Beast from 20,000 Fathoms

The giant ‘Monster on the Loose’ was a mainstay of the fifties – a relatively modern entry into the pantheon of monsters; while the giant beast has always been a common figure in historical literature, the giant rampaging beast was dependent upon the inception of modern civilization – the rise of great cities to be destroyed by some giant force of nature – sometimes prehistoric, often brought about by human meddling in the natural world – or, of course, by nuclear radiation. The first Giant Monster appeared in the Lost World, when an escaped Brontosaurus ran amok through London. This was followed a few years later by the true grandfather of the genera, the mighty ape, King Kong (See primary entry for: King Kong), who rampaged through New York. Numerous dinosaurs and other monsters followed Kong – most significantly, the Beast From 20,000 Fathoms, which was the first of the giant dinosaurs to be revived by the quasi-sorcerous powers of nuclear radiation – a template that became a staple of the genera, as radioactivity was blamed for everything from reviving dinosaurs, to causing mutations, to swelling insects and spiders to colossal proportions, to simply pissing off some giant creature that was already there – and igniting its own offshoot genera in Japan with Godzilla (See primary entry for: Godzilla), – directly inspired by both King Kong and the Beast – and the mighty Japanese Kaiju. (See primary entry for: Godzilla: Kaiju). Giant Monsters endure to this day, enjoying a resurgence since the debut of the Jurassic Park series, along with remakes of King Kong and Godzilla, as well as homage’s like Cloverfield. The most popular and iconic Giant Monsters are detailed below. Specific groupings of Giant Monsters like dinosaurs (See individual entry for: Prehistoric Monsters), are covered under their own BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS PL14 headings. STR STA AGI DEX FGT INT AWE PRE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS 17 14 1 -2 8 -4 3 0 Atomic testing awakened the Beast From 20,000 POWERS Fathoms, ushering in a new era of rampaging giant Aquatic: Immunity 3 (Cold, Heat, Pressure), Movement 1 beasts, awakened or created by radiation. A giant (Environmental Adaptation – Aquatic), Swimming 6 – 5 ‘Rhedosaurus’ – a T. rex’ head on the body of a points Dimetrodon – the beast is first spotted in the arctic, and Growth: Growth 16 (Innate; Permanent) – 32 points then (ala Godzilla) begins attacking boats as it makes its Scaly Hide: Protection 2 – 2 points way down the coast to New York. Announcing its Senses 4 (Low-Light Vision, Scent, Track) – 4 points presence with an effective nighttime assault on a lonely Teeth: Strength-based Damage 3, Penetrating 10 – 13 points lighthouse (after the Ray Bradbury story on which the film was based), the monster soon attacks the mainland. ADVANTAGES Worse, it turns out to carry a prehistoric plague, which it All-out Attack, Fast Grab, Improved Critical (Teeth), Power releases in its blood, ruling out munitions. The beast is Attack eventually killed with a radioactive isotope fired out of a bazooka by soldier riding kamikaze on a giant roller SKILLS coaster. (Str90) Perception 6 (+7), Expertise (Survival) 4 (+6) OFFENSE INITIATIVE +1 Teeth +8 Close Damage 20 (Penetrating 10) Crit. 19-20 DEFENSE DODGE 0 FORTITUDE 20 PARRY 2 TOUGHNESS 16 WILL 2 POWER POINTS ABILITIES 10 SKILLS 5 POWERS 58 DEFENSES 16 ADVANTAGES 4 TOTAL 93 COMPLICATIONS Plague: The Rhedosaurus’ blood is a carrier of a prehistoric plague, deadly to humans. Any attack on the Beast that draws blood, exposes the surrounding area to 12 ranks of Affliction with dazed and hindered, stunned and immobilized, linked with Weaken Stamina. ICONIC MONSTER ON THE LOOSE

