Editing Koloss

The koloss are physically very large and very powerful. Koloss have blue skin and red eyes.{{book ref|mb2|19}} A full-sized koloss could grow to be as tall as twelve feet. The transformation process corrupts the ability of their skin to grow and heal. Therefore Koloss are said to only have a fixed amount of skin that does not change over their lifetime. Because of this, the younger a koloss is, the fatter it may appear, due to having much baggy skin covering itself. The skin itself doesn't hold terribly well to the koloss' body.{{book ref|mb2|19}} As the koloss grow taller, their skin tears and fits tightly to them. An ancient koloss is a hideous sight indeed, having little remaining original skin. Being covered instead in scars, half-healed wounds, and innumerable newly formed tears. Older koloss protect their mutilated skin with leather wrappings.{{book ref|eltania}} A koloss continuously grows until its death. When it reaches roughly twelve feet, despite its hemalugically enhanced strength and fortitude, its heart and lungs can no longer sustain its disproportionate weight. Heart failure begins to set in. It dies shortly thereafter, or in a weakened state is killed by younger koloss seeking to take its blade.

Similar to [[Steel Inquisitor]]s, the creation of a koloss is very brutal. To create a koloss, four humans are stabbed with individual iron spikes through their heart, and these spikes are then placed strategically on to a fifth person. Once placed, the spikes turn the recipient into a koloss "very quickly".{{wob ref|8075}} It is possible to create Hemalurgic constructs similar to koloss using animals instead of humans as a base.{{wob ref|3590}} It is possible to create sapient creatures similar to koloss from other primates.{{wob ref|12581}}

The addition of four spikes containing the strength and a portion of the [[spiritweb]] of four other people causes them to grow in physical strength far beyond human limits as well as making it possible for them to continue growing in size until they can no longer physically support their own bodies and their hearts give out. The four spikes also have the effect of damaging their cognitive and emotional capacity, making them more animalistic and poorly sentient. These spikes can be reused, however they are subject to Hemalurgic decay, meaning that the power in the spikes diminishes with each re-use, which allows for more of the humanity to remain in subsequent creations.{{epigraph ref|mb3|40}}Such koloss may retain more of the skills and language they possessed prior to being transformed.

When a koloss dies, other koloss in the vicinity attempt to collect and reuse the spikes from the dead one. This results in the koloss being able to reproduce in a manner of speaking, provided that they have someone to receive the spikes. The koloss are periodically supplied with fresh spikes and skaa captives to produce more koloss, but after the death of the Lord Ruler, they learned how to reproduce on their own; by harvesting the spikes from their dead brethren and re-using them, likely under Ruin's influence.{{epigraph ref|mb3|42}}

In the post-Catacendre era, koloss became a self-reproducing species. When two koloss reproduce, the offspring are born koloss-blooded. They can also breed with humans and produce koloss-blooded hybrids. They become a full koloss once they choose to accept spikes.{{book ref|eltania}}{{wob ref|1417}}

Koloss have four [[Hemalurgy|Hemalurgically]] charged [[iron#Hemalurgic Use|iron]] spikes, which grant them increased strength and stamina. This allows them to wield enormous blades, which are about the same size they are. The blades are relatively blunt and not well made. The edges are jagged and full of nicks and dents. Koloss tend to rely on brute strength and the great inertia of their weapons to smash and hack their opponents, rather than any great technique or finesse. They should not be underestimated, however. Larger koloss are more experienced killers. The Hemalurgic spikes, however, come with a price. In addition to twisting their bodies, the spikes also diminish a koloss' mental and emotional capacity. Moreover it dulls their sense, including reduced sensitivity to pain. However, they still retain some ability to reason, remember, perform certain tasks, and the ability to communicate. The re-use of spikes from dead koloss to create more resulted in koloss that retained more of their former humanity and mental capacity.{{epigraph ref|mb3|42}}