Quartigod son of Bhīma (Vāyu-paternal demigod) by the rākṣasī Hiḍimbā. Born already a young man via the accelerated-rākṣasa-pregnancy pattern. The canonical loyal-non-Aryan-allied-warrior of the Mahābhārata: a rākṣasa by maternal blood, but devoted to his Pāṇḍava paternal-kin from birth. The death by Karṇa's Vāsava-Śakti on the night of day 14 of Kurukshetra is one of the most-cited Krishna-strategic-instigations in the war-narrative — Krishna deliberately drove Ghaṭotkaca to attack so that Karṇa would expend the Indra-given spear that had been reserved for Arjuna, the trade made openly: Ghaṭotkaca's life for Arjuna's. The dying-fall of his giant-form crushing thousands of Kaurava soldiers makes his death even-in-defeat one of the highest tactical contributions of the war.