Making Whackagi More Dangerous

Question

The successor of How Dangerous Are Whackagi?, meant to make Whackagi a credible threat to medieval Europeans.

The main problem with Whackagi is twofold:

1. Too slow-With a top speed of 0.63 mph, a Whackagi would need to catch someone totally by surprise to get them.

2. Little range-Their best attack, the tongue grab, has a maximum range of 6 feet. This makes it easy to avoid.

Due to being blue, Whackagi are easy to spot, and their rarity and solitary nature also makes it relatively easy for people to overwhelm them and kill them by fire. My question is how to address these issues, or What Is The Best Way To Make Whackagi More Dangerous?

My ideas:

1. Speed-While Whackagi are slow, they can sustain that speed indefinitely. If I make Whackagi faster than the fastest walking human at 13.4 mph (6 m/s), people could outrun them but they'd have a much better chance of catching/dodging them. I could also give them a top speed of 30 mph, which they can only sustain for five or ten-minute bursts, which should solve their little speed problem.

2. Jumping-Another way to deal with a Whackagi's slow walking speed is to give them the ability to "jump" (bounce-walk, like Disney's Gummi Bears) 10 feet in a single bound. This may come with a certain precision (so Whackagi can jump onto moving objects, like a man's head, if they're in a 10-foot radius) and/or Ground Pound-the ability to leap up then slam down with earthshaking force (enough force to shatter rock).

3. Range-Extending the range of a Whackagi's tongue grab to 13 feet should solve the range problem, but I'd also like to give a Whackagi's tail and arms (all three of which resemble flails) the ability to extend six feet. (Give that extension ability to the legs, and it may not matter how slow a Whackagi is!) Alternatively, giving a Whackagi a suction ability akin to Kirby's would be a good alternative to a short-ranged (but strong) tongue attack, and may be good paired with its opposite-a powerful sonic attack like that of How To Train Your Dragon's Thunderdrum.

4. Appearance-Whackagi are easy to spot, making them appear like big round rocks would partially solve that problem. Yes, people would learn what to look for, but if Whackagi have different variants of the same shape, it'd be pretty hard to see them coming and they'd be much better at ambushing people!

5. Plop Traits-Plop can grow by eating large objects or creatures, eventually reaching the size of a minivan. As an example, if a Plop manages to engulf a careless maiden's feet, and if it's not promptly removed, it will begin growing up the maiden's body until it engulfs her entirely. Giving Whackagi the same ability would make them capable of becoming a much more dangerous threat, especially if their gorilla-level strength (proportionate to their size, which akin to the average dwarf) scales up with growth.

Alternatively, if Whackagi can fuse together like Plops do to form their own version of Plopup it doesn't matter if the individual is weak, the sum total should strike terror into the hearts of men.

6. Defenses-Fire, freezing temperatures, and drowning are Whackagi's main weaknesses. If I make Whackagi fireproof and immune to the smoke, airborne ashes/embers, and gasses created by flame, that should make them much harder to kill. I'd also like to make them either incapable of drowning (able to breathe in water as well as air, like Plop) or float in water. I'm also considering giving them a hard shell-like Chompers, one of their "parent" species, which would essentially turn them into living tanks.

7. Sociality-Whackagi have slightly below average human intelligence, like the stereotypical football player in college movies, so they could very well live in groups and have their own culture and language. If sociality comes into play, I want Whackagi culture to revolve around competition, teamwork, food, combat, and explosions/fire (to convey an impression of the stereotypical male and/or jock).

8. Flexible flails-In this case, Whackagi flails become capable of turning from firm yet yielding (like a car tire) to extremely flexible, allowing Whackagi to grab and hold objects with them. This may also allow Whackagi to fire small objects, like stones, from their flails like they're slingshots, by hardening and flexing select parts of the flail when holding an object.

Specifications For Best Answer:

1. The best answer will analyze my ideas and explain which change (or changes) would be best for making Whackagi a credible, but not overwhelming, threat to medieval Europeans with medieval weaponry. I want them to be challenging, much like bears, when it comes to killing them, but I don't want them ridiculously powerful. I also want them to be somewhat difficult to deal with, much like one would find a horde of angry Velociraptors outside one's house problematic. (BTW, real Velociraptors were turkey-size, so this isn't as bad as you might think.)

Answer 1

whackagi coat their tounges in VX

If you see a whackagi and are within 6 feet of it you are already dead. One lick will put enough VX on you to kill you in a few minutes maximum, and cause muscle spasms immediately. Since no antidote readily exists, you will die even if you run away. While you can outrun one whackagi, they might herd you into a trap but boxing you in with several advancing whackagi until you meet a hidden whackagi. However, if you keep your distance, and shoot them from excessive distance, you will be fine.