Cryptid

"If these “cryptids” are really just some form of evolved animals that have gone to hide in some other form or perhaps a hollow earth-like world, then I’d say it is possible for these creatures to either or both be studied, or be left alone, but I am not too sure what outcome is better, and in regards to extraterrestrial life, it comes to the fact that we aren’t alone that some species from another planet, outside or inside the Milky Way could be inspecting upon us as we know it, though I have doubts the penguin race could ever make contact with other extraterrestrial species aside from events on the moon or that racing event that happened on the fourth planet, it is just a matter of time if what outcome is better when it comes to the possibility of what we can do and not do, shall these creatures… cryptids reveal themselves or be reclusive once more…"

- RealMax, cryptid enthusiast at the National Cryptid Convention or Cryptfest.

The term Cryptid is one only referenced in the topic of cryptozoology, the study of animals or creatures that are often attributed as mythical creatures from myths and legends who are used as background monsters to terrorize penguins and other Antarctic folk around Antarctica. The general term of a cryptid is an animal that is often used in the context of supposed urban legends and stories, that are attributed with evidence such as photos, audios or video footage related to the "cryptid," with eerie context, whether it be a photo of a Sasquatch-like creature walking in the woods or the head of some supposed long-extinct plesiosaur sticking its head out of water in a lake where it couldn't survive. Considered a subculture or pseudo-science of animal science and biology, several cryptids have turned out to be "real" in a sense, with creatures like the Sasquatch or Corecreatures, but many are only known in local folklore or by urban myths.

Because of some amount of cryptids, some cryptids have been thought to be "non-applicable," a term used in cryptozoology to describe cryptids whose general appearance and hypothetical branch couldn't exist in a cold climate like Antarctica. Because of this, the cryptozoology community has gone to regularly update and edit a section of real existing animals like Uberfuzzies, Puffles, Muskoxen and Shprogshels and counter them with cryptids that could or should not survive in the temperatures of Antarctica. Famous cryptids include the Sasquatch, Loch Chess Monster, Mokelesaurus Mbembetini, Yeti or even extraterrestrial life. Because of their somewhat semi-popular status, the community opened up a museum on the west coast of Antarctica.

However, because of its popularity, it has gone on to be scrutinized by outsiders to them--especially criticizing Rednecks--to believe in nothing but stupid myths with no explainable evidence. However, the cryptozoology community has gone on to hypothesise what animals they actually saw as opposed to some actual mythical creature-type things, such as believing to have seen a prehistoric killing beast, which in reality is just a local large carnivorous mustelid and so forth.

There have also been reports that are both unknown and confirmed of several "penguin-made" cryptids that have been unleashed upon the snow of Antarctica, but only a few are confirmed to be true. Most cryptids are thought to be real with the explanation of non-sapient animals known as Chinophiles, animals that can exist in cold temperatures.

History & origins
The history of cryptids and cryptozoology as a whole can be found in the person who is considered the godfather of cryptozoology, the semi-known late Batavian zoologist named Franklin Ephmeris III (June 14 1921 - November 30th 2002), a local zoologist who had a love for animals and plant life. His hypothesis in his first known pages of preserved writing based upon cryptids comes from many expeditions in the wilderness of many countries and also the many folk and mythical stories of monsters and fiends, first published in 1954. He was also known for being an artist in nature, he drew many hypothesized creatures who could be real animals alongside their so-called appearance from locals. Franklin hypothesized that many sea monsters like sea serpents and long necked sea beasts where merely misinformed views of either regular animals like pinnipeds or some form of evolved, long-necked pinnipeds.

Franklin also hypothesized in the beliefs and encounters with the supposed mythical beasts and monstrous villains of the past in ancient civilizations, with him simply stating that they were stories made up, but did also explained how some of these monsters were real animals that are either still alive, or extinct animals who were alive at that time, but are now, obviously, extinct now. The popularization of cryptozoology emerged in the late 1960's, when a small subculture developed around areas around the States, Calada and Batavia. The following decades would spring up a series of monster movies released in those decades. Cutting to modern day, a community of cryptid enthusiasts exist, where they go on to examine what they think the possibility of a cryptid's existence and actual species is.

