Hello! I've been thinking about making a guide like this for a while now, and its finally happening! It always bothered me how there's no real guide that just explains how to role-play many different species of animal you commonly say in FH correctly/realistically, so I guess I should be the one to make one.
Before me begin, I should make one thing clear:
This is just a guideline on how to roleplay an animal character realistically or -semi-realistically. I am not pointing fingers at unrealistic characters with this guide. I'd be lying if I said that my eye doesn't twitch whenever I see wolves with pitch black fur, red eyes, and mohawks running around, but I have nothing against people who like to play unrealistic characters. I just prefer being more semi-realistic.
Also, feel free to suggest species for me to cover.
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WolvesWolves are by far the most common species in FH, so of course they're the first ones to talk about. They're also probably the one popular species that gets played the most unrealistically [Horses, deer, etc, are probably played worse but they aren't insanely popular.] I think a lot of that is because most portrayals of wolves in mainstream fiction tends to be.....not that realistic [*GLARES AT ALPHA AND OMEGA AND ITS 2 MILLION SEQUELS FOR AN HOUR*]
What maps?Wolves are so popular that they can be found almost everywhere, but the mapless roleplays are probably the most common in Cherika, Kiwimbi, Eastern, and Ficho. Occasionally you'll see them in Seaside and Bonfire. However, I would say that, if you want to find a wolf roleplay quickly, just go to Cherika.
Physical appearance.Wolves are the largest canines, so I'd say that they should be about average or slightly above average size, with female obviously being slightly smaller then males. When it comes to dimensions, the muzzle should be big and the ears should be small. However, a female wolf should have a normal size muzzle and a smallish forehead.
As for fur patterns and colour, coat colour in wolves ranges from almost pure white through various shades of blond, cream, and ochre to grays, browns, and blacks. So, basically any of those listed works, although I would suggest not using 000 white or 255255255 black. One interesting note, however, is that female wolves tend to have redder fur then males, and black wolves are descended from wolfdogs that had black dog parents, and are more common in America then Eurasia.
When it comes to markings, though..... I'd say just pick markings that aren't incredibly noticeable/out there, and choose one of the above mentioned realistic colours, and you're probably fine. I might make a list of what markings are realistic and what aren't someday, but I'm too lazy to do it right now.
General behaviorOkay, for starters, this NEEDS to be said:
wolves in real life do not live in alpha/beta/omega packs. You could say that the parents are alphas, and the most submissive pup is an omega, and you could be correct, but they don't live in multiple family groups like people thought they did in the past. Most packs in real life are basically just family groups, with 7-11 members. However, that's kinda boring, so I understand why people makes packs with multiply families and alpha/beta/omega type rankings.
HOWEVER. It is possible to incorporate realistic elements and still make for a fun and interesting wolf pack! For example, you could have the Alphas and their pups be the controlling family with the other families being different ranks [like the second highest ranking family be the "betas."]
[That being said, if you want ANY advise at all regarding realistic wolf behavior, don't go looking for it in the Alpha and Omega movies]
Now, for other behavior in wolf packs....wolf packs are not only family-oriented, but they rarely let in strangers, In fact, the most common cause of death in wolves is from being killed by other wolves. So it wouldn't be very realistic if you alpha basically had a "Oh, your a wolf? Welcome to WhateverPack!" mentality. They are also very territorial, and establish very large territories, which they protect by constantly scent-marking them [I'm pretty sure everybody already knows how THAT works...] Despite all this, however, wolf packs will sometimes join forces In the spring and summer to hunt.
Now, when it comes to reproduction and raising pups....as you all probably know already, wolves are monogamous, which means they only have one mate at a time. However, that does NOT mean that they are always monogamous! There are some male wolves out there who will mate with several female wolves at a time without starting a pack with any of them. However, those females don't often successfully raise pups, since the head female will often kill pups from other females in the pack. That brings me to my next point: in realistic packs, only the alphas mate. But, again, that's kinda boring, so you could change it to something like: only the most respected pairs can have pups, or only one pair can have pups at a time, or something similar to that. Be creative! Not everything has to be hyper-realistic.
