Occupation:   Conqueror and Ruler of the Monster Minds

Known Relatives:   Monster Minds (fellow creations)

Equipment:

• Audric's Computer: This is located in Saw Boss' throne room. It used to contain all of Audric's scientific data. Gillian deleted the data in order to stop Dr. Zorg from downloading it.

• Cloning Chamber: This chamber looks like a small glass dome with a base of Monster Mind vines. The blossom of a Monster Mind and DNA from a human can be combined in the chamber to create clones. These are physically identical to the human DNA donor but are mentally loyal to Saw Boss. He uses the cloning chamber in one episode to create copies of Audric and Jayce.

• Monster Mind Headquarters: Audric's research facility, which was the "birthplace" of the Monster Minds, is now used as the Monster Minds' headquarters. It can teleport to any spot where eight to twelve supporting "receptacles" (green plant-like cylinders) and/or a cushion of Monster Mind vines have been placed beforehand. If one of the receptacles becomes damaged, the headquarters cannot teleport away until it is repaired. The headquarters looks like a large dark-violet spherical dome with a few minarets, a tall antenna, and a small circular shield in the front.

• Satellites: These look like a combination of satellite and spaceship, and have a Monster Mind brain on top. They are used to track the Lightning League through space, spy on them when they are planetside, and launch various projectiles.

  There are four projectile types...
  

  * Regular rockets that contain Monster Mind vines.
  

  * "Capsule vines," oval-shaped spheres whose green matter grows and shapes itself into troopers upon breaking open.
  

  * "Drill vine" rockets that can burrow into a ship's hull or solid rock before releasing their vines.
  

  * "Shield capsules" used to transport vines while blocking their presence from Flora's senses.
  

• Ships: Saw Boss uses various spaceships to move his troops from place to place.

• Other Technologies: Saw Boss occasionally uses other items such as...
  

  * A huge spider, linked telepathically to him, that drains energy from the Bloodstone.
  

  * A necklace that blocks Flora's senses.
  

  * A satellite that duplicates Audric's homing signal.
  

  * Bees whose stings put people under his mental control.
  

  * Technology to create a hurricane around the prison on Kwontrax.
  

  Special Abilities:

  • Telepathy/Clairvoyance/Clairaudience with Monster Minds: Saw Boss has complete mental control over his vehicles and vines. He can pass along his orders telepathically, as well as see and hear through his troops' sensors. Sometimes he talks to others through one of his vehicle troopers. When this happens, an image of him appears above the trooper's optic sensors.

    Some of his humanoid spies have vine-like implants on the back of their necks. These allow him to mentally contact them and vice versa.

  • Vehicle Transformation: When he steps out of his headquarters, Saw Boss often changes into his vehicle form. He is the largest of the wheeled Monster Mind vehicles (double to triple the size of the average Saw Trooper), possesses a distinctive gold buzz-saw, and lacks the two front orange stripes his "clones" possess.

  Minions:

  • Monster Mind Servants/Vehicles: The Monster Minds -- Beast Walker, Gun Grinner, K.O. Kruiser, and Terror Tank -- have humanoid forms and can change into vehicles when they leave their headquarters.

    As far as The Root can tell, the "second generation" of Monster Minds are not really Monster Minds at all. Battle Station, Flap Jack, Lurcher, and Snap Dragon do not possess humanoid forms. They are merely vehicles that the Monster Minds invented.

  • Vines: The vines serve as space highways on which the troopers can drive. They appear to be somewhat sentient, as they are capable of fighting and react quickly to stimuli.

    They can also...
    

    * Ensnare people, ships, and vehicles in crushing grips.
    

    * Grow Monster Mind vehicles from their blossoms.
    

    * Release spores that weaken anyone who ingests them (i.e. in drinking water).
    

    * Smother whole worlds under the weight of their greenery as they pass through space.
    

    * Strangle people.
    

