of water to cool off.

While he may be violent and unstable, there are elements of a gentler persona within Normus’s behavior.  In his lucid moments, he can be astonishingly clever, sometimes even using tools much as a human would, or trying to communicate with a complex series of gurgling vocalizations.  On a few occasions he has even managed to interact with his fellow monsters in a nonviolent manner.

After his initial rampage, Normus was captured and placed in the Echidna Island sanctuary for overly-aggressive kaiju.  His rehabiliation has made greater stride than most of that island’s inmates, and a transfer for Typhon Island may be in the hybrid titan’s future.