Cephadrome

The Cephadrome is the leader of the Cephalos battalion, It is the archnemesis of Vozturoth and a complete revamp of the same monster in the canon games.



Physiology
The Cephadrome has distinct physical features that marks its individuality within a Cephalos pack, its darker coloured body, its mildly thicker scales, its gleaming red eyes and its distinct ridged spikes that lay upon the piscines head scalp. Its most distinct feature however, is the constant array of fangs that lie underneath its head, some out-growing out of its mouth. It is not as protective of the Cephalos as its old world counterparts are, in fact, they've been known to cannibalise on them when ravenous.

Behavior
Usually minds its own business as it swims through the dunes of arid deserts, although have been known to attack Vozturoth even unprovoked, just the plain sight of the brute wyvern drives the piscine into a mad frenzy to attack them.

Changes

 * Has a bit more HP than a Low Rank Cephadrome in the 4th gen games.


 * It mildly larger and deals much more damage than its canon variation.


 * It will call upon its Cephalos to go ballistic if its exhausted.


 * It can extremely rarely call for another Cephadrome to drop in.


 * It no longer inhibits the cowardly behaviours of the Cephadrome in the canon games.


 * If Cephadrome divebombs into a solid rock, it will bounce back and do a cartwheel before falling to the ground: enabling the hunter to get free hits on it.


 * Its soundset is now a bit deeper and more distorted to suit its altered persona.


 * Its neck is its weak-point but you will bounce off the legs and head without green sharpness.


 * You can now break its body 3 times to reveal its coral-esque scales.


 * It can roar in similar fashion to HC Cephadrome when it enters rage mode.


 * It has its own carves.


 * It can escape out of Pitfall Traps instantly, making them inadequate.

Attacks

 * Instead of shooting a little spit of sand, it shoots out a mixture of aquatic saliva and little rocks. Getting hit by these can inflict both Earthblight and Waterblight at the same time.


 * It has much more accuracy with its paralytic leap attack.


 * The Cephalos anywhere on the map are immediately hostile if a Cephadrome is present in the area, this occurs even if the Cephadrome hasn't spotted or noticed you: This carries over to Expedition Mode.

Charge: It will charge in similar fashion to a Basarios/Diablos but with greater speed and it usually immediately digs into the ground afterwards.

Swim Charge: When swimming in the sand, it will charge at a targeted hunter and then leap out and then attempt to bite them.

Charged Tail Whip: It does the super tail whip attack that HC Cephadrome retains.

Sandwave Tail Whip: Same as the Charged Tail Whip attack except it unveils a massive sweep of dune dust that lasts for 10 seconds. Getting caught in the dune dust inflicts Blindness.

Shovel Upwards Launch: It will slam its head into the ground and then launch it back upwards, getting hit by this attack can send hunters extremely high in the air.

Boulder Shovel Launch: Same as the Shovel Upwards Launch attack except it sends dune dust and boulders everywhere. Inflicts Earthblight and Blindness.

Debris Spit: Shoots a larger ball of debris that leaves an AOE for 5 seconds. Inflicts Waterblight and Earthblight.

Debris Ball: Shoots a mixture of rocks that roll across the map like a boulder before exploding into little pebbles. Inflicts Waterblight and Earthblight.

Triple Depris Ball: Same as Debris Ball except shoots three of them in different directions.

Debris Beam: Rears its head upwards and shoots a beam of a mixture of sand, rock and water, the aftermath of the beam leaves dune dust for 5 seconds. Inflicts Waterblight, Earthblight and Blindness.

Charged Debris Beam: Rears its head and takes a few steps backwards before shooting a beam that is double the size and can almos OHKO if caught in it. Inflicts Waterblight, Earthblight and Blindness.

Moonwalk: It will moonwalk across the sand and then trip and start rolling to the side immediately to attempt to hit hunters.

Swim Spin: It will jump and then crawl and start to spin repeatedly before getting back up.

360 Swim Spin: It will instantly crawl and spin itself around before getting back up.

Triple Bite: It will do the standard bite, take a step back then bite and then walk forwards to bite. Inflicts Bleeding.

Charged Bite: It will take a few step back, aim at a targeted hunter and then unleash a powerful bite. The effect noticeably breaks off some teeth and can almost OHKO. Inflicts Bleeding.

Teeth Grind: It will grind its teeth into the ground and then swim at a hunter while biting. Inflicts Bleeding.

