| 1 | This is a list of species in Literature/TheFutureIsWild and the tropes that fit them. |
| 2 | |
| 3 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 4 | |
| 5 | !!5 Million Years |
| 6 | Earth has entered another Ice Age 5 million years into the future. Many animals familiar to us have gone extinct, including human beings. In their place, other creatures fulfill the roles they used to play in the ecosystem. |
| 7 | |
| 8 | [[folder:North European Ice]] |
| 9 | Just as with the Ice Age of the distant past, the glaciers of the Arctic circle have vastly extended their reach, now covering Europe, Siberia, Alaska, and Canada in incredibly thick ice. In this frozen environment, new species have arisen, adapting well to the bleak tundra and chilly seas. |
| 10 | |
| 11 | !!'''Snowstalker''' |
| 12 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/snowstalker_new.jpg]] |
| 13 | |
| 14 | The apex predator of the frozen tundra. The Snowstalker is a mustelid, descended from the wolverine. It hunts for prey while camouflaged against the blizzards that frequent the freezing winters. It preys on the Shagrat. |
| 15 | ---- |
| 16 | * AllegoricalCharacter: Of the evolution of large, specialized carnivores from small, more generalist ones. |
| 17 | * DamageOverTime: It hunts Shagrats by inflicting a deep wound. Then it leaves the fight, and follows the wounded Shagrat until it bleeds out. |
| 18 | * ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: It stalks its prey in the snow. |
| 19 | * {{Expy}}: Of the Bardelot from ''Literature/AfterManAZoologyOfTheFuture''. |
| 20 | * FantasticFaunaCounterpart: Of polar bears [[PrehistoricAnimalAnalogue and sabre-toothed cats]]. Oddly also of Komodo dragons, as they are also stereotyped as wounding and tracking their prey rather than killing it outright (though reality is more complex). This was also once a theory on how the most derived sabertooth cats like ''Smilodon'' hunted, though it was already becoming obsolete when the show was made. |
| 21 | * LogicalWeakness: |
| 22 | ** Has a keen and powerful sense of smell. This makes it very susceptible to the Gannetwhale's defense mechanism, which is a mix of extremely putrid vomit. This is enough to [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere drive it away]]. |
| 23 | ** The animated series also shows that, like the polar bear, its specializations for Arctic life make it extremely vulnerable to overheating in warmer climates. |
| 24 | * PantheraAwesome: Well, it’s not actually a cat, but a mustelid. But it does resemble and fill the role of ''Smilodon''. |
| 25 | * ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Its persistence to hunt the Gannetwhales' eggs is subdued after one of the birds vomits a putrid mixture of fish and squid, overwhelming its nose and causing it to give up the hunt. |
| 26 | * SnowySabertooths: It's a large, saber-toothed predator with white fur living on the frigid tundra, except that it's not a cat but a mustelid. |
| 27 | * StockSoundEffect: The adults make leopard roars and growls while their young make bear cub cries. |
| 28 | * SuperpersistentPredator: Its preferred hunting method is to wound the prey in a quick attack, and then follow it till it collapses of blood loss. |
| 29 | |
| 30 | !!'''Shagrat''' |
| 31 | [[quoteright:241:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shagrat_thumb.png]] |
| 32 | |
| 33 | These herbivores are descended from Marmots. Much like today's Musk ox, they live in herds and migrate with the seasons. Their special fur is doubly insulated to keep them warm in the freezing winter. They are preyed on by the Snowstalker. |
| 34 | ---- |
| 35 | * AllegoricalCharacter: Of the evolutionary trend towards larger size and herd behavior in herbivores, and Allen's Rule that animals adapt to cold climates by evolving larger and thicker bodies to avoid heat loss. |
| 36 | * {{Expy}}: Of the Woolly Gigantelope from ''Literature/AfterManAZoologyOfTheFuture''. |
| 37 | * FantasticFaunaCounterpart: Of the musk ox, being of similar size, having shaggy fur, and migrating in herds. |
| 38 | * MixAndMatchCritters: They essentially resemble a cross between a capybara and a musk ox. |
| 39 | * RodentsOfUnusualSize: Hard to believe, but they're rodents, much like the Capybara. |
| 40 | * ShoutOut: Seems to borrow its name from a minor character in ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings''. |
| 41 | * TrueCompanions: Shagrats have a strong herd instinct, living in groups of roughly 20 individuals. They also will huddle together for warmth. |
| 42 | |
| 43 | !!'''Gannetwhale''' |
| 44 | [[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gannetwhale.png]] |
| 45 | |
| 46 | Descended from gannets. The impact of various forces such as climate change, habitat loss, and human activity on sea mammals was too great. Most of, if not all of them, have gone extinct by this time. In their place, sea birds have filled in. However, these birds can't really cut their ties to the land completely, since they need it to lay their eggs. |
| 47 | ---- |
| 48 | * AcrophobicBird: Having lost its ability to fly, the Gannetwhale instead spends its time either swimming or lying on a beach. |
| 49 | * AllegoricalCharacter: Of whale and pinniped evolution, and the secondary adaptation of tetrapods to the sea in general. |
| 50 | * AuthorAppeal: Continues Dixon's authorial trend of birds and/or flying creatures becoming pinniped analogues (aside from the porpin and vortex, there's also the plunger from ''Literature/TheNewDinosaursAnAlternativeEvolution''). |
| 51 | * ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: They are descended from gannets, and they fill the niche of whales (although they can move on land like seals and walruses). |
| 52 | * {{Expy}}: Of the vortex and porpin from ''Literature/AfterManAZoologyOfTheFuture''. |
| 53 | * FantasticFaunaCounterpart: Not as much of whales ([[NonIndicativeName despite their name]]) but of seals and walruses. |
| 54 | * FeatheredFiend: Gigantic birds who, while rather clumsy on land, can defend themselves by vomiting on their opponents. |
| 55 | * GracefulInTheirElement: Much like the seals they replaced, Gannetwhales are very vulnerable and clumsy on land, but despite their bulk, are truly fast and elegant swimmers when they are underwater. |
| 56 | * ToothyBird: DownplayedTrope. Its "teeth", while functionally the same, are actually sharp projections of its beak's shaft. The same adaptation is present in the extinct pelagornithids and modern mergansers. |
| 57 | * VomitIndiscretionShot: Its method of defense is vomiting. Since the Snowstalker has a very good sense of smell, this is enough to overwhelm and drive it away. |
| 58 | [[/folder]] |
| 59 | |
| 60 | [[folder:Mediterranean Salt Flats]] |
| 61 | Due to the extreme climate changes of the Ice Age, the Mediterranean Sea has dried up. Furthermore, since the Straits of Gibraltar were closed when Africa collided with Europe, there was no possible way for any replacement water to refill it, turning it into the largest salt pan on the planet. Very few things can live on the salt itself, but a few creatures manage to eke out a living on the former Greek islands, turned into mountains of limestone rock. |
| 62 | |
| 63 | !!'''Cryptile''' |
| 64 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cryptile_6.jpg]] |
| 65 | |
| 66 | A lizard that has adapted well to life on the salt. It can maintain great speeds for its survival. It mainly subsists on brine flies, which it catches by using its frill, then licks them off with its long tongue. |
| 67 | ---- |
| 68 | * {{Determinator}}: When they detect a displaying male on mating season, female Cryptiles can cover great distances across the salt plains to greet their new companion. |
| 69 | * {{Expy}}: Of the fin lizard from ''Literature/AfterManAZoologyOfTheFuture''. |
| 70 | * FantasticFaunaCounterpart: Of the Australian frilled lizard. |
| 71 | * OverlyLongTongue: It has a long, chameleon-like tongue that it uses to devour any brine flies it traps in its frill. |
| 72 | * StickySituation: The creature's frill is coated in a sticky, waxy mucus. This allows for the fill to act as makeshift flypaper, trapping the brine flies that the Cryptile proceeds to lick off with its tongue. |
| 73 | |
| 74 | !!'''Scrofa''' |
| 75 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/scrofa.jpg]] |
| 76 | |
| 77 | A miniature descendant of the wild boar. The Scrofa is, like its ancestors, a species of pig. Unlike today's pigs, it has longer legs to leap across crevices and hooves that are modified to tip-toe on the uneven rocky ground. It is mostly herbivorous, but it won't turn down Cryptile eggs if they're not hidden well enough. |
| 78 | ---- |
| 79 | * AllegoricalCharacter: Of ungulates like caprines evolving to climb steep terrains from running ancestors that lived in flat terrain. |
| 80 | * CruelAndUnusualDeath: A baby Scrofa (or scroflet) escapes instant death from the jaws of a Gryken, but gets lost in the confusion. Separated from its family, it wanders the salty desert below. It wouldn't be able to drink any water from the scarce lakes that dot the salt flats, since they're hyper-saline and therefore lethal, containing 10 times more salt than modern day saltwater. It finally meets its end when it succumbs to the hellish heat. Becoming Gryken chops never looked better. |
| 81 | * {{Expy}}: Of the zarander and turmi from ''Literature/AfterManAZoologyOfTheFuture''. |
| 82 | * FantasticFaunaCounterpart: Bordering on CompositeCharacter, the Scrofa is a long-snouted mammal adapted to suction feed from crevices, like an anteater, and has the compressed body and high hooves of the klipspringer, which is another artiodactyl adapted to climb bare rocks. |
| 83 | * MamaBear: A mother Scrofa will be more then happy to murder any Grykens that try to attack her babies. |
| 84 | * MessyPig: Averted, since they aren't that messy. |
| 85 | |
| 86 | !!'''Gryken''' |
| 87 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gryken.jpg]] |
| 88 | |
| 89 | Another saber-toothed mustelid. Its ancestor was the Pine Marten. When the forests disappeared, it evolved to live and hunt on the ground. It hunts Scrofa, mainly because the Cryptiles that use its rocky habitat to lay their eggs are far too speedy to catch. |
| 90 | ---- |
| 91 | * AllegoricalCharacter: Of the evolution of cats (and other carnivorous mammals to a lesser extent, including mustelids themselves), who also started as small, tree-dwelling predators before becoming larger ground-dwelling stalkers. |
| 92 | * {{Expy}}: Of the Pamthret from ''Literature/AfterManAZoologyOfTheFuture''. |
| 93 | * KillerRabbit: It looks adorable until it bares fangs. |
| 94 | * WickedWeasel: Like the Snowstalker, the Gryken is a mustelid, and a pretty nasty one to its preferred prey. But unlike the Snowstalker, it is actually more weasel-like in appearance, having a slim and streamlined body to slip through the grykes to creep up on its prey. |
| 95 | [[/folder]] |
| 96 | |
| 97 | [[folder:Amazonian Grassland]] |
| 98 | When the Ice Age hit, the drier climate had deprived tha Amazon rainforest of its annual rains. As a result, what was once tropical jungles have now given way to a dry savanna-like environment. The creatures here have either had to adapt fast or perish. A similar event happened in Africa some 10 million years in the past which eventually gave rise to Human Beings. |
| 99 | |
