Karloff

Karloff
Technical Information
Breached	April 23, 2015
Category	I
Status	Deceased
Origin	Anteverse
Target information
City Targeted	Vancouver
Jaeger Targeted	Brawler Yukon

Karloff is a Category I Kaiju that attacked Vancouver on April 23, 2015 and the first Kaiju to face a Jaeger.

Biology

Karloff is a notably thin Kaiju as opposed to its more heavily muscled brethren. It has a large long head, with two sets of double eyes. Its skin is grey and leathery, with brown and red marking on its shoulders, back, fingers, and chin.

Due to the fact that it was the first Kaiju to encounter a Jaeger, Karloff has absolutely no combat experience like its successors, precisely because the Kaiju's hive mind had no information about their new enemies. During the fight, the Kaiju only tried to advance unsuccessfully against the Jaeger, having muscles too weak to compete with its opponent.

History

Humanity's Counterattack

Karloff emerges from the Breach on April 23, 2015, weeks before the official launch of the first Mark-1s made for battle, and the Pacific tracking network predicts its trajectory towards Vancouver, causing the PPDC to decide to deploy Brawler Yukon on the battlefield.

As predicted, the Kaiju arrives in the city during a rainy night and begins its attack, but is quickly interrupted by the arrival of the Prototype, who is released by the V-50 Jumphawks and comes face to face with the creature.

The Kaiju immediately reacts with aggression, running towards the Jaeger and taking an uppercut to the face that stuns it and throws it backwards, forcing it to lean on two buildings to avoid falling. Before it can recover from the blow, Karloff is hit by several missiles that injure it even more and covers the area with smoke, giving the Prototype an opportunity to move towards it unnoticed and grab it by the neck, punching its face and putting an end to the Kaiju.

Aftermath

Brawler Yukon's victory in the Battle of Vancouver showed the world that the Jaeger Program was humanity's best line of defense, and was the first Kaiju incident that did not result in a nuclear attack that rendered the place uninhabitable.

In social terms, this day gave humanity the hope it so desperately needed in this moment of despair, showing everyone how great we are.

Trivia

• Karloff is the first Category I Kaiju and the fifth Kaiju overall.
• Karloff is modeled after the likeness of Boris Karloff as Frankenstein's monster in the 1931 film of the same name.
• Karloff was originally designed with a second mouth located in the center of its chest. However, del Toro believed it was too "obscene" and it was removed.
• The opening of Pacific Rim suggests that Karloff attacked Manila, but it is confirmed that its attack location was Vancouver. Something similar happens when the film suggests that Romeo Blue and Horizon Brave were destroyed in Seattle and Lima respectively, but this is denied by Travis Beacham.

Gallery

An image gallery is available for Karloff