Esper Profile: Rattox

Rattox are by far the most prolific Esper we’ve encountered, not to mention the most pervasive. Their numbers and reach indicate a tenacious ability to survive, their affinity with toxins serving to rid them of natural predators. It would seem the species seeks to perpetuate itself by undermining and subsequently overtaking habitats in much the same way that diseases spread and grow. This mechanism is ingenious, because the less habitable an area becomes for Rattox’s competition, the more habitable it becomes to itself.

Length: 0.1 – 0.3 m, including tail.
Energy: 10 – 20 GeV
Strength: Toxic
Weakness: Water

Appearance:
Rattox are a vermin-type esper that has bonded with a specter of Death or decomposition. Based on our scans it appears to have a skull for a head but still operates as though it could see and hear, which means that they (and other Espers) do not rely on their constructed bodies the way physical organisms do. Wherever it goes, it excretes a kind of acidic, noxious spectral goop which it uses to great advantage in battle.

Behavior:

Rattox can survive theoretically anywhere, but are most common in unhealthy living environments. Dumps and other sites of human waste, rampant with disease, contain many and powerful Rattox, and there they grow to enormous sizes. An individual Rattox can be a mere annoyance, but in large groups they can be incredibly dangerous. Two weeks ago, a level 50 Rattox wiped out Agent Santos’ meager party in minutes. Rattox rarely fight amongst themselves, but when they do, it is always for dominance of the clan.

Other notes:

When three level 20 Rattox were placed in an enclosure with biological matter, the matter (a cheeseburger) decomposed between 0.5 and 0.7 percent faster than in an enclosure without the Rattox. When the food was examined afterwards, we found 1.334 times the amount of bacteria in the sample which had been exposed to Rattox.

This may seem insignificant on its own, but at that rate a group of enough Rattox could significantly increase the spread of disease in an area. Conceivably, if someone could control that many Rattox at once, they might even be used as a biological weapon. I shudder to think of a world overrun with these demonic spirits.

That being said, it should be noted that all our trained Rattox have proven excellent fighters, increasing in strength rapidly and obeying every command once bonded.