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So what's the deal with Ferals?

Lagiacrus

Lagiacrus

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So basically, what do we know about Ferals? There's not an extensive amount of information about them to my knowledge about them and they aren't featured very heavily in the game. The most prominent ones are Nadia Fortune and Eliza's bodyguards, Albus and Horace. The only other one that appears to my knowledge is the young cat feral that appears in the background of Under the Bridge.
NPC_Concepts_UTB_2.png
This one is very similar to Fortune in design, but their gender is hard to tell. If the young feral is female this could imply Ferals have a severe case of Bizarre Sexual Dimorphism as both Fortune and the child are much more human-like than Albus and Horace. Another possibility is that Fortune and this child are actually only half-Feral, and that all Ferals actually look like the bodyguard duo.

Also, is there any connection between Ferals and Dagonians? There has been no fish-Ferals which could imply that "Dagonian" is actually a term for all fish-themed Ferals. This does contradict my previous theory that all female Ferals are more human in appearance, as the female Dagonians seen are much less human-looking than the female Feral(s) in the game.
Skullgirls_polished_npcs_by_eyecager-d4wfmuj.png

This is a very interesting topic to me as I am huge on worldbuilding, and I'm curious what others think or if there's been any official statements on the topic that I've missed.
 
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Dagonian is just a term for fish ferals, yes. Just as how Feline is the term for cat ferals.

It would seem that any character who appears to have animal parts is most likely a feral. Patty of the Last Hope is a goat feral, there was a pig feral cop in the squad that beat down Ben Birdland, and there's about a million background NPC ferals here and there of varying animal species.
 
I'd put my bets on half-ferals being the reason some of them look mostly human. That's how it usually goes. Even with Gigans apparently, all the full-blooded Gigans seem to have monstrous body shapes and bone structures, but Scythana just looks like a twelve foot person with a horn.
 
Yeah, I haven't thought about it heavily, but really I just assumed that Dagonians were pretty much the same as Ferals in a way.
 
LKArtillery said:
Dagonian is just a term for fish ferals, yes. Just as how Feline is the term for cat ferals.
Has this been confirmed somewhere? I've been looking for it but haven't found anything about it.
 
Lagiacrus said:
Has this been confirmed somewhere? I've been looking for it but haven't found anything about it.

I'm fairly certain it was one of the lore interviews that clarified for sure that Dagonians are indeed just another species of feral, though it's also been casually mentioned in past Salty streams IIRC.

On another note--as far as why there's so much variety in body types and "human-ness" among ferals of the same species, that was confirmed to pretty much just be anime logic/rule of cool.

Thoooouuuugh it seems like a pretty reasonable jump in logic to think that the more "humans but with animal ears and a tail" types of ferals such as Ms. Fortune are the result of mixed human/feral heritage. I mean, if you can have a human and a Gigan making a baby... it's not much of a stretch for a human and a feral, I don't think. Though that's speculation still.
 
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LKArtillery beat me to it, but I can advocate that she's 100% correct on all of her answers.
 
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Lagiacrus said:
So basically, what do we know about Ferals?
To add something to the topic, we know a characteristic trait of ferals is that they can harden parts of their bodies on a whim. It explains things like Fortune using her pointy ears as weapons or employing her tail as a sword only to have it lash around flexibly a second later.
 
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Muro said:
To add something to the topic, we know a characteristic trait of ferals is that they can harden parts of their bodies on a whim. It explains things like Fortune using her pointy ears as weapons or employing her tail as a sword only to have it lash around flexibly a second later.
If that's the case, I actually wonder what Horus and Albace can do.
(and kinda 'why that' power.)
 
I was suspecting the reason for the wildly varied appearances would be "just cause" but I was hoping that wasn't the case because I was hoping there would be a pattern of some sort. Figures it wouldn't be. Ms. Fortune being half-Feral is now a headcanon of mine.

Muro said:
To add something to the topic, we know a characteristic trait of ferals is that they can harden parts of their bodies on a whim. It explains things like Fortune using her pointy ears as weapons or employing her tail as a sword only to have it lash around flexibly a second later.
Thinking about it this could be kind of scary. Imagine a bird Feral hardening their feathers and chopping someone up.

I guess that'd be one of the reasons Horace is so good at his job.
 
Muro said:
To add something to the topic, we know a characteristic trait of ferals is that they can harden parts of their bodies on a whim. It explains things like Fortune using her pointy ears as weapons or employing her tail as a sword only to have it lash around flexibly a second later.
No, we know a characteristic trait of ONE feral is that she can harden parts of her body. No other feral has ever been shown to do that and it likely falls under Rule of Cool too, or it could be attributed to the Life Gem.
 
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It's always important to keep the Rule of Cool in mind, not everything has to make sense.
 
Cellsai said:
No, we know a characteristic trait of ONE feral is that she can harden parts of her body. No other feral has ever been shown to do that and it likely falls under Rule of Cool too, or it could be attributed to the Life Gem.
I'm not basing this on gameplay but on something I recall Alex saying about all ferals.
 