The Beast From Twenty Thousand Fathoms is a linchpin creature in the history of cinema for a number of reasons CLOVERFIELD MONSTER PL15 - not only was it the first solo venture for the young special effects wizard, Ray Harryhausen, it spawned STR STA AGI DEX FGT INT AWE PRE entire genres of monster movies – the ‘big bug’ pictures of the fifties, and combined with a concurrent re-release 21 21 1 1 8 -3 3 0 of the 1933 King Kong was the direct inspiration for Godzilla himself. POWERS The creature’s unique appearance was equally iconic, its Aquatic: Immunity 12 (Cold, Heat, Pressure, Radiation), Tyrannosaurian head based on one of the most famous Movement 1 (Environmental Adaptation – Aquatic), works of dinosaur artist, Charles R. Knight – the lizard- Swimming 6 – 14 points Growth: Groundstrike (Burst Area Affliction 10, Resisted by like version of the T. rex head, instantly identifiable due to Fortitude; Vulnerable, Defenseless, Involuntary with every the eye being mistakenly placed too far forward – the footstep), Growth 20 (Innate; Permanent), Strike 6 – 54 same T. rex upon which was based both the King Kong points T. rex and Gwangi. Invulnerability: Impervious Toughness 19 – 19 points Senses: Senses 4 (Low-Light Vision) – 4 points CLOVERFIELD ADVANTAGES Cloverfield: In 2008, New York was attacked by an All-Out Attack, Diehard, Great Endurance, Fearless, entirely new giant monster – apparently an alien creature Improved Grab, Improved Hold, Power Attack that arrived on Earth in the form (or on the back of) a meteorite that landed in the Hudson River. Growing SKILLS quickly to the size of a skyscraper, the monster attacked Intimidation 18 (+118) the city. The creature’s rampage was recorded for posterity by a OFFENSE video camera found in the wreckage near Central Park. INITIATIVE +0 Munitions proved ineffective against the monster and all Unarmed +8 Close Damage 21 of Manhattan Island was sacrificed in an all out air-strike, although it is unclear whether this attack killed the DEFENSE monster or just caused it to retreat. In the wake of ‘Zilla’, DODGE -3 FORTITUDE 21 in 1998, Cloverfield was one of the first American Kaiju. PARRY -1 TOUGHNESS 21 (Str200) WILL 2 POWER POINTS ABILITIES 24 SKILLS 8 POWERS 91 DEFENSES 8 ADVANTAGES 7 TOTAL 195 COMPLICATIONS Angst: It was never specifically stated, but the Cloverfield Monster’s rampage was suggested to be a newborn looking for its mother – a reverse Gorgo, so to speak. Parasites: Cloverfield is crawling with 4 foot, arachnid like parasites that plant eggs in unwary hosts. Str 2, Sta 2. GORGO After the eruption of an undersea volcano, a gigantic monster – a sixty-foot semi-aquatic theropod, - begin terrorizing coastal English towns. The creature is captured and put on display in London as ‘Gorgo’. It is discovered, however, that the beast – big as it is – is only a baby, leading to uneasy speculation of a parent creature over 200’ tall. Mama Gorgo soon appears, searching for her infant, stomping London flat in the process. The adult Gorgo shrugs off all modern weapons, and there is no choice except to just release the creature’s offspring, at which point, the two Gorgos simply retreat into the sea. Gorgo is one of the better giant-monster films. With ‘suit- mation’ comparable to the first Godzilla, Gorgo also introduces a new plot device to the genre – rather than created by radiation, or angered by some human affront ADVANTAGES to nature, Mama Gorgo is simply searching for her young All-out Attack, Fast Grab, Improved Critical (Teeth), Power – a variation that would become a mainstay of the Attack creature feature for years to come. Gorgo is also notable as a British entry to a genre dominated