Spineprowler
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SPOILER WARNING: This article may contain major plot and/or ending details. Proceed at your own discretion. |
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The Spineprowler is a giant feline Titan species that debuted in the 2024 Legendary Comics Monsterverse graphic novel Godzilla x Kong: The Hunted.
Name
"Spineprowler" is a combination of "spine" and "prowler," named after the species' "prominent series of spinal vertebrae."[1] The Spineprowler's cryptozoological classification, Ossis Praedator, comes from the Latin words ossis and praedator, which mean "bone" and "predator", respectively.
Development
Several pieces of Spineprowler concept art by an unidentified artist appear at the end of Godzilla x Kong: The Hunted, showing experiments with the species' skin color, skin texture, and decorations, including a Triceratops-like crown, a mane, a grappling tail, and retractable tail spikes. The face of the green variant resembles the Yautja from the Predator franchise.
Design
The Spineprowlers resemble hairless cats, although they appear to have small patches of fur in some panels. The first adult specimen seen in Godzilla x Kong: The Hunted is inconsistently portrayed with orangish and reddish skin, while the adult female who attacks the Titan Hunter has yellowish skin and her cubs are a brighter reddish and yellowish. Both adults and cubs are covered in darker spots apart from their underside, which is lighter than the rest of the body. Their canines are long and their jaw is positioned more forward than other felines, and is therefore more visible. They have spiked tails and pronounced spike-like spinal vertebrae, long hook-like claws, and no visible pupils. Their teeth are long and sharp, particularly the four on the corners of their mouth. The adults have a slim physique, while the cubs are chubbier.
Behavior
Monarch describes the Spineprowler's behavior as that of a "destroyer."[1] Nonetheless, they are also a "nurturing, protective" species regarding their young, particularly the mothers.[1] The Spineprowler that attacked Kong ambushed him by bursting out of a waterfall, though it fled after being overpowered. It later attempted to flee the Titan Hunter under the same circumstances.
Comics
- Godzilla x Kong: The Hunted (2024)
Godzilla x Kong: The Hunted
While Kong was taking a sip from a lake in the Hollow Earth, a Spineprowler pounced out of a waterfall and attacked him. He grabbed it by the throat and slammed it into the ground, but it dodged his next strike and escaped his grip when he seized it by the tail. It leapt at him again, but he sent it sailing away with a punch. It retreated as he pounded his chest in victory, only to step on a pressure plate and trigger a hail of electrified metal arrows from nearby launchers. A scarred man nearby, RM Construction head Raymond Martin, called for the Titan to be taken away.
The Spineprowler was brought to Martin's private island via cargo ship, where it served as the test opponent for Titan Hunter, the enormous mech his company had constructed to allow him to seek vengeance against the Titans. With Martin piloting, Titan Hunter dominated the fight, scoring a kick, punch, and knee smash in rapid succession. When the Spineprowler tried to escape by scaling the wall of the arena, Titan Hunter grabbed it by the tail and finished it off. Martin was largely pleased with the fight, though noted a dip in power which could be hazardous against larger Titans.
RM Construction bribed relevant Monarch officials and reassembled Titan Hunter in the Hollow Earth, granting Martin 48 hours to rampage through the realm with impunity. After killing a Warbat and a Sker Buffalo, he left the mech and found the trail of another Spineprowler. He came upon two Spineprowler babies first and prepared to crush them, only to be knocked off balance by the mother. Kong, sensing the disturbance, attacked the truck transporting the Sker Buffalo carcass. The ensuing explosion briefly distracted both combatants, but the Spineprowler then pressed her advantage by pinning Titan Hunter. Martin countered by stabbing her through the chest with one of the horns on Titan Hunter's head, killing her. He told her she battled well before tracking her cubs to a nearby forest. This time Kong interrupted him, standing protectively in front of the cubs.
After Kong destroyed Titan Hunter, he regarded the cubs, who scampered off. Martin climbed out of the mech's remains and was immediately greeted by the cubs, who killed him.
Abilities
Physical abilities
The Spineprowlers' porous bones allow them to travel unusually fast; these bones are also difficult to break.[1] They have long canines and hook-claws on both hind and front legs, the latter allowing them to scale cliff walls to leap at prey. The Spineprowler who lunged at Kong was unsuccessful in surprising the ape Titan, although the mother Spineprowler successfully caught Titan Hunter off guard while Raymond Martin was distracted by her cubs. Kong found himself unable to hold onto a Spineprowler's tail when he grabbed it, either from the spikes or its struggling. Monarch's profile on the species describes a bone shard attack in which they ram an opponent with their head lowered and shoulders raised, striking with their spinal vertebrae, although this was not demonstrated in Godzilla x Kong: The Hunted.[1]
Durability
The Spineprowler who fought Kong survived being slammed into the ground by the ape Titan and punched a significant distance away from him without apparent injury, although the second blow convinced it to retreat. It was quickly subdued by Raymond Martin's electrified arrow trap and fell to several strong strikes from Titan Hunter, with a punch breaking off one of its teeth, although the fatal blow was not shown. The mother Spineprowler was killed when Titan Hunter impaled her through the chest with one of the horns on its head.
Gallery
Concept art
Godzilla x Kong: The Hunted
Trivia
- The Spineprowler profile included in the digital version of Godzilla x Kong: The Hunted sent to Kickstarter backers lists the Titan's nature, body height, and range as "TBD."
- The size of the Spineprowler cubs relative to Kong is noticeably inconsistent, as they are first shown to be barely taller than his feet, then later drawn as tall as his knees.
References
This is a list of references for Spineprowler. 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]
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