Monstrosity

The Maibatsu Monstrosity is a sport utility vehicle (SUV) that is mentioned in Grand Theft Auto III, Manhunt and Grand Theft Auto IV.

Description
The Monstrosity is claimed to be a large SUV with an extremely spacious interior, and has an amphibious mode that allows the SUV to cross rivers and arctic tundras, but has an extremely low MPG rating, with advertisements claiming it "only gets 3 miles to the gallon", and uses up fuel.

The advertisement for the Monstrosity differs in the American and European handbooks for GTA III - The American and Australian versions advertise a red Landstalker, whereas the European advertisement depicts an RC monster truck based on a regular cab with "Maibatsu Monstrosity" crudely painted on the side. The advertisement for the Monstrosity is a jab at the SUV craze of the early 2000s.

Though it is not seen in any of the games, it is referenced several times on talk radio shows. For instance, in GTA III, a caller on Chatterbox FM was stopped by the police while driving in her teal Monstrosity recklessly to get to the hospital. In Grand Theft Auto IV, a caller to the Conservative talk show The Richard Bastion Show on the radio station WKTT says that Americans drive incredibly large, polluting Maibatsu Monstrosities that destroy the environment, to which Bastion replies "I know! It's great!". During Public Liberty Radio's Intelligent Agenda, the Monstrosity is mentioned briefly. It is possible that the Monstrosity was a beta version of the Landstalker.

Ads
The following are transcribed from radio ads from Grand Theft Auto III.