1 00:00:03,080 --> 00:00:06,120 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of iHeartRadio. 2 00:00:11,160 --> 00:00:13,920 Speaker 2: Hi, my name is Robert Lammin. This is The Monster Fact, 3 00:00:13,920 --> 00:00:16,200 Speaker 2: a short form series from Stuff to Blow Your Mind, 4 00:00:16,239 --> 00:00:24,160 Speaker 2: focusing on mythical creatures, ideas and monsters. In time, We're 5 00:00:24,160 --> 00:00:26,160 Speaker 2: going to return once more here to the world of 6 00:00:26,160 --> 00:00:29,680 Speaker 2: Marvel Comics with a character that I exclusively know from 7 00:00:29,720 --> 00:00:34,559 Speaker 2: the nineteen ninety four video game Wolverine Adamantium Rage, a 8 00:00:34,800 --> 00:00:37,800 Speaker 2: typical side scroller of the era that I think is 9 00:00:37,960 --> 00:00:41,479 Speaker 2: mostly notable for its selection of villain battles, has some 10 00:00:41,520 --> 00:00:43,880 Speaker 2: neat villains in it, and, at least in the case 11 00:00:43,920 --> 00:00:48,400 Speaker 2: of this supers version, an excellent proto Grime original score, 12 00:00:48,560 --> 00:00:52,080 Speaker 2: which is currently available on vinyl and digital from the 13 00:00:52,159 --> 00:00:55,760 Speaker 2: UK's Sneakers Social Club record label, so if you're into 14 00:00:55,760 --> 00:00:58,960 Speaker 2: that sort of thing, check it out. The Wolverine adversary 15 00:00:59,320 --> 00:01:03,640 Speaker 2: in question from the game is Cyber, a hulking humanoid 16 00:01:03,720 --> 00:01:06,959 Speaker 2: mercenary with the physique of a silverback gorilla and the 17 00:01:07,080 --> 00:01:10,640 Speaker 2: jaw line of a Dick Tracy villain. The character was 18 00:01:10,720 --> 00:01:13,319 Speaker 2: created by I believe Peter David and Sam Keith back 19 00:01:13,360 --> 00:01:16,399 Speaker 2: in nineteen ninety one, and as you'd expect for a 20 00:01:16,400 --> 00:01:19,400 Speaker 2: comic book character with a now thirty five years of 21 00:01:19,440 --> 00:01:23,640 Speaker 2: life on the page, his origin, his timelines, his powers, 22 00:01:24,160 --> 00:01:26,400 Speaker 2: it all gets a bit convoluted, So I'm going to 23 00:01:26,400 --> 00:01:30,080 Speaker 2: attempt to boil things down to the essentials here. Like 24 00:01:30,120 --> 00:01:33,959 Speaker 2: a lot of Wolverine adversaries, and like Wolverine himself, Cyber 25 00:01:34,080 --> 00:01:38,679 Speaker 2: is a mutant augmented with adamantium enhancements, so he naturally 26 00:01:38,720 --> 00:01:43,280 Speaker 2: possesses enhanced strength, enhanced healing factor, which is always helpful 27 00:01:43,280 --> 00:01:47,760 Speaker 2: if you want to actually survive those grotesque adamantium upgrades 28 00:01:47,760 --> 00:01:50,160 Speaker 2: that scientists are doing to you, as well as a 29 00:01:50,200 --> 00:01:53,960 Speaker 2: mild psionic ability that aids him in tracking his targets. 30 00:01:54,560 --> 00:01:59,520 Speaker 2: His artificial gifts, however, are the most noticeable, impenetrable adamantium 31 00:01:59,640 --> 00:02:04,840 Speaker 2: skin and retractable adamantium claws on all of his fingers 32 00:02:04,840 --> 00:02:10,760 Speaker 2: and thumbs that are coated in a potent hallucinogenic toxin. Now, 33 00:02:10,760 --> 00:02:13,600 Speaker 2: this last part made for a very memorable boss battle 34 00:02:13,639 --> 00:02:17,880 Speaker 2: in Adamantium Rage, because you actually battle Cyber inside the 35 00:02:17,919 --> 00:02:23,400 Speaker 2: trappings of an hallucinogenic nightmare, Wolverine can't actually pierce Cyber's skin. 36 00:02:23,760 --> 00:02:25,720 Speaker 2: The only way to defeed him is to somehow turn 37 00:02:25,800 --> 00:02:30,440 Speaker 2: his venom against him. So pretty fun stuff. Cyber's nature 38 00:02:30,480 --> 00:02:35,079 Speaker 2: then is defined by his born mutant abilities as well 39 00:02:35,120 --> 00:02:38,560 Speaker 2: as his acquired Sci Fi enhancements. But it's still, I think, 40 00:02:38,560 --> 00:02:42,799 Speaker 2: a rewarding exercise to compare him to evolve natural world organisms. 