| 100 | !!'''Babookari''' |
| 101 | [[quoteright:340:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/babookari.png]] |
| 102 | |
| 103 | Among the last of the primates, having not gone extinct from the shrinking of the forests. The Babookari is descended from the Uakari, one of the few South American monkeys that was generalist enough to survive, as it was able to feel equally comfortable on the ground as well as the trees. It is colorful and intelligent, clever enough to weave spherical baskets to trap fish. |
| 104 | ---- |
| 105 | * AllegoricalCharacter: Of the adaptation of tree-dwelling primates to the ground, particularly in a context of tree cover loss like it happened with baboons and hominids, and human evolution (though this has become a case of ScienceMarchesOn after the show's production, as hominids are now known to have become terrestrial before the clearing of the African savana). |
| 106 | * AmazingTechnicolorWildlife: They're among the most colorful creatures depicted on the program. Besides having evolved the uakari's bright pink face, their underbellies and bottoms are bright blue, and their faces have colorful markings that resemble tribal paint. |
| 107 | * FantasticFaunaCounterpart: Of baboons and primitive hominids, being able to make more complex tools than even current chimpanzees. |
| 108 | * LastOfTheirKind: Speculated to be the last species of primates. |
| 109 | * {{Portmanteau}}: Baboon + Uakari. |
| 110 | * TheSmartGuy: The most intelligent animal portrayed until the rise of squibbons some 200 million years later. |
| 111 | |
| 112 | !!'''Carakiller''' |
| 113 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/carakiller.jpg]] |
| 114 | |
| 115 | A predatory flightless bird descended from the Caracara that inhabits the grasslands. South America used to have something similar in the distant past. It preys on Babookari. |
| 116 | ---- |
| 117 | * AllegoricalCharacter: Of the evolution of flightless birds, particularly predatory ones. |
| 118 | * DeathByMaterialism: Averted. Carakillers rush to a bushfire to gorge themselves any small creatures fleeing the flames (or those that have already succumbed). Their long, agile legs keep them just ahead of the fire. The modern African [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secretary_bird Secretary bird]] is said to behave in a similar way. |
| 119 | * FeatheredFiend: Large aggressive predatory birds who can easily kill Babookari. Like Babookari, they also operate in groups. These groups, referred to as "hunting parties", work together to draw the monkeys into a trap so at least one of them can be caughtd, killed, and shared among the birds. |
| 120 | * HookHand: The bird's wings have evolved into paws with a single claw; good enough to stab, but not so much to manipulate things. |
| 121 | * NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: It has "killer" right there in its name. |
| 122 | * {{Portmanteau}}: Caracara + Killer. |
| 123 | * PrehistoricAnimalAnalogue: Of terror birds, down to having similar (now outdated) wing claws. This is further emphasized in one episode of the cartoon, where a stowaway snowstalker encounters and combats a flock of carakillers, mirroring the rivalry between ''Smilodon'' and ''Titanis''. |
| 124 | |
| 125 | |
| 126 | !!'''Grassland Rattleback''' |
| 127 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rattleback.png]] |
| 128 | |
| 129 | An armoured, slow moving rodent descended from either the paca or the agouti. It resembles a cross between a turtle and a pangolin. It isn't fast, but its thick armor will protect it from virtually anything. A larger and more slender species lives in the North American Desert. |
| 130 | ---- |
| 131 | * AllegoricalCharacter: Of passive defence-based evolutionary strategies against predation. |
| 132 | * ArmorIsUseless: Averted - the Rattleback's armor, armored plates made firm from keratin, successfully protect it from every possible threat from predators to ''[[ImmuneToFire fire]]''. They also have a collection of short spines along sides of their bodies. These spines help anchor the Rattleback into as it sinks into the ground, and are strong enough to prevent nearly anything from budging it. |
| 133 | * BullyingADragon: They eat the eggs of the vicious Carakillers. But it is of course justified, since the Carakillers can't get past their armored plates. |
| 134 | * ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: They have rattles on their backs. |
| 135 | * {{Expy}}: Of the testadon and spine-tailed squirrel from ''Literature/AfterManAZoologyOfTheFuture''. |
| 136 | * FantasticFaunaCounterpart: Of the pangolin, with a dash of tortoise. Their ability to withstand fire seems to specifically be inspired by box turtles. |
| 137 | * ImmuneToFire: The scales covering its back allow it to survive wildfires without issue by simply hunkering down as the flames go over them. |
| 138 | * NighInvulnerable: Neither Carakillers or fire can kill them easily. |
| 139 | * StoneWall: Rattlebacks may not be very fast, but they're not easy to kill, nor is it easy to get past their armor. |
| 140 | * SuperPersistentPredator: It feeds on [[TheWorfEffect Carakiller's eggs]] and it doesn't give a damn if the parents are present. |
| 141 | [[/folder]] |
| 142 | |
| 143 | [[folder:North American Desert]] |
| 144 | Thanks to the extending ice caps, the agricultural belt of North America has dried up, becoming a cold, windswept desert environment. Only the most hardy and specialized of creatures can live here. |
| 145 | |
| 146 | !!'''Desert Rattleback''' |
| 147 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/desert_rattleback.jpg]] |
| 148 | |
| 149 | The larger and more slender relative of the Grassland Rattleback, having migrated from South America over millions of years. In contrast to its South American cousin, this Rattleback has smaller scales, as there are less situations in which it needs protective armor, a larger tail to store fat reserves, and a coat of shaggy fur on its face to protect it from the sandstorms. |
| 150 | ---- |
| 151 | * AllegoricalCharacter: Of evolutionary divergence, as this and its relative above are the first showcased animals said explicitly to have evolved from the same modern day animal. Doubles as a reference to the Great American Interchange, and the evolution of new clades after the colonization of new landmasses and environments, in general (previous examples are all animals whose ancestors already live in the same area today). |
| 152 | * {{Expy}}: Of the [[Literature/AfterManAZoologyOfTheFuture Rootsucker]]. |
| 153 | * MamaBear: A female will charge head on against a pack of [[BatOutOfHell Deathgleaners]] to save its only calf. |
| 154 | |
| 155 | !!'''Spink''' |
| 156 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/spink.png]] |
| 157 | |
| 158 | Descended from the quail, this bird has taken up an extremely unusual lifestyle. It is flightless, its wings having been reformatted into spades for digging. They live in a caste system, dwelling in massive networks of tunnels under the desert that are lead by a group of females, the queens, that are capable of determining the sex of the eggs. It has rather poor eyesight and relies on a clicking, squeaking song to communicate. |
| 159 | ---- |
| 160 | * AllegoricalCharacter: Of the evolution of eusociality and subterranean life. |
| 161 | * AuthorAppeal: Continues the tradition of eusocial vertebrates in Dougal Dixon's work. |
| 162 | * BizarreSexualDimorphism: Males are black and white and females are a dull grey. Pretty bizarre for a creature that's almost blind. |
| 163 | * {{Expy}}: Of the termite burrower from ''Literature/AfterManAZoologyOfTheFuture''. |
| 164 | * FantasticFaunaCounterpart: Of small burrowing rodents. Its eusocial behavior in particular is based on the naked mole rat. |
| 165 | * HookHand: Somewhat like the Carakiller, but their "hands" are not meant to hunt, only to dig. |
| 166 | * SuperSenses: Spinks have improved hearing and tact to supply for their difficulty with sight. |
| 167 | * TunnelKing: Like moles, these birds are capable of digging through the ground quickly and live in huge tunnels underground. |
| 168 | * WeakenedByTheLight: Spinks are both nocturnal and subterranean. While sunlight does not technically harm them, they keep away from it because the many predators lurking under it sure do. |
| 169 | |
| 170 | !!'''Deathgleaner''' |
| 171 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/deathgleaner.JPG]] |
| 172 | |
| 173 | A very large, carnivorous bat. Unlike most of today's bats, the Deathgleaner is completely diurnal, partly to take advantage of the warm air currents to generate lift, and partly to avoid the freezing cold nights. Taking on the role of vultures and hawks, they are both predators and scavengers; Spinks and juvenile Rattlebacks are their usual prey. |
| 174 | ---- |
| 175 | * BatOutOfHell: A giant killer bat. |
| 176 | * CirclingVultures: They circle around like vultures, waiting for a Rattleback to accidentally dig up a Spink or two, after which they descend on the blinded bird and snatch it up. |
| 177 | * DiurnalNocturnalAnimal: Unlike most bats alive today, it's completely diurnal. |
| 178 | * FantasticFaunaCounterpart: Of desert hawks and vultures, as well as the spectral bat (a giant carnivorous bat found today). |
| 179 | * GiantFlyer: Giant by bats standards anyway. They're about the size of a large hawk. |
| 180 | * NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: Has the word "Death" in its name, and is indeed certain death to any unlucky Spinks, or any baby Rattlebacks who wanders away from their parents. |
| 181 | [[/folder]] |
| 182 | |
| 183 | !!100 Million Years |
| 184 | 95 million years have past since the 5 million year mark, and the Earth has become a very different place. The continents have moved to very different locations and there are far more greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, which is the result of extended volcanic activity. As a result, the climate is far hotter then it is today. There is also more oxygen in the atmosphere and much less ice in the polar regions, leading to lush jungles and warm shallow seas. However, this paradise is heading towards a great extinction event, one that will leave the fauna of the world unrecognizable. |
| 185 | |
| 186 | [[folder:Bengal Swamp]] |
| 187 | With the rise in greenhouse gases, an incredibly humid and hot swampland has grown in what was once Asia's Bay of Bengal. A huge variety of animals and plants thrive here, including some of the largest creatures to walk the earth. |
| 188 | |
| 189 | !!'''Swampus/Swamp Lily''' |
| 190 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/swampus.jpg]] |
| 191 | |
| 192 | An octopus that is equally at home in the water and on land. They live in close knit family groups, mostly comprised of females, and form a symbiotic partnership with a vase-shaped swamp lily, in which they raise their young. They only have four tentacles, as the other four evolved into stout "rudders" they use for moving about on land. They're fiercely protective of their kids, surprisingly good at jumping, and are ''dangerously'' poisonous. |
| 193 | ---- |
| 194 | * AllegoricalCharacter: Of the colonization of land by once aquatic creatures. |
| 195 | * AmazingTechnicolorWildlife: Being cephalopods, Swampuses communicate to one another, and drive away potential intruders, with a vibrant display of colors. |
