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Description
Name: Opinicus
Scientific name: Eugryphem congregandae (hoarding true griffin)
Height: 4 meters
Length: 10 meters
Wingspan: 4.5 meters
Diet: Extreme omnivore
Affiliation: Minor Kaiju
Opinicus are a species of derived protoceratopsid responsible for the myth of the griffin and similar such creatures. They are native to India, but invasive populations (descended from opinicus taken from India as curiosities by the Ancient Greeks, Romans and Medieval Europeans) live in Europe and Egypt. These strange, winged dinosaurs are mostly carnivorous, their main prey consisting of deer and horses, but will supplement their diets with the odd plant and, more often, huge amounts of gold. Indeed, the opinicus' obsession with gold is literally legendary, and their preferred habitats are mountains, valleys and abandoned mines with high concentrations of the precious metal. Some MONARCH scientists even speculate that gold is less of a biological need for opinicus and more of an addiction which has been passed down through the generations. Due to their large size, thick skin and protective head frill, they are generally the apex predators of their ecosystems (unless if a Major Kaiju is nearby). Opinicus use their powerful beaks and sharp claws to grab and kill prey, and their favourite tactic is to divebomb their quarry, grab them and lift them into the air before dropping them to their deaths. If a larger predator than them is in their territory, the opinicus will throw its tail quills (which can regrow) at it. These quills cause painful wounds on smaller Kaiju and will irritate anything particularly large, rather like the hairs of a tarantula.

Name: Manticore
Scientific name: Eumanticora allokotos (grotesque true manticore)
Height: 2 meters (not counting the tail when it's raised)
Length: 6.1 meters
Diet: Carnivore
Affiliation: Minor Kaiju
The manticore is a highly dangerous, highly derived pantherine that roams the forests of Iran. Unlike the tigers that they are convergently evolved with, manticores have two forms of camouflage: the stripes on their legs disguise the rest of their bodies whilst their bony armour allows them to pretend to be rocks. This is due to their usually fairly short-sighted prey, which consist of boar, Persian fallow deer, Armenian mouflon and even water buffalo. Manticores are known to lie in wait for days, even weeks on end for prey. When in this state, the beast will leave its mouth open for the occasional snack: some small animals, once they think that the manticore is either dead or just part of the scenery, will actually wander into the Kaiju's mouth and will snatch them up with its pharyngeal jaws. When they show up, the deadly predators slowly raise their tails. Depending on how close their quarry comes, they will either sting them directly or toss the toxic spines (which can regrow) attached to their tail at the unfortunate animal. The venom causes extreme pain, paralysis and, after a day or two, death. The manticore will follow its prey as it dies like a Komodo dragon and, upon its death, will stop to feed. Their pharyngeal jaws allow them to feed very quickly, which is helpful to them, as they always seem to be in a rush. This is actually justified: despite manticores only being Threatened they only inhabit a tiny part of Iran (as its forest habitat is rather rare). As a result, these beasts are nearly always in territorial combat against their own species when they're not lying in wait or eating, with those same pharyngeal jaws being used to deal extra damage in combat.

Name: Serpopard
Scientific name: Ophiopardus aegyptiacus (Egyptian snake leopard)
Height: 4 meters (counting the neck as it's constantly raised apart from when attacking)
Length: 4.4 meters
Diet: Carnivore
Affiliation: Minor Kaiju
Serpopards are highly derived tanystropheids that roam the deserts of Egypt and the Middle East (though are far more common in the former). These bizarre reptiles hunt in mated pairs, though they will eventually kick out their children. These offspring will roam the deserts as bachelors/bachelorettes, eventually either claiming their own territory or mating with another serpopard and sharing their territory. Those who own their own turfs can increase their territory with the right mate, and so picking a mate for a serpopard is dictated both by love and strategy. The primary (and most obvious) weapon of these demonic creatures are their long, heavily muscled necks. Highly flexible due to the many bones that make them up and the stretchy muscles within them, these necks allow the serpopards to constrict their prey and move their heads through many different spaces after their quarry without even moving their legs, and also give their jaws enough strength to deal a powerful, clamping bite that can be used both to injure and to drag around. Serpopards are effective solo hunters and subsist mostly on a diet of rodents, lizards, snakes and other small animals, but prefer to hunt in pairs as it grants them access to larger quarry such as gazelles, jackals and antelope (as two serpopards can more easily pick them up).

