tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post7901048878522171964..comments2024-03-28T22:10:04.089+08:00Comments on Monsters and Manuals: Why Animal People? Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-78859434482907225912019-05-31T18:55:30.402+08:002019-05-31T18:55:30.402+08:00That latter observation is getting more important ...That latter observation is getting more important it seems.noismshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09933436762608669966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-29038291873431473242019-05-31T18:55:09.465+08:002019-05-31T18:55:09.465+08:00Yeah, I agree entirely. I loved Redwall as a kid. ...Yeah, I agree entirely. I loved Redwall as a kid. Now you are scared to admit it in case people start looking at you like you've just confessed to being a sex pest. noismshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09933436762608669966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-48509764372277495112019-05-29T02:20:37.470+08:002019-05-29T02:20:37.470+08:00I think it's mostly because people, especially...I think it's mostly because people, especially children, just find animals cute, or at least the mammals like Mufn said. They eventually come to find baby humans cute as well, but that's more common when they're older and have or know people with kids.<br /><br />Also, using animals is a convenient way for children's media to avoid the issue of race/representation that you sometimes see brought up when human characters are involved.Slick S.https://www.blogger.com/profile/07061439646397481013noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-89631226506752481672019-05-29T00:06:01.348+08:002019-05-29T00:06:01.348+08:00I have no idea what it is, but I've always bee...I have no idea what it is, but I've always been fond of anthropomorphized animals in fantasy and fiction. Rocket Raccoon was one of my favorite comics as a child (and hell, I must have seen that Disney version of Robin Hood with animals at least a dozen times). It makes me a little sad that the last decade or two has seen the concept associated with adult fetish/kink outside of children's literature...but I'm a grumpy old man.JBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03263662621289630246noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-9191633880635227142019-05-28T21:06:48.294+08:002019-05-28T21:06:48.294+08:00Yep - I am sure I have posted about that last poin...Yep - I am sure I have posted about that last point somewhere before, but can't find it now.noismshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09933436762608669966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-15820492496189281532019-05-28T21:03:32.020+08:002019-05-28T21:03:32.020+08:00I think that gets you half way, for sure, but then...I think that gets you half way, for sure, but then you have to ask the question: what about the stories about non-wondrous events? There are lots of animal stories about animals going to school, shopping, etc.noismshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09933436762608669966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-719097142818255002019-05-28T20:59:36.145+08:002019-05-28T20:59:36.145+08:00True, but I suppose an alien might wonder why we d...True, but I suppose an alien might wonder why we do that at all and not just have stories about humans, noismshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09933436762608669966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-38935566078425626462019-05-28T19:47:00.513+08:002019-05-28T19:47:00.513+08:00Most mythic or legendary monsters that aren't ...Most mythic or legendary monsters that aren't simply outsized animals or combinations of animals are people with animal features. Take Humbaba from the Epic of Gilgamesh, for example:<br /><br />"he had the paws of a lion and a body covered in thorny scales; his feet had the claws of a vulture, and on his head were the horns of a wild bull; his tail and phallus each ended in a snake's head"<br /><br />There's a good reason for that: predatory animals were an immense preoccupation for early humans - so much so that the first gods appear to have been deified carnivores.<br /><br />Anthropomorphised animals - or humans with animal features - combine the two worst threats that humans have faced for most of their history: wild animals and other people. <br /><br />It's also hard to describe a monster without alluding to animals. Even HP Lovecraft's creatures are generally animal-animal or animal-human hybrids: it's just that the animals are often invertebrates.JChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17964744140140515737noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-87156585001520008382019-05-28T08:39:42.701+08:002019-05-28T08:39:42.701+08:00A bit off topic but the single best D&D houser...A bit off topic but the single best D&D houserule I've ever used came about when one of a group of kids I was DMing for ask me if they could take snake as a language instead of orc. I said yes of course and allowing people to take animal languages really helps give a great low key fairy tale magic feeling to a D&D world.<br /><br />Helps animals be a useful part of the setting instead of just window dressing and opens the door to so many useful PC plots: "OK, I spread the corn all of the group and calls for crows in their language and say that there's a lot more where that came from if..."Boshhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06908715118408289864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-29264937237106628182019-05-28T05:28:36.536+08:002019-05-28T05:28:36.536+08:00I think its a lot more mundane than that. Id suspe...I think its a lot more mundane than that. Id suspect your along the right line when you spoke of animals having automatically applied attributes that are easy to understand and allow for interesting events to take place (birds and flight, say). I guess one could call them 'anthropic affordances' as they are aspects that allow for wondrous events to take place (often at your aforementioned emotional distance) that are still within the scope of understanding of children (or adults haha). Id suspect its the same reason that mammals are generally over-represented when it comes to animal characters, both in protagonist and absolute terms, because they are the most 'human' of the animals out there.<br /><br />Food for thought regardless, good topic.Mufnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04553153945316136891noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-33644407620991338282019-05-28T05:12:54.145+08:002019-05-28T05:12:54.145+08:00I agree, plus I think that anthropomorphising anim...I agree, plus I think that anthropomorphising animals just isn't that big a mental jump. Being animals ourselves, we, like them, have emotions and wants and needs, versus inanimate objects, which don't have any of those things unless we apply them to them. We can see a cat or dog get angry or scared, so it doesn't take as much to apply human motivations there, whereas I can't think of ever having seen an angry rock or a scared stapler. BigFellahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03052419088140204154noreply@blogger.com