| 196 | * AuthorAppeal: Not the first time Dixon put an amphibious cephalopod in his work. |
| 197 | * ChekhovsGun: When they're introduced, they seem to be a one-off evolutionary oddity. Then, an entire lineage of terrestrial cephalopods appears 100 million years later. |
| 198 | * OddFriendship: With the swamp lily. The plant catches rainwater that protect the young Swampus from the predators in the swamp. In return, the plant itself is protected by the Swampus family, since they will ward off any plant eater who comes to close to it. |
| 199 | * PoisonousPerson: Have a venomous bite that's enough to kill a baby Toraton. The venom is formed when, as babies, the Swampus ingest bacteria housed inside the nursery pools they're protected in. |
| 200 | * {{Portmanteau}}: Swamp + Octopus. |
| 201 | |
| 202 | !!'''Toraton''' |
| 203 | [[quoteright:340:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/toraton.jpg]] |
| 204 | |
| 205 | Descended from tortoises, these creatures are ''huge'', said to be (at the time) larger than even the biggest dinosaurs. Since it is so large, its ancestral shell has been reduced, and now serves mainly to support its massive bulk. |
| 206 | ---- |
| 207 | * AllegoricalCharacter: The Toraton represents the culmination of the evolutionary trend towards greater size in a context of long-time stability and great abundance of resources, at which point physics is the only barrier left to grow even further. |
| 208 | * {{Kaiju}}: Without a doubt some of the largest animals ever to live. Their babies are even said to be as big as elephants. |
| 209 | * MightyGlacier: The adults have no predators due to their formidable strength. But they can't move quickly or mate in the traditional way. A male and a female instead mate back-to-back, where the cloacas make direct contact, allowing the male to directly deposit sperm into the female's reproductive system. |
| 210 | * {{Portmanteau}}: Tortoise + Teraton |
| 211 | * PrehistoricAnimalAnalogue: Of the sauropod dinosaurs. They've even evolved to have their legs positioned directly underneath them, like the actual sauropods once did. |
| 212 | * WhamShot: It's first introduced as an elephant-sized creature, which a Swampus soon kills. Later, the adults are introduced, showcasing just how immense they are. |
| 213 | |
| 214 | !!'''Lurkfish''' |
| 215 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lurkfish_1.jpg]] |
| 216 | |
| 217 | A descendant of the electric catfish, this well-camouflaged predator is incredibly sensitive. It's covered in prickly appendages, which help to disguise itself as a fallen log as it rests along the river bed. It utilizes an electric field to detect whenever potential prey (usually the Swampus) is approaching. When the prey is close enough in range, the Lurkfish shocks its unlucky victim with 1000 volts of electricity, paralyzing them or outright killing them before it swallows them whole. |
| 218 | ---- |
| 219 | * ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: It's a fish. It lurks in the water. |
| 220 | * FantasticFaunaCounterpart: Partly of the electric eel and partly of the alligator (due to its sheer size and swamp habitat). Its face also appears to be similar to the monkfish. |
| 221 | * NeverSmileAtACrocodile: It's not a literal crocodile, but fills the same niche. |
| 222 | * PsychoElectricEel: An electrical fish that hunts Swampus by shocking the daylights out of them before eating them. |
| 223 | * ShockAndAwe: The output of this creature (1000 volts) is larger then any living electrical fish today though. |
| 224 | [[/folder]] |
| 225 | |
| 226 | [[folder:Shallow Seas]] |
| 227 | What was once the frigid plains of Siberia is now vast expanses of shallow tropical seas. They are populated with reefs formed from red algae, which have filled the niche of the long extinct corals. |
| 228 | |
| 229 | !!'''Ocean Phantom''' |
| 230 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ocean_phantom.jpg]] |
| 231 | |
| 232 | A giant community of several jellyfish-like organisms living together, much like its ancestor, the Portuguese Man-Of-War. It is essentially an organic ship, utilizing maneuverable sails to catch the wind, and polyps on its end that propel it forward like rudders. They prey on juvenile Reef Gliders, but are eaten by adults. It strangely reproduces by riding the fierce storms fueled by the endless expanses of warm water. The storms may break it apart, but the pieces can still continue living and even regrow themselves like an amoeba, provided they have one of each of the essential organisms that make up the Phantom. |
| 233 | ---- |
| 234 | * AllegoricalCharacter: Of communal organisms, and along with the Spindletrooper, of mutualistic evolution. |
| 235 | * BizarreAlienReproduction: The jellyfish's means of reproduction is allowing itself to be ripped apart during brutal storms, then regenerating new jellies from each piece. |
| 236 | * FromASingleCell: Downplayed. The Phantom needs at least one of each of the organisms that make up a functioning Ocean Phantom in order to regenerate. |
| 237 | * HealingFactor: If the colony breaks apart, it can regenerate itself if it has one of each of the organisms that make it up. |
| 238 | * TheHunterBecomesTheHunted: They prey on young Reef Gliders, but adult Reef Gliders will prey on them instead. As such, they employ Spindletroopers to act as defenses against adult Reef Gliders. |
| 239 | * NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: "Ocean Phantom" would suggest something ominous, and to any small creatures it floats above, it does indeed. |
| 240 | * OddFriendship: With the Spindletroopers. The Ocean Phantom allows the Spindletroopers to live within some of the bells and provides them with nutrients. In turn, the Spindletroopers help to fend off any adult Reef Gliders that feed on the Ocean Phantom. |
| 241 | * {{Planimal}}: The phantom's surface grows red algae in a form of symbiosis. The algae give the Phantom nutrients, while the Phantom gives the algae transportation. Despite this, it still eats juvenile Reef Gliders to balance its diet. |
| 242 | * TheWormThatWalks: It's a colony of smaller organisms, similar to the Portuguese Man-Of-War. |
| 243 | |
| 244 | !!'''Spindletrooper''' |
| 245 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/spindletrooper.jpg]] |
| 246 | |
| 247 | Descendants of the sea spiders found in today's oceans. These creatures live within the Ocean Phantom. They act as the Phantom's personal armada, deployed to fend off potential threats much like ants. Hacking and slashing at any creature unfortunate enough to attack the Phantom, the Spindletroopers mob the intruder relentlessly until it finally leaves the Phantom alone. |
| 248 | ---- |
| 249 | * BigCreepyCrawlies: Their legs can span a meter across. |
| 250 | * GiantSpider: Large sea-spiders that live within bell-shaped chambers the Ocean Phantom and act as its defenses. |
| 251 | * OddFriendship: With the Ocean Phantom. They live in some of the bells of the Ocean Phantom, and are provided nutrients as an incentive to protect the Phantom against adult Reef Gliders. |
| 252 | |
| 253 | !!'''Reef Glider''' |
| 254 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/reef_glider.jpg]] |
| 255 | |
| 256 | Enormous sea-slugs that will eat pieces of the Ocean Phantom when full grown. There are several species that live in the reefs, where their young feed on the red algae, helping the plants in pollination the same way insects pollinate land plants. Their young are preyed on by Ocean Phantoms. |
| 257 | ---- |
| 258 | * AllegoricalCharacter: Of niche partition between adults and juveniles of the same species, and pollinization-like mutualism. |
| 259 | * AmazingTechnicolorWildlife: Averted. Reef Gliders are not as brightly colored and less flamboyant than their ancestors, apart from their red gills. |
| 260 | * FantasticFaunaCounterpart: Of various tropical fish and oddly enough, bees. |
| 261 | * TheHunterBecomesTheHunted: While their larvae are prey of Ocean Phantoms, the adults, which can grow as big as seals, will eat parts of the Ocean Phantom instead. |
| 262 | [[/folder]] |
| 263 | |
| 264 | [[folder:Antarctic Forest]] |
| 265 | |
| 266 | Through a combination of rising temperatures and continental drift, the icy wastelands of Antarctica have given way to an immense rainforest. This rainforest is the site of an ongoing war between two types of organisms: Flutterbirds, descendants of the sea birds that once frequented the Antarctic coast when it was still frozen, and predatory insects that have grown massive due to the presence of more oxygen in the world's atmosphere. |
| 267 | |
| 268 | !!'''Spitfire Bird/Spitfire Tree''' |
| 269 | [[quoteright:265:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/spitfire_bird.jpg]] |
| 270 | |
| 271 | A flutterbird that defends itself with a unique duo of chemicals. When mixed together in its nostrils, these chemicals become caustic, and burst out of the nose in the form of jets of a burning, corrosive substance. It hovers near the flowers of the Spitfire Tree, much like a hummingbird. But instead of consuming nectar, it really gathers up the needed chemicals from the plant. The tree is able to produce both male and female flowers, each with one of the Spitfire Bird's chemicals. Through visiting both flowers to refill its ammo, the bird ends up becoming a pollination service to the tree. |
| 272 | ---- |
| 273 | * AllegoricalCharacter: Of hyper-diversification in a seed "world" colonized by a single ancestor (along with their relative, the Roachcutter) and hyper-specialization after a long time living in the same environment (manifested in complex, mutualistic coevolution with the Spitfire Tree, and the development of a chemically-based defence strategy). |
| 274 | * BrightIsNotGood: The bird's bright yellow-and-black coloration makes it a warning to Falconflies, and for an [[SuperSpit entirely justified reason]]. |
| 275 | * DangerousPhlebotinumInteraction: Its chemical attack is armed by taking two different compounds from Spitfire Flowers, one from a male Spitfire Tree and the other from a female Spitfire tree. When the chemicals are fired out from two different compartments, they mix with each other and become caustic. This is also why male and female flowers must carry only one chemical. If both chemicals were stored in the same flower, they would cause the flower to explode. |
| 276 | * ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: It's a bird that spits fire. Well, burning chemicals. |
| 277 | * FeatheredFiend: Mostly harmless, unless threatened... or caught off-guard. |
| 278 | * GlassCannon: Their chemical spit is lethal, but Spitfire Beetles can kill them by waiting until they run out of chemicals. |
| 279 | * KillerRabbit: A small, brightly colored bird. That spits acid. |
| 280 | * LogicalWeakness: As the bird's chemicals are obtained from the Spitfire Flowers and not produced by the bird itself, its stock is finite. It will need to be restocked when its surplus runs out. Finding one that's trying to restock is an excellent opportunity for a Falconfly to attack, and making oneself appear to be a flower for them to restock is how Spitfire Beetles hunt them. |
| 281 | * NasalWeapon: Their chemical spray is delivered through their noses. |
| 282 | * SuperSpit: Notably done via mixing of chemicals. |
| 283 | |
| 284 | !!'''Falconfly''' |