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I just checked and it seems that what Muro says actually matches up with the Canon Info Thread.

I like this thread, Ferals are cool. Much cooler than those dumb Parasites and Living Weapons.
 
Denizen said:
Oh, just to be clear that Feline is a boy. He's also one of my favorite Feral NPCs.
Mystery solved!

Denizen said:
I just checked and it seems that what Muro says actually matches up with the Canon Info Thread.

I like this thread, Ferals are cool. Much cooler than those dumb Parasites and Living Weapons.
They're all really cool! But then again I guess you'd know I was of that opinion considering how I dumped Parasite concepts all over the OC thread.
 
Ferals are Skullgirls' interpretation of a human/animal hybrid race that's quite omnipresent in fantasy worlds all around since forever. Parasites and living weapons are a more unique concept of beings indigenous to the Skullgirls universe.

While I like ferals myself, I feel depreciating parasites/living weapons and placing ferals above them on a cool scale is a backhanded compliment for the creativity behind Skullgirls' lore at best, in a "why even bother coming up with new stuff" sense.
 
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Muro said:
Ferals are Skullgirls' interpretation of a human/animal hybrid race that's quite omnipresent in fantasy worlds all around since forever. Parasites and living weapons are a more unique concept of beings indigenous to the Skullgirls universe.

While I like ferals myself, I feel depreciating parasites/living weapons and placing ferals above them on a cool scale is a backhanded compliment for the creativity behind Skullgirls' lore at best, in a "why even bother coming up with new stuff" sense.
What if a feral with a living weapon though?
 
Are ferals capable of having parasites?
I mean, elves are (Taliesin, for example), but I don't recall seeing a feral with a parasite, not even a synthetic one.
 
Muro said:
Ferals are Skullgirls' interpretation of a human/animal hybrid race that's quite omnipresent in fantasy worlds all around since forever. Parasites and living weapons are a more unique concept of beings indigenous to the Skullgirls universe.

While I like ferals myself, I feel depreciating parasites/living weapons and placing ferals above them on a cool scale is a backhanded compliment for the creativity behind Skullgirls' lore at best, in a "why even bother coming up with new stuff" sense.
Calm-your-tits_o_857534.jpg
 
Muro said:
A psychic cyborg living weapon-wielding feral parasite host infused with Skullgirl blood. I'm giving away OC ideas for free here.

With theonite weaponry and whose parents previously wished upon the Skull Heart to give them some power.
 
Muro said:
A psychic cyborg living weapon-wielding feral parasite host infused with Skullgirl blood.
TheMightyBox said:
With theonite weaponry and whose parents previously wished upon the Skull Heart to give them some power.
Is a quarter Gigan but still has full Gigan strength, a guest star at the Cirque de Cartes, Mrs Victoria's best student and the Medici never mess with him because he's too bnadass to mess with. Also pregnant with Venus and Aeon's child because DeviantArt.
 
Seriously though, Skullgirls may not be the first to have animal people, but in my eyes it is the first to do it so well. Skullgirls is also not the first to have Living Weapons, there's even a TV Tropes page for them. I was joking before, but in all seriousness I consider a well designed Feral to be much cooler than any Parasite Host that I've seen so far. I'm not saying that Parasites aren't cool, I'm just saying that I like the Feral characters more. Is that such a crime?
 
You did call parasites dumb. Granted not everything has to be said in 100% serious mode, but not being a clairvoyant, one could assume you dismiss them altogether on the cool scale. Thanks for clarifying, though.
 
Honestly, I don't judge Ferals or Parasites over each other. I guess they both have their advantages and disadvantages, so say, if someone were to come up to me and ask if I would rather be a Feral or the host of a Parasite, I would probably have no answer, or just say "I honestly don't care who I end up being." I can't make up my mind about it, they're both cool in some respect.
 
Becoming the host to a Parasite would probably be one of the worst things to ever happen to me, so my answer to that question is rather easy. Parasites are cool in fiction, but imagine spending the remainder of your life physically attached to another intelligent being who could separate and kill you at any time. No, I just couldn't deal with that.
 
Denizen said:
Becoming the host to a Parasite would probably be one of the worst things to ever happen to me, so my answer to that question is rather easy. Parasites are cool in fiction, but imagine spending the remainder of your life physically attached to another intelligent being who could separate and kill you at any time. No, I just couldn't deal with that.
You do have a good point there, but it all comes down to the loyalty of the Parasite. Looking at some of the Parasites we already have, you'd probably want to be with someone like Leviathan. If you were stuck with someone like Samson, it'd be a hell of a lot more worrying.
I'm not going in favor of Parasites here, I'm just making a statement.
 
No, not even Leviathan, to me it doesn't matter how great the person is. It doesn't matter if they're my best friend, my sibling, or my lover. There's no way I would spend the rest of my life handcuffed to them.
I would much rather look like Chewbacca.

