Therianthropes (Killing Bites)

**Therianthropes** are a species that feature in Killing Bites.

## History

Therianthropes were the products of advanced genetic engineering techniques on Earth that managed to successfully blend human DNA with that of animals. Thus, the creation of a hybrid organism was created for humans that went through this process with them possessing superhuman abilities. The technology to create these hybrid organisms was said to had been made by the geneticist Shidou Reiichi. In time, the competing interests of Japan's various zaibastsu who settled disputes through arena fights began to make use of these creatures. This led to the establishment of the **Killing Bites** tournament where money was bet on the various Therianthropes who fought one another to the death. These matches involved a sponsor that bet something of value that was either large sums of money or young people to be harvested of their organs for further genetic research. Originally, the process of turning individuals into Therianthrope Brutes were carefully controlled and monitored with individual characters being seen as those shown with more negative personality traits being refused. Five years ago, Reiichi became Director of the Killing Bites where he relaxed the regulations surrounding the transformation of people going through the Therianthrope Operation allowing for criminals along with other unsavoury characters to go through the procedure.

Around this time, there was a bill being proposed to government that involved the de-regulation of genetic engineering. To the public, it was believed that this concerned genetically modified crops but for the zaibatsu it meant the creation of Therianthropes. The various zaibatsu sought control over the law in order to give their respective corporate forces a key advantage. To determine who would get the advantage, the zaibatsu decided to have everything determined through a Killing Bites tournament known as the **Destroyal**. The Destroyal was held on an isolated island with the Zaibatsu heads controlling the movements of their Brutes.

With the Bureau the winner of the Destroyal, Dr. Reiichi gained enough power to control the zaibatsu in order to push forward with legislation that made the practice of genetic engineering more common. This allowed for Therianthropes to be unveiled to the world with more and more people going through the procedure. As a result, the Killing Bites became a public contest that was televised and open to various contestants to prove their worth in battle.

## Overview

In appearance, most Therianthropes resembled humans in their ordinary form with this being the case until they were ready for battle. Typically, they were humans that went through genetic engineering as part of the **Theriantrophy Operation** whereby they were altered by having animal traits added into their genetic codes. At that point, they transformed into their respective animal hybrid state where their beastial nature manifested. Reptilian Therianthropes were noted for being more primal and ferocious due to the genes added to their bodies. It was said that the creatures merged the beastial traits of animals with the mind of a human. Each of the Therianthropes that were transformed were shown to share many of the personality traits of the animals that they were based on with them gaining superhuman abilities. Individuals were able to go through partial transformations whereby they turned parts of their body into their Therianthrope form such as just their hands or their ears. Such a process helped conserve energy when compared to full body transformations. A particular class of Therianthrope were **Origin Beasts** that were born with a mingling of animal and human DNA rather than go through the operation with these specimens being more powerful.

The zaibatsu that controlled the activities of the Therianthropes included the; Ishida Zaibatsu, Yatsubishi Zaibatsu, Sumitomo Zaibatsu and the Mitsukado Zaibatsu. Those Therianthropes that were part of these business conglomerates were referred to as **Brutes**.

## Members

* **Hitomi Uzaki** : a young silver short-haired girl whose Brute form was that of a Honey Badger that gave her sharp claws and fangs along with tough injury resistant skin.
* **Tani Yugo** : also known as **Leo**, he was a young dark haired man whose Brute form was that of a Lion where he transformed into a seven-foot tall humanoid lion with powerful claws and fangs along with great strength.
* **Pure Inui** :
* **Kuroi Tasuku** :
* **Akemi Kishimoto** : a young dark haired woman with her Brute form being that of a Horned Lizard that allowed her to project blood from her eye at high speeds that could wound or kill others.
* **Ui Inaba** : a young pink long haired girl whose Brute form was that of a Rabbit allowing her to be fast and use her ears as a kind of radar.
* **Taiga Nakanishi** : a tall long-haired male whose Brute form was that of a Tiger giving him incredible strength and speed with him savaging his foes by using his sharp claws.
* **Eruza Nakanishi** : a young girl with pig-tails whose Brute form was that of a Cheetah giving her incredible speed and claws.
* **Okajima Ichinosuke** :
* **Ryoko Araka** : a young long haired girl whose Brute form was that of a Porcupine allowing her to manifest steel-like quills from her body which she could extend to cut people or project outwards to pierce through skin or steel.
* **Den Onuma** : a short dark haired male whose Brute form was that of a Cobra whereby he transformed with a semi-human upper body whilst his lower body turned into a powerful tail. He could trigger a full transformation where his upper body had a cobra head with him able to wrap foes in his tail or emit a neurotoxin from his fangs into a fist to paralyse opponents and also used his tongue to find his targets even if blinded.
* **Ryuji Shinna** : a tall male whose Brute form was that of a Crocodile whereby he had powerful snapping jaws, could heal injuries and could manifest a powerful tail to bludgeon enemies.
* **Kazama Kaede** : a female with short dark hair whose Brute form was that of a Gecko allowing her to stick to any surface and give her an unbreakable grip.
* **Shota Yabe** : a male with short-dark hair whose Brute form was that of a Gorilla where his transformed state turned his arms into that of the great ape giving him incredible strength.
* **Kaori Rikujou** : a tall short-haired woman whose Brute form was that of a Civet giving her claws and fangs along with a tail but her power was controlling pheromones that could cause people to experience lust and sexual urges for one another.
* **Takeshi Kido** : a tall male whose Brute form was that of a Pangolin that gave him incredible strength and defensive armor along with a tail that could be used to bludgeon his foes.

## Notes

* Therianthropes were created by Shinya Murata and featured in the setting of Killing Bites.
* The name was based on the term Therianthropy that was a mythical mystical ability to shapeshift into animal forms.