| 285 | [[quoteright:340:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/falconfly.png]] |
| 286 | |
| 287 | A descendant of the sand wasp. This impressively-sized insect utilizes a venomous sting, razor-sharp, pointed legs to spear a flutterbird in mid-flight, and powerful jaws to tear them apart. It mainly preys on the Roachcutter, both to eat for itself, and to feed them to its larvae. Its larvae are large grubs scattered in burrows throughout the forest floor. If all the grubs were put in the same burrow, they would cannibalize each other. As such, the Falconfly has developed an impressive memory, recognizing landmarks as to where each burrow is. |
| 288 | ---- |
| 289 | * AllegoricalCharacter: Of the evolutionary arms race between prey and predator. It also references island gigantism and the evolution of giant insects during the previous "greenhouse Earth" in the Carboniferous. |
| 290 | * BigCreepyCrawlies: It's a wasp the size of a crow. |
| 291 | * GlassCannon: It's fast, agile, and powerful, but the Spitfire Bird's chemical spray can subdue it. |
| 292 | * ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: The Falconfly's front legs act as spears, used to impale flutterbirds mid-flight. |
| 293 | * ItCanThink: Female Falconflies have a fairly good memory, being able to recognize where each of their larva are hidden in the Antarctic Jungle (each maggot is hidden under a different patch of Earth). |
| 294 | %%* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast |
| 295 | * WickedWasps: Descended from the sand wasp, this insect regularly tears the flesh off of birds. |
| 296 | |
| 297 | !!'''Roachcutter''' |
| 298 | [[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/roachcutter.jpg]] |
| 299 | |
| 300 | A flutterbird that hunts insects. The Roachcutter may be small and rather generic, but its bulging eyes give it a wide range of vision. It is also fast and agile, able to nip small insects off a branch mid-flight. |
| 301 | ---- |
| 302 | * DeathByIrony: It's introduced as a flutterbird that feeds on insects... and is promptly killed by the Falconfly. |
| 303 | * FlatCharacter: Its main role in the episode is as prey for the Falconfly. |
| 304 | * FragileSpeedster: Its only real defense is its impressive agility. It cannot defend itself from predators, unlike the Spitfire Bird. |
| 305 | |
| 306 | !!'''Spitfire Beetle''' |
| 307 | [[quoteright:340:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/spitfire_beetle.png]] |
| 308 | |
| 309 | These beetles live primarily in groups of four, and utilize cooperation to bring down their prey. They stand head to head, opening their wing cases to mimic the shape and color of the Spitfire Flower. They wait motionlessly for a Spitfire Bird looking to refuel its chemicals. When one comes close enough, the beetles lunge on it, dragging it down to the forest floor. Once the bird is dead, the carcass is shared by all four beetles. |
| 310 | ---- |
| 311 | * AllegoricalCharacter: Of aggressive mimicry. |
| 312 | * BigCreepyCrawlies: Downplayed. They seem to be about the size of the largest real beetles, and they have to work as a group to bring down a Spitfire Bird. |
| 313 | * ChestMonster: For Spitfire birds. Four of them cooperate to appear like the Spitfire Flower, and when a Spitfire Bird gets near, they all ambush and kill it. |
| 314 | * CombinationAttack: In order to lure and kill a Spitfire Bird, they need a group of four to make the flower and to kill the bird via overwhelming it. This is fortunate and essential for the Spitfire Beetles, as they spend their lives in groups of four. |
| 315 | * DeathTrap: And with a bait the bird cannot afford to resist, because it needs it to defend itself from Falconflies. |
| 316 | * FourIsDeath: The beetles live in groups of four, and must do so to catch and devour their prey of choice. |
| 317 | * MimicSpecies: They mimic the flowers of the trees where Spitfire Birds gather their reactive chemicals from. When a Spitfire Bird arrives at the fake flower to gather more chemicals, the beetles attack and kill it. |
| 318 | |
| 319 | !!'''False Spitfire Bird''' |
| 320 | |
| 321 | A relative of the Spitfire Bird. Unlike its more formidably defended kin, the False Spitfire Bird is harmless and relies on its mimicry to avoid predators. |
| 322 | ---- |
| 323 | * AllegoricalCharacter: Of Batesian mimicry. |
| 324 | * AssInALionSkin: It imitates a Spitfire bird to avoid being preyed on by Falconflies. However, it lacks the Spitfire bird's chemical spray. |
| 325 | * BrightIsNotGood: Has the same bright yellow-and-black coloration as the Spitfire Bird that makes them a warning to Falconflies, even though they're actually docile. |
| 326 | * MimicSpecies: It looks identical to the Spitfire Bird, which can spray a caustic acid from its nostrils at predators. This resemblance means that predators avoid the False Spitfire Bird as well. |
| 327 | [[/folder]] |
| 328 | |
| 329 | [[folder:Great Plateau]] |
| 330 | An arid mountain range on the top of the world. Created by the collision of Australia with Asia and North America, these mountains are several times taller than the Himilayas. The high altitude means that the air is dangerously thin, and ultraviolet light is dangerously strong. It is home to few species compared to other places. But one of the most thriving species is the Grass Tree, descended from bamboo. For a few weeks every year, their seeds, like modern day grasses, take to the air on floating tufts. The animals that thrive here depend on the Grass Tree seeds, and are some of the most exotic animals living at that time. |
| 331 | |
| 332 | !!'''Great Blue Windrunner''' |
| 333 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/great_blue_windrunner.jpg]] |
| 334 | |
| 335 | A magnificent bird of enormous size. A descendant of the crane, the bird possesses a second set of wings on its legs that help it stay aloft in the thin air. Its blue coloration helps protect it from the harmful ultraviolet light of the plateau. It feeds on Silver Spiders, which it can snatch from their webs in mid-flight |
| 336 | ---- |
| 337 | * AllegoricalCharacter: The peak of the evolutionary trend towards greater size like the Toraton, but in the air. Basically, where the Toraton is the second coming of sauropod dinosaurs, the Windrunner is of azdharchid pterosaurs (before ScienceMarchesOn showed azdharchids were better adapted to hunt on the ground than we thought). |
| 338 | * {{Expy}}: Of the [[Literature/AfterManAZoologyOfTheFuture Bootie Bird]]. |
| 339 | * GiantFlyer: Though sources can't agree on its size, varying from 3 meters to 15 meters. |
| 340 | * LightIsNotGood: An interesting variation. The Great Blue Windrunner's magnificent blue coloration is a strategy to reflect the harmful ultraviolet light of the thin atmosphere. The bird can also ''see'' in ultraviolet, which it uses to identify different individuals of its species. This is important, as no two Windrunners have the same unique UV pattern. |
| 341 | * MercurysWings: Its legs also have wings on them for extra surface area and updrift, so it can be more maneuverable at low speeds. They even have wing-like structures ''on their ears'' for further maneuverability. |
| 342 | |
| 343 | !!'''Silver Spider''' |
| 344 | [[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/silver_spider.png]] |
| 345 | |
| 346 | Large spiders that, unlike spiders today, live in a caste system. Whatever size a certain individual is details what function of the colony it provides. The smallest spiders, line-casters, begin the construction of their webs, which stretch across the plateau, by producing silk while gliding in the air using parachutes made out of the tufts of Grass Tree seeds. The next size bigger, web-builders, then construct the framework of the web, making them sturdy enough to catch the Grass Tree seeds floating on the breeze. The next size bigger, workers, spend their lives gathering the seeds, which they then collect in stockpiles throughout their burrows. The biggest spider of the colony is the queen. She is the only spider allowed to breed, and is fed and cared for by all the others. The spiders are preyed upon by the Great Blue Windrunner. |
| 347 | ---- |
| 348 | * AllegoricalCharacter: The evolution of eusociality and predation-based mutualism (a.k.a. farming). |
| 349 | * BigCreepyCrawlies: According to the book, the queen can grow to the size of a football. |
| 350 | * BitchInSheepsClothing: The spiders feed Poggles with seeds without harming it. This is to [[FatteningTheVictim fatten up the poor thing]] so that it will make a meal for the queen. |
| 351 | * GiantSpider: Again, they're pretty large spiders that are bigger than most small mammals. |
| 352 | * ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: They're spiders that are silver. |
| 353 | * {{Expy}}: To the Morlocs from ''Literature/TheTimeMachine'', being a new dominant species of critter that farms the last of a previously dominant lineage for food. |
| 354 | * FatteningTheVictim: They keep Poggles as livestock and fatten them with seeds until it becomes a good meal for the queen. |
| 355 | * ItCanThink: They're smart enough to have developed ''agriculture''. |
| 356 | * LightIsNotGood: They're silvery and bright in color. Much like the Great Blue Windrunner, their reflective color scheme protects them from the ultraviolet light. They also take care of the cute poggles.... before using said poggles as livestock for their queens. |
| 357 | * SpiderSwarm: Unlike modern-day spiders, they function in a eusocial caste system, with workers, web-builders, and a queen. |
| 358 | * VegetarianCarnivore: Subverted. They're not gathering those seeds to eat them. |
| 359 | |
| 360 | !!'''Poggle''' |
| 361 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/poggle.jpg]] |
| 362 | |
| 363 | The very last mammal on the planet. A weird-looking rodent with large, bulging eyes. It lives in the caves of the Silver Spiders, and regularly pilfers their seed reserves. The spiders seem to tolerate the Poggle's thievery, as if they are treating it as some kind of pet. In actuality, the Spiders are treating the Poggle as ''livestock'', giving it more and more seeds to eat it until it's fat and nutritious enough for their queen to devour. |
| 364 | ---- |
| 365 | * AdaptationalAngstDowngrade: In the companion book the Poggle is not the last, but one of "a few" last mammals, only described as "strange, highly specialized creatures". |
| 366 | * AllegoricalCharacter: |
| 367 | ** Of endlings, the notion that even a dominant group of animals can be reduced to just one relict species over geological time, followed by complete extinction. |
| 368 | ** Moreover, of the fact that no species or group of species is intrinsically "superior" to others and that everything can (and will) go extinct. The election of mammals for this role, the group humans belong to, is poignant and deliberate. |
| 369 | ** Despite the PersecutionFlip involved (or oddly because of it), of rodents being the most successful and adaptable mammals ever (also exemplified earlier by the shagrat and rattlebacks). 100 million years on, rodents are still there and have colonized this completely new environment and niche, even if both are kind of pathetic. |
