Question about Horns / Antlers

I've been meaning to look up this "Padjal" people and see what I could find on them. E-Sumi-Yan is a bit disconcerting (the huge irises), but the Senna sisters are adorable, if not also confusing. I saw a bit about Raya-o-Senna worried she'll never marry over her responsibilities, but thought "you got time, kid" only to then find out she's not *actually* a kid. The Padjal just confuse me at this point and I'm hoping to find more out about them, given there's nothing (that I've seen) to explain them so far.

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Originally Posted by Miggy_Bandit

The Padjal just confuse me at this point and I'm hoping to find more out about them, given there's nothing (that I've seen) to explain them so far.

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Welcome to the forums!

Padjal are Hyur native to the Twelveswood (Black Shroud) who are chosen at a very young age by the elementals to be their ambassadors. They typically, but not always descend from specific Gridanian families. They have increased aether sensitivity and can communicate with elementals. A side-effect of their being chosen is represented by growing horns but never growing up past puberty. They tend to live to be several hundred years old though.

According to an interview with Koji Fox (ex-lead English localizer who closely worked with Banri Oda in creating lore), there are about 10 known Padjal in existence at any one time with 1 or 2 hidden in the woods. A new Padjal supposedly arises once in a generation or so but we have 3 roughly around the same age.

Another mystery is that they supposedly have their own language (though this may be attributed to the elementals) and their own myths and culture. Not sure how much of that may be abandoned lore from older versions of the game.

If you continue your WHM questline you will learn more about the Padjal as you go along.

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Originally Posted by MikkoAkure

Another mystery is that they supposedly have their own language (though this may be attributed to the elementals) and their own myths and culture. Not sure how much of that may be abandoned lore from older versions of the game.

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Specifically, their language (seen both in their own names and the names of Toto-Rak and Tam-Tara) is based on the Ainu, an indigenous people of Japan. In-universe the language might have been appropriated from the Duskwight of Gelmorra, but I don't recall where exactly that notion came from. They also started happening after the people that would become the original Gridanian settlers made a pact with the Elementals; it wasn't that the Elementals went 'okay, those guys that're already around, those are our guys'.

White Mage gives you a bulk of the Padjali's story, but once you get to it, Endwalker's tank role quest chips in some helpful info, too.

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Originally Posted by Cleretic

Specifically, their language (seen both in their own names and the names of Toto-Rak and Tam-Tara) is based on the Ainu, an indigenous people of Japan. In-universe the language might have been appropriated from the Duskwight of Gelmorra, but I don't recall where exactly that notion came from. They also started happening after the people that would become the original Gridanian settlers made a pact with the Elementals; it wasn't that the Elementals went 'okay, those guys that're already around, those are our guys'.

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When I was making that post, I was fact-checking what I had written while looking for things I may have missed and found this from encyclopedia:

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Originally Posted by EE1

[The first Padjal] discards his birth name and takes to calling himself I-Ohok-Pota, which he describes as the sound made by the aetheric waves when the elementals speak unto him. Henceforth, Jorin and his children adopt the surname Pota.

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I don't know if that counted as their language or if they just got names that way though.

I wonder how much cultural mixing the Elezen and the Hyur had since they still maintain separate naming conventions and do not mix their races even after the establishment of Gridania. I also wonder what the Elezen think of only Hyur being chosen as Padjal.

It would be neat if the game could revisit and expand on Gridania, Gelmorra, and what all is going on there now and in their history because Limsa and Ul'dah always got the spotlight despite the Twelveswood's setting being more "classical fantasy".

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Originally Posted by MikkoAkure

Welcome to the forums!

Padjal are Hyur native to the Twelveswood (Black Shroud) who are chosen at a very young age by the elementals to be their ambassadors. They typically, but not always descend from specific Gridanian families. They have increased aether sensitivity and can communicate with elementals. A side-effect of their being chosen is represented by growing horns but never growing up past puberty. They tend to live to be several hundred years old though.

According to an interview with Koji Fox (ex-lead English localizer who closely worked with Banri Oda in creating lore), there are about 10 known Padjal in existence at any one time with 1 or 2 hidden in the woods. A new Padjal supposedly arises once in a generation or so but we have 3 roughly around the same age.

Another mystery is that they supposedly have their own language (though this may be attributed to the elementals) and their own myths and culture. Not sure how much of that may be abandoned lore from older versions of the game.

