Prediction: Female Hrothgar will be human-like, not beast-like

[Ath192]

Everybody who wants fierce beast-like lionesses, prepare to be disappointed!

What we will get is not a female pendant to male Hrothgar but instead big female Miqote.



There is an enormous amount of development resources being invested into creating a new race - at this point the final race - and they will go with the popular option, not the one that only a tiny minority of players would like to fantasia to. I think the census data on the most popular race/gender combinations in the game are well known.

Femhroths will be very human looking with no muzzles and only minor nose differences. That way players will also be more easily able to cosplay them.

Beastly is manly and this is a sentiment that is to stay. Especially in Final Fantasy XIV where you just need to take a look at the female primals as opposed to the male primals to see what is the acceptable looks range for feminine entities.

So femhroths are caught in a bind: they are female, but beasts at the same time. Historically beast-like designs for female characters are not well-received because of those two clashing identities. Beasts automatically become men, while women automatically cease to be beastlike, there is no satisfying synthesis. And male hrothgar already exist if you want to play a more beastly race.

The unique niche that femhroths could fill as a beast-like race is also countered by the unique but far more impactful niche that still exists within the broader Miqo/Au Ra/Viera paradigm, where Femhroths could become a very profitable fourth vector for fantasia addicts.

Imagine if they announce Femhroths and they are just a super unpopular race that most people would be like: "Not gonna play them but happy for the furries who like them" rather than "omg, Femhroths are way better than expected, ngl actually might fantasia over, not a furry btw!". It would be way bigger hype for the game.

We also already have examples in both male and female Au Ra where they forewent more fierce and animalistic designs in favor of more human ones.

All of that leads me to the conclusion that it makes sense to expect femhroths to be super sexually dimorphous - aka more human - from male hroths.

You could even make the different appearance seem logical from a story perspective - femhroths are to be protected by male hroths, which is why the males are more beastly.

And finally the biggest nail in the coffin if you don't believe me.

This is an official artwork for "The Queen" from the Shadowbringers Artbook:



Sure they might change course in the future, but this is a big Moonkeeper.

If they are like the middle one on that chart it will be a widely used race, and really cool at that.

[Eisi]

If they are like the middle one it will be a widely used race, and really cool at that.

I agree with the really cool, but would it really be popular?

[Ath192]

I agree with the really cool, but would it really be popular?

A svelte Cheetah like race that looks like a fashion model? Yes...

The other two are too bulky, which we know are a type, but not a mainstream one thanks to femroes (around, but not ubiquitous) and the other one is too sexualized and deviates too much from Male Hroth. I'm very positive as they stride the line nicely between miqo and and viera which both are really popular.

[Eisi]

A svelte Cheetah like race that looks like a fashion model? Yes...

The other two are too bulky, which we know are a type, but not a mainstream one thanks to femroes (around, but not ubiquitous) and the other one is too sexualized and deviates too much from Male Hroth. I'm very positive as they stride the line nicely between miqo and and viera which both are really popular.

Then I hope the devs see it the same way! I'm not gonna be disappointed if they end up more human-looking, cause this is what I expect.

Are there examples of beast-girls from other games that are popular with the playerbase? Cause that's stuff that's gonna be looked at.

[Ath192]

Then I hope the devs see it the same way! I'm not gonna be disappointed if they end up more human-looking, cause this is what I expect.

Are there examples of beast-girls from other games that are popular with the playerbase? Cause that's stuff that's gonna be looked at.

According to this my predictions about it being popular are tracking. Khajit were pretty popular it seems. They share extremely similar features and body types to the middle chart one and with an anime style to them like the chart would look even better imo.

https://www.pcgamesn.com/elderscroll...20look%20weird.

[Eisi]

According to this my predictions about it being popular are tracking. Khajit were pretty popular it seems.

https://www.pcgamesn.com/elderscroll...20look%20weird.