| 370 | * CantKillYouStillNeedYou: Poggles are vital to the survival of a Silver Spider colony. It regularly pilfers the Spiders' seed reserves, but the spiders tolerate its actions and leave it alone. This is because they want it to fatten itself up so it will make a good meal for their queen. Poggles also produce a lot of offspring, giving more flesh to be distributed throughout the colony. Female poggles are just as essential, if not more so, as they carry hormones in their bloodstream that stimulates the queen's reproductive system, allowing her to lay more eggs to fuel the colony more efficiently. |
| 371 | * CrapsaccharineWorld: Its habitat, the burrows of the Silver Spider It keeps them safe -- but only because they're saving them for later. |
| 372 | * {{Expy}}: Of the Eloi from ''Literature/TheTimeMachine''. Last member of the lineage humanity belonged to? Check. Raised for slaughter by the world's new dominant creatures? Double check! |
| 373 | * LastOfHisKind: It's the last mammal species. |
| 374 | * MixAndMatchCreatures: Though a rodent descendant, it vaguely resembles an ant in head shape. |
| 375 | * PersecutionFlip: The last mammal, a group that once mastered farming, is reduced to farm equipment. |
| 376 | * RidiculouslyCuteCritter: Not only does it resemble a small rodent, its bulging eyes also make it look rather adorable. |
| 377 | |
| 378 | !!'''Grass Tree''' |
| 379 | The dominant plant species in the Great Plateau, a giant and contorted woody species of grass. Its seeds disperse through the air and feed most animal species in its habitat including Poggles and Silver Spiders. |
| 380 | |
| 381 | * AllegoricalCharacter: Of the evolution of trees from ground-level, non-woody plants (trees are not a natural group, but have several different ancestors). |
| 382 | [[/folder]] |
| 383 | |
| 384 | !!200 Million Years |
| 385 | A massive extinction event has come and gone 100 million years prior, and the animals left have since adapted to the new world. The continents have once again come together to form a global super-continent, surrounded by one giant ocean. All terrestrial vertebrates have gone extinct, leaving the planet to be dominated by insects, fish and mollusks. This is an entirely alien Earth now, but intelligent life is on the rise once more. |
| 386 | |
| 387 | [[folder:Central Desert]] |
| 388 | |
| 389 | Located in the center of the new Pangaea, this immense desert is now the driest landscape ever. The only remaining water is a series of small pools connected to an underground network of tunnels; a naturally made reservoir. With a lack of rain, very few plants, and hardly any shelter from the relentless sun, survival in this habitat would be nearly impossible. But despite these hardships, life ''does'' thrive here. |
| 390 | |
| 391 | !!'''Terabyte''' |
| 392 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/terabyte.jpg]] |
| 393 | [[caption-width-right:350:Examples of the transporter and gum-spitter caste]] |
| 394 | |
| 395 | Descended from termites, these insects are highly efficient and highly specialized. Colonies of them live in vast towers scattered all across the desert. The towers themselves, made from a mixture of sand, feces, and terabyte carcasses, are only a small part of the Terabyte habitat. They're often used farm algae, the Terabytes' main source of food, as they allow access to the underground reservoir and funnel in the right kinds of air for the algae to grow. As they live in a caste system, there are various forms. Gum-spitters immobilize other creatures with a sticky glue. Water-carriers bloat themselves on whatever water is available to moisten the algae that the terabytes farm. Rock-borers spit concentrated acid onto the rocks below the towers to weaken them. Biters use powerful jaws to carve the weakened rock into new tunnels. The last remaining caste are transporters, the only terabytes with functioning legs. Their main role is to carry the other castes on their backs and take them to where they're needed. |
| 396 | ---- |
| 397 | * AllegoricalCharacter: A logical progression of present day eusocial insects, which already behave more like a single organism than a community. |
| 398 | * ArtisticLicenseBiology: Somewhat - they're mentioned as having queens, but no mention is made on whether or not they have ''kings'' (termites are the only eusocial insects to have both kings and queens). |
| 399 | * BalloonBelly: Pretty much the main task of the water-carriers. All they have to do is to drink water from the moist underground caves below. This causes them to swell up with water, after which the transporters can carry them back and use them as watering cans for their algae farm. |
| 400 | * CripplingOverspecialization: Quite literally in this case. Gum-spitters, water-carriers, rock-borers and queens are so specialized to the tasks they do that they have vestigial legs. They require assistance from the transporters to move around. Transporters are slightly less specialized, since they're able to cut off algal tissues from Garden Worms. |
| 401 | * EquippableAlly: Enforced with their evolution. Since transporters are the only caste equipped with functioning legs, they have to carry every other caste on their backs. |
| 402 | * FantasticFaunaCounterpart: Of termites and leafcutter ants, descending from the former. |
| 403 | * HiveMind: An entire Terabyte colony functions as though it has a single mind, interconnected with all its members. |
| 404 | * {{Portmanteau}}: Terra (as in earth)+ Termite. Also, it's a pun on the word terabyte. |
| 405 | * StickySituation: Gum-spitters are able to shoot a sticky substance onto Garden Worms, trapping them so that the other Terabytes can harvest their algae. |
| 406 | * SuperSpit: Gum-spitters shoot a sort of organic glue onto Garden worms to restrain them while others sever the algae-rich lobes from the worms' sides. |
| 407 | * TooImportantToWalk: ''Every caste'' that isn't a transporter has vestigial legs, and cannot move around without being carried by transporters. |
| 408 | * ZergRush: Being evolved from termites, Terabytes tend to group together in order to restrict a Garden Worm and harvest its algae. |
| 409 | |
| 410 | !!'''Garden Worm''' |
| 411 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/garden_worm.jpg]] |
| 412 | |
| 413 | A strange worm that resembles a fern. Much like it's ancestor, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symsagittifera_roscoffensis the convoluta worm]], the Garden Worm forms a symbiotic relationship with green algae. The wide, leaf-shaped appendages at its sides help the algae in its skin gather sunlight, which in turn becomes nutrition for the worm. From time to time, Garden Worms are captured by Terabyte raiding parties, where the gum-spitters spray their glue over it. When the worm is restricted, the terabytes crop whatever algae they can from its algae lobes for their algae gardens. A Garden Worm can also free itself from the Terabytes' chemical weapons with its own chemical defense: a secretion produced from in between its segments that dissolves the terabytes' glue. Whenever it's not sunbathing, it lives in the dark underwater caves, where it's vulnerable to being preyed upon by the Slickribbon. If it's being pursued by a Slickribbon, it can spew a cloud of obnoxious liquid right into its path. |
| 414 | ---- |
| 415 | * AllegoricalCharacter: Of photosintetic/non-photosintetic mutualistic "organisms", like lichens. |
| 416 | * BigCreepyCrawlies: Large worms with algal structures. |
| 417 | * {{Planimal}}: They're worms with fern-shaped appendages that store algae, allowing said algae to photosynthesize and give the worm nutrients. |
| 418 | * SmokeOut: Sort of. It can spray an opaque cloud of nasty tasting/smelling fluid to disorient any Slickribbons chasing after it. |
| 419 | |
| 420 | !!'''Gloomworm''' |
| 421 | |
| 422 | Rather generic creatures, Gloomworms often spend their lives swimming in the vast underground reservoir of the desert, eating the bioluminescent bacteria that provide light. They're also a food source for the Slickribbon. They're descended from bristle worms, the only marine worms that remained after the mass extinction. Over time, they settled into the various aquatic cave systems. Eventually, bristle worms evolved into multiple new species of worms. |
| 423 | ---- |
| 424 | * AllegoricalCharacter: Another example of diversification from a single ancestor in a stable, new seed "world". Also of ecosystems without sunlight, like cave galleries or the depth of the sea. |
| 425 | * BigCreepyCrawlies: They're around half a metre long. |
| 426 | * FlatCharacter: They aren't touched upon as much as the other creatures, largely because they don't have any unique features. |
| 427 | |
| 428 | !!'''Slickribbon''' |
| 429 | [[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/slickribbon.jpg]] |
| 430 | |
| 431 | The top-predator in the darkened, underwater caves of the desert. A large predatory worm that carries a deadly weapon: a powerful clasping jaw mounted on an extendable trunk. It catches other swimmers such as Gloomworms with this deadly maw, which it can extend in a fraction of a second. |
| 432 | ---- |
| 433 | * AllegoricalCharacter: Of diversification from a single distant ancestor and the evolution of predators, as it shares ancestry with its main prey, the Gloomworm. |
| 434 | * BigCreepyCrawlies: Even larger than Garden Worms and Gloomworms. |
| 435 | * NestedMouths: Its jaw is connected to an extendable trunk, and it uses that jaw to catch Gloomworms and Garden Worms. |
| 436 | * ScrewThisImOuttaHere: It gives up its chase against the Garden Worm after the Garden Worm sprays a cloud of disgusting fluid to disorient it and escape. |
| 437 | [[/folder]] |
| 438 | |
| 439 | [[folder:Global Ocean]] |
| 440 | Now that all of the continents have become one landmass, there is now only one ocean as well. And this one ocean is ''enormous'', its center lying approximately 10,000 miles from the nearest coast. Marine life was also hit hard by the mass extinction, filling this strange body of water with astonishing new creatures. The climate was also greatly altered by the coming of the new Pangea. Hurricanes form quickly in this one ocean, and without any continents to impede them, they grow stronger and stronger, becoming immensely powerful storms known as "hypercanes". |
| 441 | |
| 442 | !!'''Silverswimmer''' |
| 443 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/silverswimmer.jpg]] |
| 444 | [[caption-width-right:350:A filter-feeding, schooling species of silverswimmer]] |
| 445 | |
| 446 | These are curious creatures, descended from larval crustaceans that practiced neoteny (the ability to breed in a larval stage). There are numerous species of them swimming all over the global sea. Some are predators, some are scavengers, and others are filter-feeders. They have occupied the niche formerly filled by fish, but are themselves prey for Flish. |
| 447 | ---- |
| 448 | * AllegoricalCharacter: Of neoteny, in particular in the context of the early evolution of vertebrates; and as successors to fish, of the emergence of new dominant classes in the oceans that completely replace previous ones (like how jawless fish replaced trilobites, then were replaced by jawed armored fish, then by jawed unarmored fish). |
| 449 | * BigCreepyCrawlies: Compared to their modern-day counterparts, they're ''gigantic''. Some of them get as big as whales. |
| 450 | * ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: They swim. They're silver. Or at least, one species of them shown is silver. |
| 451 | * FantasticFaunaCounterpart: Of fish. Oddly, fish still exist and prey on them, but occupy a completely different niche. |
