Villains Wiki

Hi. This is Thesecret1070. I am an admin of this site. Edit as much as you wish, but one little thing... If you are going to edit a lot, then make yourself a user and login. Other than that, enjoy Villains Wiki!!!

READ MORE

Villains Wiki
Register
Line 91: Line 91:
 
*Originally Katahdin would be a unique creature, similar to the art of the poster of her movie. This version of the character is mentioned in the trailer. But when they showed the original concept to the director, John Frankenheimer, he said that he wanted it to look more "bear-like".
 
*Originally Katahdin would be a unique creature, similar to the art of the poster of her movie. This version of the character is mentioned in the trailer. But when they showed the original concept to the director, John Frankenheimer, he said that he wanted it to look more "bear-like".
 
**In the trailer, it is mentioned that Katahdin is 15 feet tall when she is actually lower. Even so, on the internet you can find an image of a poster of the movie, which in the upper left corner mentions "It will grow to be 15 feet tall". It is believed that the poster was removed and changed to a similar one, which can be found on the internet, as well as a few variations for the DVD of the film.
 
**In the trailer, it is mentioned that Katahdin is 15 feet tall when she is actually lower. Even so, on the internet you can find an image of a poster of the movie, which in the upper left corner mentions "It will grow to be 15 feet tall". It is believed that the poster was removed and changed to a similar one, which can be found on the internet, as well as a few variations for the DVD of the film.
*Katahdin was represented in the film by some puppets and some costumes of the suitable size for the actors behind the monster (Tom McLoughlin and Kevin Peter Hall). The puppets were used in only a few sequences. The costumes for Tom were just a little higher than a normal person, and the actors had to be on their knees to give the impression of being taller. As for the costumes for Kevin, they were already large enough for the actors to interact without the need to crouch.
+
*Katahdin was represented in the film by some puppets and some costumes of the suitable size for the actors behind the monster (Tom McLoughlin, Charles Flemmer and Kevin Peter Hall). The puppets were used in only a few sequences. The costumes for Tom and Charles were just a little higher than a normal person, and the actors had to be on their knees to give the impression of the creature being taller. As for the costumes for Kevin, they were already large enough for the actors to interact without the need to crouch.
 
*Something that needs to be clarified and also mentioned, is that people who have internet articles where they have talked about the movie, or Katahdin itself, mention that it measures 15 feet (4.5 m) in height. This is due to the narration of the trailer, the aforementioned poster and a few scenes from the movie. An example is that in the scene of the claw marks, the marks are too high, giving the impression that the responsible measures more than 4 meters in height, or in the scene of the attack on the hut, where Katahdin makes cracks in the cabin, they are also very high. This may be due to an error of the producers when doing the scenes, or maybe they exaggerated the size of Katahdin. It is not necessary to see Katahdin near a human character to realize that she is not so tall.
 
*Something that needs to be clarified and also mentioned, is that people who have internet articles where they have talked about the movie, or Katahdin itself, mention that it measures 15 feet (4.5 m) in height. This is due to the narration of the trailer, the aforementioned poster and a few scenes from the movie. An example is that in the scene of the claw marks, the marks are too high, giving the impression that the responsible measures more than 4 meters in height, or in the scene of the attack on the hut, where Katahdin makes cracks in the cabin, they are also very high. This may be due to an error of the producers when doing the scenes, or maybe they exaggerated the size of Katahdin. It is not necessary to see Katahdin near a human character to realize that she is not so tall.
 
*Many people who have seen ''South Park'', and who have later seen ''Prophecy'', have often confused Katahdin with [[Manbearpig]], and the majority who have talked about Katahdin, always refer to her as Manbearpig.
 
*Many people who have seen ''South Park'', and who have later seen ''Prophecy'', have often confused Katahdin with [[Manbearpig]], and the majority who have talked about Katahdin, always refer to her as Manbearpig.

Revision as of 12:15, 5 September 2019

Villain Overview

Out there, is a mindless, merciless creature of destruction... She will find you.
~ Narrator from the Official Trailer of Prophecy.

Katahdin is the main antagonist in the 1979 horror film, Prophecy.

She was portrayed by Tom McLoughlin, Charles Flemmer and the late Kevin Peter Hall, and her vocal effects were provided by Frank Welker.

History

In the Maine forest, a search party sent by a timber company was looking for lost lumberjacks until they reached a ravine, where one of their dogs fell. The men pulled the rope that held the dog, but the rope is cut, letting it fall. Two of the men decide to go down to the ravine to find the dog while the other waits, there were shouts, so he decides to go down. The man slips and falls, but survives, when he reaches the bottom of the ravine he meets the corpses of his companions, and sees something that kills him without mercy.

Dr. Robert Verne and his wife Maggie are sent to Maine to settle a dispute between some natives and the paper mill (accused of throwing waste into rivers and mistreating the environment). When they get there they see a dog being lifted by a helicopter, and they know the owner of the company, Mr. Bethel Isely, who tells the Vernes that this dog was the only thing left of the search party, and about the lumberjacks lost. He blames the Indians nicknamed Opies, but they blame another deity, a being called Katahdin which is described by Isely as "Larger than a dragon and got the eyes of a cat".

