Character Contest 39: Dinomarines
Of all my HeroMachine characters, the Ankylore is a favorite. I want so bad to develop this character as part of a full-length novel or a video game along the lines of Civilization or Age of Empires. Picture a game sequence featuring hundreds of these beasts laying siege to a town or storming a beachhead.
Unfortunately, the Ankylores became extinct when the Nazis introduced the Dinozerschlagungpanzer during World War II.
Iberian Ankylore
Close-up
History
Throughout the Medieval Age and well into the Renaissance, European navies were manned with elite shock troops. The Ankylores, semi-bipedal descendants of ankylosaurs, were among the most valued. These marines absorbed the brunt of catapult and bullets; later, cannonballs and grapeshot.
They lacked opposable thumbs. Armadas brought them along exclusively for intimidation and invasion. Which suited the unimaginitive, yet physically agile, Ankylores. They did not use range weapons. They preferred to pummel and gore. The brutal encounter often ended with a lethal display of dominance: the coup de tête. Smashing the enemy’s skull with the clubbed tail.
Depicted here is an Iberian “Dinomarine” en route to a reluctant village in the North Sea. He is plated for battle. Strapped to his hand-feet are patas (“paws”). The force of his clubbed tail is augmented by a segundo cabeça (“second head”). This Ankylore holds rank, as evident by his ornate armor.