If you continue your WHM questline you will learn more about the Padjal as you go along.

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Thanks, glad to be here! And, that just makes them even more cool. lol thanks for that info, too! I think my favorite thing about the FF games that stole my heart was, in fact, the lore. This little tidbit of something here is just exactly the kind of thing that gets me. It's the small subtle details that many probably wouldn't bat an eyelid at, that ultimately take my noggin for a joggin!

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Originally Posted by MikkoAkure

When I was making that post, I was fact-checking what I had written while looking for things I may have missed and found this from encyclopedia:


I don't know if that counted as their language or if they just got names that way though.

I wonder how much cultural mixing the Elezen and the Hyur had since they still maintain separate naming conventions and do not mix their races even after the establishment of Gridania. I also wonder what the Elezen think of only Hyur being chosen as Padjal.

It would be neat if the game could revisit and expand on Gridania, Gelmorra, and what all is going on there now and in their history because Limsa and Ul'dah always got the spotlight despite the Twelveswood's setting being more "classical fantasy".

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I want to say it happens but not as often as you think it would. Just look at how some of the Wildwood treat non Wildwood. Correct me if my memory is wrong, but I want to say the padjal child we meet in the Stormblood whm story had an elezen father. So they're an extremely rare case if I'm correct. I file the Padjal under my beings that stop aging in some form umbrella. As I think of them in the same way as D from Vampire Hunter D or Vampire Princess Miyu. Where both grew and aged normally until their teens. Or late teens in in D's case. That even if they look as though they're forever locked in a youthful state doesn't mean that time isn't able to work on them. I'm not even sure if we know what one looks like if they were to die of old age and not you know being killed while exploring the world like A-Towa-Cant was.

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Originally Posted by SannaR

Correct me if my memory is wrong, but I want to say the padjal child we meet in the Stormblood whm story had an elezen father.

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I don’t remember this being stated in the story. The encyclopedia refers to her and her ancestors as Hyur and the only comment about her father I can find is her mother saying he’s been dead since the time she decided to flee Gridania with her infant.

I would assume Koji’s comment that “it just doesn’t happen” still stands here, though there is some softening recently and some couples hanging around in the background in different events.


EDIT: After second guessing myself I looked closer at her and she actually does have slightly pointy ears. BUT, so does every other Padjal with visible ears, which is something I never noticed before. I think pointy ears just comes with their territory, not anything to do with an Elezen parent unless every single Padjal with ears we can see happens to have an Elezen parent.

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Originally Posted by MikkoAkure

I wonder how much cultural mixing the Elezen and the Hyur had since they still maintain separate naming conventions and do not mix their races even after the establishment of Gridania.

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While you can certainly take it as a worldbuilding thing, this is more of an issue with the ARR approach to naming conventions (and still is a similar issue with some accents, like Lyna) - they were applied to races rather than logical cultures so in every location you get Hyur with the same English names whether they're in Ishgard or Ul'dah -- they don't even mix well with Highlanders even when inhabiting the same areas.

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Originally Posted by Iscah

While you can certainly take it as a worldbuilding thing, this is more of an issue with the ARR approach to naming conventions (and still is a similar issue with some accents, like Lyna) - they were applied to races rather than logical cultures so in every location you get Hyur with the same English names whether they're in Ishgard or Ul'dah -- they don't even mix well with Highlanders even when inhabiting the same areas.

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Honestly, Gridanian hyur and elezen not sharing any names makes the most sense to me out of any place with cross-cultural sharing, because they're both very independent forms of prideful. Even the Wildwood that went with the hyur in going above-ground would've been against cultural mixing like that, while the hyur were definitely going with the settler vibe of 'this is our land now, you're conforming to us'. In contrast, the drahn and galdjent that share naming schemes on the First allied out of both being in a weak spot and having a common enemy.

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Originally Posted by Denishia

Still grumbling about the missed opportunity for the jackalope joke with Male Vieras and how much I want one antler headpiece and one M!Viera NPC in North Tural wearing it.

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I love the jackalope take on Viera so much that until the game looks me in the eye and tells me directly that Viera who live as Woodwarders don't develop antlers I simply will not perceive antlerless Woodwarders or will take them as being too young to have developed them.

I really wish we could get some proper antler head gear, though, I have a retainer planned on an alt who needs to look like a twelve-point buck at a distance.