After several events, the Vernes would be guided by John Hawks (the leader of the Opies) to meet in person the grandfather of the Opie Ramona Hawks, Hector M'Rai, who calls his home "The garden of Eden." Maggie tells the Indians that they have heard of Katahdin. Ramona says it's a legend, but M'Rai rectifies that mistake. Hector says he has seen Katahdin, and when Maggie asks what he looks like, Hector describes it as "He is part of all things created."

After a fight with Isely at the paper mill, Robert does research on methyl mercury (which is used in the factory as a chemical), and discovers that if an organism that is pregnant ate fish contaminated with that chemical, when giving offspring, instead of a healthy spawn, would come a monstrosity. Robert begins to remember the descriptions of Katahdin, without knowing what it is. He decides to take blood samples from the Indians the next morning.

That same night, the Nelson family was sleeping peacefully somewhere in the forest, until Katahdin awakens the family, and kills it.

The next day, when they hear about the murdered family,Robert decides to go in the helicopter of Huntoon, and when they arrive they discover some clawmarks in the trees, and it is concluded that it was a bear, but Robert finds a fleshy substance, and it is doubtful if it was a bear. Maggie finds mutant bear cubs, and they take them to show the negligence of the factory.

In the camp of Hector, Isely appears with some men of the company and with the sheriff Bartholomew Pilgrim, to be with what provokes. Robert asks "Did you know?" to which Isely replies "I didn't want to".

M'rai appears in the trees and greets the others, but in another part of the camp, Katahdin appears and kills some humans. The mutation pursues the others, who (everybody except M'Rai) hide in underground tunnels. Outside, Katahdin killed some people, until the noise stopped. The sheriff is going to check, but Katahdin grabs him and tears his face, killing him. Katahdin finds his dead cub and takes it away.

Isely sets out to find a communication tower. At first he was fine, but suddenly he finds one of Katahdin's cubs, and for Isley's bad luck, Katahdin appears and chases him to the communication tower, where Isley tries to pass under a fence that is the entrance to the tower. However, Katahdin reaches and guts him.

Robert and his crew decide to go to the nearest city in a jeep left by John Hawks' companions. Suddenly Katahdin appears, and overturns said vehicle. Everyone fled while John Hawks was untying Huntoon, but Katahdin comes close enough to force John out of the place, leaving Huntoon trapped, so that Katahdin finally beheads him.

The others run and swim in the lake towards Robert's cabin, but M'rai stops (due to mercury) and try to talk to the beast, but obviously Katahdin kills him, leaving Ramona (that was watching the event) shattered. When arriving at the other side of the lake, the group watched the creature in the distance, which sank, until disappearing from the surface.

Robert tought she drowned, but suddenly for a few seconds there is a constant bubbling, and then the creature appears on the surface.

Everyone goes to the Vernes' cabin to protect themselves, but Katahdin breaks down the cabin, leaving Maggie and Ramona unconscious, while Robert and John shoot she with bullets and arrows. Robert is carrying Maggie and John continues to shoot the monstrosity, until he hits John Hawks, throwing him through the air until he is already dead.

The mutation focuses on Robert, and she grabs him while Robert fights for his life, burying an arrow in the creature's face, piercing his eye, causing Katahdin a tremendous pain, and causing her to fall into the lake. Robert noticing that Katahdin is still alive jumps into the lake and buries the arrow several times in the neck, causing her to drown.

Biography

Katahdin is a horrifically mutated grizzly bear who has grown to abnormal size. It is believed that her parents consumed fish contaminated with Inorganic Methyl mercury, which caused the mutation of this monster when she was still in the womb (which in turn happens to Katahdin's own offspring). She was named by the local American Indian tribes, and mistaken for an ancient spirit angered by the logging activity on the mountain.

The dangerous beast is unusually large for a grizzly bear, and her face and body are hideously deformed. Katahdin is also mentally deranged and hostile, impulsively mauling anyone and anything she comes across. She is drawn to her cubs, which is what causes her to pursue the protagonists throughout the film. After killing the bulk of the main cast, she is finally stabbed to death with an American Indian arrow; however, another Katahdin (the cubs' father) appears just before the end credits.

Katahdin is abnormally larger than a normal grizzly bear, as it has been proposed that it is 8.2 feet (approximately 2.5m) tall and weighs 500kg. Katahdin is also nocturnal several times, although it may appear in the day to follow its prey.

Appearance

We had to mention, that through all the film, Katahdin's appearance changes every time. In all of them, Katahdin is a bipedal bear that has a mutated side full of wrinkles that could be orange, red or pink. She has a giant head, which has the same width as the torso. Her face has one clear and round ear, while the other seems to have a cutted appearance. She has a white eye and the other is like a giant hole without an end. A present long distorted snout, with a lot of yellow teeth. Her neck seems to have a hump, similar to a female Tasmanian Devil's protuberance. Through her body, several sections are noticed where hair is missing. She has long arms, with long sharp claws. Her body presents a bigger part in her stomach, which shows her mammary glands. Her back looks deformed and twisted. She presents a small tail, which is not visible, but it still there. And the legs seems to be long and thin. In the lower part of the legs, they appear to be fatter than the upper part, reaching even the highest extreme of the leg.