Name: Baku
Scientific name: Oneirophagus tenebris (dark dream eater)
Height: 2 meters
Length: 5 meters
Diet: Carnivore
Affiliation: Minor Kaiju
Baku are strange palorchestid marsuapials that hail from Japan. Unlike their closest relative, the extinct, Australian Palorchestes, they are carnivorous, and utilise their tusk-like fangs and vicious claws to kill prey. They are mostly peaceful, however, as their quarry (such as serow and humans) can keep them satiated for days on end, and they prefer dense forest. Baku have a specific and deadly strategy for taking down prey: their trunks are practically loaded with a black, narcotic fluid which they squirt in the faces of their victims. If this liquid gets into any orifice of a prey animal's body, they will fall into a deep, dreamless sleep which cannot be broken until the effects of this narcotic venom wear off, allowing the baku to easily kill and eat their hapless prey. Despite this terrifying weapon, these vicious marsupials are very easily killed, and their relatively peaceful nature has meant that they have been domesticated in some regions of Japan (though of course they are expensive livestock). Though baku meat isn't eaten due to it apparently tasting extremely foul and bitter, their narcotic venom is harvested. Through scientific study, the venom has now been made into a drug which allows people to get peaceful sleep, though using too much of it at once will result in a sleep that may last for days, weeks or even months.

Name: Akhlut
Scientific name: Lupocetus arcticus
Height: 2 meters (not counting the fin)
Length: 4.3 meters
Diet: Carnivore
Affiliation: Minor Kaiju
Akhlut are derived relatives of the orca found in the cold waters around Canada, Greenland and Alaska. Though they spend most of their time in the sea, they come onto land to rest and mate. Fiercely territorial (to the point where they'll attack animals on land and even orcas and other predators far larger than them. Akhlut are solo hunters, possessing very powerful bites that allow them to deal large amounts of damage to their prey (which consist of walruses, seals and fish). Akhluts are often covered in healed scars from previous territorial conflicts.

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Main Character Inspirations:
Opinicus: The griffin of various mythologies and folklores, the (probably inaccurate) theory that Protoceratops skeletons inspired griffin myths and the opinicus of medieval heraldry
Manticore: The manticore of Persian mythology
Serpopard: The serpopard of Egyptian and Babylonian mythology
Baku: The baku of Japanese folklore
Akhlut: The akhlut of Inuit folklore

Appearance inspirations:
Opinicus: Traditional griffin descriptions, Protoceratops, eagles, lions and my own imagination
Manticore: Traditional manticore descriptions, tigers, eels, scorpions and my own imagination
Serpopard: Tanystropheus, leopards and my own imagination
Baku: Palorchestes, traditional baku depictions, bears and my own imagination
Akhlut: Orcas, wolfs and my own imagination

The manticore's pharyngeal jaws are my take on it having two rows of teeth (as I tried to draw that and the results were fairly terrible).

Description
Name: Opinicus
Scientific name: Eugryphem congregandae (hoarding true griffin)
Height: 4 meters
Length: 10 meters
Wingspan: 4.5 meters
Diet: Extreme omnivore
Affiliation: Minor Kaiju
Opinicus are a species of derived protoceratopsid responsible for the myth of the griffin and similar such creatures. They are native to India, but invasive populations (descended from opinicus taken from India as curiosities by the Ancient Greeks, Romans and Medieval Europeans) live in Europe and Egypt. These strange, winged dinosaurs are mostly carnivorous, their main prey consisting of deer and horses, but will supplement their diets with the odd plant and, more often, huge amounts of gold. Indeed, the opinicus' obsession with gold is literally legendary, and their preferred habitats are mountains, valleys and abandoned mines with high concentrations of the precious metal. Some MONARCH scientists even speculate that gold is less of a biological need for opinicus and more of an addiction which has been passed down through the generations. Due to their large size, thick skin and protective head frill, they are generally the apex predators of their ecosystems (unless if a Major Kaiju is nearby). Opinicus use their powerful beaks and sharp claws to grab and kill prey, and their favourite tactic is to divebomb their quarry, grab them and lift them into the air before dropping them to their deaths. If a larger predator than them is in their territory, the opinicus will throw its tail quills (which can regrow) at it. These quills cause painful wounds on smaller Kaiju and will irritate anything particularly large, rather like the hairs of a tarantula.

Name: Manticore
Scientific name: Eumanticora allokotos (grotesque true manticore)
Height: 2 meters (not counting the tail when it's raised)
Length: 6.1 meters
Diet: Carnivore
Affiliation: Minor Kaiju
The manticore is a highly dangerous, highly derived pantherine that roams the forests of Iran. Unlike the tigers that they are convergently evolved with, manticores have two forms of camouflage: the stripes on their legs disguise the rest of their bodies whilst their bony armour allows them to pretend to be rocks. This is due to their usually fairly short-sighted prey, which consist of boar, Persian fallow deer, Armenian mouflon and even water buffalo. Manticores are known to lie in wait for days, even weeks on end for prey. When in this state, the beast will leave its mouth open for the occasional snack: some small animals, once they think that the manticore is either dead or just part of the scenery, will actually wander into the Kaiju's mouth and will snatch them up with its pharyngeal jaws. When they show up, the deadly predators slowly raise their tails. Depending on how close their quarry comes, they will either sting them directly or toss the toxic spines (which can regrow) attached to their tail at the unfortunate animal. The venom causes extreme pain, paralysis and, after a day or two, death. The manticore will follow its prey as it dies like a Komodo dragon and, upon its death, will stop to feed. Their pharyngeal jaws allow them to feed very quickly, which is helpful to them, as they always seem to be in a rush. This is actually justified: despite manticores only being Threatened they only inhabit a tiny part of Iran (as its forest habitat is rather rare). As a result, these beasts are nearly always in territorial combat against their own species when they're not lying in wait or eating, with those same pharyngeal jaws being used to deal extra damage in combat.

