| Professor MacCullagh's Treatise on Therianthropes; The Thinking Beasts that Make the World go Round | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Nov 19 2013, 10:36 PM (206 Views) | |
| Warr | Nov 19 2013, 10:36 PM Post #1 |
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What is a Therianthrope? Therianthropes, (or as they are called when comparing them with the therianthropes of other worlds, 'Aigh type Therianthropes') are native to the planet Danu, a planet within the Aodh star system which bares heavy similarities in history, culture, geography, climate, and even celestial neighbors to your own planet Earth. They are a not a singular species, but rather a family of species which can collectively be referred to as 'Therianthropes' in the same way that the greater family of canids can be referred to as 'Canidae' despite the heavy differences between dogs, wolves, racoon dogs, foxes, dholes, zorros, and the false fox species. In the same way that the greater family of canidae all have some shared traits, so too do the werebeast species all have some shared traits. The similarities which all of the werebeast species share with each other are numerous, but I shall list them while describing the pan-species. First and foremost, werebeasts all share a relation to the modern human species without any necessary relation to modern and existing breeds of animals. Geneticists still argue upon Danu over the exact nature of werebeasts, but some relation between them and humans and them and their animal forms' cousins are true, as well is the ability to interbreed though in most cases werebeasts interbreeding with other species will always produce a werebeast offspring. It should be noted that from a cultural standpoint, there is a major taboo against breeding with the animal species which is closest related to a werebeasts animal form. This taboo is as largely pragmatic as it is with any religious or cultural attitudes. Werebeasts consider themselves human beings, or apart of greater humanity, which has some level of explanation as to the how and why of things. But beyond that, it is pragmatic. Any child born out of a mating between a werebeast and an animal will have greater intelligence and skills than they would have in comparison to their fellow animals, but less capability to learn, and less intelligence for that matter, than humanity. So too, they have been proved by science to have less control over their emotions and more willingness to shift into their animal forms without control applied, thus causing them the danger of attacking anyone near them. So it could and should be said that werebeasts as a whole have more genetic relation to homo sapiens than they do any other non-therianthrope species. That being said, what is a Therianthrope? A werebeast is a species closely related to humanity who's evolutionary path is even more mysterious than that of humanity. Even in the modern era, with the high level of archaeological studies in ancient human cultures and theorized evolutionary paths, it remains a mystery on the same level as to what seemed to have wiped out the Dinosaurs. Therianthrope Biology Therianthrope Biology itself is another of the great mysteries to modern science- both in understanding its fundamental workings and in explaining its existence. This is chiefly because Therianthropes as a family of species tend to be capable of things far above the norm of humanity, and while functionally identical to humanity in two of their most common (and preferred) forms this sizable group of shape shifters do not have identical biology to humanity. Even in the smallest of breeds of werebeasts- such as those of the 'WereHouse-Cats', tend to have strength slightly above average for human, and in other cases, agility, dexterity, and senses far above that of baseline humanity. With some species, extra organs are even known to exist- and in no less than five known species, the question of if they are truly even mammalian has historically been raised. This greater than human baseline capability for strength, dexterity, agility, endurance, and additional regeneration comes largely from the fact that in almost every case, werebeasts in their 'human' form are actually much smaller than their body's true mass and size. However, as physics would teach us, mass cannot simply be 'displaced', and in the case of werebeasts this mass is hyper-compacted, creating muscles, musculature, and skeletons which are much more dense than they seem to be on first glance, and with nerves and reflexes which are much more tense and quick acting as a result. While their regenerative factor seems not to be apart of this hyper-compaction, it is certainly the only reason why their bodies survive the process of hyper-compaction or any other shapeshifting. This hyper-dense mass of muscle and musculature also makes the average Therianthrope weigh much more than the average human of the same height and build, and makes the majority of Therianthropes require far more calories and nutrients than their human counterparts for the same height and build. Therianthropic Forms, or 'Shifts' That is not to say