Okay so since I've had a weekend full of ancient beasts as a result of seeing Outlander, Gran Turino and picking up the DVD box for Primeval I decided to post this.
Not long after the incident with the worms in the office building an anomaly opens in the British countryside that links the permian to 709 AD. Unfortunately this occurs near the sight of an alien ship's crashlanding in a lake and as a result the hideous alien beast that slaughtered the crew goes wandering through and ends up in the British countryside.
So we've got the Morwen from the viking/sci-fi flick Outlander is turned loose on Primeval's modern earth.
For an alternate scenario it ends up in the Permian right after the future predators get loose there.
EDIT: Outlander at least is probably obscure enough to warrant more explanation. I'll try and get some more information up when I get a chance to sit down and type it up.
Primeval addition
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Admiral Valdemar
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Re: Primeval addition
More info would be good. Much as I like the sound of Vikings fighting aliens, it's something I can't compare to the Permian before and after the Future Predators.
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SylasGaunt
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Re: Primeval addition
Okay got a chance to sit and type.
The clip 'Moorwen Attack' (spanish dubbed unfortunately) is the only non-trailer clip I could find on the internet that shows it in action. It's available here: http://outlander.solsector.net/scenes.htm
If I had to make a rough guess at size I'd say comparable to the Gorgonopsid from the first Ep of Primeval, give or take a bit. The Moorwen is a quadrapedal predator, with an apparent preference for hunting at night. It's bioluminescent as you can see in the clip and at one point in the movie Kainan comments that it uses that to lure its prey in. From any kind of real distance it's nearly invisible in the dark (one scene in the film had them spotting a viking being attacked and it looked like he was being mobbed by fireflies.
There's a creature design clip : http://outlander.solsector.net/MEDIA.htm#video
You can see a pre-production design model of the thing.
The Moorwen's arsenal consists of the usual predatory teeth and claws in addition to a few other notables. Firstly there is the tail which seems to branch into multiple thinner limbs. These whiplike limbs have sufficient strength that several of them can lift a full grown man, and they can move fast enough to produce a bullwhip like crack. In addition they can stab with enough force to completely impale a human being (I don't recall anyone armored being stabbed but I'd have to see the movie again to say for sure) and when whipped horizontally they can strike with sufficient force to cleanly decapitate a well muscled adult male. The scene depicted in Moorwen attack indicates either that it also has some kind of energy blast with a considerable charge time (sufficient to rip an adult human to pieces) or at minimum can produce a blinding flash.
Defensively the Moorwen has many spines, and is quite large. Swords, hammers, and IIRC several spears broken when they struck it, and the only attack that seemed to cause it any noticeable harm was being covered in oil and burning for several minutes (of course while that was going on it rampaged about while ablaze and massacred armed, veteran vikings left and right and casually decapitated one of the local chieftans using its tail without even slowing down). Spoiler
It should be noted that this particular Moorwen is the last of its species, the rest having been exterminated by Kainan's race when they wanted to colonize the planet they inhabited. Apparently they also felt the best way to do that with minimum losses was using carpet nuking and aerial gunships.
So its big, pissed, can see well in the dark, may or may not have an energy blast, seems to hold a grudge against our species (most of the bodies from the human colony were reasonably intact.. which coupled with the other signs of intelligence it showed would indicate to me the Moorwen destroyed the place for vengeance rather than a meal).
Oh and let's not forget.. Spoiler
The clip 'Moorwen Attack' (spanish dubbed unfortunately) is the only non-trailer clip I could find on the internet that shows it in action. It's available here: http://outlander.solsector.net/scenes.htm
If I had to make a rough guess at size I'd say comparable to the Gorgonopsid from the first Ep of Primeval, give or take a bit. The Moorwen is a quadrapedal predator, with an apparent preference for hunting at night. It's bioluminescent as you can see in the clip and at one point in the movie Kainan comments that it uses that to lure its prey in. From any kind of real distance it's nearly invisible in the dark (one scene in the film had them spotting a viking being attacked and it looked like he was being mobbed by fireflies.
There's a creature design clip : http://outlander.solsector.net/MEDIA.htm#video
You can see a pre-production design model of the thing.
The Moorwen's arsenal consists of the usual predatory teeth and claws in addition to a few other notables. Firstly there is the tail which seems to branch into multiple thinner limbs. These whiplike limbs have sufficient strength that several of them can lift a full grown man, and they can move fast enough to produce a bullwhip like crack. In addition they can stab with enough force to completely impale a human being (I don't recall anyone armored being stabbed but I'd have to see the movie again to say for sure) and when whipped horizontally they can strike with sufficient force to cleanly decapitate a well muscled adult male. The scene depicted in Moorwen attack indicates either that it also has some kind of energy blast with a considerable charge time (sufficient to rip an adult human to pieces) or at minimum can produce a blinding flash.
