Kentrosaurus

In The Isle

Kentrosaurus is an upcoming playable in The Isle — a smaller, shyer stegosaur cousin that's nonetheless formidable. Armed with a myriad of spikes along its back and tail, plus shoulder spikes to discourage being grabbed, Kentro punishes anything that gets close: a tail whirl or a well-timed shoulder check can spell a bloody demise for a careless carnivore. As the roadmap puts it: "This small stegosaurian is shyer than its more robust cousin but definitely no less formidable." The species was confirmed as playable on the Official The Isle Discord (pinned by an Admin) and is scheduled to arrive shortly after the recode, using its older model.

In Real Life

Kentrosaurus was a small stegosaur — generally about 4.5 m (15 ft) long as an adult and weighing roughly one ton. It walked on all fours with straight hindlimbs and had a small, elongated head with a beak for biting off plant material that was then digested in a large gut. A (probably double) row of small plates ran down its neck and back, gradually merging into spikes toward the tail. Like other stegosaurs, it was covered in extensive osteoderms (bony skin structures), and the tail itself had at least forty caudal vertebrae — extremely mobile, possibly swinging through a 180° arc behind the animal with tip speeds reportedly as high as 50 km/h. Continuous rapid swings could have slashed open an attacker's skin or stabbed through soft tissue and ribs.

Abilities

• • Tail whirl — highly mobile spiked tail with a wide defensive arc
• • Shoulder spikes — passive damage to anything trying to grab or sit on it
• • Back + neck plates and spikes — extensive osteoderm coverage
• • Smaller than Stegosaurus — easier on uneven terrain

Behavior

Shyer than Stego — Kentro players back into terrain, keep their flank and tail pointed at threats, and dare carnivores to commit. The spikes make them very expensive to engage at all.