Muttroach

Muttroaches are large mutant cockroaches that are native to the Junkyard. Despite being considered pests, they are extremely useful at waste management, and have been imported in small groups as waste management teams in other systems. Extreme care is taken to prevent Muttroaches from emigrating from the Junkyard, as due to their hardiness, quick breeding, and unpredictability, they could easily become a galaxy-wide pest race.

Muttroaches have evolved from various species of Terran cockroaches, with an extremely diverse genepool, some breeds of Muttroaches take after specific species of cockroaches more than others.

When humans began using the Junkyard as a way to dispose of the excess waste accumulating on their planet, cockroaches were a natural tagalong to the extant moon. What wasn't expected was that roaches would not only survive, but thrive on this moon, with the roaches that arrived in regular trash shipments providing genetic diversity. With the huge space of the moon, lack of predators, excess food, large numbers, and trace radiation from the nearby star, cockroaches began evolving and mutating at record speed.

Within a century, they had evolved to the size of dogs, and within another, to the size of humans. Within the last century, they have grown to an average of 8 feet tall, with heightened intelligence, sentience, and some sects developing sapience.

Though they would not be considered a society by most definitions, they have begun some rudimentary elements of civilization in certain colonies, such as language, families, recreation, names, and religion. This is countered by the fact that, some breeds more than others, they can be extremely quick to frenzy, and are unpredictable.

Muttroaches possess a variety of abilities, including immense strength, speed, limb regeneration, limited flight, extreme survival skills, radiation and poison resistance, and ability to consume almost anything.

They are frowned upon by other races, mostly due to their cannibalistic instances, frightening appearance, and general perception as being unclean and gross.