Date Discovered: October 15, 1957

Place of Origin: Lidenbrock Trench

Notable Stomping Grounds: Lidenbrock Trench, The Atlantic Ocean, The Wells-Verne Kaiju Sanctuary

Length: 240 feet

Biology: An aquatic retrosaur with a fairly stream-lined body, Cudatra’s swimming speed is hard for any other kaiju to match.  Adapted for deep sea life, Cudatra is rendered nearly blind when swimming near the surface of the water, but makes up for its lack of vision with echolocation and sheer tenacious ferocity.  Its jagged fangs and hooked claws can ensnare prey with ease, and while its skin is thinner than most other retrosaurs, it is nonetheless a very formidable hunter.

Cudatra has the standard kaiju power set:

• Super strength
• An enhanced healing factor
• Immunity to radiation

Personality: It is easy to underestimate Cudatra.  Its giggling vocalizations, clumsy flailing, and poor vision in daylight make it seem rather pathetic if not downright clownish, and while its jagged teeth are menacing, its large, bulging eyes give it a sickly appearance.  When it was first spotted, it was treated as a low priority threat, as surely something this wretched and pitiful in appearance and behavior couldn’t be too dangerous.

Cudatra quickly proved these assumptions wrong.

Beneath the buffoonish attitude is a cunning predatory mind, as several ships learned far too late.  Its bizarre, flashy writhing allows it to lower a prey item’s guard while it figures out a successful plan of attack.  Its giggling allows it to pinpoints prey via soundwaves.  And while it can barely see when exposed to bright light, it has no trouble snatching sailboats between its crooked jaws, or sensing the thrashing movements of survivors struggling to keep their heads above water.

Worse still, while Cudatra is a ferocious hunter of human beings, the marine retrosaur is actually on fairly friendly terms with other kaiju.  It even formed a symbiotic partnership with an even larger aquatic predator…