The ears- Do they flop around?

[Kallera]

I've a question.

The Lalafell and Elezen ears. Are they like cat ears that can flop around? Or like Hyur ears that can't? Or are the like dog ears, which may or may not, but around floppy if manually moved? I'd test it myself, but I'm in Dammyspace and they don't let us do much around there, and you can't believe everything the internets tell you....

[Mjollnir]

Come back to my inn room and we can test it out, dusky.

[Vydos]

I always figured that they were solid like hyurs(humans). Although I wouldn't be against them able to at least twitch when detecting sound. But not floppy like dogs or cats.

[Fantasia]

I don't think they move at all, but I may be wrong... I have very clear images of how the Miqo ears move but when I try to remember instances of Lala/Elezens doing it I'm coming up blank.

[Cendres]

I don't believe they move either.

[Yrusama]

Nah, they look pretty static to me. While not as feline as the Mithra, Miqo'te are the most animal of the races. Elezen, Lalafells, and even Hyurs are all basically human but of different shapes. (Notice: Hyur is not exactly Human. This is how SE gets away with proportional flaws.)

[ArkhamNative]

Yoshida zoomed in the camera and did a new (for Phase 3) "sad facial expression" emote on a Lalafell during Live#7 (here). I looked closely but the ears didn't seem to move or droop, even slightly.

[Xeia]

Their ears certainly appear to be held rigid with cartilage inside and only very minimal muscles (at most) that could contribute to movement. While Miqo'te can move their ears around entirely, pricking them up or laying them flat on their heads, the Elezen/Lalafell ears never showed that level of movement in game.

And they're definitely more rigid than the standard golden retriever type which you'd move around with your hands. If they were that pliable we'd see them flopping around when your characters ran :P

My guess? They're pretty much exactly like human ears are. Rigid in their own shape, but probably have small muscles near the base that allow them to be moved subtly. With the larger ears on Lalafell and Elezen, this might be a little less subtle than it in on the Hyur, but definitely nothing as dramatic as what we see on the Miqo'te.

[Yrusama]

Their ears certainly appear to be held rigid with cartilage inside and only very minimal muscles (at most) that could contribute to movement. While Miqo'te can move their ears around entirely, pricking them up or laying them flat on their heads, the Elezen/Lalafell ears never showed that level of movement in game.

And they're definitely more rigid than the standard golden retriever type which you'd move around with your hands. If they were that pliable we'd see them flopping around when your characters ran :P

My guess? They're pretty much exactly like human ears are. Rigid in their own shape, but probably have small muscles near the base that allow them to be moved subtly. With the larger ears on Lalafell and Elezen, this might be a little less subtle than it in on the Hyur, but definitely nothing as dramatic as what we see on the Miqo'te.

Yeah, this post pretty much sums it up. Plus Miqo'te are either derived from cats, or they evolved to be able to mimic cats as a form of camouflage. Dogs and cats use their ears, among other things, as a form of expression and communication. Perhaps the Miqo'te at one time worked together with cats to hunt and survive. As their technology, and autonomy, improved the ability to move their ears remained as a vestigial or aesthetic trait.

Edit: on a side note, I wonder if this could be relevant to Beastmaster.