Mad Snatcher


The corpse of an insane, chainsaw-wielding killer, reanimated by a loathsome parasite. They can be found at the Arms Depot section of Dracula's Castle in Konami's 2008 Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia [Japanese title, Akumajo Dracula: Ubawareta Kokuin (Demon Castle Dracula: The Stolen Seal)] Nintendo Dual Screen (DS) video game. In life, the vessel was obsessed with slaying and dismembering his fellow humans, but the semi-intelligent arthropod that now pulls the body's puppet strings has much simpler desires: it just wants to feed. Any living thing that gets within reach of its six legs will be clasped in an almost unbreakable embrace and then slowly drained of all its vital fluids. The chainsaw is still useful for softening up particularly uncooperative, or heavily armored, prey, but inflicting injury is always secondary to acquiring sustenance. Mad Snatchers have 444 hit points and are worth 200 experience points, each, when slain. They are particularly vulnerable to "slash", "fire", "light", "curse", and "stone" based attacks. Mad Snatchers do not possess any special items or glyphs.

The Mad Snatcher game sprite is a variation of the Mad Butcher's (indeed, it is likely the corpses of Mad Butchers that the parasites preferentially reanimate). The addition of the six extra appendages is the biggest visual difference between the two, but there are other cosmetic changes as well, such as the exposed-skull visage (apparently somebody, or something, likes to chew off faces in Castlevania).


Materials:
Newsprint, Kleenex, white/hot glue, wire twist ties, string, nail polish, and acrylic paint.

Dimensions*:
(* The maximum height/width of this figure will vary depending on how the joints are positioned. For simplicity, the parasite appendages are excluded from the measurements given below.)

7.0 cm/2.8 in. x 2.5 cm/1.0 in. (highest point x widest point)

Articulation:
Fifty points: Neck (2), parasite appendages (24), shoulders (2), biceps (2), elbows (4), wrists (2), apron, waist, hips (4), knees (4), and ankles (4).

Time:
Four days; December 9-12, 2008.