Piranhadon

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Piranhadon
Piranhadon in the extended version of King Kong (2005)
Alternate names Titanic Piranha-tooth
Species Piranhadon titanus
Length Up to 50 feet[1] (females)
~20 feet[2] (males)
5 feet(newborns)
Enemies Humans, small animals
Played by CGI
First appearance King Kong (2005) (Extended version)

Piranhadon is a fictional species of carnivorous fish which first appeared in the extended version of the 2005 film, King Kong.

Design

The body of a Piranhadon is comparable to a mixture of that of a serpent and fish. They are dark green above the white below with heads which resemble that of piranhas, as well as a pair of green glassy eyes. A dorsal fin runs from Piranhadon's head to its back and has two pectoral fins and two long, sensitive barbels on their lower jaws. Despite the size of their eyes, they were very imprecise and could only see in terms of the contrast between extreme light and extreme dark. Their powerful tails moved side to side in order to propel the fish through the water, and their pectoral fins were used to steer them. As a rule, the larger the Piranhadon, the faster they could swim. They boasted double-hinged jaws that allowed them to swallow most prey whole. Their peg-like teeth were designed to pin prey in place rather than cut them.

Ecology

Despite their name, Piranhadon have little resemblance to a true piranha. Instead they were named for their carnivorous habits. Piranhadon were gargantuan ambush predators that could grow as big as some whales. They mainly took terrestrial prey that came too close to the water's edge or attempted to cross the water. Because of their light-sensitive sight, Piranhadon could not easily identify underwater prey, and instead waited for shadows to appear on the surface of the water to hunt. In addition, their facial barbels could detect vibrations that indicated the footsteps of animals approaching the riverbank. The Piranhadon's prowess as ambush predators was aided by their body shape, which allowed them to make short bursts of high speed, but this also necessitated that they rest for long periods in between attacks. Because of the amount of silt and grime in the main rivers of Skull Island, and the amount of oxygen needed to sustain Piranhadon, they were restricted to the flooded jungles and narrow waterways. This was because the silt in most waters made it hard for Piranhadon to breathe. However, because of their streamlined bodies, they could move underwater without creating ripples on the surface to reveal their presence.[3]

Males rarely grew larger than twenty feet in length, and vastly outnumbered the gargantuan females. In breeding season, males competed to race after the apathetic females to deposit their seed. Infants were born at five feet long, and immediately began to hunt the shallows where they ate water birds, small dinosaurs, and juvenile Foetodon.[4] They lurked in the shallows waiting to surge forward at silhouettes using their tails before grabbing prey and dragging it down.

Often being plagued by the many parasites of Skull Island, Piranhadons took to beaching themselves to allow birds and small lizards to clean them off. Not being able to stay on shore for long before they would be taken by heat and suffocation, Piranhadon would use their powerful abdominal fins to heave themselves back into the water.[5]

History

King Kong (2005)

In the extended cut of Peter Jackson's 2005 King Kong, A Piranhadon is seen swimming towards a raft before attacking it and breaking it apart. This causes the raft's passengers to plummet in to the water below. The Piranhadon ate one crew member while he was trying to escape before spotting Jack Driscoll in the water. The beast swam towards him, opening its jaws in preparation of swallowing Jack. However, the Piranahdon's mouth became stuck between 2 trees, allowing for Jack Driscoll to make his escape. As the Piranhadon freed itself and went on to eat another crew member from the sunken raft, Carl Denham and a number of other passengers of a second raft close by grabbed their guns and began pelting the waters with bullets. This proved unsuccessful as the Piranhadon then flipped the second raft, once again sending the men in to the water. The remaining survivors began swimming to the closest shore, all but one making it, being swallowed whole by the Piranhadon just as it had done to the first raft's crew.

Abilities

  • Piranhadons can swim at a fairly quick pace.
  • The Piranhadon uses its sensitive barbels to detect the approach of potential prey.[6]

Weaknesses

The Piranhadon's eyesight is poor, only able to see differences between light and dark.[7]

Books

King Kong (2005)

While lurking in a Skull Island swamp, a 25-foot long Piranhadon spotted a group of humans that were trying to raft across. The Piranhadon rose up through one of the rafts, destroying it. it went back underwater, where Jack Drsicoll was sinking into the muck. One sailor was trying to swim to the surface, which the monster quickly ate. However, it took notice of Driscoll as he tried to swim away and hid in a cage-like root system under the water. However, it was unable to get to him and swam off. When he reached a log and was paddling to shore with Preston, the beast came back again, but was shot at by Carl Denham, which drew its attention to his raft. It swam toward and underneath it, being shot at the entire way, and was able to eat some other sailors when the second raft fell apart. After the survivors made it ashore, the Piranhadon surged up out of the water and ate the last sailor to make it to land, and dragged him back with him under the black water.

Gallery

Main article: Piranhadon/Gallery.

Trivia

  • Piranhadon was intended to appear in the 2005 King Kong film, King Kong, but the scene was cut from the theatrical release. However it can be found on the extended version of the film on home video.

References

This is a list of references for Piranhadon. 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]

  1. Weta Workshop. (November 22, 2005) The World of Kong, pp. 88. Pocket Books. ISBN-10: 1-4165-0519-9. 978-4798611372.
  2. Weta Workshop. (November 22, 2005) The World of Kong, pp. 90. Pocket Books. ISBN-10: 1-4165-0519-9. 978-4798611372.
  3. Weta Workshop. (November 22, 2005) The World of Kong, pp. 88-89. Pocket Books. ISBN-10: 1-4165-0519-9. 978-4798611372.
  4. Weta Workshop. (November 22, 2005) The World of Kong, pp. 90. Pocket Books. ISBN-10: 1-4165-0519-9. 978-4798611372.
  5. Weta Workshop. (November 22, 2005) The World of Kong, pp. 92. Pocket Books. ISBN-10: 1-4165-0519-9. 978-4798611372.
  6. Weta Workshop. (November 22, 2005) The World of Kong, pp. 87. Pocket Books. ISBN-10: 1-4165-0519-9. 978-4798611372.
  7. Weta Workshop. (November 22, 2005) The World of Kong, pp. 88-89. Pocket Books. ISBN-10: 1-4165-0519-9. 978-4798611372.

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