Maneaters

**Maneaters**, also referred to as **Managers** or **Daidarabotchi** (ダイダラボッチ, 大座法師) by the Japanese, were a type of giant humanoid monster that lived in the Underworld underneath Manny's. One Maneater in particular, known as "Manny", serves as the main antagonist of Bonesaw577's 2023 indie horror game, *Manny's*.

Maneaters were gigantic creatures, growing from 300 to 500 feet in size. They were the single biggest creature to ever walk the earth. They possessed a tough, rock-like skin, an enormous mouth, and a glowing red crystal protruding out of their heads.

## Background

Maneaters were denizens of the Underworld, living under Manny's restaurants for the sole purpose of consuming the bodies and souls of customers killed in the restaurant. In life-threatening situations where conditions are perfect for Manny's to manifest itself, victims who are killed both inside and outside of the restaurant are taken into the Underworld. Their bodies are then offered up to the Maneater for consumption during a ritual. The Maneaters seemed to have derived power from the ritual and subsequent eating of the restaurant's victims.

The Maneater seen in the game has a human name, Manny. It is not known how the Maneater got its name or whether the restaurant is named after Manny himself, Maneaters in general, or, if Manny was the last Maneater alive, that all of the restaurants under Manny's control are simply named after him because he is the last of his kind.

## Description

### Size

Maneaters were considered to be the largest creatures on the face of the earth, though few humans have ever come into contact with one and lived to speak of it. The creatures grow to enormous heights of 300 to 500 feet, rarely surpassing these figures. They were also humanoid and bipedal, capable of walking great distances, requiring an incredible amount of space in order to move freely.

### Head

Planted firmly in the middle of its forehead was a large red crystal, which glows brightly when the creature was threatened or may have also indicated communication. The crystal itself is made of a glass-like material, making it slightly brittle. It is surprisingly conductive at room temperature and was capable of charging up to release a focused beam of concentrated electrical energy at a target with incredible accuracy. Upon charging, the crystal creates a field of intense static electricity and electromagnetic energy that may evaporate moisture in the air within a large radius. The crystal was believed to have been the source of the Maneater's power and life force.

Maneaters possessed a strangely shaped head that bulges out at the sides near the top of the skull. They also had an enormous mouth with an incredibly powerful jaw; a pair of opposable articulated structures at the entrance of the mouth, very similar to a human's jaw. The Maneater would frequently utter a strange growl, presumably as a form of echolocation but also as byproduct of respiration. Maneaters were known to roar at their prey as well as other threats in order to disorient them. Visibly, it appears the Maneater has no nose and no eyes with which to see, though it appears to recognize its surroundings and seems visually aware at all times. The Maneater was also extremely intelligent and was capable of simple communication, as well as having the ability to problem solve, making it a dangerous predator.

### Body

The Maneaters skin was rust colored, durable yet tough, scaly, and rock-like, capable of deflecting bullets and other forms of small artillery. It had a humanoid body, complete with two legs with five toes on each foot, as well as two arms with five fingers on both of its hands, including opposable thumbs, startlingly similar to a human being. The massive creature was capable of walking and running, able to travel great distances in very short amounts of time. Interestingly enough, the Maneater, despite its size in an enclosed environment like the Underworld, is surprisingly quiet, able to sneak up on prey in its natural habitat, using the fog for cover. With its size comes an enormous amount of strength, with the Maneater able to lift hundreds of tons of weight all on its own. Though the Maneater grows during its life, it is unknown if they simply grow to a certain size and stop or if they continue growing the rest of their lives. The average lifespan of a Maneater is currently unknown.

## Manny's

Tyler says during the second night that the restaurant, called Manny's, gets its name from Manny, the "firm but fair" manager of the establishment. The player can deduce from the logos of Manny on the restaurant's walls that the child's drawings, scattered around the premises, also contain depictions of Manny. Out of the nine drawings in the game, five of them contain a child's rendition of Manny, who looks extremely similar to the many logos of it on the walls of the restaurant.

During Tyler's heated conversation with Bryan over him killing the woman on the raft, a muffled inhuman cry is heard coming from below the restaurant. Tyler looks toward the freezer, suggesting this is where the sound is coming from, since the hatch that leads to the Underworld is located inside. Close to the ending of the game, Bryan happens upon a bridge, the other side of which cannot be seen due to the presence of a dense Eldritch-like fog. Bryan comes upon the giant silhouette of Manny obscured by the fog, who watches Bryan while he crosses the bridge. It lets out one final cry before disappearing.

Manny is fully revealed during the ritual at the end of the game. It slams its hand down on the rocks, creating a large tremor, alerting Bryan to its presence and showing off the sheer size of the creature. It then walks up to the edge of the cliff, the crystal on its head glowing a bright red as it waits for the employees to finish the ritual. It opens its mouth, waiting for them to throw in the body of Victor Petrovsky. The ending of the game and thus the fate of the Maneater depends on the player's actions.

If the player chooses not to create the Improvised Explosive Device (IED) out of Petrovsky's body, the ritual will commence as normal, with the employees feeding the body to the Maneater, who gains more energy from the ritual's consummation. Bryan approaches the Maneater, where the creature feels threatened at his presence due to the glowing of the crystal on its head. Bryan, driven insane by the sight of the Maneater, offers himself up to be sacrificed to it. Manny accepts his sacrifice and eats Bryan alive. The resulting sacrifice causes Bryan to be employed at Manny's, perpetuating the reign of the Maneater.