that the average Therianthrope is a shapeshifter with two distinct forms, such as that of their 'human' form, and that of their 'beast' or 'animal' form. No, the average Therianthrope has four forms, often called 'states' or 'shifts', in modern terminology by the Weres themselves. While it is not necessarily true of every breed of Therianthrope, and even the species themselves have very divergent breeds from continent to continent- it is generally said that Therianthrope biology allows for somewhere between three to five 'shifts' or 'states', of transformation and mass compaction or expansion. The "Non-shifted" form, also known as that of the human. This is typically called 'non-shifted', because theorists in the scientific world, as well as sociologists born from the Therianthrope communities; and representatives of the world from Therianthrope communities as a whole- tend to consider the 'human' form to be perhaps the most natural resting state for a werebeast, and it is true that less energy is expended in human form than in any other form. That of the "Quarter-shifted" form, or as it is often called in the modern era, (with the advent of Uhonese Anime and it's widespread use of similar forms, both for Therianthrope characters, mythological characters, and aliens-) the 'Kenonomimi' or '<animal's Uhonese name>-mimi' form. In this form, the Therianthropes typically are no more than two to five inches taller than that of their human form, and they generally look exactly indistinguishable from their human form, if one was to ignore the animal ears upon their heads- normally on the sides/almost near the top of their heads, and an animal tail. These ears and tails always correspond with the animal species the Therianthrope shifts into, and typically are matching in pattern and coloring. It cannot be understated how the advent of the Uhonese Anime cultural powerhouse, and Uhonese fascination with Werebeasts in Kenonomimi as a whole, has helped further the cause of 'hiding in plain sight' for werehounds in modern first and second world countries, and to a lesser extent even in some third world countries. Virtually no species of werebeasts cannot exhibit a quartershifted form; and within the wereshark, werealligator, werecrocodile, wereturtle, and weredragon exhibits, the existence of a tail is almost universal, but rarely are their 'animal' like wears; instead almost all reptilian, amphibian, and fish species of Therianthropes have been known to manifest 'elven' like ears in this form, as well as patches of freckle like scales. In the case of Weredragons, horn like structures are likely to grow from their skulls; and in the case of weresharks- webbed feet are common. The next most common form- if only less commonly seen because it is viewed with some disdain by modern Therianthropes as 'beastly' or 'uncivilized', is that of the Half-Shift form. Outside of the Therianthrope community and those in the know- it would likely be described in quickest terms as the 'Beastperson', 'Beastman' or 'Beastwoman' form, with some specifying the beast depending on the species of the Therianthrope, given it's readily appearance. Despite the name, while functionally being a bipedal version of whatever animal- with two arms and opposable thumbs, the half-shift form retains slightly quicker reflexes than that of the quarter-shift form, and more readily leveraged mass- so more effective strength, than it as well. Even with the bestial appearance and the general increase of a foot in size amongst werebeasts in this form- some even up to three feet in size increase, the half-shift is not truly 'half' shifted, with hands still being almost functionally that of humans, and most senses being closer to 2/5ths leaning towards the 'human' average, than that of their fully shifted form. It should be noted that it is not more common because people view the animal or 'beast' forms of themselves even more un-civilized or savage, but among some Werebeasts, the ability to shift into an animal form, either that of a modern equivalent of whatever species they are viewed as 'tied to', or the proper 'full-shifted' form of their species; is utterly lacking. If this is a natural evolution of their family and clann, a mutation of their own, a lack of training and simply not having 'learned' to shift that far, or a combination of factors; is typically not known, while none the less studied by leading Therianthrope Organizations around the world. Following that of the Half-Shift form, the next most common state of a Werebeast is that of the Full-shift form, sometimes called the 'three-quarters' shift form, or the War<species name> form, given it's tendency in early centuries and even into the Great Amurgos War, to be used in battles. Therianthropes in 'Warbeast' form have expanded their mass to its normal maximum size, and generally have quicker reactions than their smaller forms as a result. While size varies between species, subspecies, and occasionally even individual Therianthropes, the majority of Full-shifted forms resemble a very very very large specimen of the animal which their species of Therianthrope represents; and by 