Frost Vark
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How did he go straight from an old folks' home to finding a Titan no one in the entire organization knew existed?
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— Michelle Duvall ("The Way Out") |
The Frost Vark is an Alaskan mole-like Titan[5] that first appeared in episode 3 of the 2023 Apple TV+ Monsterverse television series Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, entitled "Secrets and Lies".
Name
The Frost Vark's name is never spoken in Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, being only generically referred to as a Titan, or mockingly as "big boy" by Lee Shaw, a nickname also used by Apple TV in the title of a short on their YouTube channel.[3] While interrogating May Olowe-Hewitt in the fifth episode, Michelle Duvall sarcastically suggests that the Frost Vark's classification be named after May because of her helping discover it, but is unable to decide between "Titanus May Hewitt" and "[Titanus] Lyra Mateo", containing her two aliases.
A Nerdist article published two days before the creature's premiere episode was the first to reveal its name, though it was rendered as "Frost-Vark," with a hyphen.[1] A later article from PopCulture.com, the series' Apple TV+ Press gallery, and the Apple TV YouTube channel all omit the hyphen.[5][7][8] "Frost" references the Titan's Arctic habitat, while vark is the Afrikaans word for "pig." This may have been chosen to evoke "aardvark," a burrowing mammal whose name is similarly Afrikaans for "earth pig."
Development
While creating new Titans for Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, co-creator Matt Fraction tasked his son with finding strange animals and facts about them. Files for the star-nosed mole, including notes on how its tentacles helped it sense the world, and pangolin were used to create a description of the monster within the script.[6] Specific emphasis was placed on creating a Titan that was, in the words of Matt Fraction, "a different kind of scary and dangerous" than other creatures in the show.[1] Following dissatisfaction with the way an initial design looked in context, the creature was redesigned by artists at Wētā FX. Additional detail was added by VFX company Framestore, and it was finished with advice from an Apple executive. As VFX supervisor Sean Konrad recalled, "One of our Apple executives had made a couple of suggestions of, 'Okay. Well, let's add a little bit more like snow and blood on it and make it look like it's just been through a little bit more.' And that sort of ended up being the sweetening thing that made it feel a lot more realistic."[5] Both Fraction and Konrad drew comparisons to Steven Spielberg's Jaws, in the manner that the creature stalks and chases the protagonists.[5][1]
Design
The Frost Vark's body is similar to that of quadrupedal carnivores such as canines, but with a long tail and large claws on each of its five toes. Most of its body is covered in dark blue overlapping plates resembling those of pangolins, with some missing from its arms and underbelly. Several scars can be seen across the front of its long snout. Its eyes are milky white and its face is covered in small, bristly hairs. Several tendrils surround the front of its upper and bottom jaws, resembling the nasal appendages of a star-nosed mole. The tips of each of these tendrils glow blue. The Frost Vark's mouth is adorned with large, jagged teeth, a noticeably-longer fang extending from either side of its upper jaw.
Personality
As described by Monarch: Legacy of Monsters co-creator Matt Fraction, the Frost Vark at one point stomps on the characters' plane "like a frustrated kid that's angry with a broken toy" in the third episode, elaborating that the behavior "not only makes it intimidating and ferocious, but communicates it hasn't found what it's looking for yet and, more frightening than that, maybe we don't know what it's actually looking for..."[5]
History
- Monarch: Legacy of Monsters (TV 2023-2024) [episodes 3-4, 7]
Monsterverse
Monarch: Legacy of Monsters
"Secrets and Lies"
When Hiroshi Randa and his team landed in a remote location in Alaska, the Frost Vark destroyed their plane and killed their pilot. A year later, his children Cate Randa and Kentaro Randa, their friend May Olowe-Hewitt, Colonel Lee Shaw, and Shaw's associate Du-Ho came to the same area in search of Hiroshi. While the group initially assumed Hiroshi's plane had crashed as reported, Du-Ho spotted massive claw marks on the wreckage which indicated its true fate. Panicked, Du-Ho yelled for the group to return to the plane, and began taxiing it toward them. However, the Frost Vark suddenly emerged from beneath the ground and destroyed one of the plane's wings, then froze Du-Ho alive with its inhale. The Frost Vark then reared up on its hind legs, smashing the plane with its forelimbs, and roared victoriously over its remains as the group watched in awe.
"Parallels and Interiors"
After tearing through the plane's wreckage further, the Frost Vark shifted its focus to the survivors. While everyone else bolted, Kentaro stuck around, snatching a flare gun. He fired at the creature, missing it but buying enough time for the group to sprint away and discover a nearby cave for cover. The Frost Vark probed the icy cave roof in vain, eventually giving up. That night, Lee, May, and Cate set up camp close to the crash site, dealing with May's onset of hypothermia. The Frost Vark, drawn by their fire, burrowed under their tent and consumed the fire's warmth. Realizing the Titan's affinity for heat, Lee hatched a plan to lure it with a fire fueled by jet fuel and Du-Ho's corpse. Just as he was about to ignite it, the Frost Vark attacked Kate and May. The duo made a run for a rescue helicopter Kentaro had called, but May stumbled, forcing Cate to leave her temporarily to signal the chopper. The Frost Vark fed on the heat from May's laptop until Lee ignited the fire, causing an explosion that grabbed the monster's and the helicopter's attention. Amidst the chaos, with Lee disoriented and knocked down, the Frost Vark abandoned the group to feast on the blazing fire. Cate circled back to assist May, helping her up, and allowing Lee to catch up. The Frost Vark, though briefly distracted, swiftly burrowed underground to pursue them. It lunged at the departing helicopter but missed, bellowing in frustration as it watched the survivors escape into the distance.
"Will the Real May Please Stand Up?"
A few days after escaping the Frost Vark, Lee returned to the area to close up the nearby Hollow Earth entrance by setting off explosives around it. These explosives attracted the Frost Vark, which attempted to attack a low flying helicopter until it got caught in one of the explosives. The hole quickly began to close and began sucking in everything nearby, including the Frost Vark, until it exploded.
Abilities
Burrowing
The Frost Vark is able to quickly burrow through icy terrain. From its burrows, it is capable of launching itself into the air, barely missing the helicopter rescuing Lee Shaw, Cate Randa, and May Olowe-Hewitt as it was taking off.
Physical capabilities
The Frost Vark can use the large claws on its forelimbs to shred planes apart with ease.
Freezing inhale
The Frost Vark feeds on heat by inhaling warm air with its mouth, causing objects to become frozen. Using this ability, it was able to freeze Du-Ho solid within seconds.
Thermolocation
The Frost Vark is guided by thermolocation,[2] targeting the greatest heat source it detects. This can be briefly exploited, as Kentaro Randa and Shaw were able to distract it with a flare and gasoline fire, respectively.
Gallery
- Main article: Frost Vark/Gallery.
Roar
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Trivia
- Monarch: Legacy of Monsters VFX supervisor Sean Konrad has cited the Frost Vark as his favorite Titan of the show.[1]
- The Frost Vark bears similarity to Shimo, being a quadrupedal Titan antagonist with ice powers. The two have contrasting dispositions, however, as the Frost Vark is aggressive while Shimo is naturally docile.
Videos
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Notes
References
This is a list of references for Frost Vark. These citations are used to identify the reliable sources on which this article is based. These references appear inside articles in the form of superscript numbers, which look like this: [1]
Comments
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