Defensively the Moorwen has many spines, and is quite large. Swords, hammers, and IIRC several spears broken when they struck it, and the only attack that seemed to cause it any noticeable harm was being covered in oil and burning for several minutes (of course while that was going on it rampaged about while ablaze and massacred armed, veteran vikings left and right and casually decapitated one of the local chieftans using its tail without even slowing down). Spoiler
If this particular creature is typical of its species, then they would appear to be intelligent, knowing enough to extinguish light sources, and one was apparently able to identify the perimeter guns of a colony, identify a gap in their coverage, and kill every single human being within the compound. It was also able to infiltrate a viking settlement with a wooden wall, watchtowers, and sentries, kill 8 people, snatch three of the bodies, and escape over the wall without being spotted by anyone but Kainan.
It should be noted that this particular Moorwen is the last of its species, the rest having been exterminated by Kainan's race when they wanted to colonize the planet they inhabited. Apparently they also felt the best way to do that with minimum losses was using carpet nuking and aerial gunships.
So its big, pissed, can see well in the dark, may or may not have an energy blast, seems to hold a grudge against our species (most of the bodies from the human colony were reasonably intact.. which coupled with the other signs of intelligence it showed would indicate to me the Moorwen destroyed the place for vengeance rather than a meal).
Oh and let's not forget.. Spoiler
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SylasGaunt
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Re: Primeval addition
The two weeks aren't quite up yet and it's gotten some more theaters. Plus a few more clips have shown up here and there.
This clip came up in the review thread on SB, it's from a flashback showing Kainan's people taking the Moorwen's world in a most sheptastic fashion.
http://s147.photobucket.com/albums/r310 ... lander.flv
This one shows one of the Moorwen's rampages in the viking settlement.
Spoilery clip
This clip came up in the review thread on SB, it's from a flashback showing Kainan's people taking the Moorwen's world in a most sheptastic fashion.
http://s147.photobucket.com/albums/r310 ... lander.flv
This one shows one of the Moorwen's rampages in the viking settlement.
Spoilery clip
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TheMuffinKing
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Re: Primeval addition
Sorry to hijack your thread, but I wanted to throw another fictional beast into the ring: The phile, from the novel "Killer" by David Drake and Karl Wagner.
In the novel the phile aka.sauropithecus(?) is described as a man sized slightly hunched over blue scaled beast. They are faster than a man and have more endurance by far while their attacks can sever the head of a man in one effortless swipe. Their attacks have also been described as being little more than a blur and they can easily a fully grown man. For weapons they have razor sharp and as speculated, diamond hard retractable claws within their human like hands.
Phile intelligence is sufficient for them to recognize weapons ranging from simple blades to energy weapons and recognize and utilize the function of rafts, boats etc. This is demonstrated in the novel by the phile figuring the use of a rudder on a barge, the novel explains it better. Philes don't utilize weapons other than their own natural abilities.
Philes are armored with fine blue scales that are tough, mitigating the effects of an enraged tigers claws (the claws left a series of ragged scars). They also have a rapid healing ability, the same phile had a dislocated shoulder and several broken bones, torn connective tissues, etc and managed to completely heal in under a week.
Philes are divided between male and female and the female implants eggs into a live host while the larvae eat their way out. Phile females, once bred, can lay many clutches of fertilized eggs from a single breeding and delay the laying/implanting of said eggs as the situation dictates.
In the novel, a single injured phile kills an enraged tiger in single combat, while sustaining non-crippling injuries. Based on all this I think the phile, aka sauropithecus, would be an interesting match against the morwyn.
In the novel the phile aka.sauropithecus(?) is described as a man sized slightly hunched over blue scaled beast. They are faster than a man and have more endurance by far while their attacks can sever the head of a man in one effortless swipe. Their attacks have also been described as being little more than a blur and they can easily a fully grown man. For weapons they have razor sharp and as speculated, diamond hard retractable claws within their human like hands.
Phile intelligence is sufficient for them to recognize weapons ranging from simple blades to energy weapons and recognize and utilize the function of rafts, boats etc. This is demonstrated in the novel by the phile figuring the use of a rudder on a barge, the novel explains it better. Philes don't utilize weapons other than their own natural abilities.
Philes are armored with fine blue scales that are tough, mitigating the effects of an enraged tigers claws (the claws left a series of ragged scars). They also have a rapid healing ability, the same phile had a dislocated shoulder and several broken bones, torn connective tissues, etc and managed to completely heal in under a week.
Philes are divided between male and female and the female implants eggs into a live host while the larvae eat their way out. Phile females, once bred, can lay many clutches of fertilized eggs from a single breeding and delay the laying/implanting of said eggs as the situation dictates.
In the novel, a single injured phile kills an enraged tiger in single combat, while sustaining non-crippling injuries. Based on all this I think the phile, aka sauropithecus, would be an interesting match against the morwyn.
