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The grunt is an enemy in Jak II and Jak 3. It is a quadruped metal head found almost everywhere; often used as the main soldier type for the Metal Head armies.

Grunts carry the predominate name of many other metal head specimen used to describe their role as a soldier—most notably the manic head, a similar red variety.

History[]

Jak II[]

Grunts in fortress

Grunts in the fortress pipes.

The first appearance grunts made in Jak II was in the Hip Hog Heaven Saloon as trophy mounts, one over the door way and the other near the ceiling on the front wall. Live grunts werer first seen during the eco trade-off in the pipes below the Fortress. They appeared to understand the language which humans speak, and grew somewhat angry when the guards told them to leave after receiving the latest shipment of eco. They were later seen infiltrating the Haven sewers in the mission "Destroy turrets in sewers", where they first encountered Jak and Daxter directly. They appeared nearly everywhere in the sewers, assembling in large groups and caged in sewerage pipes.

Grunts were later seen invading the strip mine looking for the eco which was being mined for Haven City, trapping the Underground's foreman and operator, Vin, where he was later saved by Jak and Daxter in the mission "Rescue Vin at strip mine". They were again seen in Dead Town in two missions invading the Sacred Site. They also took part in various Metal Head invasions in Haven City. Their last appearance before invading the streets in a war was at the drill platform, where they appeared to be sabotaging the mainbase of the drill. They later flooded into the city through the Underport, in which they were fought in the mission "Escort Sig in Underport".

Jak 3[]

The grunts made their first re-appearance in Jak 3 at the eco mine in the mission "Explore eco mine". They also appeared in the sewers along with other enemies, and were later found in the streets of Haven City during the war after Jak broke the barrier from Metal Head city in the mission "Destroy dark eco tanks". They were also used as a core defense in missions "Destroy eco grid with Jinx", "Defend Port from attack", and "Blow open tower door".

Characteristics[]

Appearance[]

Grunt concept art

Concept art.

Bearing many typical bio-mechanic Metal Head traits, makes it somewhat hard to classify in contrast with other specimen. It has a relatively broad head, two sharply pointed ears resting on the lower sides of its head, and a large skull gem embedded between its four beady eyes. Their lower jaw sharply points towards the middle of the lower lip. Their head is either made out of or encased in a metal alloy.[1] They have one set of very sharp carnassial teeth.[2] When grunts jump on the HellCat where an open-mouth facial closeup can be seen.

Grunts are considered medium-sized metal heads, being not much bigger than manic heads. They have a bent back with a small abdomen and a broad chest, their tail curving up and around reaching past their back. Their tail has various fins and metal plates ending with a point. They have a sort of tube leading from their skull gem and down their back (and possibly towards their tail), and appears to be connected to their skull gem. They have very large and high-placed shoulders, over-reaching their head, and have large, pointed, metallic shoulder plates. They also have various metal plating on their forearms and quadriceps. They are a dark blue color.[3]

Overall, their basic physique and composition appears to be a mix of both mechanic and organic, typical to all metal heads.[1]

Behavior[]

Grunts are very drone-like, having no distinguishable behavior, other than clawing, biting, and chasing targets. Occasionally, when they become frustrated or sight an enemy, they will howl and/or growl. They will bark to communicate.[1]

Soldiers in battle

Soldiers battling a grunt.

Naturally, grunts are quadrupedal, walking on all fours with their chest inflated and back bent with their forearms facing inward, thus displaying their broad chest.[3] They usually gallop, however, will also walk casually on all fours as any quadrupedal animal would. They can also be found stooping low to the ground, swerving back and fourth in a sneaky motion with their arms bent low. When in pursuit (especially during combat), they will get up on their hind legs and run bipedal. This is rare, though, not unusual. If they are shot, they will go back on all fours.[4]

Habitat[]

Grunts have been seen in almost every environment and can adapt rather easily. They have been seen in industrial, semi-industrial, or past-industrial places, such as the eco mine and the Haven sewers, where they appear to be somewhat at home with other metal heads. Naturally, in their own environment, they tend to disrupt any industrial structures and turn it slimy, green, and acidic, as seen in Metal Head city, a former Haven City district.[5] Oddly, they were not seen in the Metal Head nest in Jak II.[1]

Abilities[]

Grunts have incredible jumping capabilities, and were able to jump to and from high areas such as the port towers in the mission "Blow open tower door". They could jump as high as one of the taller buildings in the Slums district.[2]

Combat[]

The grunt has two basic attacks, either a smash from their fist or a lunge attack. It uses a punch attack when running on two feet and the lunge attack when on all fours. When the grunt lunges it jumps with its hind legs and pounces on Jak. When a victim is in a transportation machine, like for example when Jak uses the Titan Suit in Jak II, or when he uses the HellCat fighter and when Torn uses the cargo transport in the mission "Blow open tower door" in Jak 3, grunts will leap onto the machine and attempt to destroy it by repeatedly pounding on it.

Jak is considerably faster than the grunt, especially when rolling and jumping away. Nor can it reach higher areas.

The Blaster is ideal for picking them up from long distances. Depending on the area one might resort to the Scatter Gun, especially when in small hallways or when encountered by large groups. A lone or perhaps two grunts can also be easily picked off using melee attacks.

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Naughty Dog. Jak II. (Sony Computer Entertainment). PlayStation 2 (2004). PlayStation 3 (2012). PlayStation Vita (2013).
  2. 2.0 2.1 Naughty Dog. Jak 3 mission Blow open tower door. (Sony Computer Entertainment). PlayStation 3 (2012).
  3. 3.0 3.1 http://www.jak3-game.com/flash.html Jak 3 official website [retrieved September 2013]
  4. Naughty Dog. Jak 3 mission "Destroy dark eco tanks".
  5. Naughty Dog. Jak 3. (Sony Computer Entertainment). PlayStation 3 (2012).
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