by American and SKILLS Japanese beasts and can conditionally qualify as a Close Combat: Teeth 1 (+9), Perception 7 (+8), Expertise 'Kaiju'. (Str200) (Survival) 4 (+6) GORGO PL15 OFFENSE INITIATIVE +1 STR STA AGI DEX FGT INT AWE PRE Unarmed +9 Close Damage 20 20 20 1 2 8 -3 3 0 DEFENSE DODGE -1 FORTITUDE 20 POWERS PARRY 1 TOUGHNESS 21 WILL 8 Aquatic: Immunity 3 (Cold, Heat, Pressure), Movement 1 (Environmental Adaptation – Aquatic), Swimming 6 – 5 POWER POINTS points ABILITIES 28 SKILLS 6 Growth: Groundstrike (Burst Area Affliction 10, Resisted by POWERS 33 DEFENSES 16 Fortitude; Vulnerable, Defenseless, Involuntary with each ADVANTAGES 4 TOTAL 87 footstep), Growth 18 (Innate; Permanent), Strike 6 – 50 COMPLICATINS points Relationships: Gorgo is extremely maternal. It guards its Scaly Hide: Protection 1 – 1 point young attentively and will actively seek out hatchlings if lost Senses 4 (Low-Light Vision, Scent, Track) – 4 points or separated IT CAME FROM BENEATH THE SEA IT CAME FROM BENEATH THE SEA PL15 More atomic testing created the giant mutant octopus from It Came From Beneath The Sea. Just like the STR STA AGI DEX FGT INT AWE PRE mighty Kraken of legend, the giant mollusk terrorized the 17 13 2 3 8 -3 3 0 Pacific, and was large enough to, not only take down entire Navy Destroyers, but actually terrorize the entire POWERS city of San Francisco – it’s giant tentacles reaching out Growth: Growth 18 (Innate; Permanent) – 36 points across the whole city, tearing down buildings, as well as Ink Cloud: Concealment 4 (sight, 20 ft; limited to the iconic Golden Gate Bridge. The creature is underwater) – 8 points eventually disposed of by the Navy with torpedoes. Senses 2 (Low-Light Vision, Scent) – 2 points Another adventure from Ray Harryhausen - a special Swimming 4 (8 MPH) – 2 points effects master with an eye to frugality, both with an eye Tentacles: Extra Limbs 4 (8 tentacles), Claws 3 – 8 points for expediency, as well as a budget – a popular bit of trivia is that ‘It’ was actually a five-tentacled creature, and ADVANTAGES not technically an ‘octopus’ – as Harryhausen had Accurate Attack, Diehard, Fast Grab, Improved Attack, shaved off a couple of tentacles to streamline the tedious Improved Hold and painstaking process of stop-motion animation – similar to Mickey Mouse’s three-fingered hand. Since the SKILLS creature is usually at least partially submerged, the Athletics 4 (+6), Close Combat: Tentacles 2 (+10), absence of three tentacles is never obvious. (Str88) Perception 5 (+6) OFFENSE INITIATIVE +4 Tentacles +10 Close (Reach 20) Damage 20 DEFENSE DODGE -5 FORTITUDE 20 PARRY -1 TOUGHNESS 14 WILL 2 POWER POINTS ABILITIES 0 SKILLS 6 POWERS 44 DEFENSES 10 ADVANTAGES 5 TOTAL 65 TARANTULA Tarantula: In tandem with the new generation of giant monsters was the archetype of the mad scientist – in this case, a scientist preoccupied with creating extra-large mutations – guinea pigs the size of dogs, bugs the size of cats and, of course, a giant tarantula. When the scientist’s former college attacks him (and injects him with his own formula), the tarantula escapes, growing ever larger, rampaging across the countryside, attacking farms, eating cattle (and people). The serum-infected scientist, meanwhile, begins to cellularly-deteriorate, going insane (or rather 'more insane', considering that he had walked in under the template of 'mad scientist' in the first place) - also attacking people. He is eventually killed while his giant arachnid creation is finally deposed of with napalm bombs. (Str47) THEM Them: ‘Them’ was a colony of giant ants created by – believe it or not – exposure to atomic radiation. First discovered in New Mexico, wrecking havoc, the colony is destroyed – except