Beasts

So as to the first point, the hosts seem extremely opposed to the idea of the spider-form actually talking. To the point where they originally wanted the spider obscured from view up until the time of the physical altercation.

As to the third ... I don't know that we really need to go there. I am confident that the audience will accept that a single mythological creature will be able to do all of those things without having to shift form.

As to the second... we try. ;)
So how will we have Ungoliant communicate to the audience?
 
So how will we have Ungoliant communicate to the audience?
They talked about that at length. Firstly, Ungoliant isn't talking to the audience. She's talking to Melkor. Now, we don't need to see her face in order to hear her voice. A few ideas were thrown around: the voice could simply come from a figure hidden in shadow, she could form an image of her face in the shadow, or we could see her face superimposed on half of the screen with Melkor on the other side, because she's speaking directly into his mind.
 
The more I look at the baboon tarantula, the more I like its looks for what we are trying to do.

spider.jpg


There is nothing 'delicate' about it - the legs, body and head all look sturdy and massive (once we scale it up). It has a really interesting coloration pattern to it, not just all black with a single marking. And while it is hairy, it's not *so* hairy that it obscures the spider shape in any way.

There is a lot about this spider that fits the description of Shelob in a way some of the other ones do not. Oh, and it's native to Africa.

The one with the horn is Ceratogyrus darlingi

rearhornbaboontarantula.jpg


So, add some Solifuge mouth parts, tweak the coloring, and any other modifications people want...and I'd be happy with this.
 
Last edited:
The one with the horn is Ceratogyrus darlingi

rearhornbaboontarantula.jpg


So, add some Solifuge mouth parts, tweak the coloring, and any other modifications people want...and I'd be happy with this.
Yeah it looks great, but I want a bigger rear body - I want it to signal extreme capacity to consume. That's one of the great features of the black widow.
 
Yes, that is correct. Insects have three body segments: head, thorax, abdomen, but arachnids have only two: head and abdomen. Obviously, the size relationship between them can vary with the species, but I think that making the abdomen significantly larger than then head will be helpful in Ungoliant's case - *especially* after she has eaten.

I am thinking that showing some variation of her going through a molting process as she swells to being overwhelmingly larger than Melkor will be sufficiently horrifying, as she squeezes out of her old body and is suddenly huge. (and of course she would eat the carcass).

 
Last edited:
Since we're discussing terminology, I believe a spider'shead is called a cephalothorax, since it is where the legs attach. But that's a bit of a mouthful.
 
The former bio teacher in me is so proud of you guys :) It's been awhile since I made a student label that diagram!
 
I like these wolf spiders. Well, I don't like them actually, on the contrary, I dislike them a lot. But as stuff that nightmares are made of, they look great. upload_2017-4-4_16-16-42.jpeg
images
images
 
I like these wolf spiders. Well, I don't like them actually, on the contrary, I dislike them a lot. But as stuff that nightmares are made of, they look great.
Agh, you hit the spot Haakon! Maybe we can use them later for Nan Dungortheb. Some diversity among Ungoliants offspring could be interesting. Or do they have to look all the same?
 
Well, absolutely! But we haven't decided exectly what Ungoliant herself should look like?
And no I don't think they have to look the same. On the contrary, diversity would actually increase the feeling of unease.
 
Maybe Ungoliant has the general shape of a spider, but with all the things on bugs we don't like. She is a demon after all.
 
So, we've decided Tevildo has multiple evil giant cat followers.

My suggestion has been that they are possesed by demons (so, they're the equivalent to Gaurhoth/werewolves) but their bodies are cave lions, probably unusually large ones. Here's how big normal natural cave lions were:
cave-lion.jpg


It's surprisingly hard to find pictures of "evil" or demonic lions that aren't mutated. But here are some that look evil or very dangerous, or are supposed to be possessed:
Lion.png


latest
 
So we're not actually doing giant cats in the Lost Tales sense? But even if not, prefer to go with black panthers or similar beasts, because they seem much more stealthy. Tevildo to me does not behave like a lion.
 
So we're not actually doing giant cats in the Lost Tales sense? But even if not, prefer to go with black panthers or similar beasts, because they seem much more stealthy. Tevildo to me does not behave like a lion.

Lions use quite a lot of stealth, actually. Their coats not being black like a panthers help them blend into their environment, and get close enough to their prey to catch them.
 
So, we've decided Tevildo has multiple evil giant cat followers.

My suggestion has been that they are possesed by demons (so, they're the equivalent to Gaurhoth/werewolves) but their bodies are cave lions, probably unusually large ones. Here's how big normal natural cave lions were:
cave-lion.jpg


It's surprisingly hard to find pictures of "evil" or demonic lions that aren't mutated. But here are some that look evil or very dangerous, or are supposed to be possessed:
Lion.png


latest
I really like the idea of cave lions for inspiration. But, given that we're having them sneak and spy in forests, we'd probably need to tweak their coloring, at least from the images depicted here.
 
Back
Top