Class M4 Kaiju

Height: 60 feet at the hip

Length: 250 feet

Powers: Class 4 Super Strength, Class 4 Regeneration, Organic Flamethrower in Mouth

Origin: Genetically engineered “Neosaur”, further mutated by a manmade gene altering pathogen to see if one could control the mutation from normal fauna to kaiju

From the notes of Dr. Wilhelmina Lerna:

“T.giganticus was first discovered in 2034, the start of the Second Age of Monsters. It had been sixty or so years since the last confirmed kaiju sighting (although a few incidents were reported in the intervening years, none ever produced proof of an actually kaiju encounter), and as such it came as a surprise to most of the world.

“The first specimen of T.giganticus arrived at the shores of the city of Genericton, California. The monster was extremely malnourished, being drawn to the city by the smell of prey. The coast guard tried to fend off the creature, but its weaponry was nowhere near strong enough to provide a suitable challenge. The monster was eventually downed by an experimental bio weapon, though not killed.

“The appearance of this monster brought alarm on a global scale. Unlike most of the unverified sightings of the past, which mainly dealt with class M0 or M1 kaiju, this was an M4 – the kind of kaiju that had devastated Japan on a near-daily basis back in the 1950’s. Even more troubling was the fact that it was not an amphibious creature by nature, which meant it had travelled from some other landmass. This meant there may have been others from that same landmass (there were) that may follow in its footsteps, so to speak, and come to America (they did).

“An expedition was immediately formed, and sure enough it not only found the landmass, which was dubbed “Typhon Island,” but a half dozen or so kaiju on it as well. Amongst them were three other specimens of T.giganticus: an adult mating pair, and one juvenile. An unfortunate series of events led ALL of the island’s giant inhabitants to attack Genericton, with the horde of monsters only leaving once the mating couple retrieved their offspring.

“In a way this was actually very fortunate, as the father Tyrannopyrodon, who the public dubbed “Tyrantis,” would end up saving mankind from numerous threats – from kaiju, mankind itself, and even outer space – in next couple of decades.”

Team Afiliations: Tyrant Squad (Team leader)

Episode Appearances: Tyrantis of Infinite Earths

Personality & Temperment: T.giganticus is an intelligent and social species with a strong familial instinct. Parents will defend their young with all weapons at their disposal. All known specimens of T.giganticus show a great fondness for combat, often sparring with each other or other kaiju in a friendly manner. The species is renowned for its creativity in combat; on some occasions they can even craft crude weapons to deal with opponents. There is a tender side to the creature as well – unlike most predators, T.giganticus will not prey on the sick or weak, only fighting those who can face it on equal terms, and it shows absolute loyalty to any creature that has earned a place in its “pack.” The species is not particularly aggressive to humankind, and will keep to its territory on Typhon Island so long as it is is not provoked. It is also one of the few kaiju that regularly communicates with others, using a mix of vocal sounds and body language.

~ ~ ~

Author’s Note: This ATOM Bonus Kaiju File is a bit different than the others, as you may have noticed – instead of representing a different kaiju from Tyrantis’s universe, it represents a Tyrantis from a different universe.  In this alternate timeline, Tyrantis is a “neosaur” – i.e. a genetically engineered chimera designed to recreate a dinosaur using the genes of existing dinosaur relatives as well as incomplete prehistoric DNA.  He is then mutated further into becoming a full fledged kaiju by a shady organization trying to create bio-weapons.

If all of that sounds even sillier than the normal stuff you get from the ATOM kaiju files, that’s because it is – this is an homage to a much earlier draft of the story, where it was basically Godzilla meets Jurassic Park by way of Resident Evil.  The series has changed a lot since then (for the better, I think), but I thought it would be fun to pay homage to its roots.