I have a scene where a humanoid monster tries to swallow another being alive, only for them to die when the smaller being rapidly increases in size through shape-shifting and tears its way out of the larger one like a xenomorph chestburster. The larger character is about nine feet tall or so but has a mouth capable of swallowing very large prey whole like a predatory fish, whereas the smaller character being eaten is about the size of an average human. After shape-shifting the character being eaten is about seven feet tall. My original plan was that the shape-shifter expanding in size to avoid being eaten would end up killing the larger character as part of the finale of an action scene, in keeping with some thematic motifs of gluttony and hubris the larger monstrous humanoid has.

However, it almost seems like even if such an action was lethal, it wouldn't be immediately lethal, and the larger character would still have some time to move and fight back before they died of shock, potentially killing the other character in the process (which is not what I am aiming for). Given this, I am trying to figure out how fast it would take for someone to die from such a traumatic injury, assuming that the monstrous humanoid has an anatomy roughly analogous to any other vertebrate and doesn't have a plot-relevant "instant-kill vein" in its digestive tract, and how I could potentially speed this up if possible to avoid having the larger character kill the smaller one before dying. For example, would bursting out of the throat be more lethal than the stomach, since it could potentially damage the windpipe, jugular, and carotid?

I have a scene where a humanoid monster tries to swallow another being alive, only for them to die when the smaller being rapidly increases in size through shape-shifting and tears its way out of the larger one like a xenomorph chestburster. The larger character is about nine feet tall or so but has a mouth capable of swallowing very large prey whole like a predatory fish, whereas the smaller character being eaten is about the size of an average human. After shape-shifting the character being eaten is about seven feet tall, and the character increases in size fast enough that they assume full size between being swallowed but before they get digested. Indeed, the whole reason they increase in size is they are trying to prevent themselves from being eaten, and end up ripping their way out while being swallowed. My original plan was that the shape-shifter expanding in size to avoid being eaten would end up killing the larger character as part of the finale of an action scene, in keeping with some thematic motifs of gluttony and hubris the larger monstrous humanoid has.

However, it almost seems like even if such an action was lethal, it wouldn't be immediately lethal, and the larger character would still have some time to move and fight back before they died of shock, potentially killing the other character in the process (which is not what I am aiming for). Given this, I am trying to figure out how fast it would take for someone to die from another organism bursting from their body in such a manner, assuming that the monstrous humanoid doesn't have any special anatomy that makes them more or less vulnerable to such a tactic. My primary concern is making sure the injury is lethal enough to avoid having the larger character keep fighting for a bit and kill the smaller one before dying. For example, would bursting out of the throat be more lethal than the stomach, since it could potentially damage the windpipe, jugular, and carotid?

I have a scene where a humanoid monster tries to swallow another being alive, only for them to die when the smaller being rapidly increases in size through shape-shifting and tears its way out of the larger one like a xenomorph chestburster. My original plan was that this action would end up killing the larger character as part of the finale of an action scene, in keeping with some thematic motifs of gluttony and hubris the larger monstrous humanoid has.

However, it almost seems like even if such an action was lethal, it wouldn't be immediately lethal, and the larger character would still have some time to move and fight back before they died of shock, potentially killing the other character in the process (which is not what I am aiming for). Given this, I am trying to figure out how fast it would take for someone to die from such a traumatic injury, assuming that the monstrous humanoid has an anatomy roughly analogous to any other vertebrate and doesn't have a plot-relevant "instant-kill vein" in its digestive tract, and how I could potentially speed this up if possible to avoid having the larger character kill the smaller one before dying. For example, would bursting out of the throat be more lethal than the stomach, since it could potentially damage the windpipe, jugular, and carotid?

I have a scene where a humanoid monster tries to swallow another being alive, only for them to die when the smaller being rapidly increases in size through shape-shifting and tears its way out of the larger one like a xenomorph chestburster. The larger character is about nine feet tall or so but has a mouth capable of swallowing very large prey whole like a predatory fish, whereas the smaller character being eaten is about the size of an average human. After shape-shifting the character being eaten is about seven feet tall. My original plan was that the shape-shifter expanding in size to avoid being eaten would end up killing the larger character as part of the finale of an action scene, in keeping with some thematic motifs of gluttony and hubris the larger monstrous humanoid has.

However, it almost seems like even if such an action was lethal, it wouldn't be immediately lethal, and the larger character would still have some time to move and fight back before they died of shock, potentially killing the other character in the process (which is not what I am aiming for). Given this, I am trying to figure out how fast it would take for someone to die from such a traumatic injury, assuming that the monstrous humanoid has an anatomy roughly analogous to any other vertebrate and doesn't have a plot-relevant "instant-kill vein" in its digestive tract, and how I could potentially speed this up if possible to avoid having the larger character kill the smaller one before dying. For example, would bursting out of the throat be more lethal than the stomach, since it could potentially damage the windpipe, jugular, and carotid?