Appearance

Physical Description

Kumba is a relatively smaller kaiju and thus favors more agility and speed than sheer brute force. Tool usage, quick strikes with its hands and feet, guerilla strikes, and outpacing its opponent is the playbook for the giant lemur.

Special abilities

Like all other kaiju, Kumba also possesses an advanced healing factor, able to heal broken bones and damaged body parts that would be unsalvagable for normal animals. Despite its lightweight body, 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 Kumba immortal, only killable via starvation or another kaiju.

Mentality

Personal history

• Species description: Pachylemur madagascanax


• Biological basis: Ruffed lemur


• Diet: Herbivorous

 
The isolated nature and geographical region made Madagascar an ecological marvel, even among Earth's already vibrant variety. A truly unique endemic environment was cultivated over its millions of years away from the rest of the world. Most distinct of the native species were the lemurs, their ancestors believed to have migrated across on debris and foliage rafts that had floated out to sea. The fossil and cryptozoological record on Madagascar is largely incomplete, with large gaps spanning from the Paleocene (66 MYA) until about 20,000 B.C.E. A Seed of Creation had remained dormant upon the island for millennia until rupturing and leaking its amniotic fluid inside an underground cave, having remained untouched until the Pleistocene Epoch. A prehistoric lemur specimen was being chased through the jungle by a fossa into a tunnel that led directly into the underground chamber. The fluid saved it from falling to its death but vastly accelerated and altered its evolutionary cycle, changing the lemur into a giant kaiju. The creature returned to the surface after years of stasis and established itself as the dominant lifeform of the island, living among and atop the giant baobab trees with its smaller brethren.



The land and biodiversity remained relatively undisturbed until about 2000 B.C.E., where ancient sailors visited the island to forage. The sight of the great kaiju drove them from the islands.



It would not be until 350 C.E. where humans would return. Austronesian sailors from the Sunda Islands of the Malay Archipelago ventured via outrigger canoes to the mysterious island. The ancient stories of a giant lemur - passed down from their ancestors - had become myth and legend among one Austronesian tribe, who had sailed all the way across the ocean to see what those before them had found. The Austronesian tribe eventually decided to permanently settle upon the island and began clearing forests using slash-and-burn agriculture techniques known as tavy. Their destruction of the land combined with hunting many indigenous species provoked the giant lemur, who terrorized and chased them until they retreated farther inland. Other tribes of humans - Arabs and the Bantu - arrived and integrated with the Austronesian settlers a few hundred years later, giving rise to the Malagasy people. The tribes attempted to fight with the great kaiju but found their battle interrupted by the arrival of an invasive species of giant cryptids known as Grootslangs. The serpentine beasts devoured both man and beast alike but were defeated and repelled by the giant lemur. The tribes ventured across Madagascar to distance themselves from the kaiju, but one tribe stayed behind to live in its shadow. They believed the lemur kaiju to be a guardian monster and dubbed it Kumba. This ancient Malagasy tribe studied Kumba and were believed to be some of Africa's first cryptozoologists. With the humans distancing themselves and the Grootslangs driven away, the lemur preferred to lounge among the baobabs or in its underground cave. The tribe followed it beneath the earth and discovered walls of shimmering sapphires embedded in the rocks. The kaiju seemed fascinated with the rich minerals and would often marvel at them within its cave. The Malagasy tribe mined resources from the cave and traded with others to construct an enormous underground city known as Lemuria, where they would keep Kumba pacified with tributes of treasure and fruit. It served as both a revered temple and a place to study the creature. An earthquake buried the city and destroyed most of it, trapping Kumba and the tribe beneath. The humans ultimately died, and the kaiju hibernated beneath.



With that, the legends of Kumba and the tribe living within the underground city became Malagasy legend, then folklore, and then obscured and forgotten through tribal warfare and European colonization for millennia until the creature was accidentally unearthed during extensive tavy that caused the earth to collapse and erode. Kumba had reawakened and chased the land developers out of its territory, returning to the familiar field of baobab trees. Even worse was that Grootslang specimens had survived the ancient battle with Kumba and burrowed deep underground, awakened as their enemy had. The two engaged in turf wars for dominance of Madagascar.

Intellectual Characteristics

The lemur is quite lethargic and is typically unbothered by humans unless provoked by military forces or habitat destruction. The kaiju can frenzy itself quite quickly when provoked, but Kumba is not driven by blind rage, however. Though it sometimes struggles through its bestial bloodlust to think clearly, it will attempt to fight smarter instead of harder. Kumba still possesses its self-preservation instincts from its early pre-kaiju days and will run away when it feels it cannot win the fight. Otherwise, it will simply lounge in its underground cave or among the trees. It possesses higher intelligence similar to great apes, allowing it to solve problems and even learn sign language. In similar fashion to gorillas and orangutans, the giant lemur will knuckle walk on all fours rather than leap like lemurs do when walking on the ground. Kumba is a social creature like all lemurs, but it often avoids other kaiju due to its isolation. Though, it has been known to interact with kaiju in various ways depending on their disposition, from friendly to hostile. It predominantly prefers the company of fellow lemurs and often acts as a protector towards them. This sense of duty seems to extend to the trees within the Avenue of the Baobabs inside the Menabe region. They appear to comfort the creature, with Kumba even crying to itself when standing before a dead two-thousand-year-old baobab. When energized, it will climb up its favored baobabs or run through the open fields and forests with its fellow lemurs. Kumba has been seen taking objects of interest back into its cave, ranging from construction equipment to airplanes to hoards of sapphires.

person.sexuality

It has also been known to masturbate when excited, making it one of the few kaiju to understand and experience sexual pleasure.

Known Languages

Sign language

Personality

Virtues & Personality perks

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. The indigenous lemurs flock in droves to reside within its territory and thrive, slowly leaving the endangered species list. The Avenue of the Baobabs began flourishing and overcoming the environmental devastation caused by humans, growing half as tall as sequoias.

Personality Quirks

The history of Lemuria had been largely speculated upon and misunderstood for years, with zoologist Philip Sclater believing it to be a lost continent instead of an underground region. It had been seen as a sort of giant land bridge between Africa and India before being sunk beneath the sea, with the belief eventually being discredited after the theory of plate tectonics was accepted by the scientific community. Sclater had hypothesized about Lemuria after an expedition to Madagascar where he had misread and misinterpreted ancient Malagasy texts. Legends of an immense treasure trove buried within Lemuria had drawn the attention of many pirates, including William Kidd and James Misson. The latter boasted of plans to build a utopian colony atop its ruins, which he would christen Libertatia. Many pirates and slave traders attempted to find the lost city, but it would remain undiscovered until the 21st Century. Kumba's presence had caused great difficulty for the logging and mining industries, creating economic issues for the island and other parts of the world.

Social

Birthplace

Madagascar, Africa, Earth

Current Residence

Menabe, Madagascar, Africa, Earth