Wolves can have pups when they're two years old, and usually have them in the spring. Female wolves leave the main pack area and live by themselves for a while when they have their pups. The gestation period lasts about two months.
The average litter has 3-6 pups, so anymore then that is really pushing it [plus its hard to get that many players in the first place.] They start being active after about a month. Once they're about sixe months old, they're old enough to hunt and participate in pack activities, and personally speaking, I'd handle it sort of like how the warrior cats books handle six-month-old cats [as in, that's when they start learning how to hunt and fight and scout]
Alright, now that that's out of the way, I need to state something that a lot of people don't realise: wolves frequently die during hunts. Its not easy, its not safe, and this goes for pretty much all carnivores except for AWDs. Now, that being said, the most common prey wolves hunt are bison, moose, muskoxen, elk, and other kinds of deer. [You can add horses to the list for FH packs.] I'm not going to bother explaining how to hunt without power playing, because that's for another guide entirely. Wolves hunt in packs, and they usually rely and chasing their prey until they run out of stamina, and then attack them while they're too tired to react. [Also, wolves frequently hunt small animals by themselves, such as rabbits.]
CommunicationThe first thing you should know about communication In wolves is that wolves communicate more through body language that any noises. I'm not going to go into detail about wolf body language, because it doesn't matter THAT much when you're just roleplaying, but you should know the body language dominant/submissive wolves usually use.
Dominant wolves [like the alphas] usually hold their tails high, keep their bodies and hair erect, arch their necks, hold their heads high, contract their foreheads [bulge over eyes], shove their ears foreword, and keep eye contact with everything. Submissive wolves, on the other hand, keep their bodies low, tails tucked between legs, extend their necks and lower there heads, lol their tongue out of their mouth, flatten their ears, and never keep eye contact with anyone. You can decide for yourself how much your character sticks to that behavior.
Now, as for auditory communication, here's a quick guideline.
Howl: Long distance communication, assemble pack/group together, to pass an alarm, and locate each other. Pups don't howl, while yearling wolves give very high-pitched howls.
Growl: Aggression
Bark: Wolves don't really "bark" the same way dogs or coyotes do, but they do make sounds that sound similar to barking. Usually indicates the wolf is startled.
Whining: Anxiety, curiosity, and intimacy.
Also, wolves frequently communicate with scent-marking, although that's not essential to being realistic.
EcologyThis is just a section about where wolves live, what animals they eat, natural predators, etc. Wolves live in deserts, grasslands, forests, and tundra......so basically anywhere currently in FH excerpt the grotto. Wolves mostly eat large ungulates, so things like horses, deer, bison, etc. they also eat rabbits, hares, badgers, foxes, rodents, etc. They will also rarely eat fish, lizards, bird, or amphibians. Lastly, wolves are not complete carnivores, so they CAN eat berries or other plants, though they usually don't.
As for relationships with other predators, Wolves obvious compete with other canines, ESPECIALLY Coyotes. I assume most of you have played WolfQuest, so you're probably familiar with that. And, on the subject of wolfquest, you've probably had a bear steal your food at least one in that game, right? Well, that's also real: bears and wolves are competitors for food and its not uncommon for them to react negatively. They also frequently compete with cougars and other felines [obvious they don't live in areas with lions but since lions are everywhere in this game, you can assume they would compete]. They also compete with Hyenas in some places. Lastly, they compete with Wolverines. although I've maybe seen 2 wolverines in FH in my five years of being here, so...yeah.
Also, the only major predators of wolves besides humans are tigers.
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LionsDespite the fact that the Feline avatar was originally the only avatar, and the fact that this entire game was inspired by The Lion King, Lions are probably the second most common species in game. That being said, they tend to be played MUCH more realistically then wolves, which makes me happy bc I'm a cat person
What maps?Kiwimbi and Seaside are pretty much the only places you'll find mapless lion rps. Unless we ever get an african map....which i hope we do *glares at the FH team*
Physical appearance.WIP