Name: Serpopard
Scientific name: Ophiopardus aegyptiacus (Egyptian snake leopard)
Height: 4 meters (counting the neck as it's constantly raised apart from when attacking)
Length: 4.4 meters
Diet: Carnivore
Affiliation: Minor Kaiju
Serpopards are highly derived tanystropheids that roam the deserts of Egypt and the Middle East (though are far more common in the former). These bizarre reptiles hunt in mated pairs, though they will eventually kick out their children. These offspring will roam the deserts as bachelors/bachelorettes, eventually either claiming their own territory or mating with another serpopard and sharing their territory. Those who own their own turfs can increase their territory with the right mate, and so picking a mate for a serpopard is dictated both by love and strategy. The primary (and most obvious) weapon of these demonic creatures are their long, heavily muscled necks. Highly flexible due to the many bones that make them up and the stretchy muscles within them, these necks allow the serpopards to constrict their prey and move their heads through many different spaces after their quarry without even moving their legs, and also give their jaws enough strength to deal a powerful, clamping bite that can be used both to injure and to drag around. Serpopards are effective solo hunters and subsist mostly on a diet of rodents, lizards, snakes and other small animals, but prefer to hunt in pairs as it grants them access to larger quarry such as gazelles, jackals and antelope (as two serpopards can more easily pick them up).

Name: Baku
Scientific name: Oneirophagus tenebris (dark dream eater)
Height: 2 meters
Length: 5 meters
Diet: Carnivore
Affiliation: Minor Kaiju
Baku are strange palorchestid marsuapials that hail from Japan. Unlike their closest relative, the extinct, Australian Palorchestes, they are carnivorous, and utilise their tusk-like fangs and vicious claws to kill prey. They are mostly peaceful, however, as their quarry (such as serow and humans) can keep them satiated for days on end, and they prefer dense forest. Baku have a specific and deadly strategy for taking down prey: their trunks are practically loaded with a black, narcotic fluid which they squirt in the faces of their victims. If this liquid gets into any orifice of a prey animal's body, they will fall into a deep, dreamless sleep which cannot be broken until the effects of this narcotic venom wear off, allowing the baku to easily kill and eat their hapless prey. Despite this terrifying weapon, these vicious marsupials are very easily killed, and their relatively peaceful nature has meant that they have been domesticated in some regions of Japan (though of course they are expensive livestock). Though baku meat isn't eaten due to it apparently tasting extremely foul and bitter, their narcotic venom is harvested. Through scientific study, the venom has now been made into a drug which allows people to get peaceful sleep, though using too much of it at once will result in a sleep that may last for days, weeks or even months.

Name: Akhlut
Scientific name: Lupocetus arcticus
Height: 2 meters (not counting the fin)
Length: 4.3 meters
Diet: Carnivore
Affiliation: Minor Kaiju
Akhlut are derived relatives of the orca found in the cold waters around Canada, Greenland and Alaska. Though they spend most of their time in the sea, they come onto land to rest and mate. Fiercely territorial (to the point where they'll attack animals on land and even orcas and other predators far larger than them. Akhlut are solo hunters, possessing very powerful bites that allow them to deal large amounts of damage to their prey (which consist of walruses, seals and fish). Akhluts are often covered in healed scars from previous territorial conflicts.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Main Character Inspirations:
Opinicus: The griffin of various mythologies and folklores, the (probably inaccurate) theory that Protoceratops skeletons inspired griffin myths and the opinicus of medieval heraldry
Manticore: The manticore of Persian mythology
Serpopard: The serpopard of Egyptian and Babylonian mythology
Baku: The baku of Japanese folklore
Akhlut: The akhlut of Inuit folklore

Appearance inspirations:
Opinicus: Traditional griffin descriptions, Protoceratops, eagles, lions and my own imagination
Manticore: Traditional manticore descriptions, tigers, eels, scorpions and my own imagination
Serpopard: Tanystropheus, leopards and my own imagination
Baku: Palorchestes, traditional baku depictions, bears and my own imagination
Akhlut: Orcas, wolfs and my own imagination

The manticore's pharyngeal jaws are my take on it having two rows of teeth (as I tried to draw that and the results were fairly terrible).