Sex between the Races Lore?

[LineageRazor]

(People will still imagine Hyur (Humans) can interbreed with just about anything, as is their wont.)

The game occasionally uses the word "humans" to refer to all of the player races collectively (and presumably Garleans, as well), which leads me to believe that the racial variants are similar to breeds of dogs - sometimes dramatically different in appearance, but all the same species and all technically interfertile. (I say technically because, while genetically compatible, sheer physical differences may make some pairings incompatible.)

However, admittedly it IS the case that all known half-breeds (Hilda, Arenvald, and the unnamed legendary Au Ra princess) have been the result of Hyur-plus-other, so you could be right.

[Stepjam]

Well Au Ra are basically humans who got voidsent DNA in their past somewhere. Makes sense that they'd be able to have children with hyur.

[Rongway]

The game occasionally uses the word "humans" to refer to all of the player races collectively (and presumably Garleans, as well), which leads me to believe that the racial variants are similar to breeds of dogs - sometimes dramatically different in appearance, but all the same species and all technically interfertile. (I say technically because, while genetically compatible, sheer physical differences may make some pairings incompatible.)

This, though.

An even more extreme example of intraspecies morphological differences in the real world...the following vegetables are all the same species, Brassica oleracea, but have wildly differing forms.

• Kale
• Collard greens
• Gai-lan
• Cabbage
• Savoy
• Brussels sprouts
• Kohlrabi
• Broccoli
• Broccolini
• Broccoflower
• Broccoli romanesco
• Cauliflower
• Wild broccoli

[SoleilAlphi]

Lets get even further, Beast Tribes interracial with the other races or with other Beast Tribes?

I... I just got in my head the fleeting image of a half namazu/half sahagin individual. I'm scared.

[SoraWish]

Hmmm Hilda wasn't Half-ele and Half-midlander ?

[MikkoAkure]

Well Au Ra are basically humans who got voidsent DNA in their past somewhere. Makes sense that they'd be able to have children with hyur.

I don’t think they’ve been confirmed to be voidsent. Considering they exist on the First as well as the Source, they’re probably their own thing.

On topic, it was mentioned in 1.0 that some NPCs insult highlander hyur by implying they’re part roegadyn. Looking at their facial structure, I can see how that’s possible. I don’t see hyur being able to mate with miqo’te or viera though. There’s too much difference going on. Our only knowledge of au ra x hyur is a myth so that might be up in the air as well.

[MikkoAkure]

All I can say is, they definitely are partly reptilian at least.

If au ra can breed with hyur, then they’re not reptiles or close to reptiles. In our world at least, mammals close to reptiles still have cloaca and lay eggs. They can’t be related to the first brood either since dragons didn’t come to Hydaelyn until after the worlds split, yet au ra show up on the First.

They just happen to be their own (weird) thing.

[kujoestars]

If au ra can breed with hyur, then they’re not reptiles or close to reptiles. In our world at least, mammals close to reptiles still have cloaca and lay eggs. They can’t be related to the first brood either since dragons didn’t come to Hydaelyn until after the worlds split, yet au ra show up on the First.

They just happen to be their own (weird) thing.

On being able to reproduce with Hyur: *cough cough* Weird fantasy shit *cough*

I also didn't say they were reptiles; just "partly reptilian", i.e. having traits in between mammals and reptiles in a similar manner to therapsids, albeit with a lot more mammalian traits.

I do agree Auri are just weird though; just more in the "wtf taxonomic class are lizard people?"

Didn't know about Middy coming to Hydaelyn only post-world shattering, but who's to say we don't have dragon-like critters running about that were the ancestors to Au Ra? Now I'm curious if there are any legends concerning dragons on the First, even as pure mythical creatures. I'm pretty sure the name "Drahn" isn't a coincidence, but I'm going yo have to get through Stormblood before I can crack that myself.

Guess that depends on whether or not Shinryu actually existed as a being. Minion description mentions the actual Shinryu of legend was described as being more like a serpent than a dragon, so it's possible if he was ever real, there could be dragon-like beings serving as the source of legends in the Far East. Hard to say without confirmation though so it's purely a wild guess. I still maintain Au-Ra are descended from reptiles. Granted, all mammals are, but Auri could be from a branch on the cladogram that still maintains various reptilian traits like not only the obvious scales and tail, but also the hearing style (which from lore, is perceived via vibration through bone, albeit with horns extending off to enhance the vibrations before it reaches the skull).

Just imagine if instead of losing all reptilian features, mammals retained a few defining bits and you get Au Ra.

Ending on a random nerd fact: Did you know hair/fur are actually modified scales just like feathers are for birds? Heck, some mammals even retain their scales while have sparser hair (e.g. armadillos and pangolins). I'm not arguing that Auri aren't mammals, but they have some very unmammalian traits that make me think "BS fantasy classification".

Man, I honestly would love for there to be even a short writing piece about Eorzean biology.

[Iscah]

On being able to reproduce with Hyur: *cough cough* Weird fantasy shit *cough*

I also didn't say they were reptiles; just "partly reptilian", i.e. having traits in between mammals and reptiles in a similar manner to therapsids, albeit with a lot more mammalian traits.

I do agree Auri are just weird though; just more in the "wtf taxonomic class are lizard people?"

As I've said in a couple of discussions, having scales doesn't make them reptilian, and horns are a mammalian trait.

Armadilloes or pangolins seem like a better reference for how Auri 'scales' might actually work in reality.

[kujoestars]

As I've said in a couple of discussions, having scales doesn't make them reptilian, and horns are a mammalian trait.

Armadilloes or pangolins seem like a better reference for how Auri 'scales' might actually work in reality.

There are a lot of irl reptiles both extant and extinct that have horns???? And even so, no mammal has horns that work anything like Au Ra horns. Technically no irl animal uses horns for hearing that I know of, but the whole hearing via bone vibrations is a distinctly reptilian trait.

Again, I'm not saying Auri are actually reptiles; I'm just saying they seem more like being a transition point of sorts between reptiles and mammals. The scales are also implicitly described as resembling dragon scales on the character creation screen. Of course, that most likely is a result of convergent evolution from whatever species their ancestors were, but I doubt they're anything like what exists irl. This is the part I waggle my fingers and say "weeaboo fantasy bullshit". What the heck would we even call reptile kemonomimis? I just don't think full on mammal correctly identifies Au Ra. Sure, they hit almost everything on the mammal checklist, but so does every distinctly not mammalian Beast Tribe like Sahagin, Amal'jaa, and Gnath.

But short of getting a full on anatomical dissection (which is alas never gonna happen), it's hard to gauge what exact traits Auri have. especially what's under their pants, lol. Being able to reproduce with Hyur unfortunately doesn't mean much in a fantasy setting and irl taxonomy REALLY falls apart when classifying certain fantasy creatures (what would a griffin even be classified as? to say nothing of the evolutionary improbability if we were to apply irl evolution on them.

I love trying to piece together fantasy biology exactly because it's never simple when it comes to human-like species with bestial traits. I honestly doubt the taxonomies would even work the same at all. Heck, we have actual mobs based on prehistoric animals but many look nothing like them *sideeyes raptors and gastornis, the latter of which is hilariously what Chocobos are based on but in the game they're literally colorful dodos*