Existential crisis here

[Packetdancer]

Like I said earlier, the game files mostly show the Garleans as being elezens with a custom head. Eula/Nael and Maxima don't even have custom faces and instead have legit wildwood heads with a third eye and hyur ears. Gaius, Solus, and Nero are considered to be elezen according to the game files, but they have completely custom heads. Zenos and Varris are the only completely custom Garleans that have their own body.

Yeah, it was more the "Nael is an elezen with a third-eye, so Garleans can be all the races just with a third-eye" implication that I was questioning. Garleans in general appear to be very tall, hence using elezen animations; I don't think that implies Nael was an elezen, nor that any others are.

Pureblood Garleans appear to pretty much entirely resemble Hyur, albeit with a much greater average height and with the echolocation-y third eye. (There are exceptions; I believe that Jenomis cen Lexentale and our beloved friend Cid use Hyur bodies and animation rigs, even though both are purebloods and have the third eye.)

The only interview I could find where Koji brought up hybrids, the whole "mother" thing wasn't mentioned. Unless someone else can find an interview or a blurb in the game or lore books where it says otherwise, that's fanon.

I swear I remember when I asked for a source ages ago, someone linked me to a podcast or radio show or something that Koji Fox was on as a guest; I remember it being audio, because I remember my ADHD self being annoyed I had to listen to it rather than read an article.

But as I am presently sleep-deprived, caffeine-deprived, and stuck in Zoom Meeting Hell today (kill me), I am more than willing to admit I may be misremembering or blurring a memory of that lore point having a source that's actually the source of authority for some different lore point.

Funny enough, in the same interview, Koji describes Garleans as being a separate race from hyur. I saw a different interview with Banri Oda where he said the same.

That I certainly believe.

But what I find myself wondering about is whether they were a separate race from the Sundering onwards, and Goug was just where they had congregated in that Era, since a mechnically-focused city was more friendly to them due to their lack of ability to manipulate aether. But if so, why do they seemingly have absolutely no presence in the history for literally any of the prior Astral and Umbral ages we've learned anything of, nor any hint of an equivalent race on the First? (I mean we even have evidence of the Namazu on the First, though only ancient Ronkan historical record.)

In essence, we have zero evidence of Garleans as a separate race outside of Garlemald, or prior to the founding of Garlemald, or on any other shard... at least, none that I can think of. Which I find curious, considering we have it for pretty much all the other races.

But any theories about that would definitely be wild speculation at best.