The Killer Penguin ("Eudyptes omnicidus") is a very large fictional bird. It is an obtainable animal in Zoo Tycoon 2, although its origins date back to Zoo Tycoon.
Description[]
The killer penguin is an extremely large member of the penguin family Eudyptes, identifiable by the presence of yellow crests of feathers above their eyes. Superficially, the killer penguin resembles a very large Rockhopper Penguin, but has glowing yellow eyes and sharp teeth. As its name implies, the killer penguin is a savage predator and will hunt and kill any other creature it comes across, often purely for fun.
The origins of the killer penguin are unclear. Some say they were once native to the island of Madagascar, but they seem to most commonly show up during failed attempts to revive other extinct animals. Despite their fearsome behavior, killer penguins do sometimes enjoy a peaceful life and are quite intelligent, often sneaking into scientific laboratories. Regardless, it has such a reputation that many zoos have been unable to contain them and warnings exist amongst the community of zoos donating their killer penguins to others for free.
Zoo Tycoon[]
The origin of the killer penguin dates to a glitch in the original Zoo Tycoon, where an Emperor Penguin had the ability to kill almost any other animal placed in its exhibit.
Zoo Tycoon 2[]
The killer penguin is a secret adoptable animal in Zoo Tycoon 2 and was added as part of the Extinct Animals expansion pack. It cannot be adopted conventionally, and is instead obtained through the Extinct Research Lab. If the player fails to achieve a high enough score in the cloning minigame (any score below 50%), then a "lab failure" animal is obtained. One of these animals is the killer penguin, which is obtained as an egg and has a 10% chance to spawn.
The killer penguin is a Tundra animal. As its name implies, it can kill virtually any other animal species; though the penguins have more difficulty hunting animals in the water. Occasionally, a killer penguin may appear in the Extinct Research Lab in place of a scientist.
Fun Facts[]
- Killer penguins love long walks on the frozen beach, sunsets, and pecking other animals to death.
- If someone asks you if you want a free penguin, you should say no.
- Students of the sciences, killer penguins can often be found lurking in places where they shouldn't be.
Killer Penguin Challenge[]
Sometimes in Challenge Mode, the player will be prompted with the following situation:
| Challenge Popup Dialogue |
|---|
| A zoologist recently came upon a lone penguin wandering in the Arctic. Wanting to find a good home for it, she decided to donate the penguin to your zoo free of charge. Want a free penguin? Click the Check for yes or the X for no. |
Accepting the offer will give the player a Killer Penguin, with the following result:
| Challenge Accept Dialogue |
|---|
| Your new penguin sure doesn't look like any other penguin you've seen, but it's going to make an interesting addition to your zoo. You can find it crated at the front gate. |
This challenge is alluded to in the animal's Zoopedia, which suggests declining such an offer.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- The killer penguin is the only entirely made-up animal in the Zoo Tycoon franchise.
- When a guest donates to a killer penguin exhibit, instead of the standard "I gave the zoo a donation" thought, the guest thinks "I wonder if I give the penguin money, will it be nice to me?"
- The killer penguin is listed as being native to Madagascar. This may be a reference to the 2005 animated film Madagascar, which featured four penguins as major supporting characters.
- The killer penguin is one of two animals that can tolerate the Benthic biome outside of animals that have it as a primary biome, with the other being the Leatherback Sea Turtle.
- Additionally, the killer penguin is the only animal that prefers another biome equally to its primary biome.
- The killer penguin has the highest additional space requirement of any animal in Zoo Tycoon 2, at a whooping 2,000 units for each additional killer penguin (combined with the initial 400 units for the first penguin, 2,400 units are needed to house a pair). For comparison, a player would be able to house over 20 Tyrannosaurus rex in the same amount of space needed for 2 killer penguins.
- Perhaps because of this, the game is coded so that only 1 killer penguin may be obtained at a time from the Extinct Research Lab.
File-Editing[]
It is possible to make the killer penguin adoptable through file-editing.
- Open x210_000.z2f file (or x302_000.z2f if Ultimate Collection is installed) by any RAR Archiver inside the game's folder.
- Open PenguinKiller.xml file by any Text Editor inside entities\units\animals\ai folder.
- Delete the "<ZTDevComponent />" (without quotation marks) line inside the PenguinKiller.xml file.
- Open the game to adopt the killer penguin.
By hacking the Killer Penguin into the adoption menu, the Zoo Panel description reads, "Click and place a Killer Penguin. Careful, they can be dangerous to other animals!". They are also coded as costing $50,000, which is the price for non-extinct 5-star animals.