"Gladiators were made over a process of several years, artificially grown in tubes so they could be tweaked and modified to the peak of physical prowess. It was a hit or miss thing, with about half of them turning into sinewy, overgrown hulks of meat and muscle, hideous spawn that were still superhuman in many regards.

Some developed psychic abilities somehow, but most were just mountains of strength and brawn. These were inducted into the Greymasks, their lumpy, mismatched bodies clad in a grey longcoat, just way bigger.

They were brainwashed into serving loyally, and while they invariably met a gruesome end, they had been a good weapon to use against their perfect brothers and sisters...

However, it was not these terrible Malformed that the crowds wanted to see. They wanted the Gladiators.

Each one of them was perfection embodied, genetically and physically modified to excel at one specialized combat role. Outside, most resembled normal humans, polished to a photomodel look and tailored to outclass trophywives and poolboys alike. However, some were different, a fusion of man and beast, harnessing the strengths of both while eliminating the worst of the weaknesses. These were by far the hardest and most expensive to make, but they tended to be the hardiest. The human ones were excellent tacticians and such, but the Crossbred had a long range of physical edges over their Sapien counterparts.

All gladoators however, had their skeletons reinforced, their organs interweaved with strings of bulletproof material so they were nigh unrupturable. Bodies toned to athletic strength, muscles like whipcord ensuring them incredible strength and stamina despite their elegant frames. Senses so sharp they could spot a tiny housefly at fifty yards, and their bodies so flexible they could handle the most base of weapons with beautiful grace.

And that was before their birthtank opened and they spilled out, coughing and hacking their first breath of air.

They were specifically designed to kill, maim and perform extreme feats of physical strain. But most of all, they were made to do all these things as spectacularly as possible, to please an audience they didn't know existed."

-Excerpt from "Bloodsport"