DOD: Cyberanha

Name: Cyberanha
Aliases: Tyloban Water Champion
Pronounced: (Sigh-burr-an-ha)
Faction: Tyloban Empire
Alignment: Lawful Neutral

Classification: Hydrocynus goliath
Length: 830 feet
Height: 250 feet
Weight: 980 tons

Weaponry / Abilities:

Bonecrushing Jaws / Interlocking Fangs:
Cyberanha has powerful jaws and conical, interlocking teeth, much like those of his tigerfish ancestors. Designed for puncturing and tearing rather than cutting and slicing, his teeth are rooted deeply in his jawbones, allowing him to violently rip into prey and enemies alike. Cyberanha also has muscular lips and can speak as well as any human or Tyloban; these lips fully conceal his teeth when his mouth is closed.

Gripping Claws:
Cyberanha’s digits end in claws and, while not very long, are still formidable weapons. Additionally, his dexterity allows him to manipulate objects, operate machinery, and use weapons.

Paddle / Bludgeon Tail:
Cyberanha’s tail is flexible and enormously powerful. With more than enough power behind it to propel him at great speed through even the most turbulent of waters, he can just as easily use his tail to bash and crush his enemies.

Armored Piscine Scales:
Cyberanha has some of the thickest scales on post-Cycle Earth. Thick with deposits of bone and keratin, as well as a central layer of latent nanites, his scales can survive anything short of a nuclear bombardment yet retain the utmost flexibility. The central nanite layer also acts as a shock absorber, dissipating impacts.

Amphibious:
Cyberanha is an amphibious kaiju. Able to transition from the land to the sea, or vice-versa, with next to no hindrances, he is a nightmare to face in either element. Despite the addition of four limbs, his swimming capacity hasn’t been inhibited in the least, and he is as fast and agile in the water as he has ever been. Additionally, Cyberanha can process both fresh and saltwater, thanks to a small gland situated near his kidneys that can retain or expel salt as is needed.

Sheer Size / Brute Strength:
Due to his massive size and immense bulk, Cyberanha boasts an almost unbelievable amount of raw muscle power throughout his body. Easily strong enough to thrash 700-ton kaiju around like ragdolls, he is among the most physically powerful kaiju ever seen.

Inventive Intellect:
Cyberanha is among the most intelligent kaiju known, and is possibly the most inventive of them all. A competent problem-solver and creative thinker, Cyberanha is the origin of the Tyloban Empire’s nanotech, and he has used it to create many great public works as well as his own personal arsenal.

Nanotech Armory:
Cyberanha’s arsenal is derived from the nanites he’s implanted into his own body, which he controls with a helmet that relays neurological signals, matching them up to preprogrammed schematics in his nanites, allowing him to construct weapons and tools on the fly. He has only two weapon types: one is a massive chopping blade that extends from either or both arms (as seen here), allowing him to carve horrific wounds into or even dismember his enemies; the other is a rifled coilgun cannon that can protrude from either or both shoulders, transforming Cyberanha into a walking artillery piece that fires deadly explosive shells. He can also produce nanotech thrusters from his ankles and shoulders, propelling him in bursts at a speed of nearly 300 m/ph.

Pseudo-Lungs:
Cyberanha, like the arapaima fish, uses a modified swim bladder to breathe air. He still has functioning gills and can stay underwater indefinitely.

Weaknesses:

Heavyweight:
Due to his enormous size and weight, Cyberanha is, for the most part, a slow mover. Lumbering across the battlefield in order to conserve his strength, he isn’t all that difficult to outmaneuver.

Personality:
Antisocial and a bit dour, Cyberanha fits in perfectly with the other members of the Tyloban Empire. He prefers the comforts of his underground laboratory, tinkering and experimenting the hours away as he continually improves upon the utilities that make modern Tyloban life possible. That isn’t to say he doesn’t care for his fellows – he does – but he doesn’t find many times in his busy schedule to express how he feels. Cyberanha is curious and eager to tinker with any new substance or material he’s given, and he may go for days if not weeks without eating as he conducts his experiments, learning at a feverish pace.

He is loyal to Tylobite but has been known to question him if he feels there is a need, at times acting as a counsel and a muse for the Emperor; Cyberanha is also extremely protective of his adopted people, defending them from all manner of threats whenever one arises.

Combat Strategy:
Although Cyberanha prefers the comforts of his secluded laboratory to the chaos of the battlefield, he has no qualms about taking up a fight against the Tyloban Empire’s enemies. Initially assessing his opponents on size and visible armament, the monster will start off a fight calmly, keeping mostly to the defensive as he lures his foe into displaying their strengths…and weaknesses. Once his assessment is complete, Cyberanha will open up at full combative capacity, using a blend of muscle, firepower, and guile to overwhelm his opponents.

History:
Eleven million years ago, during the Miocene, a desperate race fled the Earth in order to escape planet-wide glaciation. The Tylobans constructed immense spacecraft and brought with them everything they could need: livestock, supplies, weapons, and their kaiju allies. They left the planet in a mass exodus the likes of which has never been repeated. The Tyloban Empire became a wandering, nomadic race soon after, hopping from system to system in search of a permanent home. Deep down, they longed for only one world to call their own.

Eight million years ago, the first Skrag came across the ancient Tylobans’ artifacts. Primitive cave-dwellers become a small but advanced society within a few centuries of studying and replicating these lost artifacts, which they viewed as gifts from their many animist gods. The Skrag eventually constructed spacecraft of their own and, five million years ago, headed off into space to find their mysterious benefactors. Somewhere along the way the Skrag space fleet was left in ruin by an unknown threat, but they are eventually found and rescued by the Tyloban Empire. Indebted to their saviors, the Skrag joined the Empire and made it more powerful than ever before.

Now, their people united under a single banner, the Tyloban Empire heads back to their one true home, intent on colonization and restoring their former glory…and nothing will stand in their way.

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Artist's Commentary:
I’ve had Cyberanha’s concept rolling around in my mind for quite some time, and his design and character have both been in flux for most of that time. Originally, Cyberanha was literally a cybernetic piranha, but that didn’t sit well with me and so I slowly reworked him into a goliath tigerfish with nanotechnological abilities. He was painfully difficult to illustrate due to the hundreds (if not close to a thousand) itty bitty scales that cover him. My hand hurts just thinking about it.

Character-wise, Cyberanha initially didn’t have much of one, so I’ve since imagined him as being a sort of antisocial engineer, one who prefers the seclusion of his lab to the outside world, but still cherishes his adopted people and will fight to the death to protect them. Since his creation his importance as a character in DOD has grown, and now he’s one of the most important monsters in the setting.

Artistic Notes:
— Cyberanha is based on the goliath tigerfish, or Hydrocynus goliath, in both anatomy and color.
— Cyberanha has three (3) fingers per hand, one of which is a thumb; he has three (3) toes per foot.
— Cyberanha’s teeth interlock when his mouth is closed, and lips cover the teeth entirely.
— Cyberanha has one (1) large dorsal fin, and one (1) very small dorsal fin. He also has a pair of tiny fins on his chest.