Appearance

Physical Description

Vyatan is an agile sea monster capable of quick movement through the water, as well as being able to traverse on land by walking on its forelimbs. Thin razor-sharp and needle-thin teeth line its mouth, the mandibles on its lower jaw capable of holding prey.

Identifying Characteristics

The fins on its head, back, and tail are bioluminescent and glow a prominent teal, with shifting aspects of orange, green, and yellow throughout. Such an ability is used for communication, hunting, and warnings as the kaiju will predominantly remain obscured by darkness when inactive.

Specialized Equipment

Most notable - however - is Vyatan's ability to utilize electricity. Its internal organs are structured in a way that allows it to jettison electric shocks into its opponents through biting. This ability has only ever been found in electric eels and seems to be a case of convergent evolution. Of course, the results are significantly deadlier and more destructive. By biting its opponent can Vyatan administer a painful electric shock, inducing heart attacks and seizures in other kaiju. While not strong enough to kill them on their own, the electrical attack is capable of incapacitating them for quite a while. Against humans where the ability is incredibly dangerous, especially against mecha and conventional military technology. In combat can Vyatan be relentless and voracious, preferring to outpace its opponent and strike at them with tail whips and swipes. Bites are used in self-defense, and the electrical discharge is typically a last-resort weapon.

Special abilities

Inside its forelimbs are similarly structured electrical chambers capable of emitting an electromagnetic pulse when jettisoned, triggered by slamming the forelimb into the ground. Such an ability can knock out a city's power grid and disable most human technology. The kaiju can harness water from its environment and launch it as a high-impact water gun. 
 
Like all other kaiju, Vyatan also possesses an advanced healing factor, able to heal severe injuries and damaged body parts that would be unsalvagable for normal animals. Its cartilaginous skeleton and durable hide allow it to shrug off conventional human artillery and stand up to more unconventional mecha weaponry. Its regenerative healing abilities plus the advanced amniotic-addled DNA have made Vyatan immortal, only killable via starvation or another kaiju.

Mentality

Personal history

• Species designation: Murainakampos livyatos


• Biological basis: Hippocampus


• Diet: Piscivorous

During the ancient days of Mesopotamia - the date estimated about 2700 to 2500 B.C.E. - the Sumerians prided themselves as great kaiju hunters and masters of the world. Their kings' pride and entitlement had grown in their battles against the kaiju and the neighboring city-states. Many species were hunted to extinction, and the environment was devastated as a result of the reoccurring warfare. The balance of nature was being upset. A biologist and historian by the name of Noah had begun to take notice of the shifting environment, strange animal migration patterns, and tales from refugees fleeing east of unprovoked kaiju attacks. He ventured out west with a caravan to uncover the mystery, sending his sons Shem, Ham, and Japeth to the north and south to aid in his research. To Noah's horror, he discovered a great sea monster had made its way from the Mediterranean Sea, attacking settlements and flooding them. Noah recognized the kaiju from the artifacts left by their forebearers, having been named Leviathan. The news from his sons was even less comforting when he returned home. Shem and Ham encountered the ancient land beast Behemoth - who had destroyed countless settlements with landslides and avalanches from the south - while Japeth had been besieged by immense tornadoes and dust storms farther north at the behest of the giant roc Ziz. Noah and his sons expected the kaiju to cross paths somewhere in the middle, having been provoked by environmental devastation and hunting by human hands. Many city-states were expected to be caught in the crossfire. Equally bad was the rising water levels in the rivers, which grew every day because of intense storms to the north. Noah believed an immense flood to be imminent and would no doubt be made worse by the approaching kaiju.



Most chose to ignore his warnings, either refusing to believe him outright or convinced their forces could kill the kaiju invaders. Not all would ignore his words, however, as Noah was summoned to the city of Shuruppak, a unique city-state run by a royal triumvirate. The three kings Utnapishtim, Atra-Hasis, and Ziusudra took his warnings very seriously and sought a plan of salvation for their people. Noah proposed fleeing the land entirely and starting over in a new land for their people, by building a giant ark capable of housing large amounts of flora and fauna for preservation - as well as any willing human travelers. The kings agreed to the plan and sent their best men to aid Noah's family in their engineering efforts, all while their pleas to rally their fellow countrymen fell on deaf ears. Shuruppak architects had discovered remnants of a downed extraterrestrial spacecraft many years ago, the parts of which would be recycled and reverse-engineered into Noah's ark. Noah and his team planned to construct greenhouses and hydroponic zones for rearing the plants and food. Noah's wife - Naamah Emzara - shepherded the livestock and indigenous wildlife onto the ark for preservation with the assistance of her sons' wives. Wishing to keep animal groups fertile and stable, Noah had the fauna organized into couples based on their health and physical stature. Building the ark was an elaborate venture that took the efforts of all of Shuruppak as they hauled the necessary supplies to the Persian Gulf where the ship was being constructed. Even the three kings volunteered their labor, day and night without slowing. Unstable weather patterns and fleeing refugees drew further inland while the other city-states warred with one another. Even as more and more fleeing migrants came in, the neighboring city-states dismissed their concerns. Many of them turned to the ark for salvation and safety, to which Noah allowed them sanctuary.



