Leviathan

Leviathan
Distinctions	300-foot tall body, carnivorous teeth, and a rough armored skin
Games featured	Resistance 2 Resistance: Burning Skies

"Command, what the hell is that?"

―Nathan Hale

The Leviathan is a 300-foot tall Chimera. Only two Leviathans were ever reported. Described as the single-largest creature to have ever walked the earth, these bipedal creatures possess a large cooling device on their back, as well as durable skin.

Resistance 2

The Leviathan serves as a boss enemy in the Chicago mission. It is assumed that thousands of bodies would have been necessary to create it. Presumably prior to May 1952, the Chimera in Chicago began creating the Leviathan by constructing a 300-foot-tall enclosure surrounding Wrigley Field which served as the creature's birthplace. SRPA analysts reported the enclosure's existence to their superiors, but they do not believe it is a high priority threat after Specter Team contained the Chimera in the city.

One year later, the Leviathan was unleashed when Echo Team arrived in Chicago. Its presence was first made known to SRPA when its roar was first heard by Nathan Hale after he and Benjamin Warner deactivated Hellfire Turrets. It was then briefly seen in the distance by Hale on the subway bridge on State Street. The Leviathan finally made its full appearance at the Michigan–Wacker District after Hale and Victor Company cleared the area of Chimera. Victor Company temporary hold off the creature and allowing Hale to flee.

The Leviathan encountered Hale again before swatting away a U/AV-17 Hawk carrying Keystone Company, killing everyone on board. The creature then picked up Hale and attempted to devour him, but Hale fires a L210 LAARK into his face. This angered the Leviathan which responded by throwing Hale across the city until he landed in a Chimeran outpost connecting to the Chicago tower. SRPA forces planned to kill the Leviathan by luring it under a sky bridge where a demolition team had laid explosive changes to inflict massive trauma to the Leviathan's head. Hale lured the Leviathan to the sky bridge with a LAARK, but the charges failed to detonate. Instead Hale manually detonated the bridge by firing a LAARK rocket at it, causing it to explode and leaving a large gaping wound on the left side of the Leviathan's face. Hale then killed the Leviathan by launching another LAARK rocket into its head wound.

Strategy

The Leviathan examining a building.

The Leviathan is immune to any weapon and is only scripted to die at the end of Chicago. When the Leviathan picks up Hale, the player is automatically armed with the L210 LAARK (the only weapon that can deal damage to it) and must fire at its face and mouth when about to be eaten. This occurs twice before the player is thrown into a building. The player must escape as the Leviathan will tear the building apart, and cross a fallen, makeshift bridge into another building before the Leviathan destroys the bridge. Thereafter the player again must run down from the roof of the building as the Leviathan will tear down the above floors before entering a reinforced room. There are more ammo for the LARRK in the center of the room.

The player is again picked up by the Leviathan when entering the nearby open window and must fire at the creature a third time. This will cause the Leviathan to angrily throw Hale across the city, who will then land in a Chimeran outpost. After clearing away the Hybrids, the player needs to attract the Leviathan to be under the sky bridge, where a demolition team places explosives to kill the creature, with the LARRK. There is an ammo crate to replenish the LARRK's rockets. After attracting the Leviathan's attention, Patrol Drones will appear before Hale and must be destroyed. When the charges failed to detonate after the Leviathan is right under the bridge, Major Blake orders the player to fire a rocket at the bridge; the subsequent explosion severely damages the Leviathan's face and leaving with a gaping wound in its head, but it is still alive. The player must fire a rocket once more into its skull in order to finally kill the Leviathan.

Video

Resistance: Burning Skies

The Leviathan as it appears in Resistance: Burning Skies.

A partially-completed Leviathan serves as the final boss in Conversion Tower, a massive facility seemingly designed to manufacture this strain. Richard Gorrell engineers the attack on the Union City Protection Camp in order to gain access to the incomplete Leviathan and control it with Gray Tech modules.

The Leviathan is impartially complete, as it has no eyes and does not appear to have a cooling unit fitted. Gorrell, however, was unable to control the Leviathan, as it goes berserk and fights Tom Riley, who eventually kills the beast and in the process destroying the facility.

