Are There Cross Breeds In FFXIV?

[Kacho_Nacho]

Hello all!

In one of the general threads, I participate as Kacho Nacho the Lalaqot'e. It's all meant in fun as a way to justify why I am in a thread about miqot'es.

However, my spouse took me to task, stating not only would such a character be impossible, any cross-breeding would be impossible due to the differences in the races. Basically, the genetics wouldn't match up.

I know. I know. Applying real world concepts of genetics to a fantasy MMORPG is silly but the discussion left me thinking, are there half-breed characters in the lore?

I know there are no racial restrictions on the Ceremony of Eternal Bonding. Could such bondings conceivably (hehe) lead to all sort of racially mixed characters?

[Fenral]

Besides Hilda the Mongrel, an Elezen/Hyur mix, we haven't seen any. It's possible, but rare enough that you don't just see mixes running around. A while back, I saw someone mention over on the Japanese side of the Lore forums (which doesn't really talk about lore at all) mention that the child would always be the race of the mother, but they didn't have a source so it was probably just speculation.

[Darkstride]

Hilda is half Elezen, half Hyur. I don't recall any other instances, though.

[Velox]

From what I understand, Eorzean society seems to frown upon mixing of the races (as evidenced by the WP hard quest). This isn't to say it doesn't happen, but that it doesn't happen often because the couple isn't accepted into society or the union is blocked (most likely by family), and they essentially become outcasts.


Now the question is, "why?" It's purely speculation on my part, but given that society seems generally okay with same-sex couples (which rules out the argument that they don't like race mixing because they aren't genetically compatible and can't produce offspring) and even tolerates prostitution in some cultures (which can involve mixing races), I believe that the reason mix-race relationships are frowned upon because people aren't comfortable with the possibility of hybrid offspring. We have to remember that values in FFXIV won't always coincide with real-world values. The primary difference being that, while the real world races are different, they share a lot more similarities than the races of Eorzea (which are so different it's hard to even imagine they belong to the same species). If I had to guess, I would say it's the sheer differences in appearances that has society hesitant about the idea of interracial pairings. Then you also have to account for the sheer differences in body sizes, values, and cultural exposure. It just isn't an atmosphere that's even conducive for interracial offspring.

Given all this, and looking at Hilda's existence and backstory, I'd say hybrids exists...but are so rare they essentially DON'T exist because society won't allow it. But that's just my speculation based on everything we have so far in-game to work with.

[thegreatonemal]

they are all human so same species so it works

[CyrilLucifer]

they are all human so same species so it works

Forgive me for being all incredibly anal, but this rule is basically the equivalent of "lying-to-children" when it comes to reproductive biology. Reproduction and fertile offspring is so much more complex than that. We have examples of cross-species reproduction with viable offspring with closely related large mammals in zoos (one theory states that modern humans comes from one such event! Ever hear of Homo sapien x Homo erectus? ) and we have genetic information on some bird species that show they speciated from one of these pairings. The Hawaiian Duck is one I'm thinking of in particular; they can still reproduce and have viable offspring with Mallards despite being genetically distinct and different species.

And then we have 8 subspecies of the salamander Ensatina in California that are so distinctly speciated that they can't reproduce together at all, despite still being classified as the same species.

What's the point of my rant?

Hypothetically speaking, a Great Dane and a Chihuahua can reproduce, yes. But in a realistic scenario, the offspring will not be carried to full term, they will die before they are born. Most of the time the eggs are not capable of being fertilized at all. They are one species, but they are not viable together.

I believe this would be the case with a Lalafell and a Roe or Elezen, for example. Unless the rule is that they are the race of the mother, of course. This is pretty commonly used in fiction, so I wouldn't be surprised if it is. Also, magical reproduction. Because reasons.

[thegreatonemal]

oh i know believe me I'm a wildlife major myself. point being is they are using the logic that the groups haven't been entirely been apart for long enough to fully specieate.

As for you're salamander example they simply haven't gotten around to correcting it yet.

[Heliantheae]

I bet roagafels could pass as midlanders or short beefy elezen depending on whose ears they get.

[Frederick22]

Could this be the cross breed are more common in adventurer couples?

[FJerome]

I bet roagafels could pass as midlanders or short beefy elezen depending on whose ears they get.

The secret origin of Highlanders! Their mothers really are Hellsguards!