Far ago in the unquantifiable "past" of the primordial chaos/void from which the multiverse is shaped, there were gods. The gods were curious about the various instances of existence that were bubbling throughout the chaos, so they started to explore the phenomena and their potential. Through observation, they learned to modify and eventually craft their own universes from scrap, and they admired their own divine skills and creativity. But there was also Cipactli, a ravenous cosmophagic storm from the distant gulfs of the outer emptiness, and it found the gods little experiments and hungered for it. The gods could not let that be so they confronted it and after a hard struggle they eventually “killed” it. Thinking about what they should do with the cosmophages “corpse”, the gods decided to recycle the monsters flesh and use it as building material and fuel for new universes, and our own cosmos we live in was one of these creations derived from the primordial beast. Since Cipactli isn´t exactly dead, only transformed, it´s “un-life” continues to exist in one way or another as filthy by-products spread throughout the latest additions to the multiverse. In our own universe, traces of this cosmic sludge or slag has tried to regenerate into the monster it was and after billions of years it managed to spontaneously manifest a living body on Earth. What coalesced from the primordial "slag" has some resemblance to Earthly life forms but is otherwise an alien thing composed of bizarre states of matter/energy and warped space. Being reduced to a pulsating ember that is beyond microscopic if compared to its former state, like a newborn child, it needs to learn how to function in a 3-space/1-time dimensional universe. While the inhabitants of the universe calls it the "Extraneous Wyrm", the "Ravenous Viscous Flame", or "that Caiman-Thingy", the being itself don't understand the need of a name or title. To quote it's own words: "I Am What I Am". And the biggest question, which bothers everyone who recognizes the beings true nature, is: If the creature ever learns about and comprehends it's own origin and nature, will it decide to stay in its current existential state and truly go native or will it attempt to consume our cosmos in order to return to its original state of multiversal chaos?
This monster of Aztec mythology provided the most creative potential in creature design and story hooks, being a primordial beast that existed before Earth was made. While the description of a mouth-covered caiman is enough to fuel the imagination, I thought it would even more fun to expand and play with the creation myth Cipactli was featured in. I thought to myself “What if Cipactli was resurrected to a human-scale form and got to explore the universe made from its own corpse?” and I got an excellent idea for a possible story, and an excuse to turn a long dead prehistoric cosmic-scale horror into a cute monster girl.

For the design itself, it was one of the most demanding projects I´ve been working on but it was worth it. It´s quite a challenge to make a nice visual representation of a caiman/toad/fish-hybrid with a hungering mouth at every joint on its body. That combined with an “exotic matter slime skeleton”-look in order to emphasize its nature as a not-living/not-dead monster being not of this world yet part of it. Originally, I wanted it to have even more over-the-top visual effects like burning insides but I forced myself to tone it down in order to be able to finish the drawing at all. And hiding some of the complex parts under a coat helps drawing this thing easier.
The body, despite looking solid, appears to be made of a fluid that is in a half-liquid/half-solid state. The dirt green “skin” has a granular, somewhat mud-like texture that also vaguely resembles a warty toad skin. The grayish yellow bone-like edges has a very smooth surface with a somewhat chitinous look. The dark inner parts of the body can at best be described a liquid void, and the eyes are just fiery lights glowing deep inside it. The metallic grey blades are incredibly sharp and are as thin as paper. All the green and yellow parts are coated with something greasy, giving the body a glistening shine.
The epithet “Ravenous Viscous Flame” comes from Cipactli´s destructive “feeding” state. When it wants to eat or fight something, the creature can turn its entire body or parts of it into an even more fluid matter phase that can be described as a flickering, spasmic and slimy fire on fast-forward. The forces during this state is incredible, Cipactli´s warping body can easily rip apart most materials in a manner that resembles a chainsaw combined with a cheesegrater. The caiman beast is even more dangerous as its entire body is its mouth, the food can be swallowed anywhere on it, and spatially warped insides allows the creature to eat more matter than it´s apparent body should contain.

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And I´m happy with how my backgrounds made in GIMP turned out.