The Bhagra

**The Bhagra** is one of three playable monsters that may antagonize the player while they attempt to escape The Sea Fort in *Monstrum 2*.

## Description

**The Bhagra** is a monster that mixes traits from both reptilian and mammalian predators. It has black and tan skin, webbed hands with four clawed fingers each, slender, double-jointed legs, two clawed toes on each foot, a back bristling with hair-like spines, four bony spikes running from its eyeless head (though it has what appears to be small, slit-like remnants of what were once eye sockets) to nape, a split jaw that extends halfway down its torso (explaining the teeth lining its chest and thighs, which both serve as horizontally-oriented jaws to crunch on either side of the body of prey), and a long tongue. While it is capable of bipedalism, it prefers to move quadrupedally, since it is able to move faster on all fours despite the lack of a tail to help balance it.

## Capabilities

**PHYSICAL CAPABILITIES:** In terms of strength, the Bhagra's long, flesh-tearing claws are comparable to the Malacosm in that they can deal decently moderate damage, but inferior to raw force of the Brute's punch. Its jaws are engineered to extend halfway down its torso, allowing it to bite and consume more of its chosen victim. As demonstrated in one of its killing animations, the Bhagra would first use its long tongue to grab the prey by the throat, strangling them as it pulls them into its extended jaws, with the main jaws of the head biting the prey's throat, the chest jaws crushing the prey's chest, and the thigh jaws clamping the prey's lower torso. Even so, the Bhagra's strength is clearly not its greatest asset, and neither is its speed (though stated to be a fast monster, it is actually just as quick as the prisoners). Rather, its lethality lies in its sense of smell, maneuverability, and stealth, aided by its tremendous leaping ability and small, hunched frame, which allows it to keep a lower profile and crawl through crouch spots, small, narrow gaps that the Brute and the Malacosm cannot fit through. It is also able to jump through windows to pursue prey more efficiently or cut them off (though a future update will allow the Malacosm to be able to travel through windows as well).

**LOCOMOTION:** While it is capable of standing on two legs, the Bhagra is in its fastest, most agile state when running on all fours. However, despite being meant to be a quick killer, the monster is only as fast as the humans it pursues. This may be due to the absence of a tail, which is an appendage important in running animals for balance and agility, and this may also indicate how the Bhagra is created and designed with less focus on raw speed to pursue prey in a straight chase, and more focus on stealthy, ambush-based hunting. The power of its legs (considered as one of the greatest achievements of those who helped bioengineer the creature) allow it to charge up fierce, explosive lunges, which it uses to leap onto upper floors, traverse gaps, cover great distances and pin down escaping prisoners, or latch onto ceilings and drop down on prey from there. In fact, the Bhagra, with its opposable claws, is able to move faster on the ceilings than on the ground (though it is only able to crawl across the parts of certain ceilings), and hunting on the ceiling also allows it to keep its presence more concealed from prey until it is right on top of them, its tremendous leaping ability allowing it to position itself in unexpected places and pounce on victims from unexpected angles.

**SENSES:** While the Bhagra appears to have no eyes, the monster has very small, closed up slits that are possibly the remnants of the eyes of the former human subject, which may explain why it is said to still possesses a rudimentary sense of sight that may be further developed in future iterations following additional testing. What matters more, however, is its exceptional sense of smell, which can detect scent trails left behind by Prisoners (in-game, scent trails are seen in the form of blue fog, though trails are green if left more recently, indicating that the prey is close) and allow the Bhagra to distinguish the scent of prey even when diluted by distance or saturated by ambient odors and other environmental factors. It is, however, believed to be reliant on the movements of air currents to catch and process the scent of prey, so, while not a guarantee of survival, those being pursued can possibly evade and thwart the Bhagra's sense of smell by standing still for some time.

**INTELLIGENCE:** The Bhagra is animalistic, stated to be completely feral and thus an instinct-based killer. It is said to respond poorly to commands, and sometimes won't respond to orders at all. However, it is said that further neural enhancements (brain upgrades) could possibly change this and form it into a more lethal, premier assassination unit on the private market. Nevertheless, animal cunning and experience still allow older specimens to refine their tactics. With adequate knowledge of the environment and behavioral patterns of prey learned via predatory instinct, an experienced Bhagra can hide in the ceilings and dark corners of areas frequently passed and visited, waiting for prey to ambush. When chasing prey, they would also accordingly switch from floor to ceiling and vice-versa to get an advantage and quickly close the distance between them and their chosen victim.

## Warning Signs

For what is supposedly a stealthy monster, the Bhagra still makes a lot of sound. Its footsteps are relatively loud and make a shuffling sound, even more so when it is on the ceiling, where its footsteps sound like it's climbing a metal fence. The monster snarls and growls constantly, and it makes an echoing guttural screech when it starts its scent-tracking ability and a lower, guttural growl when it ends.

## Trivia

* With its eyeless face, the shape of its skull and toothed jaw, dark coloration, body build, default quadrupedal (occasionally bipedal) stance, and stealthy, feral nature, the Bhagra reflects the Xenomorph (most especially "The Runner" from Alien 3) much more than the Hunter from the first game.
	+ While not the exact same due to its lower lethality and greater range, the Bhagra's long tongue can also be seen as resembling a Xenomorph's pharyngeal jaws.
* While the Bhagra appears to be a more robust successor of the Hunter given their similar traits and methods, it lacks its predecessor's ability to reproduce asexually. Instead, this is a trait possessed and weaponized by the Malacosm, who, in terms of its other traits, is likely the successor of the Fiend.

## References

Field Report: Bhagra

 • **The Bhagra** • The Malacosm