OK let's get back to talking about Ferals. Has anyone else noticed that Ms. Fortune is the only character among the playable and future cast who is a Feral? Not counting Stanley, Yu-Wan, Albus, and Horace. Two are Dagonians and the other two are not directly playable.
 
I'm with Den on this one. Were Skullgirls an RPG, being a parasite host would be a cool option; but if we're talking in a "deciding the fate of you" sense, hell no. It's not even about trust, either. I - and I'd guess most of us - value my privacy way too much to consider such a close bond bearable.

Cerebella had a living weapon from the time she was a kid. Were I thrown into the SG universe, I'd say that's the best kind of situation and "superpower" to have there. Still takes years of training to master, but it becomes part of your life while not carrying any real drawback.
 
Speaking of Chewbacca, who is this guy, what is he?
062713-rooftops_day-npc-FGpipeSmoking.gif
 
Denizen said:
Speaking of Chewbacca, who is this guy, what is he?
*insert chewbacca .gif here*
Good question... that I have no answer for.
 
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Maybe he's not even a Feral, I'm getting a Bigfoot vibe from him.

(By the way Dimitri, don't quote images.)
 
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Given that it says in the art that the name of the NPC is Steadfoot, it gives the Bigfoot vibe more fuel.
 
Balder said:
Designed by blackbookalpha (and remarkably old)
Thank you Balder, so his name is Steadfoot huh?
Balder said:
As for the Parasite dilemma, well, it depends on the power it grants, its price and the surrounding circumstances. There are remote parasites, after all. And some like Abaddon and Khronos seem very discreet.
Remote Parasites I actually wouldn't mind as much, I would still prefer being a Feral since a Remote Parasite could fuck up your body, but at least I would have my privacy. Staying an individual is my primary concern when it comes to these creatures. As for Venus and Aeon it's still the same thing to me, they still have a person living inside them.
 
The weird thing about Parasites is that there doesn't seem to be any form of consistent theme with them. Samson is the go-to example for "Parasites are a Bad Thing," as he basically manipulates Filia into doing what he wants (And AU-Samson is evidence enough he doesn't even really need to do that), but then there's Squigly, who, on the opposite end of the spectrum, has a symbiotic relationship with Leviathan. Then there's Eliza, who has spent so much time with Sehkmet that their consciousnesses are practically one and the same; and on top of all that, despite how little time we've spent on Aeon and Venus, Khronos and Abaddon don't seem to do much of anything at all.
It's very hard to get a general sense of what parasites are when every case of a parasite is different from the others. In fact, the thought has crossed my mind if "parasite" is an apt name for them—I'm beginning to wonder how they got that name in-universe (Probably straight from [Insert Trinity's equivalent of the Bible here], but it's something to wonder about).

Out of curiosity, Denizen, what about Synthetic Parasites? Trinity forbid, but let's say you were grievously injured in your title bout against Beowulf. Would that be something you gave any consideration to at all?
 
CHAOS_FANTAZY said:
The weird thing about Parasites is that there doesn't seem to be any form of consistent theme with them.
People seem to forget that True Parasites are people too. In fact they're just like people, they all follow the same general rules but each one is unique. You know what I'm saying?
CHAOS_FANTAZY said:
Out of curiosity, Denizen, what about Synthetic Parasites? Trinity forbid, but let's say you were grievously injured in your title bout against Beowulf. Would that be something you gave any consideration to at all?
A Synthetic Parasite is the only kind of Parasite I would be OK with having. If I were crippled in a match against Beowulf (for the record I don't think I would be beaten that hard), I would in fact consider a Synthetic Parasite as a way to live normally again. Synthetic Parasites are non-sentient, therefore they're more like prosthetic attachments. I would still prefer to have my own body though. For example, I would never willingly exchange my healthy arms and legs for mechanical ones, even if it gave me more power.

THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH FERALS THOUGH.
 
Pardon me; I found the derailment interesting, so I thought I'd continue on this personally interesting (Although tangential) conversation.

Anyway, Ferals. Well, let's see here...what hasn't been brought up yet...ah, yes. It's pretty clear-cut that Ferals have a pretty well-defined idea of how humanoid/animalistic they look, but one thing I'm curious about is how humanoid/animalistic they act. Not to be racist (Er, species-ist), but I couldn't help but notice that Ms. Fortune seems to get along really well with Dagonians, given that she's a cat-person and they're fish-people. Is that the norm, though, or do other groups of Ferals have clear-cut racial barriers? Do Felines traditionally hate Dagonians? Do Lupines (Or Canines, or whatever Dog-Ferals would be called) traditionally hate Felines?
While I know I would like to see at least one place in the Skullgirls-verse where race is a non-issue, I'm not sure if the Feral community is where I'll find it (If I find it at all).

Also, wasn't Tom called a Dagonian? He doesn't look very fishy to me...
 
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