List
The following will be a list based on "ranking" of their appearance and possible conclusion and answer.

They will go as follows:
 * Real - Refers to cryptids who have been confirmed to exist.
 * Possibly real - Refers to cryptids with actual possibilities of being real with theories and explanations.
 * Unknown - Refers to cryptids with no possible explanation, but it does not make them hoaxes.
 * Possible hoax - Refers to cryptids who despite sightings, have some cons and true explanations.
 * Hoax - Cryptids who are confirmed to be hoaxes or plain out fake.
 * Penguin-made - Cryptids who are confirmed to be engineered or created by any means.

The list will also include their place of origin, original date of their encounter and artistic interpretation of the cryptid. All cryptids are organized in alphabetical order. The real cryptids will have their own small sections because of their existence, whereas un-confirmed cryptids will be placed on a table-based listing system.

Real cryptids
Real cryptids or Former cryptids, are cryptids who are (despite being real animals) cryptids whose existence is confirmed. Only a small handful of real cryptids exist.

Chacoan peccary
The Chacoan Peccary is a wild peccary--a pig-like animal that isn't related to pigs (but are often mistaken as to)--whose discovery was documented in Antarctican science in 1975. Long considered extinct, which also counts as a cryptid, the Chacoan Peccary is now an endangered species living on one of the warm and driest areas in Antarctica-the Gran Chaco Canyon region of Castilla. It lives in small groups of two to ten individuals. These peccaries mainly eat cacti but also enjoy bromeliads (a type of tropical plant) and fruit. The Chacoan Peccary's main threat today comes by way of penguins who are clearing land for cattle ranching, over hunting, and exploring for oil, which affects their environment.

Live specimens have been found in the Gran Chaco Canyon region of Castilla; documented in 1975, now endangered. However, locals around the area have known of the pig-like critter. They stand around 3 feet (making them penguin sized or giants in smaller penguin species scale like Adelies and Little penguins). They weigh around 88 pounds and eat roots, seeds, nuts and fallen fruit. They live in groups of 10 members and skeletons have shown they have a square-shaped rib area around their ribs, meaning they probably evolved slower than regular pigs. They are adapted to the mentioned warm Gran Chaco Canyon and in plateaus nearby. Another peccary species known as the High-alpine Peccary lives in the Northern areas of Castilla and have a stable population, who are regularly used as domestic animals and are butchered for their tasty pork (again, mistaken as pigs), which have been a tastier resort to regular but bitter copper pork meat of regular pigs.

Coelacanth
The Coelacanth is an ancient species of fish known from the Devonian Time Period (419.2 million years ago). Known for being one of a colony of the prehistoric Latimeria chulamnae, the coelacanth was thought to be extinct for sixty-five million years. In what maybe the most amazing fish story ever, a then unknown specimen was caught off the coast of Dorkugal in December 1999 turned out to be a real-life coelacanth, and at the same time, Dorkugal was started to be slowly colonized (leading up to be an island nation). Six years later, in 2005, when Dorkugal started to rack up in population growth, a second colony was discovered. Before this modern rediscovery, the coelacanth was thought to be the missing link between fish and land-dwelling animals. Closer study revealed that the lungfish, an animal said to exist in warm areas such as the waters of Tropicalis, is an evolutionary match, but coelacanths may still answer how life evolved on our islands. Since their recent discovery, the coelacanth has been named an endangered species, because they are being targeted as catches by fishermen.

However, by 2021 statistics, their colonies have slightly grew in size, maintaining a stable colony in the waters of both of the Dorkuguese Islands. By the time the first discovery of the coelacanth, a third new species appeared, the Jungle Coelacanth, a much smaller member of the species family, that evolved thanks to rapid evolution, that only lives in the rivers of the Dorkuguese Jungle.