That is a lot more than I expected for Khajit. Hasn't been broken down by gender though and unfortunately the game comes with race traits that have an actual effect and apparently Khajit are pretty good.

it would make more sens to have a more beastlike..
Bc we already have human looking cat girls ingame

But those cats are small and quirky. We could have larger and more elegant Miqote in Femhroths. There's enough design space to make them distinct from Viera without making them too beast-like.

[AnotherPerson]

Then I hope the devs see it the same way! I'm not gonna be disappointed if they end up more human-looking, cause this is what I expect.

Are there examples of beast-girls from other games that are popular with the playerbase? Cause that's stuff that's gonna be looked at.

As long as you look at furry art for "anthro", you know what to expect.
There's multiple levels of kemono to kemonomimi art.

Miqote belongs solely to the kemonomimi side (cat ears, but human body). So does Viera (bunny ears, but human body). Kemonomimi is essentially humans with some animal features added into their character. Overall, the separation between human and animal is a clear divide.

Hrothgar is more kemono in style. Kemono is a blend between human and beast body while retaining human-like features. For Kemono, there's varying shades, but most popular ones for avatar creation are usually a beast-like face and body that have human-like qualities rather than beast-like quality. This is also true for Hrothgar, where most players rather not have a hunchback from the beastial side and rather prefer a more human-like straight back, but prefer a more bulkier form as a male. The demographic for male Hrothgars usually prefer the "Bara" look within the kemono style, which is what made a Roegadyn body-type become an easy skeleton with the fur added (although it seems this has been done somewhat shoddily after I look at Hrothgar's customization).

For Female Hrothgar, the first and second depiction where the character is fully furry but retains the human-like nature is the ideal look. I would not be surprised if they went with the more slender 2nd depiction mainly because it retains the societal ideal female human-like qualities (slender/curvaceous body) and yet also radiates a sense of strength from the wild from being a kemono race.

The average furry character art is perfected as much as possible to best fit a mental ideal. Furries prefer to add their ideal quality of their animal race on top of the ideal human-like qualities to create a unique avatar. Ex: A lion (particularly male ones) have the emblematic trait of nobility or regal bearing thanks to their glorious mane, and that usually comes through based on how the avatar pose with their ideal form and strong body (Doesn't that sound like a RP setting for PLD or an Ishgardian Knight if they were furries?). The animal they depict often helps with glam choices and gives a lot more customizability, but it in no way locks a character wanting a different set of looks.

That being said, it would be nice if Hrothgar had some more selections with different animal furs and faces to greatly improve avatar customization (ex: fox or wolf ears and tail with different fur design on the body that matches with said animals) since the customizations options for Hrothgar seems very limiting as a feline race itself. If they were intentionally going towards the route with no headpieces, I rather they didn't limit Hrothgar to be only a feline race as the tail, the head, and the fur design are the only main differences in customization on a furry character.

[Zanarkand-Ronso]

There's multiple levels of kemono to kemonomimi art.
Miqote belongs solely to the kemonomimi side (cat ears, but human body). So does Viera (bunny ears, but human body). Kemonomimi is essentially humans with some animal features added into their character. Overall, the separation between human and animal is a clear divide.

[Zanarkand-Ronso]

That being said, it would be nice if Hrothgar had some more selections with different animal furs and faces to greatly improve avatar customization (ex: fox or wolf ears and tail with different fur design on the body that matches with said animals) since the customizations options for Hrothgar seems very limiting as a feline race itself. If they were intentionally going towards the route with no headpieces, I rather they didn't limit Hrothgar to be only a feline race as the tail, the head, and the fur design are the only main differences in customization on a furry character.

You lost me here a little bit, because this IS an Anthropomorphic Feline Race, and should be as such. Having Fox / Wolf Ears is a pretty big Clash of Design. As would having Face Structures outside of Feline.
Now, if they find a way to do it without it being a giant Burden, I 100% support if they were to update the Lupin to make them a Playable Race, as well as Bangaa, and any other BiPedal Anthro Race.