#nogad

IT ENDS TODAY!  THE FINAL SEVEN ENTRIES ARE HERE!  HUZZAH!

Our first monster today is @bonelessnerd‘s island monster, Nogad.  There were a couple of attempts to take the mythological concept of “an island that is also a monster” and give it an Atom Age revampe for this contest, but Nogad went the extra mile and also worked in a reference to The Fantastic Voyage and other “people shrink down and experience the terrors of life at a very small size” movies that coexisted with the kaiju films ATOM pays homage to.  Massive even for a kaiju, Nogad is a brain-dead, comatose creature whose internal organs are an ecosystem all their own - and one that people actually end up exploring!  That’s right, he’s a literal Monster Island.  I had no idea what the rest of Nogad’s body was supposed to look like (his original picture cuts off at the waist), so I tried to keep it as taxonomically dubious as possible.

@polygonfighter‘s tar skeleton monster Index (original entry here) is next on our list.  There were a few different attempts at giving ATOM a blob monster (I suppose the Writhing Flesh’s features are too well defined for it to count), and Index mixed the whole “living tar monster” concept (a well known variant of the blob monster archetype) with a cool grim reaper motiff, giving ATOM a nice ghost kaiju in addition to a blob.  And yes, Index is literally a ghost in the ATOM interpretation of its bio - ectoplasm and all.

Torgong (original entry here) by SirKaijuofVaudeville is our next entry.  Like other entries in the contest, Torgong’s bio homages other prominent trends in atomic age monster fiction that ATOM otherwise overlooked - specifically the idea of “mole people” (which I suppose ATOM kinda skirts close to with the Reptodites but doesn’t fully embrace), ancient civilizations, giant monster god worship, and human sacrifice.  There are also some neat ties to ATOM’s hints that aliens might have experimented with hybridizing terrestrial fauna - Torgong may be Mothmanud’s kin by way of genetic modification!  Also he’s a big gnarly rock dog man, and that’s pretty rad.

Cervere (original entry here) by @scatha5 is our next monster, and a particularly bonkers one at that: he’s a big smelly cat.  Like, super smelly.  Sometimes in a good way, sometimes in a bad way, depending on what kind of smells you appreciate.  Powerful odors aren’t tied to felines all that often, but considering how often they rub or spray their fluids on things to mark their territory, it makes a lot of sense.  Cervere’s color scheme is also pretty rad - I particularly love that punk rock purple crest of hair.  All in all, a good smelly cat.

@cstalli‘s beautiful flower fairies, the Trifitan Arum (original entry here), are our next monster, though calling them monsters might be a bit slanderous.  They reproduce rapidly, sure, but their effect on the environment is nothing but beneficial, and they’re completely non-malicious so long as their gardens are protected.  I’m a sucker for heroic monsters, especially ones that are environmentalists, and I’m also a sucker for the idea of plant people, so these fairies are pretty fuckin’ awesome on a lot of levels to me.

Our penultimate monster is @profcene‘s well meaning amphibious hyena, Gevlek (original entry here)!  Taking ATOM’s design themes to heart, Gevlek uses a traditionally “evil” animal as a base and builds a really sympathetic and benevolent personality for it, making a lovable scavenger whose desire for friendship is hampered by his own social awkwardness.  It’s ok, Gevlek, you’re in good company.  There are a lot of cool little design details that make Gevlek more than JUST big hyena, from the giraffe-like horns to his slightly sea-monstery dorsal fin and lizardy tail.  He’s a good boy.

Our final monster is @ask-drakos‘s enormous blackbird, Okhalee (original entry here)!  After tons of weird prehistoric, flightless, and/or vampiric birds, it’s kind of nice to get one that’s basically just a big normal bird with a few extra claws and wattles.  Okhalee has a fun personality too, having been the result of a sudden kaiju-fication and thus retaining all the aggressive territoriality of his much smaller kin.  He’s one of those “heroic to humans because he does not tolerate other monsters” style kaiju - an asshole to other giant monsters, but a protector to the tiny mammals living in his territory.

And that’s it!  No more files!  However, there are a few prizes left for me to give to our Grand Winners, so check out after the cut, won’t you?