41 00:02:43,320 --> 00:02:46,200 Speaker 2: Looking at him through this lens, it's interesting to consider 42 00:02:46,240 --> 00:02:51,320 Speaker 2: how Cyber boasts both incredible armor and a potent toxin 43 00:02:53,080 --> 00:02:56,160 Speaker 2: for a natural world organism. The former is an excellent 44 00:02:56,160 --> 00:02:58,880 Speaker 2: defensive investment, of course, and the latter can go either 45 00:02:58,919 --> 00:03:02,160 Speaker 2: way as an act of predation aids such as most 46 00:03:02,160 --> 00:03:06,399 Speaker 2: snake venom, or as a defensive deterrent as in poisoned 47 00:03:06,560 --> 00:03:10,840 Speaker 2: dart frog toxins. The poisoned dart frogs are actually in 48 00:03:10,880 --> 00:03:14,239 Speaker 2: an attractive comparison here, because, much like Cyber, they don't 49 00:03:14,280 --> 00:03:17,200 Speaker 2: produce the toxins in their own bodies, but they've evolved 50 00:03:17,200 --> 00:03:21,080 Speaker 2: the means of sequestering these toxins from the toxic arthropods 51 00:03:21,120 --> 00:03:23,720 Speaker 2: that they feed on. Not a direct one to one, 52 00:03:23,800 --> 00:03:28,799 Speaker 2: but still interesting to think about. But evolutionarily speaking, adaptations 53 00:03:28,840 --> 00:03:31,799 Speaker 2: like this are expensive, and you generally see more of 54 00:03:31,840 --> 00:03:36,120 Speaker 2: an investment in one area than another Armadillos and panglins, 55 00:03:36,120 --> 00:03:39,000 Speaker 2: for example, have exceptional armor, but they are not venomous. 56 00:03:39,000 --> 00:03:43,400 Speaker 2: They're not poisonous. Venomous snakes don't have shells. There would 57 00:03:43,440 --> 00:03:46,400 Speaker 2: have to be a compelling reason for evolution to select 58 00:03:46,520 --> 00:03:49,800 Speaker 2: for two heavy weapons investments like this, and as luck 59 00:03:49,840 --> 00:03:52,160 Speaker 2: would have it, we do have a couple of examples 60 00:03:52,200 --> 00:03:54,440 Speaker 2: that we can turn to here that may help us 61 00:03:54,520 --> 00:03:58,320 Speaker 2: understand cyber which both came up in recent episodes of 62 00:03:58,600 --> 00:04:02,200 Speaker 2: Stuff to Blow Your Mind. First of all, the HeLa monster, 63 00:04:02,760 --> 00:04:05,040 Speaker 2: which we did a three parter on, does pack a 64 00:04:05,080 --> 00:04:08,400 Speaker 2: combo of armor and venom. The bony osteoderms and the 65 00:04:08,400 --> 00:04:11,200 Speaker 2: flesh and fuse to the skull of this nest rating 66 00:04:11,280 --> 00:04:15,400 Speaker 2: lizard provide physical protection against other Helo monsters, would be 67 00:04:15,440 --> 00:04:19,280 Speaker 2: predators and any nest defenders that might run run into. 68 00:04:19,680 --> 00:04:22,839 Speaker 2: But they also boast a complex venom which they administer 69 00:04:23,000 --> 00:04:27,120 Speaker 2: via their bite. Largely thought to be purely defensive, you 70 00:04:27,160 --> 00:04:30,080 Speaker 2: could argue that the venom is a much bigger investment. Certainly, 71 00:04:30,120 --> 00:04:33,560 Speaker 2: it's complex venom, as we discuss in the core episodes 72 00:04:33,600 --> 00:04:36,800 Speaker 2: of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, but the armor and 