Appearance

Physical Description

Upon each foot is an elongated straight claw like that of a cassowary, able to puncture incredibly sensitive organs if aimed correctly. The kaiju has also re-evolved functional wings in order to glide across the land, in similar fashion to a secretarybird. Though rarely used, its clawed dromaeosaurid wings can grapple and cut enemies.

Special abilities

Like all other kaiju, Basan Yianzu also possesses an advanced healing factor, able to heal broken bones and damaged body parts that would be unsalvagable for normal animals. Despite its hollow bones, it can shrug off conventional human artillery and stand up to more unconventional mecha weaponry. Its regenerative healing abilities plus the advanced amniotic-addled DNA has made Basan Yianzu immortal, only killable via starvation or another kaiju.

Mentality

Personal history

• Species description: Megalotavis cocatris


• Biological basis: Phorusrhacid


• Diet: Carnivorous

The ancestors of the infamous terror birds had ventured across South America to fill the role their dinosaur precursors left behind. One flock had chosen to fly east rather than south, eventually roosting in Africa. Like their South American brethren, they eventually lost the ability to fly and grew in size, adopting predatory habits via convergent evolution. One specimen of these mysterious African terror birds ended up falling into a deep pit filled with the great amniotic fluid and drowned, its form evolving and changing as it remained trapped inside. This would - ironically enough - prove to be its salvation as the African terror birds eventually became extinct, unable to last like those in South America.



The underground pit was discovered by early Pre and Proto-Sumerian tribes, who regarded it as an important place of scientific intrigue. The comatose prisoner hibernating within the amber-colored fluid enamored the ancient humans. They named the creature Basan Yianzu and brought tales of it back to their home far across the land. Eventually did the kaiju awaken and break free of its amniotic prison. It ventured out across the arid landscape and lived away from the rest of the world for years. Later in life was it found by the Sumerians, who had eclipsed and replaced their Precursor counterparts. The ancient writings of their forebearers had been mistranslated and recontextualized over various culture shifts thousands of years, now interpreted as religious and the kaiju as a giant god. Ancient battles and skirmishes took place by the Sumerians and eventually the Akkadian Empire that replaced them. Warrior-kings such as Marduk and Gilgamesh believed that meeting the kaiju in single combat would elevate them to gods. The ritualistic hunts would continue throughout the Babylonian Empire, growing more violent after Basan Yianzu destroyed the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. The Assyrian Empire would be the last to wage war on the kaiju in ancient Mesopotamia before it would flee into Europe.



Early fledgling monarchs and heralds would follow in their footsteps or form their own monster-hunting groups for the chance of glory, as killing a kaiju was a certified way to obtain land and be recognized as a sovereign ruler. One of the most famous to do battle with it was Arthur and his court, who hoped to be awarded nobility for killing the kaiju and planned to build their kingdom of Camelot upon where it fell. Ultimately, his men were killed in battle, but many more would take up the cause for glory. The Knights Templar would take up the fight to slay the creature years later. Basan Yianzu fled Europe, chased by Crusaders seeking glory. They even dared to venture into the Mongol Empire to hunt it, as far in as China and Korea before the kaiju flew across the sea. Eventually did it end up on the island of Japan where it took up residence inside a cave in Mount Tagami within the Iyo Province. The kaiju nested and hibernated inside, obscured from the world by bamboo groves and mountains.



It was not until the United States occupation of Japan after World War II that the dormant kaiju was uncovered in hibernation. Majestic 12 collaborated with the local government to cement a foothold in the country for continued studying of the kaiju, even helping form a Japanese equivalent: Majestic 4. A facility was built around it to observe and study it, where it remained for decades until an earthquake destabilized the facility and woke it up, the bird rampaging out to the surface and attacking the city of Iyo.

Personality

Likes & Dislikes

The giant terror bird is quite ornery, rejecting the company of other kaiju in favor of isolation. Even smaller things like human settlements can annoy it. Basan Yianzu displays average intelligence, nothing really exceptional or noteworthy. Though, it can be quite easy to irritate, which will send it into a shrill frenzy where nothing is spared. It takes quite some time before the kaiju begins to calm, making Basan Yianzu one of the most difficult kaiju to counter. The human inhabitants are largely left alone but find it difficult to live daily lives or even leave the cities in fear of setting off the kaiju.

Environmental Impact

While it leaves massive destruction in its wake when provoked, its influence on the environment is profound. Its feces is high in protein - both natural and amniotic-addled - and benign nuclear isotopes that - after being absorbed by the soil and filtered into the water - cause immense population booms in the flora and fauna inhabiting its region. Flowering plants and trees will grow wildly, and animals experience high birth rates. Rare species like the Japanese giant salamander , oriental stork, and the Japanese night heronhave been taken off the endangered species list. Cherry blossoms and bamboo grow in rapid abundance. Harvesting the boisterous amount of wood has proven difficult, as the noise and mining equipment agitate Basan Yianzu quite easily. Deer and fish populations also burst in extraordinary numbers, kept in check by the kaiju's appetite. Birds also flock in mass abundance to where it nests.

Miscellaneous Information

 
The range Basan Yianzu has traveled is quite extraordinary, as are the number of legends it had inspired. It had been the basis for the Mesopotamian god Anzû and the cockatrice of medieval and Korean mythology. Aspiring hunters had braved the ocean to Japan only to become trapped and lost upon the island, the tales of what the kaiju was being warped and changed with the spread of word. Eventually was Basan Yianzu given other names, such as Basabasa or Inuhōō by Japanese scholars. Ancient mythology also spoke of the kaiju breathing a ghostly ice fire or being able to disappear in the blink of an eye. It is unknown where this part of the story originated from, as Basan Yianzu possesses no real extraordinary powers other than flight.
 
Because of the success of Majestic 4 being created and integrating into Japanese society, this led to other Majestic-adjacents being opened in other parts of the world in secret. The genus of terror bird the kaiju originates from is completely unknown, as no surviving fossils in Africa have been found outside a solitary femur from a specimen labeled Lavocatavis. However, x-rays of Basan Yianzu's skeleton show substantial structural differences between it and the fossil itself, proving the two genera are not the same even with the immense evolutionary change the kaiju endured. There is also ambiguity as to whether Lavocatavis is an actual phorusrhacid. So far, the only evidence terror birds existed in Africa is the kaiju's own solitary existence.

Social

Birthplace

Africa, Earth

Current Residence

Eihime Prefecture, Japan, Earth