Powers, Weaknesses, and Abilities

  • Strong Hind-legs: Unlike normal bears, Katahdin is able to walk upright for extensive amounts of time without tiring. This frees up her fore-paws to grasp for prey, though it is unknown if she can travel very fast, I.e quadrupedal (4-legged) galloping. Despite this, it must be mentioned that she has never been seen on 4 legs, so it could be said that she evolved to get up and walk on her hind legs.
  • Strength and Resistance: Katahdin possesses great strength, since she has been able to throw people through the air and kill them instantly. She can tear down trees just by pushing them, dump rocks (as heard in a scene), throw down a jeep just by hitting it and destroy a cabin with few hits. Katahdin also has enormous resistance, because it has a large layer of fat and (even if it causes pain) has resisted human blows, arrow shots and shooting, and is almost indestructible.
  • Intellect: Katahdin is not a simple killing machine. She adores her cubs, and woe is all who stand between her and her babies. She will hold a deep hatred for her cub's abductors and anyone invading her turf, relentlessly tracking them and using various tactics like stealth to get close to them. She also knows to stand still and shut up until her prey is within striking distance, unlike typical monsters who roar constantly. This suggests she can indeed think and strategize. Her burned skin more likely than not must be a source of discomfort, making her more irritable than a normal bear, making her especially dangerous.
  • Sensitive Eye: Her eye (she only has one eye, the other eye will be explained in the Sharp Senses section) is too sensitive. If someone stings her eye with a sharp stick or something else (but still sharp) will cause her immense pain, and it is very likely that the eye will come out of her socket. Also if she is pointed at the face with a flashlight, the light will not blind her, but it will still affect her vision.
  • Can hold her breath/Breathing underwater: Katahdin can dive to the lowest depth of a lake, and can hold her breath, or even breathe underwater. Even so, this is a kind of disadvantage, because there's a visible bubbling above her, just before emerging and attacking.
  • Sharp Senses: Katahdin has shown that her senses are extremely keen, as she can detect her cubs despite being unable to see them. She either hears their cries and/or can smell them from miles away. She can also see in near-pitch-blackness, and spot prey from far away, and don't think she cannot find you if you hide deep underground. Her left eye is either absent or obscured by folds of melted skin, so she is partially blind and lacks depth perception.

Victims

  • Search party and a dog (mutilated off screen)
  • Paul Nelson (killed)
  • Travis and Kathleen Nelson (killed off screen)
  • Kelso (hitted)
  • An indian (burned)
  • Another indian (exploited)
  • Three Paper Mill members (killed off screen)
  • Sheriff Bartholomew pilgrim (killed)
  • Bethel Isely (gutted)
  • Huntoon (decapitated)
  • Hector M'Rai (killed)
  • John Hawks (killed)

Trivia

  • Katahdin's name comes from an ancient spirit wich is described as "Larger than a dragon and got the eyes of a cat" as Bethel Isely says.
  • In the film, several times is called "Him" and not "Her" when is actually female.
  • Originally Katahdin would be a unique creature, similar to the art of the poster of her movie. This version of the character is mentioned in the trailer. But when they showed the original concept to the director, John Frankenheimer, he said that he wanted it to look more "bear-like".
    • In the trailer, it is mentioned that Katahdin is 15 feet tall when she is actually lower. Even so, on the internet you can find an image of a poster of the movie, which in the upper left corner mentions "It will grow to be 15 feet tall". It is believed that the poster was removed and changed to a similar one, which can be found on the internet, as well as a few variations for the DVD of the film.
  • Katahdin was represented in the film by some puppets and some costumes of the suitable size for the actors behind the monster (Tom McLoughlin, Charles Flemmer and Kevin Peter Hall). The puppets were used in only a few sequences. The costumes for Tom and Charles were just a little higher than a normal person, and the actors had to be on their knees to give the impression of the creature being taller. As for the costumes for Kevin, they were already large enough for the actors to interact without the need to crouch.
  • Something that needs to be clarified and also mentioned, is that people who have internet articles where they have talked about the movie, or Katahdin itself, mention that it measures 15 feet (4.5 m) in height. This is due to the narration of the trailer, the aforementioned poster and a few scenes from the movie. An example is that in the scene of the claw marks, the marks are too high, giving the impression that the responsible measures more than 4 meters in height, or in the scene of the attack on the hut, where Katahdin makes cracks in the cabin, they are also very high. This may be due to an error of the producers when doing the scenes, or maybe they exaggerated the size of Katahdin. It is not necessary to see Katahdin near a human character to realize that she is not so tall.
  • Many people who have seen South Park, and who have later seen Prophecy, have often confused Katahdin with Manbearpig, and the majority who have talked about Katahdin, always refer to her as Manbearpig.
  • John Frankenheimer commented something about Katahdin in a note. He said the following "I think we made two mistakes. One, the audience was way ahead of us. We waited too long to really get to the point. The audience knew, long before the film's hero and heroine, that we were coming to a monster. That's not terribly good. And another thing, I don't think our monster was very frightening".