Botoko

"Botoko. Giant, strong, stubborn and loyal. The perfect henchmen."–Saint Nympha Kayel

Botoko (pronounced /bəʊtəʊkəʊ/) are a large, lumbering, bipedal reptilian species native to the planet of Botokk. They are built almost like constructions machines, with squarish, ridged heads, small eyes and tiny mouths. Their body, ligaments and digits are all extremely chunky and robust, and they possess incredible strength. Though considered of low intelligence by many species, they have been classified as Sentient.

Physiology
Fully-grown Botoko were very large creatures, standing at about two meters tall but just as wide. They boasted a bodyweight of almost a metric ton. Due to their enormous bodyweight, they moved only when necessary, but were known to put on bursts of surprising speed when they exerted themselves fully. They spent most of their time feasting on the large, fatty fruits of Botokk, munching idly throughout the plains. Despite spending a majority of their time nearly immobile, the Botoko rarely ever slept, as they spent a large amount of their time using little to no energy.

Their reptilian classification came from their cold blood, scaly skin, and habitual resting in sunny areas. They also had no hair on their rough hides. However, like mammals, they gave birth to live young. They did not, however, have a nose, or indeed any sense of smell. They breathed in through their mouths, but also had two separate chambers in their throat for breathing and swallowing, allowing them to eat continuously without suffocating. Similarly, they can close up their throats, and can hold their breath underwater for almost an hour before having to surface. This is a mainly superficial ability, however, as Botoko, especially young, float, due to the air-collecting spaces between their iron-hard scales.

Their long arms were rather unique in the way that they could actually extend and retract like some sort of demented spring. When not moving, a Botoko's arms would hang down to support their weight (this was evolved due to their planet's harsh gravity), the flesh at the joints and along the middle section of the arm layered underneath. When tensed, the muscles retracted, taking a good fifth of the arm's length with them, allowing the Botoko to pick themselves up and move without their arms dragging across the ground. In conventional modern society they are rarely seen using these extra supports in public due to its uselessness in lower gravity environments and also because it is often considered somewhat irksome by other species. This unique ability does come at a price, however, as the flesh in the retraction point of a Botoko's arms are thinner, and subsequently weaker.

Botokõ are often used amoung the universe as bodyguards, wrecking machines or even construction workers, as their strength is almost unmatched. They are able to lift large quantities of almost any material and can easily punch through brick and even steel. Though uncommon, Botokõ were a Blessed Species, and a few became Saints, most notably Saint Vek Kotmonjagel.

Botokõ did not possess a true skeleton, but extremely strong yet thin bones that not only allowed less restricted movement at the joints, but were also tough and difficult to break. Botokõ were also naturally herbivorous, but some have become carnivores as they spread about the galaxy, since they appear able to digest meat. Botokõ had but one super-large stomach, which could hold almost fifty kilograms of food at one time (though Botokõ usually contented themselves with less than fifteen per meal). Due to the small stature of their mouths, they had to crush up their food into a mush before ingesting it, a feat that was usually of little trouble due to their strength.

The skin colour of a Botokõ was usually a light, murky green, though different, usually darker shades have been observed. A rare genetic mutation even causes some Botoko to lose the green pigment in their skin entirely, causing them to become grey, and sometimes almost black.

Life Cycle
To be filled in.

Culture
Though many think of them as fierce, powerful and foreboding figures, Botoko are naturally quite peaceful. To possess any sort of aggression they usually must be placed in large crowds or be exposed to loud noises. On their homeplanet a Botoko's entire existence was a simple matter; they lived not really to achieve any sort of goal, but simply to ponder peacefully on trivial matters, or simply laze about eating. Though they would come into contact with others, they would rarely converse in any sense, instead preferring to ignore each other. This has led to a lack of any Botokian language, however they were quite quick at learning this concept. This solitary existence means that crowded societies were massive shocks to them, though new generations are not as harshly affected.

The core problem with such an isolated viewpoint meant that the Botoko as a whole were fairly undeveloped in technology and intelligence, and were innocent, easily annoyed and above all manipulatable and corruptible. Many Botoko, even those born to modern society are easily exploitable creatures, as they prefer not to trouble themselves with negative things or concepts of 'good' and 'evil'. Many criminal individuals use them as henchmen, and they can often be found as bouncers for clubs and the like.

Food was not a fussy affair to the Botoko; they ate and drank more or less whatever they came across, as they had very poor tastebuds. Their craving mostly lay in fat to keep up their large size to compensate for their planet's gravity. In fact a fatter Botoko is generally considered healthier, with cases needing to be very extreme before negative effects of obesity came into play.

Though generally unintelligent, the Botoko possessed great learning capabilities, and in only a few generations they possessed the general level of an intelligence a human might exhibit, and some even became philosophers as was their nature.