D&D (2024) Ardlings, Shifter and Hengeyokai as different variations on animal people

[Lojaan]

Most Greek/Roman gods turn into animals at some point or another or at least have "favored" animals (peacocks and cows for Hera, bulls and eagles for Zeus, owls for Athena, horses for Poseidon, leopards for Dionysus, etc). It's not the same as being drawn with animal heads, but it's pretty close.

Then there's also The Morrigan with ravens, Loki with snakes, and lots of other examples of gods/spirits from European mythologies transforming into or having strong connections with animals.

Sure in Western myth and religions the god have afinities with animals, and often turn into animals. That is not what is being discussed. What we are talking about is very specifically the portrayal of gods as "humans with animal heads". I'm having trouble finding any examples of this in western culture.

 

[Marandahir]

Ugh. Let's just make Egyptian gods from real life a playable species. No thank you. Leave the real world religions alone please.

People get the difference in taking a species from myth like saytrs, or elves and making them playable is different to taking the actual gods yeah?

Okay, it doesn't need to be Egyptian.

Ganesha, Narasimha, Sun Wukong, Zhū Bāijè, Niú Mówáng, Camamotz, the Dresden Codex animal persons, ThunderCats, Jinnalaluo, Street Sharks, Dakuwaga, Kamapua'a, Garuda, the Seven Apkallu, Tengu, Saint Christopher, Gwrgi Garwlwyd (in some depictions), the healfhundingas of the Nowell Codex, Marco Polo's racist and fantastical accounts of cvnocephalic peooles in the Andaman Islands, Chris Colombus's racist and fantastical accounts of cynocephalv among the Taino, cynocephalic characters in the Alexander Romances, hundreds of childrens books with animal headed humans, Cernunnos the Horned God, Pamola, Kitsune/Inari in some traditions (human with a Kitsune mask-like face and nine tails), various semi-furry takes on yōkai in anime and manga and folkore, PAZUZUUUUUUUUUUUUU…

My point is that theriocephaly is a worldwide concept. It's not just Egypt.

 

[Marandahir]

The minotaur is very specifically both a monster and a curse (on the king his father) so that very much doesn't count in this respect.

I can't find anything about St Christopher with an animal head. What animal head is he portrayed with?

Dog. See attached. Common in Eastern Orthodox tradition.

 

[Lojaan]

U

Okay, it doesn't need to be Egyptian.

Ganesha, Narasimha, Sun Wukong, Zhū Bāijè, Niú Mówáng, Camamotz, the Dresden Codex animal persons, ThunderCats, Jinnalaluo, Street Sharks, Dakuwaga, Kamapua'a, Garuda, the Seven Apkallu, Tengu, Saint Christopher, Gwrgi Garwlwyd (in some depictions), the healfhundingas of the Nowell Codex, Marco Polo's racist and fantastical accounts of cvnocephalic peooles in the Andaman Islands, Chris Colombus's racist and fantastical accounts of cynocephalv among the Taino, cynocephalic characters in the Alexander Romances, hundreds of childrens books with animal headed humans, Cernunnos the Horned God, Pamola, Kitsune/Inari in some traditions (human with a Kitsune mask-like face and nine tails), various semi-furry takes on yōkai in anime and manga and folkore, PAZUZUUUUUUUUUUUUU…

My point is that theriocephaly is a worldwide concept. It's not just Egypt.

Uh the fact that you included "racist and fantastical accounts" twice in that doesn't fill me with confidence.

We're not talking about theriocephaly. We're talking about how people are talking about "animal headed gods" are universal and they very much do not seem to be.

 

[Lojaan]

Dog. See attached. Common in Eastern Orthodox tradition.

Wow.

You gotta agree that this is pretty niche tho hey?

Compared to the very well known depictions of Egyptian gods, and the way many gods are depicted in current day Hinduism.

 

[Marandahir]

U

Uh the fact that you included "racist and fantastical accounts" twice in that doesn't fill me with confidence.

We're not talking about theriocephaly. We're talking about how people are talking about "animal headed gods" are universal and they very much do not seem to be.

Yeah, I included those because I scraped right from the cynocephaly page on Wikipedia and couched that because these Europeans likely were associating different-looking peoples they encountered with the LEGENDS of cynocephaly they had heard for thousands of years.

But go ahead and ignore the other samples I brought up. Nearly every culture has some form of animal hybrid deity or pantheon, and MANY demigods and folk heroes and gods from all over the world are depicted with almost entirely human bodies but animal heads. It's not just Egypt; Egyptian theriocephaly is just the most well-known to the Egypt-crazed Euroamerican audience.

 

[Marandahir]

Wow.

You gotta agree that this is pretty niche tho hey?

Beowulf and Cu Cullain were often depicted with dog or wolfs heads. It's pretty common in Eurasian myth.

Raven who Brought Light to the World is usually depicted as a man with wings and a raven head.

Coyote who Canoes is usually depicted as a man with a coyote head in a canoe.

Classic depictions of Mesoamerican Gods are as often theriocephalic as they are not.

Many Japanese Kami and Buddhist and Hindu and East Asian deities…

Aboriginal Australian dreamingtime animal people, various Polynesian gods, I can go on and on and on…

 

[mellored]

Ardlings are Egyptian Gods that look like these attachments. Note the differences from extant D&D species, which lack the very-humanlike bodies. These look like agents of the Gods rather than natural or fey peoples - ex Aarakocra, Lizardfolk, Jackalweres, Yuan-Ti, and Tabaxi, for comparison.

When did a God become a race?

Can I play as a Ilmater, or Shiva?

 

[Cadence]

I can go on and on and on…

Germany 35k-40k years ago...

Lion-man - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

Sure in Western myth and religions the god have afinities with animals, and often turn into animals. That is not what is being discussed. What we are talking about is very specifically the portrayal of gods as "humans with animal heads". I'm having trouble finding any examples of this in western culture.

Okay. Does Reynard the Fox count?