In honor of Rowr and Katfood.
By
Altoholic_Monkey,
Posted on: 2006-08-22 22:12 in Multi-Media Fan Creations
Hmm... depends on how important being a cat is to your character.
The question I'd ask first before suggesting anything -
Are you A) Going for "She's a catgirl!" as her theme?
Or B) "I'm <insert name> I fight crime! I was given these powers by <insert thing>. Oh and I'm a cat."
Basically - Are you a cat first and foremost? or are you a person first, and a cat merely as a subtype of person? (I personally treat "Catgirl" as the same category as "Hispanic" "Asian" "Black" or in fantasy terms "Dwarf" "Elf" "Halfling" etc... but some people focus specifcally on that cat thing)
A Warrior's Friend: ID 335212 - Help Infernal save Valkyrie from Battle Maiden.
Above Mars Part 1: The Wellington: ID 159769 - Save Mars by destroying a monstrous battleship from the inside!
>.> My DA page, where I attempt to art.
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Hmm... depends on how important being a cat is to your character.
The question I'd ask first before suggesting anything -
Are you A) Going for "She's a catgirl!" as her theme?
Or B) "I'm <insert name> I fight crime! I was given these powers by <insert thing>. Oh and I'm a cat."
Basically - Are you a cat first and foremost? or are you a person first, and a cat merely as a subtype of person? (I personally treat "Catgirl" as the same category as "Hispanic" "Asian" "Black" or in fantasy terms "Dwarf" "Elf" "Halfling" etc... but some people focus specifcally on that cat thing)
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Yeah I suppose I will have to give that some thought. Being she is a mutant I will have to figure out what caused her to mutate into her current form. Was she a veterinarian? Did she drink from the cat dish? Could go anywhere with this.
Could also just be a "natural" mutation (ie: marvel-esque "Holy crap I woke up as a cat!") type thing <@_@>
Just the same, Mutant may have nothing to do with her being a cat, but rather only be meaningful in terms of her regeneration. (Ie: last I checked cats don't regenerate normally <@,@>
There's just *ALOT* of ways to go with it... lemee know and I'll do my best to add suggestions!
A Warrior's Friend: ID 335212 - Help Infernal save Valkyrie from Battle Maiden.
Above Mars Part 1: The Wellington: ID 159769 - Save Mars by destroying a monstrous battleship from the inside!
>.> My DA page, where I attempt to art.
Just to offer my perspective on two very different mutant felines of mine...
Alta is just your average, unlucky girl just starting college when BAM! Suddenly a feline. Boyfriend dumped her, friends stop visiting as often... Kind of hard to get used to the fact your friend is now a cat. Gives her a kind of bitter resentment about it all, and some frustration, which she gladly takes out on thugs on the street. It's their fault, in her mind, she's a feline anyway. Guilty by association.
On the other hand, (Insert name here - I forgot her name, sadly... and I'm lagging too much to check) is a more.. uh. Normal person. Dancer, aspirations of acting, lives in a neat little apartment. Cat mutation kicked in during a practice routine, hospitalized her for a bit. Got back up and went right on with her life... only now, she fights crime! Pondering making it the same latent genetic factor that Alta got stuck with, but we'll see... I gotta play hero more often.
Mutation is a fun way to play with some neat personality concepts! Though it all really depends on what your vision of 'mutant' really is... I tend to look at the more Marvel version of it. >.>
Yah hehe <,< That's both the beauty and the curse of CoH - You can be *ANYTHING* <O.o>
A Warrior's Friend: ID 335212 - Help Infernal save Valkyrie from Battle Maiden.
Above Mars Part 1: The Wellington: ID 159769 - Save Mars by destroying a monstrous battleship from the inside!
>.> My DA page, where I attempt to art.
He's a drunken, time-displaced Norsemen with a thirst for revenge, and she's a dyslexic nurse with a dark past. They fight crime!
... Had to.
LOL >,< I think I may have seen that duo <@o@>
A Warrior's Friend: ID 335212 - Help Infernal save Valkyrie from Battle Maiden.
Above Mars Part 1: The Wellington: ID 159769 - Save Mars by destroying a monstrous battleship from the inside!
>.> My DA page, where I attempt to art.
That girl reminds me of Velvet Tiger (in my sig)
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LOL >,< I think I may have seen that duo <@o@>
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Which scares me, because I made it up -on the spot-.
If I had the website with the generator, I'dve posted a slightly more interesting one. That thing spat out -the- oddest stuff.
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Yeah I suppose I will have to give that some thought. Being she is a mutant I will have to figure out what caused her to mutate into her current form. Was she a veterinarian? Did she drink from the cat dish? Could go anywhere with this.
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Actually, that would be Science origin. Mutant origin is "I was born with my powers and they manifested themselves when..."
Actually... <@,@>
You'll notice - most times Science origins are actually causing Mutations! That's how you get your powers <@_@> Very few Science origins are due to a continued chemical presence - but rather because they fundementally altered you. Which is of course a sort of Mutation!
The Lost for instance you'll notice - are actually Mutation origin; yet none of them are of the "Marvel" type Mutant sort. Oddly enough, Mynx too is the same sort of "Scientifically altered mutant" - she's Science!
The origin system is *extremely* broad <o.o>;
I mention that merely cause well <,< I don't like to let people get constricted where possible!
A Warrior's Friend: ID 335212 - Help Infernal save Valkyrie from Battle Maiden.