Strategy

• The Leviathan attacks with its giant hands, smashing them down on the platform Riley is standing on or throwing punches. A direct hit from any of the Leviathan's physical attacks is instant death. It also has a roar attack which deals damage.
• As the intel "Grey Tech Chimeran Control Initiative" implies, the control modules are the creature's weak point and are vulnerable when fully lit. While the game spawns ammunition for the Sw.A.R.M., the weapon is virtually useless here as the weak points move around too much for the weapon to track correctly. The Mauler is the best choice, preferably with the Lightweight Gray Tech upgrade as this will allow the player to dodge more easily.
• In the first stage the main targets are the modules on the Leviathan's left side (the player's right). The first is on the Leviathan's chest, the second is central on its belly, and the third is on its shoulder. Moving towards the front of the platform will allow for more accurate shooting but is not advised as any hit here is instant death. The modules will only light up as the Leviathan is winding up to attack with its hands. The shoulder is the hardest as only one of the Leviathan's attack animations actually keeps it visible during the time it is lit up, so patience is required.
• Once the three modules are destroyed the Leviathan will grab Riley and attempt to eat him, but be foiled as its left arm disintegrates, dropping him on a higher platform. The entire front of this platform is unsafe and will result in instant death if the player is struck while standing here, so backing up into the area with ammo pickups is the first priority.
• There are three more modules to shoot; one on the Leviathan's chest, one on its waist and one on the side of its head. The Leviathan rests its hand over the one on its waist, meaning it can only be attacked when the hand is lifted away from it. Once the one on the Leviathan's face is destroyed it partially destroys the Chimera's head, revealing a final module inside the Leviathan's skull. Destroying this one leads to the Leviathan staggering backwards into the beam from the Tower's generator, obliterating it for good.

Intel

“	Richard Gorrell Field Notes August 16th, 1951 The Leviathan is only partially formed at the moment. It has six eyes, a humanoid/reptilian body, carnivorous teeth, and rough/armored skin. More importantly, it will stand 300 feet tall once it's complete. The largest Chimeran I have ever encountered. When full control is attained, it will prove that any Chimeran form may be controlled. An American army of Chimeran forms is finally within sight. We will be strong again.	”

Gallery

Concept Art

Leviathan concept art.

Concept art by Brian Yam

Resistance 2

Advertisement picture of the Leviathan on a building in South Korea.

A close up on the Leviathan's face.

The Leviathan destroys the VTOL carrying Keystone Company.

The Leviathan grasping a fallen make-shift bridge while observing Nathan Hale.

Leviathan's demise.

Resistance: Burning Skies

The Leviathan as it appears during the boss fight in Resistance: Burning Skies.

Trivia

SRPANET file FR8534 possibly showing an early version of the Leviathan.

• Killing the Leviathan unlocks the "The Bigger They Are" trophy.
• The Leviathan is named after a Biblical sea creature of gigantic proportions. Leviathan as a name means "the largest of its kind".
• SRPANET file FR8534 shows an image of what appears to be an early precursor of the Leviathan (as seen in the picture on the right).
• Most of the fight sequence against the Leviathan in Resistance 2 was previously shown in the E3 2008 demo video.
• SRPA is stated to have no knowledge of the Leviathan strain in Resistance 2. Knowledge of the Leviathan's existence has become a continuity error in the Resistance series as entries set prior to Resistance 2 depicts SRPA being aware of the creature. In Resistance: Burning Skies a SRPA subdivision led by Richard Gorrell was aware of the Leviathan in which Gorrell attempted to control it. In Resistance: The Gathering Storm, while hiding in his childhood shelter Hale describes the trembling sound of a large Chimeran creature that makes him speculate to be a Leviathan, among other things. Although according to SRPANET file XX458200, SRPA was aware of enormous Chimeran creatures but regard them as few of them due to assuming the immense energy requirements to create them.
• Given the Leviathan's size of roughly 300 feet, it is about twice the size of the 150-foot tall Goliath.
• The origins of Leviathan is only known in the final campaign level of Resistance: Burning Skies, as the conversion process inside the Conversion Tower took roughly seven thousand human bodies to create a single Leviathan.