| 452 | * GiantEnemyCrab: They're massive compared to modern crab larvae. |
| 453 | * MixAndMatchCritters: They have a truly unprecedented variety of forms, some of which resemble hybrids between arthropods and fish. |
| 454 | * OlderThanTheyLook: An unusual case. They apparently evolved from crustaceans that developed the ability to breed at the free-floating larval stage, rather than the adult stage. |
| 455 | |
| 456 | !!'''Ocean Flish''' |
| 457 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ocean_flish.jpg]] |
| 458 | |
| 459 | While gone from the seas, fish are still very much in evidence in this new ecosystem. These particular fish, descended from cod, have evolved to breathe air and even fly, taking over the skies after the birds went extinct. Sometimes, they may get flung by the global sea's hypercanes all the way to the Rainshadow Desert, where they they'll certainly perish under the hot sun. But in doing so, their carcasses, referred to as "flishwrecks", play a vital part in the desert's ecosystem. |
| 460 | ---- |
| 461 | * AllegoricalCharacter: Of the evolution of flight, and the idea that a group of animals could go completely extinct in one medium, yet become dominant in another (like how dinosaurs lost the rule of the land, yet gave birth to birds which are still the dominant lifeforms in the air, even though pterosaurs were dominant air lifeforms during most of the time of dinosaur dominance). |
| 462 | * FantasticFaunaCounterpart: Of seabirds. In the book, it's taken further by noting that flish of different sizes fill different, seabird-like niches (duck-sized flish filter-feed, albatross-sized ones soar long distances, skua-sized flish steal food from other flish, etc.). |
| 463 | * FlyingSeafoodSpecial: Unlike today's flying fish, who can only glide, Flish can achieve true powered flight. |
| 464 | * NestedMouths: Ocean flish contain protrusible jaws, designed to snatch and grab Silverswimmers beneath the waves. |
| 465 | * {{Portmanteau}}: Flying + Fish. |
| 466 | * SeriesMascot: Often shown accompanying the title, likely because a flying fish is strange yet oddly familiar. |
| 467 | |
| 468 | !!'''Rainbow Squid''' |
| 469 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rainbow_squid.jpg]] |
| 470 | |
| 471 | This absolutely ''colossal'' cephalopod is the biggest thing in the Global Ocean. Like its ancestors, it utilizes chromatophores, special muscles controlled by the nervous system, to change color. This squid, however, has a much more developed brain, and utilizes its color changing abilities to its benefit. It can disguise itself as a shoal of Silverswimmers to trick Flish into diving towards it, then uses a tentacle to snatch them out of the sky. They gather in the shallows every year on the night of the autumnal equinox to breed, with males competing among one another each other to produce the brightest color displays. Unlike their ancestors, who die when they mate and lay their eggs, Rainbow Squid don't follow this "coded death" after breeding, even being able to live for as long as a century. Sadly, their size doesn't always protect the Squid, as a certain predator can overcome its color changing abilities. |
| 472 | ---- |
| 473 | * AllegoricalCharacter: The culmination of the evolutionary trend towards greater size, this time in the aquatic medium. |
| 474 | * AmazingTechnicolorWildlife: With a name like "Rainbow Squid", this trope is a must. |
| 475 | * ArtisticLicenseBiology: The franchise only portrays them as eating Flish, which are ''thousands'' of times smaller than the squid. Unless they also eat larger varieties of Silver Swimmers, there's no way they'd be able to sustain themselves on such tiny fare. But they might very well eat the big Silver Swimmers, judging by how common they are. Also, modern cephalopods can change colour just like the Rainbow Squid does, but the show treats this as something new and unusual. |
| 476 | * ChameleonCamouflage: It can turn "invisible" by changing itself blue, blending in with the ocean's surface. Unfortunately this does little to help against Sharkopaths, which have [[TheNoseKnows super smell]] and electrical detection. |
| 477 | * ChestMonster: Acts as these to Flish. They use their color changing ability to simulate a shoal of Silverswimmers. Any unlucky Flish that takes the bait will get grabbed by a huge tentacle instead. |
| 478 | * ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: It's a squid that can change into any color. Modern squid are already very close to this. |
| 479 | * FantasticFaunaCounterpart: Of the giant squid. Perhaps also of whales. |
| 480 | * GiantSquid: It's a huge squid that preys on Flish, and also can change into colors that modern squids can't change into. |
| 481 | * InvisibilityFlicker: When they [[OhCrap panic]] and give up their disguise. |
| 482 | * LongLived: Unlike modern squids, they don't die after mating, and are even able to live for as long as a century because of that. |
| 483 | * ShapeshifterSwanSong: After its invisibility fails, the Rainbow Squid targeted by the Sharkopaths starts frantically cycling through different colors in a futile effort to drive them off. |
| 484 | * ShownTheirWork: Modern cephalopods can change colours in a similar way to the Rainbow Squid. |
| 485 | |
| 486 | !!'''Sharkopath''' |
| 487 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sharkopath.jpg]] |
| 488 | |
| 489 | Sharks are tough and resilient creatures. They've not only evolved long before the dinosaurs, but they have survived ''several'' mass extinctions throughout Earth's history. The Sharkopath is no exception. As the only fish still clinging to water in the Global Ocean, it's the most advanced and ferocious form of shark ever to live. Unlike today's sharks, the Sharkopath hunts in groups, partly because of the advantage of strength in numbers, and partly because the sea of the future is so immense, so this helps to cover more distance in search of food. It uses bioluminescent patches on its sides to signal to its fellow sharks when it finds food. The closer potential prey is, the faster the markings flash. |
| 490 | ---- |
| 491 | * AllegoricalCharacter: Of the sharks longevity as a largely unchanged group. |
| 492 | * BioluminescenceIsCool: They have a bioluminescent trail of markings on their sides, which can be used to confuse targets and direct the group to potential food. The markings flash faster whenever food is close by. |
| 493 | * LightIsNotGood: They have ridges of yellow bioluminescent markings to signal to their own kind and confuse their targets, and are vicious apex predators who hunt and kill the relatively gentle Rainbow Squids. |
| 494 | * NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: Being named after both Shark and Psychopath generally is something to be afraid of. |
| 495 | * TheNoseKnows: They find the Rainbow Squid by tracking down its scent in the water. |
| 496 | * {{Portmanteau}}: Shark + Psychopath |
| 497 | * SuperSenses: Like today's sharks, they can trace electrical signals, a sense they use to overcome the Rainbow Squid's InvisibilityCloak. The ridges on their heads are full of sensory organs, making them more efficient at this trait than today's sharks. |
| 498 | * ThreateningShark: The apex predator of the Global sea. They hunt in huge packs, cooperating in taking down something as huge as a Rainbow Squid. |
| 499 | * ZergRush: Unlike most other sharks, Sharkopaths hunt in ''huge'' numbers, since food is more spread apart. They cooperate by using bioluminescent signals to alert the others of any nearby Rainbow Squids before they converge on and overwhelm their bigger prey through the advantage of power in numbers. |
| 500 | [[/folder]] |
| 501 | |
| 502 | [[folder:Rainshadow Desert]] |
| 503 | Another desert of the new Pangea. Taking up a large chunk of the eastern half of the super-continent, this desert is full of surprises. Unlike the Central Desert, which had fairly acceptable access to water and other resources, the Rainshadow Desert is an even harsher environment, pushing the creatures that live here to the absolute limits of specialization. This desert is surrounded by a large mountain-range that lines the eastern coast of the planet-wide ocean. Unfortunately, said mountains prevent rainclouds from traveling to the desert, leaving it hopelessly dry. Instead of rain, the hypercanes that batter the coastline sweep and toss Ocean Flish over the mountains. The Flish end up dying from the scorching heat, and their carcasses, referred to as "flishwrecks", become a vital resource for the creatures of the desert. |
| 504 | |
| 505 | !!'''Desert Hopper''' |
| 506 | [[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/desert_hopper.jpg]] |
| 507 | |
| 508 | Despite its size and appearance, the Desert Hopper is actually a snail. A modern snail's foot is a powerful muscle coated in mucus to assist in locomotion. To prevent the creation of this mucus, since water is far too important to waste, the Hopper's foot has evolved into an entire leg. This single leg gives the Hopper an advantage, since jumping allows it to cover great distances in search of food. It also has tough, scaly skin to assist in the prevention of secreting slime. Like modern snails, the Desert Hopper has a radula, a tongue coated in rows of tiny, hook like teeth, to eat its food. The Hopper's radula is razor-sharp, allowing it to dig through the hard cuticles of what little edible plants can survive in the desert so it can reach the watery tissues inside. Desert Hoppers are particularly active in the night. During the day, they keeps themselves cool by burying themselves in the sand. When the sun goes down, they rise out of the ground shell-first, then begin hopping to whatever plants are available. |
| 509 | ---- |
| 510 | * BigCreepyCrawlies: A rabbit-sized snail that uses a single foot to hop around. |
| 511 | * BizarreAlienLocomotion: It hops around on a single foot instead of crawling on the ground. This is fortunate for the creature, as water is too important a resource to waste in its environment. |
| 512 | * ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: It hops through the desert. |
| 513 | * FantasticFaunaCounterpart: Of jackrabbits and wallabies, being a herbivore living in arid areas that moves around by hopping. |
| 514 | |
| 515 | !!'''Bumblebeetle/Grimworm''' |
| 516 | [[quoteright:340:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bumblebeetle.jpg]] |
| 517 | |
| 518 | A rather peculiar insect with a rather peculiar life cycle. The Bumblebeetle spends its life in a race against the clock. It can only live for exactly one day, and it spends that one day flying over the desert in the hopes of finding a "flishwreck". No two Bumblebeetles can share a carcass, and if two of them come across the same one, they engage in an aerial dogfight over it. The carcass is the only essential place where the Bumblebeetle can release its young: large, carnivorous maggots known as Grimworms. After splitting its abdomen open to release the Grimworms, the Bumblebeetle then dies. The Grimworms then spend every moment they can munching away at the carcass. Grimworms also practice neoteny, mating before they reach adulthood. During mating, the largest female Grimworm eats all of the males (plus any smaller females), then digs itself underground to pupate. As a result, every single Bumblebeetle is female, already pregnant with new Grimworms. |
