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[Misc] World's Hardest Creature XI: Nominations



jimhigham

Je Suis Rhino
Apr 25, 2009
7,699
Woking
Animaldome.jpg

It's January. Which means it must be WHC time. Once again, it is time for the meanest, toughest, hardest beasts of the natural world to pit their wits, teeth, tails, claws, flippers and anything else they can muster against their foe to lift the prestigious WHC trophy.

But before we go on, I'm sure you would all like to join me in taking a moment to offer up applause for Mr. Gary Nelson's Left Foot, who has officiated this annual event with such distinction over the last decade. His is a unique legacy. He hands over what has become one of NSC's very own big beasts. I am informed that Mr. GNLF has taken up retirement and plans to spend more time with his menagerie of vicious headcases and tend to his variety of fascinating injuries acquired over years of refereeing inside the AnimalDome. Mr. GNLF. We salute you.

Also, a little housekeeping before we get on to the serious business. Firstly, I shall declare my own hand. In recent years I have been very much Team Honey Badger. I'm also very fond of rhinos. With this in mind, I hereby recuse myself from all voting rights in this year's edition of the WHC Cup. Please don't go sending me any THB based whining. It's out of my hands. I'm sure Bozza's heard quite enough about dummy accounts too. Leave him alone.

Secondly, I'm new at this. Be gentle with me. It may take a while.

How you define 'hard' is up to you but please be prepared to make a case for how you define your chosen creature as such. How you define creature is also another grey area. I'm not a student of zoology. Hell, I never even made it to uni so don't ask me what a creature even is. If anybody has objections to nominees and considers them to not be 'creature-y' enough then please make yourself heard before the initial group stage goes live. After that, it's a lock and all nominees will be considered. I reserve the right to remove what any reasonable person might consider to be a 'Noddy nomination'.

So without further ado, let the 11th WHC Cup begin. Please feel free to nominate any creature you feel has what it takes to complete at this level. All creatures will need to be seconded before they are allowed to proceed to the group stage. At this stage you do not need to offer your justification but be prepared to do so should your chosen mentalist appear in the group stage. This will feature four groups of 10. The initial 40 will be allocated on a first (sensibly) come first served basis. Nominations will close at 23:59 hours on Tuesday 9th January, as we will all lose one night getting bent out of shape about the Palace match.

The top four of each group will enter the knockout phase of the competition, starting with the second round before proceeding to the quarter final and you know the rest. There will be no seeding. It's a straight knockout competition with a draw being made before each round.

There are no exclusions this year. All-comers welcome. The Honey Badger is defending champion. Will the evil little bugger come out fighting or has it grown fat and complacent in the past year?

NSC. It's over to you.
 


Kalimantan Gull

Well-known member
Aug 13, 2003
12,898
Central Borneo / the Lizard
By contrast, I AM a student and practioner of zoology. No-one ever listens to me however. So I expect to see another catalogue of dodgy mice and cuddly sunbears do ridiculously well.

For variety, I have always wished for the first round to be grouped by type - cats; reptiles; fish; invertebrates, etc and so on, so I will throw this out there once again.

and I shall nominate a true hard nut and properly scary animal, the Asian giant hornet, Vespa mandarinia, colloquially known as the yak-killer hornet
 


Pevenseagull

Anti-greed coalition
Jul 20, 2003
19,508
I assume the mighty RATEL is pre qualified?
Who is the host creature?

If it's the tardigrade then it's game over.

I nominate tardigrade.
 




midnight_rendezvous

Well-known member
Aug 10, 2012
3,737
The Black Country
The majestic, yet deadly, orca.

And African Hunting Dog

:thumbsup:
 




Badger

NOT the Honey Badger
NSC Patreon
May 8, 2007
12,749
Toronto
Grasshopper Mouse.

Always makes the knockout stages but I hear he's been doing a bit of altitude training and conditioning to get him in the best possible shape for this year's competition. He's also been doing some mental training exercises to focus his mind and ensure he doesn't crumble at the business end of the competition.
 


skipper734

Registered ruffian
Aug 9, 2008
9,189
Curdridge
Hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius)



If you don’t associate “hippo” with “vicious, aggressive man-killer”, you are clearly not watching enough Animal Planet. Hippos kill more humans than any other animal in Africa (second to disease-carrying mosquitoes). Hippos are extremely territorial, highly unpredictable, and notorious for tipping boats that make the mistake of infiltrating their patch of water. What makes them most deadly however, is their bite. A hippo’s mouth can open 180 degrees. When it opens this wide it means the hippo feels threatened. Which means, so should you.

One chomp from one of these monstrous water Goliaths can have 1,821 lbs of bite force! Their canines and sharp incisors (which they sharpen as they grind) can reach 20 inches in length.

