So, Seiryu is a snake...

[Iscah]

Dragons...have that already. Dragons in FF XIV are not just big lizaards. They're very smart and, if they live long enough, become very powerful. At that point, why not have an au ra become an auspice?

Because Au Ra aren't dragons? They just look a little bit like them.

They're also not beastmen, even as the line between "men" and "beastmen" becomes increasingly blurred. It sounds like only animals can become auspices, and Kojin are included, but there's no mention of it happening to the "human" races.

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It also occurred to me that Seiryu might not be a snake but a peiste, or a hydra if they count as normal animals. They're designed as snakes with legs to begin with, so it makes sense, and the model for Seiryu probably is reusing that 'skeleton'.

[Rongway]

not a snake

He is, though. 1h16 into PLL XLVIII we see that his animal form is a green snake before he transforms into his humanoid-hybrid form.



But I don't find this super problematic because, as others before me have pointed out, it fits better within the parameters of the Auspice story arc than a literal blue dragon.

[Bright-Flower]

Because Au Ra aren't dragons? They just look a little bit like them.

They're also not beastmen, even as the line between "men" and "beastmen" becomes increasingly blurred. It sounds like only animals can become auspices, and Kojin are included, but there's no mention of it happening to the "human" races.

---

It also occurred to me that Seiryu might not be a snake but a peiste, or a hydra if they count as normal animals. They're designed as snakes with legs to begin with, so it makes sense, and the model for Seiryu probably is reusing that 'skeleton'.

Exactly. Dragons in FFXIV are already intelligent. The point was that having an au ra or any other sentient race be an auspice is kind of silly, though au ra would actually be less silly than dragons because Au Ra don't have super long life spans naturally like dragons do. My main point is that dragons are not 'animals' in the same way tigers, turtles and snakes are. A dragon auspice wouldn't make any sense just as an au ra or hyur asupice wouldn't make any sense.