73 00:04:36,920 --> 00:04:40,520 Speaker 2: venom have seemingly served this creature well together, enabling it 74 00:04:40,560 --> 00:04:43,360 Speaker 2: to thrive virtually unchanged since the death of the non 75 00:04:43,400 --> 00:04:48,400 Speaker 2: avian dinosaurs. The armor protects the helas against other helo 76 00:04:48,480 --> 00:04:51,680 Speaker 2: monsters who are immune to helo monster venom. The armor 77 00:04:51,760 --> 00:04:55,279 Speaker 2: and bite provide real time deterrence to predation, and the 78 00:04:55,400 --> 00:04:59,520 Speaker 2: venom arguably serves to instruct other organisms about the dangers 79 00:04:59,640 --> 00:05:02,400 Speaker 2: of hun in creatures that look like it. So anything 80 00:05:02,440 --> 00:05:06,120 Speaker 2: that survives a dose of this venom is maybe more 81 00:05:06,200 --> 00:05:10,520 Speaker 2: likely to remember, and that memory could be sustaining. And 82 00:05:10,600 --> 00:05:15,200 Speaker 2: then there are the marine cone snails, gastropod mollusks that 83 00:05:15,320 --> 00:05:19,120 Speaker 2: boast both an incredibly durable shell as well as some 84 00:05:19,200 --> 00:05:22,360 Speaker 2: of the most potent venom in the natural world, which 85 00:05:22,400 --> 00:05:25,440 Speaker 2: they use to hunt and sometimes in self defense. I 86 00:05:25,440 --> 00:05:27,479 Speaker 2: guess it's worth keeping in mind that a lot of 87 00:05:27,520 --> 00:05:30,760 Speaker 2: times something that is defensive can that is offensive can 88 00:05:30,920 --> 00:05:35,880 Speaker 2: be defensive as well. But they administer this toxin at 89 00:05:36,040 --> 00:05:41,440 Speaker 2: range by firing a tethered harpoon like radular tooth. So 90 00:05:42,000 --> 00:05:45,480 Speaker 2: armor and weapon here come with very high metabolic costs 91 00:05:45,560 --> 00:05:50,279 Speaker 2: for the cone snail, but these investments enable these slow 92 00:05:50,360 --> 00:05:53,919 Speaker 2: moving organisms to dominate their niche in a very very 93 00:05:53,960 --> 00:05:58,159 Speaker 2: competitive marine environment. Their enemies are few in an ocean 94 00:05:58,200 --> 00:06:04,400 Speaker 2: typically teeming with predators for invertebrates of their size, and 95 00:06:04,480 --> 00:06:06,479 Speaker 2: I suppose we might apply all of that back to 96 00:06:06,560 --> 00:06:09,840 Speaker 2: cyber In order to stand out and have a chance 97 00:06:10,200 --> 00:06:14,040 Speaker 2: in the crowded rogues gallery of evil Marvel mutants, he 98 00:06:14,080 --> 00:06:19,200 Speaker 2: absolutely needs more than just armor or just psychedelic toxins. 99 00:06:19,560 --> 00:06:22,960 Speaker 2: As such, his own enduring enemies, which we might compare 100 00:06:23,000 --> 00:06:27,880 Speaker 2: to natural predators, are a narrow but incredibly dangerous roster 101 00:06:27,960 --> 00:06:32,159 Speaker 2: of individuals, with the main emphasis on Wolverine himself as 102 00:06:32,200 --> 00:06:37,240 Speaker 2: well as Wolverine adjacent characters. Tune in for additional episodes 103 00:06:37,240 --> 00:06:39,920 Speaker 2: of The Monster Fact, The Artifact or Animalist to Pendium 104 00:06:39,920 --> 00:06:42,960 Speaker 2: each week. As always, you can email us at contact 105 00:06:43,160 --> 00:06:53,359 Speaker 2: as Stuff to Blow your Mind dot com. 106 00:06:53,520 --> 00:06:56,440 Speaker 1: Stuff to Blow Your Mind is production of iHeartRadio. For 107 00:06:56,520 --> 00:06:59,320 Speaker 1: more podcasts from my Heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, 108 00:06:59,440 --> 00:07:02,240 Speaker 1: Apple pod Casts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.