So...Yugiri

[Ecks007]

But a humanoid race like the Viera or Miqote won the 1.0 poll. So a mixed race would be out and I think burmecian are too beast like to fall into the demi human winner. The more I look at it I think it's going to be Gria.

The classic are horns are in the proper place and shape and SE could make them a changeable feature like Miqote tails. Add in the actual tail and possibility of hidden or changeable wings I think it would fit nicely into being something unique enough for a new race. The only problem could be ishgard but depending on how demi human SE goes it could be worked around.

I definitely do not see Gria in Yugiri, at all. Grai horns are pretty distinct only ever seem to be one style which clashes heavily with what we know of Yugiri, not to mention the wings.. which there are none. Gria wings don't appear to be that flexible, not enough that you could wear clothing (cloth) over them and not see some kind of strange shape bulging on the back.

Secondly, a poll's a poll. It's just to garner an opinion on what fans wanted at that time. They likely used that information to give themselves and idea on what new races they could add to XIV in the future, just because a particular race won the poll doesn't mean that it is going to be the first new race you see in the game. But, be that as it may. I just went back to review that poll.

The "winner" was: Mammallian demi-beastmen (ex. a rabbit-eared race such as Viera from FFXII, etc.)

Burmecians fit that description. Maybe perhaps pure Burmecians would be a slight bit more beastial than humanoid. So how do you fix that? Well you give them humanoid hands and feet, and perhaps shorten their snout a slight bit. Boom, that can easily fit with what we see of Yugiri. Not to mention her face is purposely not visable/darkened-in/covered to add to the mystery until it's revealed. How do we know her nose isn't snout-like? It's covered up.

Even after saying all of that, I still think Burmecians normally are quite humanoid the main exception being their feet. Their hands are a matter of interpretation, some are drawn with huge hands while others are drawn with what look to be more normal digits.
vs.

We know that Yugiri wears boots, so obviously she doesn't have the huge feet typical of Burmecians, and that her hands appear normal. I would explain this easily as the need for character models to be able to wear the armor in the game and have it be visibly identifiable.

I still don't see Gria, if those are horns they don't match the Gria style, and they are pointing the wrong direction. Even the one picture of a Gria I've seen with thicker horns still has them pointing the same direction:
vs.

[Kyuuen]

-snip-

Yeah, that's what I'm leaning towards. Her tail in game is a bit too thin to be that of a Bangaa, then again she is female so it could be attributed to that. But I still feel it's going to be some iteration of the Burmecians from IX.