'very very very large', specimen, we mean specimens that typically are reminiscent of species extinct in the last ice age, mega-animals which very often are the size of a modern automobile, with some ranking in at even larger. ![]() A small specimen of adult Werebear's 'Warbeast/Warbear' form, compared to that of an average adult male human. The most rare confirmed form of werebeasts at large- especially the most common of those species, is that of the 'Absolute Shift', most often called the Animal form, which through hyper-compaction of mass can vary from smaller than the Therianthrope's human form, to larger than it- depending on the person's genetics. It is this form which is most commonly attributed to the 'Catus' breed of Werecats, also known as 'Werehousecats', given their apparent genetic predisposition to have the ability to shift into the form of a housecat, but not possessing a 'warcat' form. This treatise argues that other forms, including those considered to be 'somewhere between the shift of a half-shift and full-shift', the fabled 'null or 0-shift', and the popularized by monster fiction, 'third shift', of somewhere between a Kenonomimi and a Beastperson, are all not actual forms of Therianthropic shapeshifting. Any specimen which possesses the latter or the far former is likely to be a Therianthrope without full ability to shift into one of those other forms, a genetic mutation that is the exemption, not the rule- and no scientific body has conclusively, publicly proved that the 'Zero-Shift', even exists; despite Therianthropic Martial Artist legends and martial heroes throughout Danu's history often being attributed as having this ability. Species Wide Allergens and the Questions they Bring Even with the advent of genetics and advances in genetic studies, one of the largest questions for many remains if Werebeasts are even a separate species from each other, if not from humans at large- especially with the ability of Werebeast species and humans, as well as werebeast species with each other- to interbreed and none the less create very close to 'pure' specimens of what makes whatever parent they take after's 'Breed'; and one of the arguments for them being properly separate species entirely is various breeds of Werebeast's apparent allergic reactions to certain substances- in many cases substances which aren't as harmful to humans or not harmful at all. It is very rare, even for a child of werebeasts of two separate species, to exhibit both allergens, of course; as most children are either born one species or the other. Many theorists have argued that it still doesn't estimate the full answer if Werebeasts are a separate species or just allergic in 'culturally relevant' situations; given that while it is true that almost unilaterally a mineral structure or metal of some sort is proven to cause illness at best, or if weaponized correctly and used in battle correctly- potentially death, there are rare instances where children born of a family from a majority of one culture, none the less if the other parent is another breed- at times exhibit the allergen of that culture. Additionally, the ancient cultures of Danu placed reverence on these mineral structures, metals, and in some cases bone or living creatures- which cause allergic reactions in Therianthropes as a weapon of defense- such as the ancient AnLyran reverence for Tin; and the fact that the Majority within Werehounds (who are AnLyric); very likely causing the entire species to be allergic to the sacred metal of the ancient AnLyrans, 'Tin'. Additionally to sub-species or genus wide allergens, some werebeasts also have allergens which are a personal level allergen, something they or their immediate family tend to be allergic to. Therianthrope Psychology & Sociology Despite their human like form and ability to interbreed with humanity as easily as with each other, the actual relation of Therianthropes to humanity is still debated by many. The fact of the matter is, regardless of Therianthrope's relation to humanity and their relation to whatever species they 'represent', religion, popular culture and general assumptions have led to many Theriantropes being historically stereotyped as embodying the "traits" of their respective animal forms. Perhaps part of the reason for this perceived idea of 'similarity' with the animal species which their genus represents is because Werebeasts have a natural affinity with the animal which their animal form is closest related to. Weresharks are naturally friendly to sharks and not attacked by them, the same for werepanthers and the like; werewolves, werehounds, werecats(in the domestic cat sense), have a natural command over their animal counterparts beyond simple difference, and can train them or tame them with more ease than others. This is said to be in part from a natural understanding of animal body language and from the smell of a werebeast in regards to the animals. Retroactive histories have pegged the animal general myths of Yanuto and Kayatha to be, with likelihood, been overly mischievous werefolk. |
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8:25 AM Jul 11