| 519 | ---- |
| 520 | * AllegoricalCharacter: Of the idea that the only motor of evolution is reproduction success, exemplified by the acquisition of a mayfly-type life cycle in which most of the time is spent as a larva and the adult only exists for enough time to lay the next generation, at the cost of the parent's own life. |
| 521 | * BigEater: Grimworms spend all of their lives eating the Flish carcass they live in. It's actually the first thing they do when they crawl inside the carcass. As an advantage to their impressive gluttony, they have three sets of jaws, able to slice and grind any meat they can sink them into. Females also eat males during mating. This is sharply averted with the adult Bumblebeetle. It's unable to eat ''anything'' since it lacks a functioning mouth. The closest thing it has to eating is the ability to digest its fat reserves on the wing. |
| 522 | * BizarreAlienReproduction: |
| 523 | ** Grimworms reach maturity and mate as larvae, and can even reproduce via parthenogenesis. Unfertilized eggs will develop into identical Grimworms. |
| 524 | ** The adult Bumblebeetle does not lay eggs. Grimworms hatch and develop within the parent. When an adult releases the Grimworms into a suitable Flish carcass, its abdomen ''splits open'' and it dies shortly after. |
| 525 | * DeathByChildbirth: Once it finds a suitable and vacant Flish carcass, the Bumblebeetle will break its abdomen apart to release the Grimworms. It does this so the Grimworms can get out of the sun and crawl inside the carcass to begin eating it straight-away. It dies shortly after this task, completing its sole purpose. |
| 526 | * FantasticFaunaCounterpart: Of flies and mayflies. |
| 527 | * OneGenderRace: Every Bumblebeetle is female. This is because female Grimworms are the only ones that live long enough to pupate, since they eat all the males when mating. |
| 528 | * {{Portmanteau}}: Bumblebee + Beetle. |
| 529 | * YourDaysAreNumbered: An adult Bumblebeetle can only live for 24 hours. And to raise the stakes higher, it's unable to eat properly, lacking mouth parts and having only a rudimentary digestive system filled with fat reserves.[[note]]TruthInTelevision as many insects, like mayflies and some moths, have no mouthparts as adults and only live long enough to mate.[[/note]] It uses that one day to find a Flish carcass to deposit the Grimworms it's carrying inside itself. |
| 530 | |
| 531 | !!'''Deathbottle''' |
| 532 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/deathbottle_plant.png]] |
| 533 | |
| 534 | Since water and quality soil are practically nonexistent in the Rainshadow Desert, the plants here have to take drastic measures to function. Among the most successful and hazardous of these plants is the Deathbottle. It feeds on Desert Hoppers with a crafty trapping system. A Hopper is first lured to the leaf covered stems of the plant, then suddenly falls into a hole in the sand. This hole is actually the Deathbottle's feeding chamber; its walls lined with poisonous spikes. Over time, the spikes begin constricting toward the struggling Hopper, eventually piercing the snail's skin, and allowing for digestive juices to start breaking it down. To reset the trap, the plant regrows the thin membrane above the entrance to its feeding chamber and waits for it to become covered in sand. For reproduction, the Deathbottle also makes use of Bumblebeetles looking for "flishwrecks" to deposit their Grimworms in. To this end, the Deathbottle grows flowers that mimic the appearance and stench of a rotting Flish. After a while, a Bumblebeetle will notice the flower and crawl into a hole in its center, cleverly made to look like a flesh wound. Inside the flower is another chamber, one full of sticky seeds. The Bumblebeetle will begin frantically flying around the chamber looking for an escape. In the process, the seeds become stuck to its abdomen. The Deathbottle also has a built-in eject-mechanism for getting rid of the Bumblebeetle. When the insect hits a certain spot in the seed chamber, the plant literally tosses the Bumblebeetle out. When engaging in a dogfight over a "flishwreck", the seeds coating the Bumblebeetle become loose, and land in the ground next to the carcass, as they are the only nutrition in this harsh environment. |
| 535 | ---- |
| 536 | * AllegoricalCharacter: Of carnivorous and animal-mimicking plants. |
| 537 | * ChestMonster: For Bumblebeetles. Thankfully, it doesn't harm them, only covers them in seeds. Its manner of preying on Desert Hoppers also qualifies, since it uses its own leaves as bait for them. |
| 538 | * DeathTrap: Any Desert Hopper that lands into it is killed by the spikes within. These spikes begin to contract over time, so that it will be eventually pierced. Bumblebeetles are thankfully more lucky. They only get covered in seeds within another special chamber before the plant punts it out. |
| 539 | * ShoutOut: To the Sarlacc Pit from ''Franchise/StarWars''. |
| 540 | * SpikesOfDoom: The spikes that line the walls of its feeding chamber are poisonous, used to kill any unlucky Desert Hopper that lands inside. |
| 541 | * TrapDoor: It covers its "lid" with sand to make it resemble the ground. Unwary Desert Hoppers will jump onto that, and fall within into spiky doom. |
| 542 | [[/folder]] |
| 543 | |
| 544 | [[folder:Northern Forest]] |
| 545 | The final ecosystem presented in the program. Nestled in the northwest corner of the new Pangea, this forest is battered by winds drawn in from the western coast. As such, it rains constantly, so the creatures that live here have to put up with the nonstop downpour. The endless rain also does wonders for the plants that live here. This is the only place left on the super-continent where trees can grow. Conifers that have survived the mass extinction now stand as tall as redwood trees. There are also Lichen Trees, descended from the lichens that grow on rocks and logs today, that cover the understory of the forest, producing fruit that is enjoyed by the local fauna. This forest is also the birth place of an incredible type of organism: the Terasquids. These special cephalopods have adapted quickly to life outside the water, and over time, they may even become the next dominant life-form on the planet. |
| 546 | |
| 547 | !!'''Megasquid''' |
| 548 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/megasquid.jpg]] |
| 549 | |
| 550 | A member of the Terasquids, this elephant-sized cephalopod is the giant of the forest. A solitary creature, the Megasquid spends its life shuffling along the forest floor, looking for food to please its endless hunger. Being boneless, eight of its tentacles have evolved to become pillar-like legs supported entirely by muscle. It is also able to emit calls through a bladder on its forehead filled with thin membranes that are vibrated by the air it breathes. Omnivorous and not in the least choosy, it happily devours anything it can catch, a trait that is utilized by different organisms. |
| 551 | ---- |
| 552 | * AllegoricalCharacter: Of full adaptation of once aquatic groups to land and once again, the evolutionary trend towards greater size. In practice, the Megasquid is equivalent to prosauropods and other giant reptiles of the previous Pangaea. |
| 553 | * BizarreAlienLocomotion: It isn't easy to move on eight legs that are completely boneless. To avoid tripping over itself, the Megasquid moves by moving the second and third legs on one side of its body in unison with the first and fourth on the other side, producing a gait not seen in any animal alive today. |
| 554 | * DumbMuscle: Though not exactly stupid, they are clearly dumber than their Squibbon relatives, and much larger and stronger. |
| 555 | * ExtremeOmnivore: It is indeed omnivorous, eating anything it can get its tentacles on, from Lichen Fruits to baby Squibbon. The Slithersucker makes use of this to propagate itself. It disguises itself as a Lichen Fruit, and when the Megasquid devours it, it hijacks the squid's brain, driving it insane and forcing it to "sneeze", propelling chunks of it onto trees so it can regrow itself. |
| 556 | * FantasticFaunaCounterpart: Of the elephant. |
| 557 | * GiantSquid: Elephant-sized ''land-bound'' squid, to be more precise. |
| 558 | * ShoutOut: To the obscure {{Kaiju}} Gezora from the movie ''Film/SpaceAmoeba''. At least, the two sure do look similar. |
| 559 | * VegetarianCarnivore: Well, maybe not outright "vegetarian", but it's a squid that's decided to add fruit to its diet. |
| 560 | |
| 561 | !!'''Slithersucker''' |
| 562 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/slithersucker.jpg]] |
| 563 | |
| 564 | A unique organism, the Slitherslucker isn't a plant or an animal. It's a slime mold; a community of single celled organisms that move and operate as one being. Slime molds today are reather small and simple, but over millions of years, the Slithersucker has evolved to become more adapted to whatever the forest throws at it. It takes on the shape of Lichen Fruits, a favorite snack of the Megasquid. Once eaten, it then makes its way into the Megasquid's brain, controlling it until it reaches a specific destination. Upon arrival, the Slithersucker makes the squid sneeze, making the cephalopod spew chunks of the slime mold out of its vocal sac. This is how it spreads, as the expelled chunks grow into new Slithersuckers. The Slithersucker is also predatory, draping itself on the branch of a Lichen Tree to catch any Forest Flish that flies into its path. Once a Forest Flish is caught in the slimy curtain, the Slithersucker begins utilizing digestive juices to enjoy its meal. |
| 565 | ---- |
| 566 | * BlobMonster: They're a form of slime mold. 200 million years have made it more... everything. Bigger, creepier, and even ''smarter''. |
| 567 | * FantasticFaunaCounterpart: While "fauna" is stretching it a little, it's generally based on behavior-altering parasites such as horsehair worms or the famous ''Cordyceps'', which alter a host animal's behavior to use it a means to propagate. |
| 568 | * PuppeteerParasite: It fools a Megasquid into eating it by disguising itself as a Lichen Fruit. Once inside, the slime mold hitches a ride with the Megasquid, hijacking its brain to take it where it wants to go. |
| 569 | * ShapeShifter: Like today's slime molds, it's able to change its form into different objects, such as the Lichen Fruits that the Megasquid prefers. This is how it can get inside the Megasquid to control it, and ends up using the Megasquid to spread itself around. |
| 570 | * StickySituation: Any Forest Flish that ends up flying into its sticky tendrils will get stuck and digested. |
| 571 | |
| 572 | !!'''Forest Flish''' |
| 573 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/forest_flish.jpg]] |
| 574 | |
| 575 | The smaller and more colorful cousins of Ocean Flish. Like Ocean Flish, these fish have left the water completely to fill the niche of birds, and their pectoral fins have become wings. But unlike Ocean Flish, Forest Flish have had their pelvic fins evolve into hooks. These hooks help them to roost upside-down on branches like today's bats. Like the birds today, they fill the forest with their songs. The only difference is that their chirps are more reminiscent of grasshoppers than of birds. |
| 576 | ---- |
| 577 | * FantasticFaunaCounterpart: They fill the same role as tropical birds. Though in comparison with their size, they also fill the niche of butterflies. |