Noah's warnings were heeded far too late by the others as the three kaiju appeared along the horizon. Leviathan, Behemoth, and Ziz nearly tore the land apart in their battle, pursuing each other across the land. Landslides, tornadoes, thunderstorms, and sandstorms raged while the Karun River overflowed and flooded the city-states. Many lives were lost from the flood and rampaging kaiju. For forty days and nights did the battle rage, ultimately ending in all three kaiju dying from exhaustion and their wounds. The ark sailed up the rivers to scour for survivors to take with them. During the search, Noah beheld a mysterious egg adrift at sea by Levianthan's corpse. Noah believed the egg to be an offspring of the deceased sea creature and ordered his sons to haul it aboard for him to research. When no more survivors could be found, the ark ventured out to sea and left Mesopotamia behind. While venturing through the gulf, the ark was hit by a terrible storm that resulted in the egg being washed overboard. The last offspring of Leviathan had been lost and drifted to the bottom of the ocean where it eventually hatched, and the creature nested and grew in darkness for millennia.



Years of pollution caused by oil platforms and deep sea mining eventually forcibly awakened the creature, where it retaliated and attacked the rigs before fleeing out into the wider ocean.

Intellectual Characteristics

The kaiju possesses a simplistic animal-like intelligence with nothing of note despite its unique skill set.   When triggering an EMP, the orange bits of its mandibles and forelimbs will glow a hot red until after discharging, where they will fade to normal. Vyatan will often hunt whales and drag them down to the floor of the bathypelagic zone so that it may share its kill with the other denizens of the seafloor. It seems to like collecting the whales' bones as the skeletons are often lying around outside or inside giant caves where it has taken up residence. The caves are either of natural formation or dug up by the kaiju, but they are always a temporary refuge before it departs. Undersea submersibles and bathyspheres end up attracting its attention because of their bright lights and humming motors. The kaiju shows a playful curiousness around the devices, often pushing or nibbling gently upon them. Attacks on these are rare, but attacks against submarines and naval vessels are more common as the kaiju is often irritated by the sonar used in military testing.

Personality

Likes & Dislikes

When beneath the water, it will spend most of its time sleeping in the darkest recesses of the bathypelagic zone of the Indian Ocean. Vyatan prefers remote and quiet locations to sleep, often avoiding other kaiju if it can. It is not outright hostile to others but greatly values its personal space, often hissing or swatting at those who get too close with its tail or forelimbs. With space, it is indifferent and willing to share with other kaiju provided they keep their distance.
 

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 fauna inhabiting its region. Flowering plants and trees will grow wildly, and animals experience high birth rates. Fish, whales, sharks, cephalopods, coral, and other marine life explode in population because of its presence. Commercial fishing profits have skyrocketed in regions where it inhabits, as fishermen do not have to compete with the kaiju as it nestles deep beneath the ocean at the floor. Populations are kept in check by its appetite. Anglerfish, stomiiformes, hagfish, and other eels flock in abundance where it resides. Any caves it digs up become havens for undersea life, which end up thriving thanks to the whale carcasses it drags down.
 

Miscellaneous Information

The oil industry suffered greatly from its involvement, and sea-based trade had a significant impact on profit. Hide from Leviathan was eventually recovered by Hebrew explorers years later to convert into armor for battle, with what little artifacts survived being recovered by Majestic . Noah's ark itself was also discovered on an uncharted island in the Pacific Ocean. The animals contained on the ark were released into the wild and became part of the natural environment, with Noah and the other people having disappeared with no remains left behind other than pottery, carvings, and the ark itself. Research about the ark is ongoing. Others had inhabited the island before and during their arrival according to the brief archaeological studies, with sailors having left the island and carried tales of Noah with them across the globe where it eventually made its way into Abrahamic canon.
 
On rare occasions, it has been known to make landfall on the island of Socotra and occasionally even on the coasts of both the Republic of Yemen and the Sultanate of Oman. Each country's respective armed forces attempted to engage the kaiju in battle and were met with widespread casualties, with the kaiju either forcing into a full retreat or returning to the sea in annoyance. Many Christians and Jewstook immense risk to make a pilgrimmage and behold the kaiju. Its victories against the armed forces were praised by the religious minorities, who viewed its arrival as a sign of divine intervention or Jewish vengeance upon the oppressive government regimes. Multiple Zionist  and Christian movements appropriated its image as an symbol, and the kaiju was seen as a folk hero back in Israel. The respective Abrahamic sects saw an increase in followers after the kaiju's reveal to the world.
 
The kaiju is the last known surviving hippocampus in the cryptozoological fossil record, with the species having gone into decline for decades. Vyatan is also one of the few rare examples of a kaiju being a direct offspring of another but possessing no reproductive means of its own.

Gallery

Social

Birthplace

Mesopotamia, Earth

Current Residence

Midnight Zone, Indian Ocean, Earth

Family Ties

• Leviathan: Parent