#manoamano

So I’ve decided to throw my hat into the giant monster-making arena and enter @tyrantisterror‘s ATOM Create a Kaiju Contest.

Here’s my first entry, the mighty Manoamano!

Aliases- The Hand of Fate, The Hand of Death, The Hand of God, The Hand of Doom, etc.

Place of Origin- Unknown, believed to be Deep Space

Notable Stomping Grounds- Formerly Mars, currently wandering the Earth

Size- I’m bad at this, uh, Big? Like big enough to cage a small-to-medium size kaiju in its “fingers”.

History- Manoamano made its appearance in the solar system during the Martian Age of Monsters, crash landing on the red planet and beginning a manic and destructive rampage. Mano was one of the first monsters to be confronted by Kemlasulla on behalf of the martian people, although it was ultimately the combined effort of Kemlasulla and Ullawdra that defeated it. Entombed deep under the surface of mars completely coated in crimson vines, Mano was dormant for thousands of years.

Only after Ullawdra left Mars could Mano begin to struggle out of its vegetable prison and claw its way back to the surface. The alien kaiju scoured the now barren surface of mars for years before, apparently unable to find what it was searching for amid the red dust, taking its leave.

Using its uncanny abilities to defy the dead planet’s gravity, Mano launched itself into space, crashing to earth to continue its endless search.

Biology- Even compared to other extraterrestrial kaiju, Manoamano is an oddity. It’s internal structure appears to be pure muscle and yamaneon skeleton, with no identifiable organs whatsoever.

 A luminescent white substance, rich in yamaneon suspended in a gell-like matrix, circulates through its body, spilling upwards out of the gaping wound at the rear end of its body, orbiting in a bizarre “halo” before returning to its flesh.

Mano’s many eyes are actually incredibly primitive, and are essentially blind besides the ability to tell light from dark. In fact, Manoa is completely deaf as well and seems to lack any other senses besides its sense of touch, capable of gaining a rough idea of its surrounding by drumming its “fingers” across the ground and sensing the heavy footsteps of approaching kaiju.

Kaijuologists often make a point to avoid referring to Manoamano as a “hand” or even “hand-like”, citing the kaiju’s extraterrestrial nature. Mano’s resemblance to a human hand is coincidental at best, and merely the human mind attempting to anthropomorphize a completely alien entity. One exception is Dr. Wilhelmina Lerna, who has stated on the record that Mano’s anatomy and behavior suggest that it may, in fact, be a small part of a much larger being. A being which, in Dr Lerna’s words, “is hopefully lightyears away, long dead, or preferably, both.”

Powers/Abilities- Much of Mano’s danger in combat comes from its sheer size and strength. Grappling or otherwise engaging the Hand at close range is incredibly ill-advised, as the kaiju is large and strong enough to simply crush a kaiju only slightly smaller than itself to death, and even larger kaiju can find themselves trapped by a nearly unshakable grip.

Perhaps a by-product of its yamaneon-rich body fluid, Manoamano is capable of, for a short time, defying gravity. This ability is rarely used, as it seems to exhaust the kaiju greatly, but can be utilized quite efficiently- slamming into opponents from above, launching itself for a devastating punch/bodyslam, or throwing the enemy literally over the horizon.

It is this power over gravity that allowed Manoamano to escape mars, albeit greatly exahusting itself in the process. It is likely that Mano would not be a ble to flee the earth’s higher gravity and thicker atmosphere in the same manor.

Personality- Mano is old. Very very old. It was old when it arrived on mars. It was old, but it was still angry. It was in pain, and it was searching. searching for the thing that hurt it, and  searching...

Mano is no longer as aggressive as it was during its days on mars. Its search has become less frantic, less destructive. It is loosing energy. It cannot remember exactly what it is searching for. Others like itself? No.. that isn’t quite right...

Whatever sense of direction drives Manoamano seems to be drawn to large deposits of yamaneon, and the massive extraterrestrial will travel across continents and crawl across the sea floor following them. Though this often puts it at odds with local kaiju, Mano itself is rarely confrontational and would in most cases rather be left to its wanderings.

One exception to this seems to be the martian kaiju Kemlasulla, which Mano appears to still bare a grudge against after their confrontations on mars. The distinctive vibrations caused by the tripod’s three-footed gait cause the hand great aggitation, and if it were to happen upon a lone Kemlasulla, it would likely result in an intense rematch. The rumble of Ullawdra’s vines, on the other hand, seem to strike fear into whatever Manoamono possesses instead of a heart, as it invariably flees in the red vine’s wake.

The only other kaiju Mano could be said to have any sort of relationship with is Minerva, albeit a fairly one-sided one. Minerva was the first kaiju to investigate Mano’s arrival on earth, an encounter which was nearly fatal for the giant woman. Since then, Minerva has often been on the scene to observe the kaiju whenever it reappears, albeit usually from a health distance away, fascinated by its strange actions.

Artist Notes-