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Monstra[1] was a gargantuan, flying, whale-like "Leviathan Class" Grimm created by Salem. It was first seen in "The Enemy of Trust" and served as a mobile base for her inner circle. In "Ultimatum", it was destroyed by Oscar Pine using the stored kinetic energy in The Long Memory.

Appearance[]

Exterior[]

Monstra was a humongous, sperm whale-like Grimm, exponentially dwarfing Nevermores and Sphinxes. Its head lacked eyes and had an orange glow, similar to that of a Seer, with a whale's skull visible on the interior. Monstra appeared to have giant, purple crystalline spikes and gray rocks on its upper and lower body and was shown to have five pairs red bat-wing-like fins, allowing for flight. The purple crystals on its body were composed of Gravity Dust, which allowed it the ability to fly.[2]

Layout[]

Furthermore, Monstra also served as a mobile base for Salem's Inner Circle and a hub for the Grimm. The interior of Monstra was comprised of dark red fleshy walls and bone spikes, dripping with Grimm Liquid. Its hallway floors were shown to be a cartilage-like substance, with bright red Grimm markings outlining the path. In these, doorways were similarly fleshy, being a translucent membrane in Monstra that resembled gothic architecture, and large veins dangled overhead.[3] The hallways were patrolled by Seers, acting as scouts for Salem.

Bridge[]

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Salem's Throne

Atop of Monstra's skull, Salem had stationed a throne for herself to overlook what was ahead. The bridge was extremely large, allowing for the entirety of her faction to comfortably stand inside and await her orders. Being that it was in the Grimm's skull, Salem's throne was similarly bone-like in nature, and was shown to have several Grimm markings. Upon touching the throne, Salem was able to command Monstra to clear itself of the smoke in its head to reveal what the Grimm saw.

Rooms[]

Monstra was equipped with many rooms for different purposes. One was designed as a small, circular torture chamber which was used when Salem interrogated Oscar Pine. The room's ceiling appeared to be somewhat opaque, allowing light to shine into it and providing some visibility and evoking the imagery of prison bars. Most interestingly, the room was shown to have large torture hooks which resembled Grimm-like arms, being black in color with bone platings.

Other rooms were used as private quarters for members of Salem's faction. These rooms were small, maintaining the consistent cartilage floors and fleshy walls. On the furthermost wall of the doors, Salem's agents could rest in a bed made of Grimm bone.

The Relic of Knowledge was kept in its own special room. It was held in a pillar surrounded by pools of Grimm Liquid. The Relic was capable of being activated, but it was rigged so an alarm would ring around Monstra if anyone removed the Lamp.

Landing Platforms[]

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Landing Pads

Resembling gills under Monstra's wings, the Grimm had several bone-like landing pads so that Salem's subordinates could travel to the mobile base through the use of airships. The landing pads' flooring was seemingly bone-like in structure, and appeared to be surrounded by large Tempests.

Powers and Abilities[]

Through the use of the Gravity Dust on its back, Monstra was capable of slow flight. Furthermore, the Grimm's sperm-like head was able to clear itself of smoke to show an opaque image of what Monstra saw.

Monstra also had the ability to spew Grimm Liquid from its mouth, which allowed Salem to control it in various ways such as forming a river,[4] creating a geyser to reach Atlas, and spawn lesser Grimm from it. It was shown spawning Sabyrs, Beowolves, Apathy, Megoliaths, Ursai, Boarbatusks, Sulfur Fish, Manticores, Lancers, Teryxes and winged Beringels.

Residents[]

Arriving with Monstra, Salem also brought the rest of her Inner Circle with her. She later ordered Tyrian Callows and Mercury Black to head to Vacuo in "War". After The Hound captured him, Oscar Pine was held prisoner temporarily.

With Monstra destroyed in "Witch", there are no longer any residents inside the Grimm.

Former[]

V8 Salem Mug
Salem
Hazelv8-thumb
Hazel
CinderV8C13Mug
Cinder
Em-thumbv8.2
Emerald
NeoV9C7Mug
Neopolitan
Tyrian V7 Thumb
Tyrian
Merc-thumbv8
Mercury
Hound-icon
The Hound
Oscarv82
Oscar

Trivia[]

  • Monstra is based on Monstro, the fearsome sperm whale that appeared as the final antagonist in the Disney film Pinocchio.[5]
  • Its designed is inspired by sperm whales, beluga whales and lion fish.[6]
  • Kerry Shawcross refers to Monstra as an "organic ship."[7]
  • In "Ultimatum", Monstra is described as a "Leviathan-class" Grimm. Leviathan was a Grimm introduced in the Volume 6 episode "Seeing Red".
  • According to 18th Anniversary Star Chart T-Shirt, Remnant follows several Grimm-themed constellations in their northern skies. November–December are Monstra.
  • When Connor Pickens asked Kerry Shawcross and Eddy Rivas if the fight inside Monstra's "Docking Bay" in "Witch" was planned from the start, they confirmed that it was what they had in mind when it was conceptualized with them calling it "The Hangar Bay Fight" except everything was made of flesh.[8]
  • When planning which types of Grimm to bring back for the opening scene of "War", the Death Stalker was one of the Grimm considered to be created by Monstra and very nearly made an appearance. They were cut because creating and rigging new models for them would have been too time consuming for a large creature that would barely be used in the Volume.[9]

​References[]

  1. Concept art by Sana Freeman
  2. Sana Freeman's Twitter
  3. Concept art by Weston T. Jones
  4. RWBY Volume 8 Directors' and Writers' Commentary chapter 7
  5. RWBY Volume 7 Crew Commentary - Chapter 13
  6. Sana Freeman's Twitter
  7. RWBY Volume 8 Episode 1 Watch Party
  8. RWBY Volume 8 Directors' and Writers' Commentary Chapter 4
  9. RWBY Volume 8 Directors' and Writers' Commentary chapter 7
Minor Combatants
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