Coelacanths measure around 6 to 15 feet long and average 175 pounds with the Jungle coelacanth being around 4 to 9 feet long. It often eats plankton, bits of coral, eels and small cephalopods. They are often in a bluish-gray or purple color with titular yellow eyes, whereas the Jungle coelacanth has brown scales and eats small fishes and shells. It lives in the benthic zones, but occasionally it comes up around the upper waters around the beaches in the Dorkuguese beaches. It sometimes eats bits of thrown out tech junk like broken communicator parts and broken floppy discs, where washed up specimens are discovered with computer parts and other pieces inside them.

Giant octopus
Not to be confused with the Giant Squid photographed off the coast of Japaland, this cryptid came to light on November 2006, when two penguin spotted it's carcass on the beach of Club Penguin. Amateur naturalist Dr. Sly Fitzgerald reported on the washed up body of a creature that was more than eighteen feet long and had tentacles long as thirty feet long. Sly took tissue samples and photographs and studied them at the Club Penguin University, in Club Penguin Island. Sly believed the creature was a 'colossal octopus', But he thought they were whale samples and so. But the college suggests it could be the tissue of an octopus, a squid, or something completely unknown. That was until after using expensive data, revealed that the Giant octopus, who is also known as a globster, was, surprisingly, a common Pacific giant octopus with albinism that had a rare gene-like disorder akin to deep-sea gigantism, that died from probable mating.

At the moment, the preserved body of the giant cephalopod is stored in a rectangular-shaped tank at Club Penguin University, where alumni can see it. This Giant octopus, being a bigger member of the Pacific giant octopus, probably lived in a Pelagic-zone like area. It is measured at 48 feet long from body to tentacle, and as a little "commemoration," in January 2022, a small sign was placed at the entrance of the Cove, where a sign stands and says "Home of the unfortunate cephalopod, who gave up on life and washed up. Say hi to him at the university."

"How anticlimactic" Dr. Fitzgerald said in the end.

Giant squid
See it's original page here.

The Giant Squid, is a deep underwater dwelling mollusk, living in very deep waters below the surface, up to 2,000 feet below sea level. They are known as Giant Squids because of their big size. In 2004, A Japalandese science group found one in the wild. It has been also told in legends about giant, tentacled sea monsters, mostly from sailors. They are an example of "Former cryptids," cryptids that were once thought to be mythical beasts from folklore, but later turned out just to be regular animals. The Giant Squid has a reputation of being a Kraken "descendant," though the Kraken itself has been confirmed to be a genus of branching species.

They eat large fish and often hunt and (mostly) fail at eating whales. They are members of sexual dimorphism, meaning that the females and males differ in appearance; in the Giant squid's case, females range at 33 feet whereas males are 44 feet. They live in the benthic zone, the deepest zone where the Giant squid and deep sea fish reside. They ocassionally resurface to upper waters and sometimes get in tangles with large boats, which probably stems from the Kraken myth (which later on the Kraken would become a real genus). The Colossal squid is a relative of the Giant squid, characterized by two longer tentacles with sharp hooks and are slightly larger thanks to them. They share the same neighborhood with the Giant squids.

Kraken
See original page here.

The Kraken; a beast whose name can immediately bring up images of a giant cephalopod bigger than a giant squid, and most importantly, mostly terrifies the hearts of sailors where it lives. It is notable for being the first "mythical" cryptid to be confirmed to be real. The Kraken, is actually a genus of two krakens in the genus Krakenis; the Octokraken and the Squiraken, both species being octopus and squid-like in appearance respectively. They are very elusive cephalopods, both species growing at least 60 feet long and eat larger species of sea life and often attacks boat who mistake for whales, where the legend originates (alongside the Giant squid). They can camouflage and have bioluminescent lights which navigate them in the ocean and alert other fish to get away immediately when a kraken is nearby. Famous "krakeni" include the mentioned Giant octopus and the engineered beast of the same name that inhabits the Underworld.

