Raimdelle Reborn: The Neverending Bestiary

The Bestiary of FFXIV has long been one of my biggest interests and also one of the biggest pains in my wiki, and though our bestiary has become one of the only to give a damn - it's not where it could be. Yet. This thread is for anyone that'd like to help me in this endeavor. Bring evidence, point out errors, chat with me.

This Chart must be completed, and no resource is to be taken at face value.
Over time, notes will pop up in the Genus & Species tab justifying anything I claim is "Confirmed"

Remember!
Genus names share species names.
Some things are different in 2.0 than they were in 1.0.
There are plenty of errors to be found, both in the game and my notes.

EVEN THE MOB THAT STARTED ALL THIS - THE COBLYN - IS UNCERTAIN AGAIN.
Ferne called them Soulkin, this FATE calls them Vilekin. Gone are the days when Coblyns were blue and Doblyns were yellow. Doblyns are now reddish brown and yellows are lumped with with Coblyns, except for the Synthetic Doblyn which is yellow. So... yeah... we're starting from scratch!

XIVMODELS' database is an invaluable tool, as you can use the visual archetypes as a point of reference. Do mobs of the same model but different palette drop the same items? Different items? Do those item descriptions give hints? Is there a common name that spans across many of the same species but doesn't cross into the other? Is there a common name between species? This is a process of elimination game, most of the time. Taxonomical sudoku. Like puzzles? Help out!

This is such great timing, Anonymoose! I was just today thinking about coblyn, actually, and trying to understand more about them, and other creatures of Eorzea.

One sort of "nit pick" is the naming of the genus "Civilized Races". I understand it may be hard to create a different word, but we have members of "beast tribes", such as the Sylph, and now the Amalj'aa, who are quite "civil" with others.

And, of course, as the chart becomes more detailed, I'm wondering if "tempered" members of a species should be called out? Likely not a different species, but something akin to a breed or (proper) race, as they (as we talked about in the other thread) have different personalities and even colourings (such as the violet colour of the tempered Sylph)

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Originally Posted by Niniyo

I was just today thinking about coblyn, actually, and trying to understand more about them

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For what it's worth, one of the quests let me know that Doblyns are a type of coblyn, but crunchier. Other mysteries remain.

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Originally Posted by Niniyo

One sort of "nit pick" is the naming of the genus "Civilized Races".

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I'd like to assume this one is temporary, but the game mechanics follow the naming conventions of the Raimdelle Codex; a top-down taxonomy with a heavy Eorzea-centric bias. Whether we like it or not, a snooty Elezen of the same ilk that divides the "civilized races" from the "beast tribes" inspired the names we have for most mobs. I've been thinking of rubbing that Elezen's face in it and making the "civilized races" their own individual genera, then using their clans as "species" as per the visual-difference game mechanics. TAKE THAT, ISHGARD.

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Originally Posted by Niniyo

I'm wondering if "tempered" members of a species should be called out?

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I've actually been wondering that, too. In 1.0, we met very few untempered and only had a vague idea of what tempering even was. We just knew primals clouded minds and darkened hearts. The only thing stopping me from doing it is that it doesn't seem to cross a species barrier so much as a state of affairs barrier.

One goes from untempered to tempered (and theoretically back, with a cure), but not from Wolf to Jackal, or from Miqo'te to Hyur (barring Phantasia...)

If you wanted to remain objective, you are better off lumping the beast tribes and civilized races together and rename the whole group "intelligent races", you can throw in Garlean in there too. All of the beast tribes have a society and culture of some sort. They are to us, what we are to the Garleans. I also don't believe you should include the seperate tribes because a seeker of the sun and keeper of the moon are still both Miqo'te. It would be like differentiating white humans with black humans.

It really depends if you want stick to only the biology of all of hydaelyn's creatures or if you want to include some of the cultural aspect as well.

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Originally Posted by Skyhound

If you wanted to remain objective, you are better off lumping the beast tribes and civilized races together and rename the whole group "intelligent races."

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Technically speaking, that's what the Spoken class is to begin with. Cannot stress enough that "civilized races" is Square Enix's term for what the five playable races call themselves. It's on the main page of the website under Hyur. This is a long-standing hold-over from FFXI, whose lore stated that Altana wept five tears that became the civilized races who fought against the beastmen of the dark age that followed. The best course of action might just be to call them The Five Races and move on with it. Eorzeans do seem to put a brick wall between The Five and the Tribes.

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I might add that learning the barbaric tongues was anything but simple. Both languages contain sounds that are all but impossible for members of the five races to reproduce. It took many years of rigorous training to acquire the knack, but the rewards for my efforts have made it all worthwhile.

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Stay alert, my friend. The gigas in these parts have no love for the five races.

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Mor Dhona is an old, old place that is mentioned in the myths and legends of the beast tribes and the five races alike. While the stories vary, all contain references to a great force that slumbers there - though whether it be a force for good or evil depends on whom you ask.

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*nods* I think the question I have, and maybe others, is whether the goal is to create this taxonomy based upon what an average citizen of Eorzea would create, or perhaps based upon official information, or whether we are simply looking at the world and creating our own taxonomy based upon guidance from the official materials.

If it's the first, then it's obvious that we should separate them as you have, and yeah, it's exactly like it was in FFXI.

If it's the second, then I think we should consider a different separation? I guess then it goes back to the question of whether all the "races" can procreate with one another (true races) or whether they are more like species. If it's the second, then what's the common species of Hyur, Miqo'te, etc...?

I think it's also interesting to note that while the story was that Altana shed five tears which became the "five races", the actual history revealed suggests this is only a result of those groups eventually coming to an understanding, and I could imagine the stories of the earlier Elvaan (long ago and perhaps remaining slightly even now) saying that Altana created *them* and the others may have learned to *talk* like them, but they'd never be blessed by her. (Like the Tarutaru (of Windurst?) viewed the Star Sibyl as an incarnation of Altana iirc)

I'm mostly wondering where the Garleans will go. Since they wouldn't be either if you use the games context.

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Originally Posted by Skyhound

I'm mostly wondering where the Garleans will go. Since they wouldn't be either if you use the games context.

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The Garleans, as far as I can see, aren't any race or species, but a nation. The members of the Garlean Empire are primarily Hyur, but others are there, in the case when their particular tribe/group/etc... had been conquered and they (the citizens who had been dominated) decided to join with them (the Garleans), likely for a chance at a better life.

Here's the page on the Garlean Empire.

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Originally Posted by Skyhound

I'm mostly wondering where the Garleans will go. Since they wouldn't be either if you use the games context.

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As far as my chart is concerned, biologically? With the rest of the Five Races. As far as the Wiki is concerned? An exception. It's much more economical to have them as a "species" of Spoken. If you check this page, you'll notice that it nicely groups them by their cohorts and common drops. If you do them member-by-member, role-by-role, they just end up peppered into every category and it's not very useful.

Using it this way, I was, for instance, able to see that the 1st Cohort defends the Praetorium, the 2nd Castrum Occidens, the 3rd Casturm Oriens, the 4th Cape Westwind (and possibly Castrum Marinum), the 5th Castrum Centri, and the 8th Castrum Meridianum. The 6th, 9th, and 10th are unaccounted for - possibly in Ala Mhigan territory, whereas the 7th ends up wherever the Triarii go.

Will probably end up doing the same for the Lambs of Dalamud, certain pirates and poachers, etc... but right now even the Imperials are an experiment. It does seem like we can emulate the mobs Genus > Species by having Enemy Humanoids by group; the game mechanics sure work in its favor -- but it's all a work in progress, lol.