Animal-folk are a broad and diverse class of demi-human species that are mostly human, but inherit certain superficial traits, often in the vein of appearance and high-level instinctual behavior, from other animals, such as catfolk. More tenuously within this category are demi-human species which draw from human and animal biology alike, but are not a clear fusion of the two, such as werewolves or kitsune.
In the Émile Standard, animal-folk in the former are usually assigned Mundanus taxa, while animal-folk in the latter are usually assigned Aetherius taxa. For example, most kitsune are categorized as Aetherius Vulpes (lent from the real-life genus Vulpes under which foxes are categorized). Similarly, while a catfolk character[1] may be classified under Mundanus Felis, a nekomata character may be more likely categorized under Aetherius Felis.
As animal-folk species are commonly brought about by the Will of the People, they exist roughly in proportion to the prevalence of these ideas in the cultural zeitgeist. Magical epicenters such as the Greater Offetstine Area often report higher concentrations of animal-folk in response to surrealist cultural movements, fictional children's media that depicts animal-folk, or the metaphorical use of nonhuman animals in design material. For instance, the increasing popularity of paleontology in the public eye saw with it an uptick in animal-folk that exemplified traits of prehistoric species. Some critics suspect this effect is simply a consequence of poor census data, an issue that plagues magical research enough as is, but it is widely recognized as a consequence of the Will of the People.
While Mundanus animal-folk are not particularly prevalent in Offetstine, various Aetherius animal-folk are popular by virtue of association with prevalent mythology. For example, the long-running superstition of werewolves in England brought with it a number of werewolf subspecies in the Greater Offetstine Area. This is a widely undisputed effect by comparison.
Real life
In real life, animal-folk are a common fantasy fiction trope, most commonly in the form of kemonomimi in moe anthropomorphism. See also the TV Tropes page on the subject.
Notes
- ↑ Here meaning a character that is mostly human, but has superficial feline traits such as catlike ears and a tail, and a proclivity to behave in matters stereotypically associated with cats.