Skullcrawlers

Skullcrawlers in Godzilla Neo Art by Matt Frank

Bone Devils

Big Lizard Things

Skull Things

Crafty Bastards (all by Hank Marlow)

**Skullcrawlers**, otherwise known as **Cranium Reptant**, are a species of giant subterranean reptilian Kaiju unique only to Skull Island. Thousands of years ago, they were embroiled in a war against *Megaprimatus Kong.* This ended with the entire *Megaprimatus Kong* species nearly going to extinction, leaving King Kong the last of his kind.

## Appearance

The Skullcrawlers received their names because of their skull-like heads and their crawling locomotion. They only have two long forelimbs and no hind-limbs, as well as long, prehensile, serpentine tails. They have long and slender, yet muscular and sturdy bodies. Several parts of their appearance are noticeably skeletal, particularly their torsos and their heads. What appears to be the creatures' "eye-sockets" of their skull-like heads are merely empty fenestrae. Presumably, it evolved that way to protect its eyes from damage from enemies; their real eyes are actually set much further back, with the fenestrae perhaps serving to distract enemies from their more vulnerable eyes and acting as heat-seeking sensory pits. The color of their scales ranges from dark grey to a bone white color.

The Skullcrawlers jaws possess two rows of razor-sharp serrated teeth and four digits in total on each hand, with the thumb being the smallest digit and the rest being larger and the same size. The adults even have a prominent bony spike protruding from each elbow. They also have long, prehensile triple-forked tongues that they can use to grab their prey.

## Personality

Skullcrawlers are pack-hunting predators with insatiable appetites that are the results of their heightened metabolisms, which sometimes leads to them turning cannibalistic should there be a low abundance of available food. They are highly aggressive, as well as incredibly persistent in pursuing their prey. They are also naturally fearless, oftentimes teaming up to attack Kong despite being smaller and out-muscled.

## History

Not much is known on where the Skullcrawlers came from, only that thousands of years ago, they arrived on a prehistoric Skull Island from underground and engaged in a war with the *Megaprimatus Kong* species, driving to near extinction except for two individuals by the time the first *Iwi* came to the island. Then, on March 7th, 1933, the Skullcrawlers attacked the den of the two remaining Kongs while the female was in labor at the time. As the male fought against the Skullcrawlers, the female gave birth to a son, who would later come to be known as King Kong. Kong's mother hid him inside of their den before going back to aid her mate, only for Kong to witness the Skullcrawlers overwhelm them and eventually kill them both.

As time went on after that, Kong continued to grow up and rose to become the islands' last remaining protector, fighting to keep balance on the island and protecting its inhabitants from the Skullcrawlers.

## Synopsis

### Half-Century War Arc

In 1973, the organization known as **Monarch** came to Skull Island to test the 'Hollow Earth' theory, suspecting that it could be a place where monsters reside in hiding from the outside world. The Sky Devils helicopters that arrived began to drop seismic bombs, which began to stir the Skullcrawlers on the island and angering King Kong. After Kong had disposed of the helicopters and is on patrol of the island, he comes across a Skullcrawler feasting on the carcass of a *Sker Buffalo*. As Kong prepares to attack the Skullcrawler, another ambushes the ape from behind and a brief battle ensues. Both of the Skullcrawlers are killed by Kong: One having its neck broken as Kong shoved its head into the ground and the other having its head stomped in.

At one part of the island, another Skullcrawler is ambushing both a *Spore Mantis* and a member of the Sky Devils, Jack Chapman, and devours the latter as the former escapes. This same Skullcrawler made his way to the boneyards, where the rest of the expedition team were also at, and the monster soon regurgitated the bones of its prey, including Chapman's remains. The Skullcrawler began to stalk the group through the boneyards and devoured William Randa, but Randa's camera began to flash inside the creature, aggravating it. When the creature chased Mason Weaver, it was combated with flamethrowers. It then whacked a solider into the skull of *Megaprimatus Kong*, damaging his gas canister and causing deadly gas to release onto the battlefield. The Skullcralwer then awakened a resting group of Leafwings that began to attack the soldiers. After James Conrad battled his way through the *Leafwings* with Hank Marlow's katana, the Skullcrawler saw him and attempted to devour him, but the creature is killed when Weaver manages to create an explosion with a gas canister and Conrad's fathers lighter.

Six years later after the Monarch team have left Skull Island, the Skullcrawlers continued their activities on the island even after their leader Ramarak retreated underground following his defeat by Kong. One Skullcrawler sensed something emerging on the shores on the island, believing it to be new prey, and goes to investigate. When the Skullcrawler manages to reach the shore, it is confronted by the new visitor: Godzilla. The Skullcrawler lunged at Godzilla only to be easily killed by the saurian's Atomic Breath, the commotion catching the attention of Kong.

## Abilities

**Immense** **Durability:** Skullcrawlers are very durable, as they can withstand bullets from rifles and the searing heat of a flamethrower. However, their durability is limited as they can be easily defeated by Kong as long he gets them while their still small.

**Immense** **Strength:** As apex predators, Skullcrawlers are fearsome and deadly in battle, using their jaws as their primary weapons. The jaws are lined with razor-sharp teeth. They can hold their own against opponents like Kong and are capable of taking down any of the other local creatures of Skull Island. Their serpent-like tails are used for swatting, wrapping around, or throwing an opponent during combat. Skullcrawlers can also use their clawed feet as formidable weapons as well.

* **Prehensile Tongue:** Skullcrawlers have prehensile tongues that they use to grab and quickly devour small prey whole, or for gripping large prey in combat.

* **Prehensile Tail:** The prehensile tail of the Skullcrawler is heavily muscled and extremely powerful. The tail is also for wrapping around large prey, possibly to latch onto them for balance or to constrict them.

**Enhanced** **Speed and Agility:** Skullcrawlers can run very quickly despite having only two legs, and their speed matches or surpasses that of an adult human, though it depends on the size of the Skullcrawler. They can also make quick turns as well.

**Burrowing:** Being subterranean in nature, Skullcrawlers are capable of using their limbs to burrow deep into the earth. They mainly reside in the underground vents deep beneath Skull Island, using them as access routes to travel quickly around the island.

**Enhanced** **Senses:** Similar to a snake, the Skullcrawlers' olfactory system allows them to sense hot-blooded lifeforms from long distances.

**Hypervorous Nature:** Being classified as 'hypervisors', Skullcrawlers have a constantly active metabolism, meaning they are driven to consume prey endlessly and will eat almost anything, even other Skullcrawlers if they are desperate for food.

**Intelligence:** Skullcrawlers are pack hunters that are able to easily ambush their prey without detection. They are even capable of mimicking the sounds of other animals to lure in prey, including the crying of a human child.