If the player successfully completes the IED, the ritual will play out as before, though this time, Bryan will intervene, lighting the dynamite hidden within Petrovsky's body in the hopes the consuming of the body by the Maneater will result in its death. The explosives blow up too quickly however, killing the employees instead. Manny roars at Bryan and becomes enraged at Tyler for allowing these events to occur.

As Bryan attempts to flee, Manny blocks his escape on the bridge with his hands and attempts to eat Bryan. The attack results in the destruction of the bridge and Bryan falls into the water below. Bryan gets a glimpse of Manny while hidden in the water, who appears to be colossal in size, its head barely visible in the fog above. It gets to its feet, able to easily walk through the deep water surrounding the bridge. It walks over to a clearing, where it appears to bend over, vomiting a black liquid on to the cave floor. It rubs its face to clean off the liquid, before getting back up and walking off into the distance.

Manny is seen again when Bryan and Tyler become friends after their confrontation. Manny rejects Tyler's Paid Time Off (PTO) in the form of a written letter, which he drops to him from the air. Tyler becomes enraged that Manny would betray his trust in him, to which Manny awards him with a ninth consecutive Employee of the Month award. The bribe has no effect on Tyler, who tosses it back at Manny waiting in the fog. Tyler quits Manny's, which enrages the creature, with it attempting to consume both of its enemies by attacking both Tyler and Bryan. They both manage to escape into a Mitsubishi A6M Zero airplane, which Manny also attempts to crush with his fist before the aircraft can take off.

Failing to stop them, the aircraft flies through the Underworld, but not before it is attacked by Manny once again, shooting a concentrated beam of energy from its crystal through a wall in order to carve a path toward the airplane. Manny attacks the plane with numerous attacks, such as punches, bites, and with the use of the charged beam from its crystal. Each stage of the fight causes Manny to get a little smarter with its attacks; for example jumping in different directions to avoid Bryan's use of the Type 97 Aircraft Machine Gun, covering its crystal, the source of its weakness, with its hand, and zigzagging to further avoid the plane's attacks. Shots to its touch skin do no damage, but the fight is over once Bryan does enough damage to the crystal.

Manny catches up to the plane, crushing it in its hand while Tyler and Bryan attempt to jump to safety. The crushing of the airplane results in Tyler's leg becoming trapped, forcing him to drop Bryan to safety. Tyler falls into Manny's mouth with lit dynamite, blowing himself up as well as dealing the killing blow to Manny. The resulting explosion bypasses Manny's tough exterior defense, blood pouring from the wound in its neck. It utters one last roar before falling and disappearing into the dense fog.

## Trivia

* Though only one Maneater is seen during the events of *Manny's*, there are skeletal remains of another Maneater in the Underworld that suggest there used to be more of the them at one point. It appears that Maneaters have existed for a long time, presumably even before World War II.
* The disappearance of the Japanese soldiers in the Underworld during World War II may be an indication that they came into contact with a Maneater at some point and either were attacked by it or suffered the same fate as the customers of Manny's.
* There is an incredible amount of artillery seen in strategic points around the Underworld, aimed into the fog. This suggests the Japanese may have fought with a Maneater at some point or they were simply using the artillery as a defense in case of attack.
* There was to be an entirely different final boss battle, consisting of Bryan running down a spiral-like open cave room with Manny trapped in the middle, planting explosives at his feet, and escaping before the explosion, all while Manny threw rocks and tried to stomp on the player.
* Manny was originally going to be positioned underground like Atlas in Greek mythology, with the land the restaurant sits on resting on Manny's back. This would mean that Manny would have to be stationary and would attack with his laser crystal. Eventually, the idea for using a plane as well as a military jeep was considered, but was scrapped. Eventually, the idea for a stationary Manny was scrapped entirely in favor of a more dynamic and moving Manny that could walk around the environment.
* If the player crouches below the surface of the water while on the island, they can hear Manny underground. This sound effect changes depending on the time of day.
* The sound effects heard out in the ocean during the power outage are the same sound effects used by Manny during the game, including the underwater sounds and those used while attacking Bryan in the Underworld. There are multiple sources of the sounds during the power outage, suggesting there may be other Maneater-like monsters that exist.
* It is unknown what happens when one is consumed by a Maneater, though it appears that corpses that are fed to the creature give it energy while people who are fed to it alive become employees of the restaurant.
* Out of the five child's drawings with renditions of Manny, two of these pictures show him during the ritual with red-colored rain pouring from the sky as well as Manny devouring a person. The other three drawings show a friendly Manny holding a child's hand with a balloon, greeting a man ordering at the counter, and interacting with some restaurant food. While these last three drawings appear to show Manny exhibiting some benevolence, it may be that the child saw the logos on the wall and simply drew some innocent child-like pictures of him. The drawings of Manny at the ritual and eating a human being suggests that this child was in attendance of these horrific displays.
* During the scene where Tyler raises his arms in a ritualistic gesture as the employees deliver Petrovsky's body to him, Manny can be seen just briefly before pulling his head back into the fog.
* It appears that Manny upholds certain responsibilities to the restaurant, like awarding Employee of the Month awards, rejecting or approving PTO in the form of regular sized letters, and watching over the restaurant, much like an ordinary manager. The award he gives Tyler is presumably as an apology for rejecting his PTO but also to encourage Tyler to get rid of Bryan, suggesting they have some form of personal manager/employee relationship.
* Whether Tyler's PTO was rejected on the basis of his failure during the ritual or due to Bryan's presence is unknown, though it could be for both reasons.
* The design of the Maneater's head is based off of the shape and jaw formation of the Alien from the *Alien* franchise.
* Manny's sound effects, specifically his growling heard in the Underworld, is made from a single instrument in Garage Band.