Get in the way of the their water, or calf, and you are up against a whopping 8000 pounds of bull rage that can charge at 18 to 30 mph
 


Pevenseagull

Anti-greed coalition
Jul 20, 2003
19,508
By contrast, I AM a student and practioner of zoology. No-one ever listens to me however. So I expect to see another catalogue of dodgy mice and cuddly sunbears do ridiculously well.

For variety, I have always wished for the first round to be grouped by type - cats; reptiles; fish; invertebrates, etc and so on, so I will throw this out there once again.

and I shall nominate a true hard nut and properly scary animal, the Asian giant hornet, Vespa mandarinia, colloquially known as the yak-killer hornet

I too like the idea of a taxonomic group stage. Perhaps, albeit with no consideration to diversity, 3 invertebrates and 7 chordata to each group?
However, would this give boring carnivores an easy route to the final if competitors of similar order were kept apart n the group stages?

Need guidance from Sepp Blatter.

Anyway, I second your hornet, proper handful.
 




Jack Straw

I look nothing like him!
Jul 7, 2003
6,847
Brighton. NOT KEMPTOWN!
I would like to nominate the Bobbit Worm.
Eunice aphroditois (colloquially known as the Bobbit(t) worm or sand striker) is an aquatic predatory polychaete worm dwelling at the ocean floor. An ambush predator, the animal buries its long body into an ocean bed composed of gravel, mud, or corals, where it waits for a stimulus to one of its five antennae, attacking when it senses prey. Armed with sharp teeth, it is known to attack with such speed and ferocity that its prey is sometimes sliced in half.
 

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WATFORD zero

Well-known member
NSC Patreon
Jul 10, 2003
25,655
Thank God

There is only so much 'what do you think of the premier', 'will we get a new striker', 'will there be another Brexit vote' shit one man can take,

We are back to the real reason NSC exists :)

*edit* and second the Bobbit worm :thumbsup:
 


Cheshire Cat

The most curious thing..
Mantis shrimp

#teamprawn
 






Pevenseagull

Anti-greed coalition
Jul 20, 2003
19,508
Melus melus
The European Badger.
The Tory party declared war on it, went after it with guns, gas, militia, the ****ing works.
They sent an ARMY out to destroy it!
Did they succeed?
Did they ****.

Interestingly, if you type in the Latin name on my Kindle it autocorrects to 'Melissa Ellis'.

Not someone I'd like to meet.minI
 
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Badger

NOT the Honey Badger
NSC Patreon
May 8, 2007
12,749
Toronto
But before we go on, I'm sure you would all like to join me in taking a moment to offer up applause for Mr. Gary Nelson's Left Foot, who has officiated this annual event with such distinction over the last decade. His is a unique legacy. He hands over what has become one of NSC's very own big beasts. I am informed that Mr. GNLF has taken up retirement and plans to spend more time with his menagerie of vicious headcases and tend to his variety of fascinating injuries acquired over years of refereeing inside the AnimalDome. Mr. GNLF. We salute you.

Yes, GNLF did a tremendous job of organising and officiating WHC :clap2:

Don't forget turienzo's lovechild though. He was the original host.

Both had their own style, putting their individual stamp on the competition. I look forward to seeing what you do to bring WHC into 2018. Perhaps some kind of video technology or a Hawkeye system.
 




patchamalbion

Well-known member
Feb 26, 2009
6,011
brighton
Honey Badger of course!

Remember that video where the little ****er takes on snakes, takes a bite, passes out, then carries on ripping the head off a cobra!!!

Double hard mental *******
 


jimhigham

Je Suis Rhino
Apr 25, 2009
7,699
Woking
Yes, GNLF did a tremendous job of organising and officiating WHC :clap2:

Don't forget turienzo's lovechild though. He was the original host.

Both had their own style, putting their individual stamp on the competition. I look forward to seeing what you do to bring WHC into 2018. Perhaps some kind of video technology or a Hawkeye system.

A thousand apologies to Mr Turienzo's Lovechild. I was only an occasional NSC visitor in the early days of WHC and this important fact passed me by. Give it up for TL ladies and gentlemen.

I'm hoping for a tie in the knockout stages so I can dream up some hard equivalent of a penalty shootout.
 


Ken Livingstone Seagull

Well-known member
Aug 29, 2003
505
Maui, Hawaii
I proudly nominate the Red-crested Hawaiian Honeycreeper.

Hawaiian honeycreepers are small, passerine birds endemic to Hawaii. Wikepedia reports: "Their great morphological diversity is the result of adaptive radiation in an insular environment."

Peeps, listen up, they are endangered AND have suffered adaptive radiation YET are still here, the double-hard chirpy f****rs.

And plus they RAVAGE our local dangerous INSECTS such as mosquitos, cockroaches, flies, and, well, ants. They are truly scarey, no Hawaiian insect is safe from their pointy curved beaks. Did I mention, adaptive RADIATION?
:wozza:

Check this bad boy out: http://insider.si.edu/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/6258178211_f0f4d3becf_o.jpg
 











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