for two queens, who escape. One queen starts a new colony on a sea-going freighter, but is killed. The other nearly starts another colony in the Los Angeles sewers, but is wiped out with machine guns and flamethrowers. (Str35) THEM PL8 STR STA AGI DEX FGT INT AWE PRE 9 9 1 -1 3 - 1 - POWERS Growth 9 (Permanent) – 18 points Mandibles: Close Damage - 2 points TARANTULA PL10 Wall-Crawling: Movement 2 (Wall-Crawling 2) – 2 points ADVANTAGES STR STA AGI DEX FGT INT AWE PRE Fast Grab 12 12 1 -1 8 - 1 - SKILLS POWERS Close Combat: Mandibles 1 (+4), Perception 6 (+6) Growth 12 (Permanent) – 24 points OFFENSE Venomous Bite: Affliction 16 (Resisted by Fortitude; Dazed, Stunned) Weaken Stamina 16 - 32 points INITIATIVE +1 Wall-Crawling: Movement 2 (Wall-Crawling 2) – 2 points Mandibles +4 Close Damage 11 Webs: Snare 15 (Resisted by Dodge; Hindered and DEFENSE Vulnerable, Defenseless and Immobilized) – 45 points DODGE 5 FORTITUDE 9 ADVANTAGES PARRY 5 TOUGHNESS 9 Fast Grab WILL - SKILLS POWER POINTS Close Combat: Venomous Bite 1 (+4), Perception 4 (+5), ABILITIES -12 SKILLS 5 Stealth 2 (+3), Ranged Attack (Webs) +2 (+3) POWERS 22 DEFENSES 6 ADVANTAGES 1 TOTAL 22 OFFENSE INITIATIVE +1 Venomous Bite +4 Affliction +16, Weaken Stamina Webs +6 Ranged Affliction 15 DEFENSE DODGE -1 FORTITUDE 12 PARRY -1 TOUGHNESS 12 WILL - POWER POINTS ABILITIES -12 SKILLS 5 POWERS 103 DEFENSES 6 ADVANTAGES 1 TOTAL 103 OTHER GIANT BUGS SKILLS After prehistoric beasts, giant insects and spiders were Close Combat 2 (+10), Perception 6 (+7), Expertise (Survival) 4 (+6) some of the more popular recurring monsters – earning the generation the title of ‘Big Bug’ era. OFFENSE Black Scorpion: One of Willis O’Brien’s latter-day INITIATIVE +0 features – unique in the genre in that human sin plays no Teeth +10 Close Damage 12 part in the swarm of giant scorpions - they emerge from Unarmed +10 Close Damage 10 an erupting Mexican volcano. They are eventually beaten back by the army. DEFENSE Deadly Mantis: Back to the atomic testing to create a DODGE 4 FORTITUDE 12 giant Preying Mantis. A flying creature, the Deadly PARRY 8 TOUGHNESS 12 Mantis opens up hostilities, knocking Air Force jets from WILL 2 the sky. After a widespread rampage, the creature finally POWER POINTS settles down to nest in the Holland Tunnel in New York ABILITIES 12 SKILLS 6 City, whereupon it is killed with cyanide gas bombs POWERS 30 DEFENSES 19 ADVANTAGES 3 TOTAL 70 YMIR The Yimr, from 20, 000, 000 Miles To Earth. was another Ray Harryhausen creation – a creature brought to Earth, crash-landing in a rocket returning from the first manned space ship to Venus. The creature – a bizarre hybrid of a tyrannosaur’s legs, a human torso, and the head of – well, a scaly walrus –hatches from a small gelatinous egg, and escapes. Although only two foot tall at hatching, exposure to Earth’s oxygen-rich atmosphere causes it to quickly grow to dinosaurian proportions. After efforts to capture the creature fail, the Ymir rampages through the city of Rome – battling army forces (and a pretty good-sized elephant) on the way to a Kong- like showdown from the towers of the Coliseum, where the creature is killed with bazookas. (Str38) NOTE: Trivia point – the Ymir’s ball-and-socket skeleton was salvaged to serve as the skeleton for Harryhausen's Cyclops in the 7th Voyage of Sinbad (See entry for: 7th Voyage of Sinbad: Cyclops). YMIR PL11 STR STA AGI DEX FGT INT AWE PRE 8 6 0 1 8 -2 1 -3 POWERS Growth: Growth 8 (Innate; Permanent, Limitation: within an oxygen-rich environment only) – 16 points Scaly Hide: Protection 6 – 6 points Senses 4 (Low-Light Vision, Scent, Track) – 4 points Teeth: Strength-based Damage 2 – 4 points ADVANTAGES All-out Attack, Fast Grab, Power Attack