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different name for "ware-chimera"
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<blockquote data-quote="Umbran" data-source="post: 5717678" data-attributes="member: 177"><p>"Werewolf" is, linguistically, "man-wolf". Lycanthrope is basically "wolf-man". The "were-" and "-anthrope" are both references to being a human (in Old English and Greek, respectively). </p><p></p><p>Does the thing normally have the form of a human (or humanoid)? If not, then really neither the "were-" nor "-anthrope" apply.</p><p></p><p>("Polyanthrope" then, would be a doppelganger - taking forms of many humans.)</p><p></p><p>And Chimera doesn't mean just having many forms, it means having many forms <em>at one time</em> - like having the body of a lioness, with a tail that ends in a snake's head, and a goat head coming out of the middle of the spine. (Chimera was sister to Cerberus and the Lernean Hydra - the Greeks had a thing for monsters with many heads).</p><p></p><p>A "were-chimera", then, doesn't just change his shape - he changes *parts* of his shape - so maybe he has goat's feet for climbing a mountain, but then swaps out to tiger paws when he wants to rake you with claws, while having a turtle body for armor, switching to an eagle's body when he needs to fly.</p><p></p><p>Or, maybe he just sprouts extra heads for various needs - that's more manageable, power-wise.</p><p></p><p>Not that you need to follow real-world language meanings for naming your critters, but I find there's inspiration to be found in the real structures.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Umbran, post: 5717678, member: 177"] "Werewolf" is, linguistically, "man-wolf". Lycanthrope is basically "wolf-man". The "were-" and "-anthrope" are both references to being a human (in Old English and Greek, respectively). Does the thing normally have the form of a human (or humanoid)? If not, then really neither the "were-" nor "-anthrope" apply. ("Polyanthrope" then, would be a doppelganger - taking forms of many humans.) And Chimera doesn't mean just having many forms, it means having many forms [I]at one time[/I] - like having the body of a lioness, with a tail that ends in a snake's head, and a goat head coming out of the middle of the spine. (Chimera was sister to Cerberus and the Lernean Hydra - the Greeks had a thing for monsters with many heads). A "were-chimera", then, doesn't just change his shape - he changes *parts* of his shape - so maybe he has goat's feet for climbing a mountain, but then swaps out to tiger paws when he wants to rake you with claws, while having a turtle body for armor, switching to an eagle's body when he needs to fly. Or, maybe he just sprouts extra heads for various needs - that's more manageable, power-wise. Not that you need to follow real-world language meanings for naming your critters, but I find there's inspiration to be found in the real structures. [/QUOTE]
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different name for "ware-chimera"
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