[b]Name[/b]: Sir Malcolm Swallow

[b]Species[/b]: Carthropod

[b]Gender[/b]: Male

[b]Species[/b] [b]background[/b]: 
Carthropods are a race of vehicle-based monsters that can shapeshift between a Car Forme and an Arthropod Forme. Their ‘life power' is an anomalous source of energy stored within their engine. As long as the engine is intact, the Carthropod will ‘live'.

Their diet consists of whatever fuel their engine runs on, be it diesel, petrol or something else. They can however substitute their fuel by eating appliances (and thus Carthropods have been the culprit of many appliance-disappearance cases). The exception to this are electric Carthropods, who have to get their fuel by tapping off electricity.

Running out of ‘food' will not kill the Carthropod, however. Carthropod death only occurs if the engine ceases functioning. Due to their mechanical nature, however, it is possible to ‘revive' a Carthropod by repairing the engine. However, at least around 70% of the engine’s original parts must be retained. Since the life power of a Carthropod is stored within the engine, replacing the engine of a car will turn it in an entirely different Carthropod. The life power of a Carthropod allows them to slowly regenerate minor damage, such as bodywork damage.

Obviously, the most quaint ability of the Carthropods is their ability to shapeshift into arthropod forms. The form usually retains the basic shape of the car (so no fancy Transformer stuff going on here), with arthropod features added. The Arthropod Forme of a Carthropod is usually based on the engine of the car (and is thus partially based on the type of car). Vehicles with big, powerful engines tend to shapeshift into fast arthropods (such as dragonflies) or powerful arthropods (such as scorpions). Vehicles with weaker engines shapeshift into more common critters (such as ants). Vehicles with diesel engines such as vans or SUVs usually shapeshift into crustaceans or myriapods.

Humans are aware of the existence of the Carthropods and live in harmony with them. This symbiosis is useful for both parties, since the human gets transportation and the Carthropod has easy access to fuel. There are, however, ‘rogue' Carthropods that live in groups away from humans. Usually they reside in forests or scrapyards. Rogue Carthropods are usually second-hand cars that do not want to be sold like some product (since that’s still what cars are) and just left the second-hand dealership they were in. There are, lastly, also ‘renegade' Carthropods that live completely alone.

Carthropods are not the only machine-based race on this version of Earth, though. Next to the Carthropods, there are:
-	Lorramals, trucks with a mammal form
-	Aeravians, helicopters and planes with a bird form
-	Gastromotos, motorcycles with a gastropod form
-	Bargish, boats with a fish form
-	Reptrains, trains with a reptile form
-	Amphibicrafts, rare hovercrafts with an amphibian form
-	Aplantiances, appliances with a plant form

[b]Appearance[/b]: 
Sir Malcolm Swallow is a deep black Jaguar E-Type coupe made in 1963. He is powered by a 265 hp 3.8 liter 6-inline engine. The steering wheel is on the right side.
His Arthropod Forme is that of a knight-like mantis. The entire hood of the car forms the head of the mantis with metallic plumage on the back of this head. The abdomen is formed by the rest of the car and the thorax is mostly formed with mechanical parts. Similar to the mantis, he gains six legs in his Arthropod Forme: the middle and hind legs are heavily armored and broad, whereas his front legs are made of the front suspension of the car (including the wheels). One of them is shaped like a sword.

[b]Character[/b] [b]background[/b]: 
Sir Malcolm Swallow is one of the twelve Knights of the Spokewheel, a rogue group of Carthropods that live in Brecon Beacons, a national park in Great Britain. All of the Knights are British oldtimers (such as the Aston Martin DB5, the Land Rover Series I and indeed the Jaguar E-Type) that serve to protect king Charles Argent (who is a Rolls-Royce 40/50 Silver Ghost himself). The king ‘rules' over British Carthropods and is just as respected as the British Queen is by the humans.
The Knights have a certain ‘code of honor’, similar to the knights of the Round Table:
-	Do not break the traffic rules
-	Respect humans and save those in distress
-	Do not resort to violence unless needed
So far, Sir Swallow has not broken this code of honor yet. Of all the Knights, he may perhaps be the most loyal to king Argent.


[b]Also, Hokum, you're not really a God.
[/b]