The first reports of the kraken can be traced to reports of sailors and pirates upon the Penguion Sea where shapes with tentacles were spotted, before proceeding to dive back into the water. However, the famous reports of krakeni taking down seacraft was documented around the late 1930's to early 1940's. It is not sure what its conservation status is, due to the fact they seek out the deepest parts of the ocean.

Sasquatch
See original page here.

The Sasquatch, is perhaps the most famous example of a cryptid (now a former cryptid). Sasquatch are creatures that are said to be distinctly related to penguins in some way, but have large talon-like feet which leave large, deep footprints, and have feathers that are said to be a combination of both feather and fur, and have large arms. They have a gruff look to them, but in truth, are quite docile and shy creatures, though reports of angry and curious sasquatch have been reported. Considered a critically endangered species, the sasquatch has been said to be the fore-front member of supposedly branching off into other species, including the real-life Yeti, and true cryptids like the Zhouese Yeren, the Antarctican Swampsquatch, and the Hindonesian Orang-Pengdek. According to statistics, 3,000 plus (and continuing) sightings are occuring to this modern day.

Supposedly, the first sightings of the Sasquatch can be traced to bizarre footprints found in western Antarctica during the Olde Antarctica time period, with most sightings occurring on the Antarctic Peninsula. Decades later, many other sasquatch-creatures have been reported and of course, the Sasquatch was later to be confirmed a critically endangered species.

Sasquatch usually live in forests, such as temperate and boreal forests, and often fish for small fish in rivers, and eat a variety of fruits and wild vegetables, with a diet that includes nuts, berries, plants, and bark or tree branches (without leaves), that is said to be the equivalent of chips. A famous member of this species is Sam the Sasquatch, a local legend and celebrity in Club Penguin Island, who, like his species, is secretive and is rarely spotted.

Yeti
See original page here.

Another famous (now former) cryptid, the Yeti pales in comparison with its cousin, the Sasquatch. The Yeti is a member of the sasquatch family tree or genus, is known for its rather aggressive behavior when outsiders intrude on its territory. They frequent the higher mountains and deep snowy regions of mountains and plains and forests at the base of said mountains. Despite being white, they exhibit a black color with a blue tinge, said to occur during the summers, gray in color when fall, white in the winters and grey-blue in spring. Their diet is contrary to the more vegetarian but omnivorous sasquatch, where yetis have a diet largely composed of meat, making them strong hunters, and strong hunters they are, known to be fast in the hunt and quite brutal, but they only act like this as they are cryptids and, to extent, animals, just like any predator. However, they are known to also eat berries and apples.

Their range includes Club Penguin Island and the northern areas in the States, including a small population (in the shape of a round pointed streak sticking west) in the borders of Trans-Antarctica, Eastshield and the Happyface State, near the Polar District. However, a large population is scattered in the Ninja Archipelago, with small populations in Rusca, Lichenstien and even one in Pen Chi Island. Unconfirmed reports of a yeti have appeared in the Castillan Alps.

A territorial species, the Yeti often has "turf wars" with other predators and supposedly cryptids. There have been turf wars between troops of yetis and sasquatches, where a brutal trail of feathers and drops of blood are common sight of these events, and due to this, many cryptozoologist have theorized that the recent Castilla sighting, a troop of yetis could travel elsewhere, where they could have a brutal fight with the Mapinguari, another known cryptid, but most cryptozoologists have said it is unlikely. They have been known to eat puffles and can eat an entire mullet in one sitting, thanks to their sheer strength. They often reside in caves. Despite being brutes, much like any predator, they have a kind side to them. They have been known to drag and position lost mountaineers near the closest trails to civilization without killing them.

Possible cryptids
Possible cryptids are cryptids who have large amounts of evidence but yet have any confirmation of their existence, but have many theories, solutions and ideas of what animals they could be, for example, marine reptile-like cryptids could be long-necked seals.