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Dozens in rural California have reported catching glimpses of a mysterious “dinosaur” or “bear-lizard” creature. Sightings range from Big Sur to Mt. Shasta.

Midnight Sun, "What Is It? 'California Dino' Seen by Dozens"

The karkian is a transgenic creature in Deus Ex and Deus Ex: Invisible War.

Background[]

Karkians are one among the transgenic species created by researchers under the control of Majestic 12.[1] The karkian can be described as a large brown reptilian creature, approximately six feet long and two feet wide when fully grown. Its head resembles that of a crocodile. Karkians raised in captivity generally exhibit aggression toward humans.

Karkians are studied in multiple Majestic 12 facilities, including the Liberty Island MJ12 lab, the VersaLife facility in Hong Kong, the MJ12 Sub Base in California, and the Pasadena Ocean Lab. According to Dr. Corwell, a researcher at the sub base who operates a karkian tank, MJ12 has been performing studies on creature morphology, resulting in horribly deformed creatures.[2] On one occasion, in Hong Kong, a researcher transporting Karkian eggs was injured by a blast that destroyed a tunnel. The eggs then hatched into infant karkians. Due to hunger, the stronger members of the litter consumed the weaker ones.[3]

Post-collapse[]

Karkians were researched in secret, and were rarely sighted by the public.[4] This changed after the Collapse, which allowed karkians and greasels to thrive in the resulting chaos. Even in major urban areas such as Seattle, they can be found roaming the sewers and tunnels.

Gameplay[]

Deus Ex[]

In Deus Ex, Karkians are part of the Animal class. Both full-sized and "baby" karkians are seen in the game, with the adult version being significantly more resilient to damage but slightly slower in movement speed.

Adult karkians have 400 HP, higher than any human NPC. Moreover, damage multipliers that apply to human NPCs, such as the headshot multiplier, are not applicable to karkians. Both adult and baby karkians are capable of swimming underwater and have full immunity to riot prod and all gas damage types.

Adult karkians possess two types of melee attacks:

  • A "bite" attack, implemented in gameplay as a melee weapon that does relatively high damage, at 15 base damage.
  • A "bump" attack, which a special property of inflicting damage dependent on the current movement speed of the karkian. If the karkian is moving at a velocity of more than 100 and touches the player, damage is inflicted on the player's legs in the amount of (velocity / 5). Since the karkian has a maximum ground speed of 400, the bump attack can inflict up to 80 damage.

Baby karkians do not have the bump attack, but can still perform the bite attack, to the same effect as adult karkians.

Deus Ex: Invisible War[]

Karkians in Invisible War are slightly scaled-down size-wise, but are nonetheless still highly aggressive. They can be found fairly early in Seattle, but are less common later on, with some appearing in Antarctica.

Prerelease concepts and cut content[]

In Deus Ex design document version 13.12, karkians are said to be a "genetically manipulated, nano-augmented crocodile." The concept of nano-augmented animals was proposed for several types of animals, but was generally cut from the final game. The detail of being derived from crocodiles is not explicitly mentioned in the final game.

Karkian

Size: Large, crocodile-size.

Demeanor: Territorial loners. Hostile toward all others, including its own kind. Vicious. Description: Genetically maniulated, nano-augmented crocodile (i.e., a powerful, reptilian quadruped). Unlike crocs, the Karkian has a stubby tail, making it less suited to life in the water. The seemingly armored skin of the ordinary crocodile becomes literal armor, as the nanites form a protective covering the entire body. An elongated, almost eel-like head is filled with razor-sharp teeth. Binocular vision and elongated claws complete the picture.

Location: Found in Majestic 12 nano-labs, particularly VersaLife. Not really a threat unless released from their pens. Then they can threaten the PC or be unleashed on unsuspecting NPCs.

Role: The Majestic 12 assault bio-weapon program wasn’t limited to experiments with mammals (e.g., orangutans). There were those within the organization who saw greater potential, if less innate intelligence, in reptilian creations. With images of Tyrannosaurus Rex in mind’s eye, the researchers set out to use nanotechnology to manipulate crocodile DNA to create a part-croc, part-dinosaur, part-machine, all killer creature. The effort was as ill-fated as the State-side orangutan program but both programs provided valuable data on the effects of nano-augmentation that allowed Majestic 12 to create the player character. The curious thing about the Karkian is that it proved surprisingly passive. It waited for prey to come to it, rather than pursuing it vigorously (though it considered any creature that ventured within range to be prey, even creatures of its own kind…) It also proved remarkably resistant to commands or attempts to control and direct its behavior. Finally, and most unusually, the Karkian, to the surprise of researchers, established a symbiotic relationship with another VersaLife experimental creature, the Greazel (see below).

Combat Notes: Moves relatively slowly and has claws that are better suited to pinning a foe than doing actual damage. Even its jaws, though powerful, are more designed for crushing bones than attacking fighting prey. Doesn’t seem like much of a threat until tackled in combination with a pack of Greazels – together, the two creature types work together, they’re pretty formidable.

Deus Ex design document v. 13.12

Cut content in Deus Ex: Invisible War similarly references the karkian's origin in crocodiles, as well as its symbiotic relationship with greasels.

Karkians are genetically manipulated reptilian quadrupeds, largely based on crocodile DNA. They are territorial loners, with crushing jaws and razor sharp teeth. They are slow moving predators, who will not race to attack, but are truly formidable in conjunction with greasels, another species of transgenic with which they share an unexpected symbiotic bond.

Museum of Nanotechnology guide (Deus Ex: Invisible War cut content)

Baby karkians were planned to return in Invisible War, but were never featured. Dialogue for NPCs fighting baby karkians exists in the SchemaMetafile_HardDrive.csc file.

Gallery[]

Gallery[]

  1. Deus Ex backstory
  2. Dialogue with Dr. Corwell at the sub base.
  3. Feng's journal
  4. "What is it? 'California Din' Seen by Dozens" (Midnight Sun article)
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