The Tendrils are an ability unique to James Heller, replacing the Musclemass ability developed by Alex Mercer. When activated, the arms turn into three-fingered hands composed of strands of biomass capable of stretching long distances.

The Tendrils unleashed by Heller are capable of lifting and tearing apart cars and military vehicles, ensnaring powerful infected beasts, and even ripping large groups of enemies to shreds.^[1]

Tactical Overview

The Tendrils power consists of two moves. One consists of Heller stringing together objects around him along with human-class enemies, using his biomass. They are immediately killed upon impact, with their corpses mutilated and torn apart while being held by the tendril mass that stick to the surroundings. Larger infected creatures are temporarily immobilized, giving Heller the option to strike a paralyzing blow, such as severing an arm with the Claws/Blade/Whipfist or executing a Dirt Nap, reminiscent of the unarmed consumption move from Prototype.

The second, more devastating move is the Tendril Black Hole, in which Heller is capable of attaching Tendrils to a target, then sending out more Tendrils to pull objects around him towards his target, resulting in a devastating type explosion.^[2] that can also damage and even pull in other human-sized enemies.

Heller consumes Orion soldiers and Brawlers by tunneling Tendrils into their bodies and ripping them in half.

Heller obtains the Tendrils power after consuming a Hydra.

Tendril Black Hole

The Tendril Black Hole is a charged attack by which Heller shifts his mass onto a target within range, causing secondary tendrils to emerge from the epicenter and grab hold onto nearby objects. The Tendrils then quickly retract with said objects to smash into the target, causing significant damage towards even armored vehicles and helicopters. Lesser enemies like humans and infected rabble will be turned to mush. This ability can be executed even while airborne.

Using the airborne Black Hole followed by a Hammerfist dive attack is very useful against tanks and some infected creatures (brawlers, juggernauts in some cases, etc.)

The Tendrils are also a great defensive upgrade as they can be used to temporarily immobilize large enemies, like Brawlers and Juggernauts, which allows for dismemberment of their body parts and slowing them down.^[2]

Level 1 - Tendrils acquired.

Level 2 - Fortified enemies can be immobilized.

Level 3 - Tendril Black Hole grabs larger objects.

Level 4 - 25% increase in Tendrils damage.

It can be concluded that Mercer's Tendril Barrage Devastator influenced this move, as the target of this attack is going through a similar animation, only the tendrils carry back debris that causes their demise. Also, the Tendrils are sent through the targets instead of from them.

Finishers

Helicopters and Gunships

• Heller would entangle his Tendrils to the helicopter's Tail Rotor, charging and making it a sling shot to destroy the helicopter.

Armored Vehicles and Tanks

• Heller would entangle his Tendrils to the APC or Tank's main gun turret, pulling it off instantly and throwing it to the vehicle's body.

Trivia

• One of the consume animations for the Tendrils is almost identical to the uppercut-style consume animation of the Musclemass power in Prototype, only with the additional Tendril effects.
• The acquiring of the Tendrils is, in the entire Prototype franchise, the only visible instance of a Hydra being consumed.
• The Black Hole attack appears to do damage seemingly regardless of any debris pulled in. This becomes rather noticeable when attacking helicopters high and far away from anything within reach. Any debris that gets pulled in appear to contribute only a pittance of damage towards the target.
• Debris that gets pulled in is most useful in causing collision damage on untargeted enemies near the center of the Blackhole, instead of the actual target.
• The standing animation of the Tendrils is the pose Heller assumed after he acquired this power, stretching his one hand out and putting the other arm over his head, like a Judo move.
• The Tendrils initially seem less reliable to quickly eradicate massed enemy formations that quickly close the distance towards the player due to it being slower than Claws. However, once the Whipfist is acquired, the player can use it to complement the Tendrils by quickly sweeping the immediate space around him or otherwise compensating for other shortcomings as part of the Tendrils' prized ability to perform ranged attacks on almost all types of enemies throughout the duration of the game. This allows the player to rely on their ranged abilities almost exclusively for just about any action.
• This is the only power to have its own animation when performing a finisher on a Tank.
• The first level of Heller's Tendrils are given a slight cosmetic change, his hands are more grotesque, the cuffs of the jacket are more wide and some of his mass near the shoulders are revealed, the second and third levels have the entire sleeves of the jacket removed, and the fingers are black, and the final level has only his fingers gaining claws. 
• It's the only biomass weapon in Prototype 2 that has two Finishers for both Helicopters and Armored Vehicles. 
• It's also the most useful power in the game if utilized properly.
• While Alex does not possess this ability in the first game, he does show to posses the ability during the cutscene when James is about to destroy the Whitelight.

Gallery

Heller's tendrils level 1.

Heller's tendrils level 2-3.

Heller's fully upgraded tendrils.

The Black hole move performed against a Blackwatch soldier.

Heller rips apart a few Blackwatch soldiers.

A Juggernaut targeted.

Tendrils being used against a Goliath.

The Tendril power close-up

The tendril arms.

References