Greed from Fullmetal Alchemist

For anyone who has read the blurb for Family of the Tri-Rune, you’ve heard of the Krypters.  They are the ravenous undead that appear around Hero’s Gate and cause a lot of trouble.  This is their story . . . sort of.  It’s simply where these critters came from and how they came to be what they are now.

Way back in the game, Luke and Nyx ran into things called something.  I don’t remember what undead they originally were, but I called them Shadowspawn because they were solid shadows.  Eventually, I gave them their black and red coloration and took away their eyes to make them even creepier.  Honestly, I’d love to see pictures or a movie with these things because they’re one of my favorite created monsters.  Anyway, I needed a new name because I didn’t want to write ‘Shadowspawn’ all the time.  The term ‘Krypters’ came to mind and that’s what kicked off their origin story.

You see, they were simply there when I first had them in Hero’s Gate.  No reason and no plan to ever use them again, so they had no real meat to them.  Then I wrote Prodigy of Rainbow Tower and Nyx did what she did, which you would know if you read the book or the blurb for book 4.  That became a major event for her and it birthed the Krypters.  They became undead beasts forged from Nyx’s violated magic and they wanted nothing more than to devour her.  I didn’t realize how eerie that connection would be and what would come from it.  Probably wouldn’t be that interesting if I did plan it.

When Nyx first encounters the Krypters, she’s already seen that it took wiping out a city block to kill a few of them.  All she saw was the aftermath and I had some massive powers in mind for them.  What happens?  I gave them 1 power . . . the ability to absorb and grow stronger from Nyx’s magic.  I already knew they wanted to eat her, but I never really considered why.  Suddenly, I had them chow down on the fire spell she chucked their way and they mutated.  I’m used to going back to the drawing board, so I prepared for the worst.  Thankfully, it worked and the Krypters grew into the screeching, shape-shifting monsters that I really wish I could find a way to use again.

That’s the shame with these monsters.  They’re so closely connected to Nyx that I can only bring them back to deal with her.  Even so, they were tied to Hero’s Gate.  Unless I can think up a really good and plausible reason for Krypters to be somewhere else, they’re only going to be found in Family of the Tri-Rune.  As I write this, I can think of a stretched way to bring one or two back, but undead don’t breed.  Maybe it’s for the best that they remain a one book creature.  That way I won’t be tempted to overuse them.