The Night Feeder is the main antagonist of the ninth Primal episode with the same name. It's an theropod dinosaur with the ability to nearly become invisible.
Appearance
When visible it appears to be a dark colored Megaraptor-like theropod with unusually long claws, yellow eyes and it's skin has a tar-like substance to protect it from bites. It's around the same size as Fang.
Personality
Being a mysterious creature, it is shown it enjoys killing for sport or for territorial reasons, such as killing a Smilodon and a herd of ceratopsians. It's unknown if it ever kills for food since killing the whole herd would have provided it food for weeks, so it's likely it kills anyone entering the woods it resides in.
The Night Feeder however to be extremely photophobic. When exposed to any form of light, like sunlight, fire, or even faint sparks, the creature would recoil in fear, and try to flee, and continued exposure to light appeared to disorient the Night Feeder and send it into a panic. This proved to be it's downfall when Fang and Spear used fire to kill it.
History
The Night Feeder is first seen swiftly killing a Smilodon that had wandered into its territory. Spear and Fang later stumble across the Smilodon's partially eaten, mutilated carcass the next morning. Fang herself is sent into a state of alarm at the scent of the beast.
The following night, The Night Feeder embarks on a murderous rampage of a Triceratops herd that was travelling through the forest. Hidden by its invisibility, the creature spent the night terrorizing and murdering the entire herd, leaving no survivors. Nearby, Spear and Fang overhear the panicked cries of the ceratopsians, but ultimately decide not to intervene.
The next day, during a wind storm, the Night Feeder stalks Spear and Fang as they continue to head through the forest, but the creature does not attack due to its fear of daylight and the harsh winds. Later on during the night, the Night Feeder continues to stalk Spear and Fang as they huddle around a small campfire.
When the campfire blows out, the creature finally makes its move and attacks. A fierce chase ensues, with the Night Feeder clawing its way through trees and other obstacles as it sprints after Spear and Fang. During the chase, Fang manage to tackle and bites the Night Feeder, discovering that the creature is covered in a oil-like substance. Lost and disoriented by the mist, Spear swings his spear wildly in a panicked fit of rage when the creature attempts to deafen him and Fang with its piercing loud screeches, accidentally striking the ground and creating a spark, causing the Night Feeder to recoil in fear. Spear creates another spark, frightening the Night Feeder to outright abandon the chase and run away. Now knowing the creature's weakness, the tables are turned as Spear and Fang go hunt the creature.
Pursuing the monster through the forest, Spear, riding Fang, sets fire to dozens of trees, frightening the Night Feeder. Eventually, Spear manages to surround the creature in a circle of fire, effectively trapping it. Now with nowhere to escape, the Night Feeder paces nervously before Spear chucks a flaming spear into its chest, igniting the oil-like goo covering its body and causing it to erupt in flames. The creature swings its claws and snaps wildly as it burns, screeching in pain before the flames engulfs it.
Trivia
- It's unknown if it's an Megaraptor or at least a fictional theropod.
- Some of it's roars are reused of King Ghidorah's roars.
- The Night Feeder was apparently meant to initially have a completely different design in the pitch animatic for the episode it starred in. The creatures' design in the animatic is shown to have longer arms with bigger hands, a larger, spherical-looking head, and more crooked teeth.
- The substance that was on the Night Feeder appeared completely visible against Fang's snout, suggesting that it was part of its ability to blend in with its dark surroundings, possibly by having light-absorbing properties like the real world substance Vantablack. Furthermore, this liquid bears similar properties to petroleum or an oil substance, which might be a reason why it was so flammable and afraid of catching fire. Another reason for this creature to have an aversion to light could be because its camouflaging ability depends on the absence of light, since hunting in a well-lit area would make it visible because of its dark camouflage.