Ass-Blaster
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The Ass-Blaster is a fictional creature in the Tremors series of films. It is the third and final stage of the life-cycle including the Graboid and Shrieker. The Ass-Blaster appears in and an episode of the 2003 TV series of the same name. It is named in Tremors 3 by Jodi Chang (Susan Chuang), the niece of Walter Chang (Victor Wong), who named the Graboids in the first Tremors film.
Physiology
Physically Ass-Blasters look very similar to the turkey or dinosaur-like Shriekers, albeit a bit longer and with a more slender build. They are about 6 feet (1,80 m) long and 4 feet (1,20 m) tall, and darker in coloration than Shriekers. Just like Shriekers and Graboids, they have a mouth consisting of a wide, armored upper jaw, a much narrower lower jaw and two mandibles on the sides of the lower jaw. Both the jaws and mandibles are beak-like and have hooked tips and serrated edges. In Ass-Blasters, these serrations are bigger, looking more like teeth (similar to saw-billed ducks). Ass-Blasters' heads are much darker than those of Shriekers and Graboids, colored black. Similar to Shriekers, the neck skin near the head is brightly colored. Ass-Blasters seem to lack the tongues which play such a vital role in the feeding of the previous life cycle stages. Like Shriekers, Ass-Blasters have a pulsating, brain-like heat sensor atop their head, covered by flaps of skin which can be raised like a frill.Also like Shriekers, Ass-Blasters have bird-like legs ending in three-toed feet. These feet have long, curved claws. The Ass-Blasters' most striking features are its wings- they red/pink-tanned sail-like structures consisting of skin supported by cartilage stems. A third 'wing' sits atop the back like a fin. Ass-Blasters use these wings to glide through the air. In order to take off, they produce an explosion from their rear end, earning them their name. This is achieved by mixing two chemicals near their colon (by shaking their hind quarters). The mix explodes upon exposure to air, launching the creature into the air. Ass-Blasters are known to explode when being stabbed with objects such as flaming spears.
Like the other life cycle stages, Ass-Blasters have orange blood.
Hunting and intelligence
Ass-Blasters hunt like birds of prey, scanning the ground for prey while gliding on hot air currents. Their heat sensors are much wider than Shriekers', allowing them to view large sections of land at the same time. Judging from shots in Tremors 3 depicting the Ass-Blasters' point of view the heat they sense is processed into an infrared camera-like image, just like how Shriekers see the world. An Ass-Blaster's heat vision is much more detailed than a Shrieker's. Like the other creatures, Ass-Blasters are also attracted to inedible heat sources such as fires.When detecting prey, Ass-Blasters let out a large scream. It is very likely that when screaming, Ass-Blasters produce heat which alerts other Ass-Blasters to the presence of prey. This is also how Shriekers hunt. If on the ground, they will take off, gain altitude and then drop onto the prey in a kamikaze attack, using force to bring down the prey.
Like the other life cycle stages, Ass-Blasters are intelligent, capable of learning from their mistakes. When several Ass-Blasters were blown up by being shot with burning spears fired from a makeshift potato gun in Tremors 3, one Ass-Blaster quickly learned to dodge these projectiles.
Life
When a Shrieker is around 24 hours old, it will undergo a molting process, turning into an Ass-Blaster. Ass-Blasters can live up to several years (an individual sold to Siegfried and Roy in Tremors 3 was still alive two years later). They attack anything warm. While Shriekers reproduce when feeding, Ass-Blasters, for reasons unknown, slip into a coma when feeding. They can reproduce, however- each Ass-Blaster carries a Graboid egg in its gut. Because they cover large distances when flying, they will often find uncolonized areas to lay their eggs in.
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