Sandwave Bodyslam: It will jump upwards in similar fashion to a Lavasioth and then slam into the sand, unleashing a massive hue of dune dust before immediatey getting back up, Inflicts Blindness.

Super Leap: It will leap extremely high in the air and then aim at a targeted hunter and proceed to launch itself at them.

Dune Swim Sandwave: It will charge at a targeted hunter at extreme speeds, leaving a large trail of dune dust behind that stay for 5 seconds. The trail inflicts Blindness.

Surprise Beam: When on the ground it will dig down and then pop up behind the targeted hunter and immediately unleash a beam. Inflicts Waterblight and Earthblight.

Ambush Launch: It does the ambush launch attack that HC Cephadrome retains with the exception of Cephalos being involved in the attack.

Triple Ambush Launch: Does the Ambush Launch attack three times in a row.

Triple Paralytic Jump: After doing a standard Paralytic Jump, it will slide through the dune and then launch itself again to attempt to paralyse hunters and then does this a third time. Inflicts Paralysis.

Launch Beam: When doing various launch ambush attacks, it can occasionally shoot a beam while in the air, sending the Cephadrome flying across the map and an AOE that lasts for 10 seconds before fading. Inflicts Waterblight and Earthblight.

Cephalos Gangrave: The Cephalos will get involved in the majority of the Cephadrome's attacks whether it be random ambushes, projectile spits or casual physical attacks. This only occurs in Rage Mode. Occurs only if Cephalos are present.

Cephalos Ambush: It will roar into the sky, causing a large number of Cephalos in a circular fashion to ambush from above. Occurs only if Cephalos are present.

Barrel Roll: It will jumpwards and then proceed to barrel roll as it crash down and then barrel rolls at a hunter.

Infinite Hipcheck: It will proceed to continuously hipcheck until it either hits a hunter or the hunter blocks/dodges. This is similar to Plum Daiymo Hermitaur's infinite backwards charge attack.

Sinkhole: When in the sand, it will orbit around a moderate size of land, overtime, the part of the area will start to form a sinkhole of sand, this can vacuum in nearby hunters alongside small monsters. If the hunter gets stuck in the sinkhole and doesn't evade in time, the Cephadrome will launch itself upwards from where the hunter is. This attack can almost OHKO. This attack can only occur in Rage Mode.

Colosal Sinkhole: Similar to the regular sinkhole except the Cephalos around the area also orbit around the land, this sinkhole becomes double the size of the regular one and vacuums in with much more strength. The Cephalos will also partake in the ambushing from above: they will also attempt to push the hunters into the sinkhole. This attack can almost OHKO. This attack can only occur in Rage Mode and if Cephalos are present.

Rage and Tired States

 * Rage State: Starts foaming at the mouth, eyes glows a brighter red, red veins are noticeable on the fins, attack speed and damage increased by 1.75x, Immune to sonic bombs.


 * Tired State: Its fins go down, its eyes start glimmering mildly black, it trips when ambushing from the sand, only shoots mild tinges water instead of rocks and water.

Role in the Food Chain
Minimal - Extremely Low - Low - Average - (High) - Extremely High - Apex - Legend

Main Prey: Predominantly Apceros and juvenile Diablos.

Arch-Rivals: Vozturoth, Goksuregis, Diablos, Akura Vashimu

Tracks: Sandy scrapes, Dusty Webbed prints, Carcass

Turf Wars
N/A

Habitat Range
Found in arid regions, swimming across the dunes of deserts and terrorising herds of Apceros. They have occasionally been sighted in the arid parts of the Town Ruins, the black coloured sand in the Crash Site also can house them.

Ecological Niche
By itself, the Cephadrome is moderate to high in the food chain, can be easily killed by the likes of Goksuregis, Diablos and Xingazhu. This is often countered by its pack mentality it installs within its Cephalos underlings, enabling groups of them to tackle creatures they wouldn't be able to do by themselves. It has an extreme rivalry with Vozturoth due to crossing turfs on a daily basis, similarly to the rivalry that Jyuratodus and Barroth feature.

Biological Adaptations
The sand on its body has allowed it to mildly harden overtime, partially protecting its skimpy body and hiding its true colours. Extra layers of teeth hidden within its teeth that can shred through even the most armoured prey or foe alike. Can ambush from below alongside its Cephalos underlings: occasionally unveiling and tossing boulders deep beneath the sand at opponents. Its flexible body allow for fast and evasive maneauvers within not just the sand it swims in but when on solid ground as-well.