| 578 | * FlyingSeafoodSpecial: Like Flish, they're capable of flight, and even hang upside down like bats. |
| 579 | |
| 580 | !!'''Squibbon''' |
| 581 | [[quoteright:340:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/squibbon.jpg]] |
| 582 | |
| 583 | The last organism shown in the program. Another kind of Terasquid, these cephalopods are the opposite of the Megasquid in every way. They're small, incredibly active, and live in large numbers. Squibbon live high in the forest canopy, jumping and swinging around on the branches like today's gibbons. They're actually even more flexible than gibbons since they have no bones to impede movement. Unlike the Megasquid, Squibbon have their eyes mounted on stalks, which they can extend to vastly improve their range of sight. Squibbon are also known to be quite knowledgeable. They're not only the smartest animals in the forest, but they're said to be the most intelligent lifeforms since ''humans.'' They have a complex form of communication, live large in social groups with parents, sibling, and relatives, and have even developed the capacity to ''learn,'' training and playing at a young age by swinging in the branches helps to sharpen their senses as they grow. With all these advantages at their disposal, it's heavily implied that Squibbon will eventually become the next dominant species of planet Earth. |
| 584 | ---- |
| 585 | * AbnormalAmmo: They can throw random stuff like branches and fruit at the Megasquid. |
| 586 | * AllegoricalCharacter: Of the evolution of intelligence. |
| 587 | * BigDamnHeroes: When they save their young from a Megasquid. |
| 588 | * EdibleAmmunition: They won't hesitate to mob any Megasquid that captures their young. |
| 589 | * FantasticFaunaCounterpart: Of apes, particularly gibbons and chimpanzees. |
| 590 | * MamaBear[=/=]PapaWolf: Squibbon are very protective of family members, especially children. If a young Squibbon gets caught by a Megasquid, the entire group will attack it, pelting it with objects until the captured Squibbon is recued. |
| 591 | * {{Portmanteau}}: Squid + Gibbon |
| 592 | * ZergRush: In contrast to the solitary Megasquid, Squibbon use numbers to confront danger. |
| 593 | [[/folder]] |
| 594 | |
| 595 | !!The Animated Series |
| 596 | The animated series stars a team of human teenagers (and their pet Squibbon) exploring the different time periods mentioned above and encountering the strange lifeforms that inhabit them. Many of the creatures mentioned above appear in the cartoon as well[[note]]The North American Desert, Mediterranean Salt Flats, Rainshadow Desert and Global Ocean are the only environments not featured in the show; logically, the animals living there don't appear either[[/note]]. |
| 597 | |
| 598 | [[folder:C.G. (Cassiopeia G.)]] |
| 599 | [[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cg_5.jpg]] |
| 600 | |
| 601 | -->'''Voiced by:''' Ashley Peters |
| 602 | A cautious and logical teenage girl who hails from the year 12000 AD, in which humanity is threatened by the onset of an Ice Age (although not the one of 5 million years into the future). She has been sent by her father through time on the Time Flyer in order to search for a new habitat for humanity. |
| 603 | ---- |
| 604 | * AmbiguouslyBrown: She and her father are both brown-skinned, but she has red hair and blue eyes, and it's unlikely any modern-day countries still exist 10,000 years in the future. |
| 605 | * AnimalsHateHim: Extremely {{Downplayed|Trope}}, but C.G. is the only member of the team who never bonds with a wild animal during one or more of the show's episodes - Emily is a FriendToAllLivingThings (especially Squibby), Ethan has bonded with a Shagrat and a Megasquid, while Luis briefly adopted a pair of Toraton hatchlings that imprinted on him. |
| 606 | * FriendlessBackground: Explicitly stated in one episode, but Ethan, Emily, and Luis are the first friends she has ever had. |
| 607 | * MissingMom: Her mother isn’t even mentioned in the series. |
| 608 | * NoSocialSkills: C.G. has trouble interacting with others, and is especially awkward when trying to spend girl time with Emily. It's confirmed in a later episode she didn't have any friends before going on the mission to the future, so it can be assumed that she never had anyone to develop those skills with. |
| 609 | * OnlySaneMan: {{Downplayed|Trope}}, but she is the one most devoted to the Time Flyer's mission, and her personal quirks (e.g. NoSocialSkills and ControlFreak tendencies) normally aren't as pronounced as her teammates. |
| 610 | * StatuesqueStunner: Meets the boys at eye-level. |
| 611 | * StopHavingFunGuys: C.G. tends to get annoyed whenever her teammates goof off during a mission. {{Justified|Trope}} in that she is from an apocalyptic future and has a vested interest in completing the mission over relaxing. |
| 612 | * TheStoic: She doesn't show a lot of emotion. [[NotSoStoic If she is being openly emotive]], [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness it's usually a sign she is very stressed out]] or really enjoying herself. |
| 613 | * UniformityException: While the rest of the cast wears clothing from UsefulNotes/TheNewTens, C.G. wears a futuristic body suit from her home time, ten-thousand years in the future. |
| 614 | * WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: C.G. has Arachnophobia (fear of spiders), and is noticeably uncomfortable whenever she has to deal with Silver Spiders. She’s also quite unhappy when dealing with Spindletroopers, but since she has her laser cutter to defend herself, her reaction is more one of annoyance than fear. |
| 615 | [[/folder]] |
| 616 | |
| 617 | [[folder:Emily]] |
| 618 | [[quoteright:182:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/emily_1.jpg]] |
| 619 | |
| 620 | -->'''Voiced by:''' Miranda Jones |
| 621 | One of three teenagers from the year 2000 who joined C.G. on her mission after she accidentally arrived in that time period. Sweet and gentle, she is very fond of animals, especially Squibby. |
| 622 | ---- |
| 623 | * FriendToAllLivingThings: She's helpful to all animals she encounters, even predators. However, she seems to make an exception for bugs. |
| 624 | * WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: For all that she loves animals, bugs still seem to creep her out. |
| 625 | [[/folder]] |
| 626 | |
| 627 | [[folder:Ethan]] |
| 628 | [[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ethan_6.png]] |
| 629 | |
| 630 | -->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/MarcDonato |
| 631 | The second of the trio of teenagers from 2000 who have joined C.G. on her time-travelling mission. He is daring and adventurous, almost always willing to take on the most daring tasks. |
| 632 | ---- |
| 633 | * TheBigGuy: The largest member of the cast, and the one most physically oriented. |
| 634 | * BookDumb: Somewhat - he doesn't care much for the TechnoBabble that C.G. and Luis use, but is still fairly smart and has moments of wisdom. |
| 635 | * WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: It's eventually revealed that he has Claustrophobia - fear of being in small spaces. |
| 636 | [[/folder]] |
| 637 | |
| 638 | [[folder:Luis]] |
| 639 | [[quoteright:201:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/luis_1.png]] |
| 640 | |
| 641 | -->'''Voiced by:''' Taylor Abrahamse |
| 642 | The last member of the teenage trio from 2000 who accompany C.G. into the future. Arguably the most intelligent of the group, he prefers to remain in the Time Flyer rather than explore the different environments the crew encounter. |
| 643 | ---- |
| 644 | * BigotryException: C.G.'s Father seems to hold him in higher regard than Ethan and Emily. [[CommonalityConnection This stems from how the two have similar interests in technology and thus have common ground to work with]]. |
| 645 | * DeadpanSnarker: Always has a dry remark on the events around him. |
| 646 | * EmoTeen: Has the look. |
| 647 | * TheSmartGuy: The smartest of the trio from the present. [[BirdsOfAFeather This endears him to both C.G. and her father]]. |
| 648 | [[/folder]] |
| 649 | |
| 650 | [[folder:Squibby]] |
| 651 | [[quoteright:240:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/squibby.png]] |
| 652 | |
| 653 | -->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/RichardBinsley |
| 654 | A Squibbon who serves as the TeamPet. He snuck on board the Time Flyer when C.G.'s first expedition took her to the Northern Forests of 200 million years into the future. Like all the creatures that appear in the cartoon, he engages in AnimalTalk. |
| 655 | ---- |
| 656 | * NonHumanSidekick: The only non-human member of the team. |
| 657 | |
| 658 | [[/folder]] |
| 659 | |
| 660 | [[folder:C.G.'s Father]] |
| 661 | [[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cgs_father.png]] |
| 662 | |
| 663 | -->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/CedricSmith |
| 664 | C.G.'s unnamed father, who constructed the Time Flyer and assigns C.G. on different missions to different time periods. He is unaware of Squibby's presence aboard the ship but he doesn't really approve of C.G. bringing along present-day humans (or "primitives" as he calls them) along with her. |
| 665 | ---- |
| 666 | * AmbiguouslyBrown: Like his daughter. |
| 667 | * DramaticallyMissingThePoint: [[JerkassHasAPoint While he's right that C.G. is letting her feelings get in the way of her judgement regarding her "stowaways"]], he fails to realize that C.G. needs human companions to function as a person, and that the robots prepared to act as her crew can't actually address her human need for companionship. |
| 668 | * FantasticRacism: Doesn't think too highly of Ethan, Emily, or Luis on account of them being "primitives". That being said, he does bond with Luis because the latter has shared interests with both himself and C.G., giving him someone to relate to. |
| 669 | * JerkassHasAPoint: Notes in one episode that if C.G. keeps her friends around with her too long, they will likely be unable to reintegrate into life in the present day. C.G. concedes his point. |
| 670 | * ParentalNeglect: {{Implied|Trope}} by [[WellDoneSonGuy just how much C.G. wants to earn his approval]]. |
| 671 | * ReasonableAuthorityFigure: For all his mistrust of Ethan, Emily, and Luis, he is willing to allow them to stay with C.G. until the mission to save mankind is complete when they prove themselves devoted to said mission... though he's also motivated by the robotic crew going haywire at that moment and deciding to fight over a snack. |
| 672 | * TheSpock: He's the most logical member of the human cast, due to both age and the ongoing climatic apocalypse in his home time. This clashes with the C.G. and the rest of the crew for a few reasons -- while some of it is understandable (the team spends a lot of time goofing off while he has to face ''TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt''), he also fails to consider some important issues that have a significant impact on the mission. Case in point, while he's correct that C.G. taking Ethan, Emily, and Luis along with her both jeopardizes the mission and will make it difficult for the trio to re-acclimate to the present, he fails to the consider that C.G.'s robotic crew cannot provide proper comaraderie to her, [[{{Irony}} which could make it difficult for C.G. to reacclimate to being among humans in her time]]. |
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