  • Slaves: Saw Boss has a large slave-labor force garnered from the worlds he has conquered. Captive scientists are forced to make biological, chemical, and viral weapons. The rest of the slaves are used for physical labor, working in grueling conditions.

    The Lightning League has saved most of the captive scientists on Geddon IV, and has freed all the slaves on Doomflower Station and Kumari's world of Adlebaren.

  • Spies: Saw Boss has spies everywhere, especially in the criminal underworld. Most of them have vine-like "implants" on the back of their necks, which allow for two-way telepathic communication. The spies keep a sharp eye out for the Lightning League, and report any sightings directly to Saw Boss.

    Saw Boss' spy Noak is notable for having betrayed the Lightning League on the planet Korvax and having captured Jal Gorda.

  Appearance:

  Saw Boss looks like a tall humanoid plant with a really big freakin' mushroom on the top of his head. His body is for the most part violet-grey with green accents. He has grey arm and leg guards, a red cape on his back, and orange, cat-like slitted eyes. There are two pointed orange stripes on his chest. Saw Boss has a long grey spine with yellow spikes running from the top of his head to his waist, like a dragon's back. Saw Boss speaks in a deep, booming, echoing voice and looks even more sinister than one would expect.

  Strengths:

  Saw Boss rules his own empire, which he seized by invading other worlds. He has complete control over the Monster Minds. He has access to the advanced technology in Audric's laboratory, and additional scientific breakthroughs often come from his captive scientists. He has many contacts in the criminal underworld, and his spies are everywhere. Saw Boss is a good strategist, specializing in conquest and trap-setting. He is very intimidating and will tolerate no challenges to his authority.

  Weaknesses:

  Saw Boss and the Monster Minds will be destroyed if the two halves of the Root are ever joined together. Despite his best efforts, he has not been able to capture Audric, Jayce, and/or the Lightning League. Because he is a plant, defoliants, pesticides, and anything else that harms plants can hurt him as well. He is also vulnerable to bright light, heat, and positive magic. Saw Boss is a bit superstitious, and is thus wary of mystics like Gillian, as well as coincidental events. He has a great number of enemies throughout the universe, especially on planets he has failed to take successfully. The Lightning League and the rebel Aragon are especially bothersome foes.

  History:

  Saw Boss and the Monster Minds were accidentally created in an experiment that was meant to help people.

  The famous scientist Audric set up a research facility on a world with the perfect conditions to conduct experiments on plants. He set out to create a plant that would grow in any terrain and produce large quantities of food, thus ending hunger in the universe.

  Just as he succeeded, a wave of radiation erupted from a nearby sun and washed over the planet's surface. The radiation mutated the hunger-eliminating plant into Saw Boss. Other plants in the laboratory changed into the Monster Minds. The transformations took place in seconds.

  The Monster Minds, including Saw Boss, soon discovered that when they left their headquarters (Audric's old laboratory), they could shift into their vehicle forms. They also discovered the vines' ability to stretch between worlds and grow vehicle clones that could be used as troops. The Monster Minds, led by Saw Boss, set out to conquer other worlds with these weapons, draining the defeated planets of all their minerals and water.

  Audric and his Eternal Squire Oon were forced to flee for their lives. In order to stop them, Audric created a magic Root with the power to destroy the Monster Minds. Yet before Audric could finish the process of grafting the two halves of the Root together, Saw Boss attacked. Audric and Oon fled in different directions, each carrying one half of the Root. Audric escaped to an unknown location, while Oon found Jayce and the rest of the Lightning League.

  Saw Boss' goals since then have been to conquer the universe and destroy the Root, hopefully killing Audric, Jayce, and the Lightning League along the way. Saw Boss has had numerous opportunities to do so, but for some reason or another he has always failed. He has offered bounty hunters "the weight of Jupiter in gold" for Jayce and twice that for the Root.

  For a time, Saw Boss entered into an alliance with the evil sorcerer Vantu to destroy the Lightning League. However, like all of his plans to capture the Root, this scheme failed.