Last night as I was watching Discovery Channel I heard a familiar term: Shape Shifter. I was watching a documentary on the very intelligent cuttlefish. This amazing mollusk (cousin to the squid and octopus) has skin unlike any other creature in the world.
It is capable of mimicking the surroundings it can see very clearly through its unique, W shaped pupils. Using the chromatophores, leucophores and iridophores that change the color of their skin, this creature is capable of a full spectrum of colors. They can even change the texture of their skin, and raise bumps as seen here.
First the cuttlefish tries blending in with his surroundings to sneak up on its prey. If that doesn’t work, it tries to stun its prey with a dazzling light show reminiscent of a Vegas marquis.
So it got me to thinking... what if our characters had these capabilities? What if our hero could make himself appear invisible by blending in with his surroundings? Or dazzle his prey with a stunning lightshow using unique cells in his skin? (or her skin, of course).
Now that would be an interesting character.
5 comments:
What a great character trait! I don't think I've seen that before and it sounds really cool--sort of like Predator if he'd been the hero;-) It would hook me!
Excellent idea for a hero/heroine! Just think of all the trouble they could get into then! I'd definitely read it!!
that would be an awesom character.. hmm... that's gonna stir up the old thinking pot
Crystal, I like the way you think... yep, those would be great traits/abilities. And thanks for talking about the cuttlefish. I always find that sort knowledge fascinating.
Interesting, yeah, but too bad the cuttlefish as a character would be about as sexy as Dr. Zoidberg.
Post a Comment