Anatomical breakdown of the Mirelurk King shared by artist Jonah Lobe, who developed the updated design for Fallout 4. He cites the Dunkleosteus as inspiration for the head and face.
Though it appears human in shape, the Mirelurk King evolved in non-sapien ways; namely, its upper and lower fins have developed joints and claws capable of flexion. Similarly, there is no evolutionary link between the Mirelurk Kings and the Mirelurks themselves; the story I told myself while building this Lovecraftian monstrosity was that his kind had evolved in ways that allowed them to dominate and perhaps control their less intelligent Mirelurk peers. To reinforce this idea, I doubled down on the “Kingly” imagery by sculpting a hard-shelled crown (which was in the concept art to begin with) a la Dunkleosteus, as well as dressing him in long, sweeping red “gill robes,” like the ancient western kings (which was not in the concept art). I built him anticipating that he’d walk upright, proudly, with this chest out - like the Fallout 3 variety. Alas, the animator chose a more froggish route.