Above Mars Part 1: The Wellington: ID 159769 - Save Mars by destroying a monstrous battleship from the inside!
>.> My DA page, where I attempt to art.
Well maybe this will help, or maybe it'll make things worse. Rowr was once an actual real tiger, living in Asia (there are no tigers in Africa darn it!). She got captured by an animal collector, taken back to the states and became a part of his 'exotic animal' collection.
Then the Rikti invaded, and the compound got destroyed by some stray blasts of artillery.... and somehow Rowr got mutated into a humanoid form. She managed to make her way to Atlas Park where she befriended a number of heroes, who took her under their wing to teach her right from wrong, as well as how to talk and about the world.
Yes when Rowr first came around all she could do to communicate was growl and gesture a lot. :P But that got annoying...for me 
so gradually she started talking.
Anyway that's my take on the whole thing. Not your typical 'catgirl' bio.
<^.^> that's another good one Rowr!
I'll give Yumii's bio so you can see a radically different catgirl bio <,<
Yumii's bio!
As you can see <@_@> No mention of being a cat whatsoever! Why? Cause to Yumii, it really means next to nothing. Just that she can't wear certain hats <,< and needs to by the pants that have the pre-poked tailhole <,< (Well... she'd use a tail if the darn thing didn't look like a freaking pipe cleaner... but we won't go THERE!)
<@o@>m
<^.^>
A Warrior's Friend: ID 335212 - Help Infernal save Valkyrie from Battle Maiden.
Above Mars Part 1: The Wellington: ID 159769 - Save Mars by destroying a monstrous battleship from the inside!
>.> My DA page, where I attempt to art.
For my own edification:
Natural - this character is a general example of whatever race/species/etc. they are: Superman, Batman, Hawkeye.
Science - this character was caused by some outside source, like exposure to radiation, an injection, or something of that nature: Elastic Man (potion), Spider-Man (radioactive spider-bite), Hulk (gamma exposure)
Mutation - this character has some kind of biological "x-factor" that makes them different from the rest of their kind and grants them abilities: 198 characters in the Marvel Universe
Tech - this character relies on gadgets or other technology to gain their abilities: Iron-Man, Steel, various cyborgs.
Magic - this character is granted power by mystical/mythical forces: Dr. Strange, Zatanna, Ghost Rider
Well you go easy mutant route
OR
You could just be this girl from the circus freak show that happened to stop off in paragon city but you escaped before it the troop got taken over by the Carnies.
OR
You're a girl and you love cats so much you dressed as one. Put on some claws and decided to get some justice. (Perhaps you lived in Kings Row and on one Halloween night dressed as your favorite hero, Rowr or Feral Kat) you saw a horrible crime, without little powers but much bravery you tried to stop the Skulls from beating up an elderly man, but you were too late....or too weak, or perhaps you did stop them.
OR
Magically you've been infused/incarnated with the powers of Baset (Egyptian Goddess) or you're a Familiar.
OR
You're really just a cat who has human traits or vice versa.
OR
Youre just a person who doesn't understand why everyone is calling you a "Cat Girl" As having stripes and a tail are extremely normal where you come from and are not linked to these creatures called "Cats".
OR
You were the granddaughter of a "cat lady" who had a large pride of cats, from a very young age you dopted the habits and traits of cats.
PMD and Foo, the two Thes, are correct. There are a great many things you could call a "mutation," but the Mutation origin refers to just being born a freak.
Internal, genetic circumstances make you Mutation. External agents along more (relatively speaking) mundane lines, like too much of the wrong kind of sun on a Tuesday, make you Science. Mystical energies and spells can change you as well, but that makes you Magic. Government-created nanorobot infection altered your cellular structure? Technology.
(Lost are Science by the way, just like Rikti and Nictus.)
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PMD and Foo, the two Thes, are correct. There are a great many things you could call a "mutation," but the Mutation origin refers to just being born a freak.
Internal, genetic circumstances make you Mutation. External agents along more (relatively speaking) mundane lines, like too much of the wrong kind of sun on a Tuesday, make you Science. Mystical energies and spells can change you as well, but that makes you Magic. Government-created nanorobot infection altered your cellular structure? Technology.
(Lost are Science by the way, just like Rikti and Nictus.)
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<o.O> They keep dropping Mutation enhancers when I fight em.
Rikti actually seem to be Tech mostly imho - I mean they have guns and armor for 90% of their powers; yeah, they have psionics, but their psionics would be "natural" for them
(spoiler alert)
(end spoiler alert)
I know Rikti are originally human - but Rikti from their home world could well have been mutated to this form so long that this is their "natural" state. I've not read anywhere in game otherwise.
Remember - the origins are broad and vague - if you can explain it - it works.
A Warrior's Friend: ID 335212 - Help Infernal save Valkyrie from Battle Maiden.
Above Mars Part 1: The Wellington: ID 159769 - Save Mars by destroying a monstrous battleship from the inside!
>.> My DA page, where I attempt to art.
http://www.cityofheroes.com/gameinfo/hero_origins.html
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The Mutant was born with his powers.
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The Science hero received his powers either through purposeful scientific inquiry or through some accident gone awry.
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SPOILER (highlight to see -- Only actually conceals on cityofheroes.com. If you're on the villain site, just pretend it's invisible!)
Lost are getting drugged up by Rikti and becoming Riktified themselves. As for the Rikti being born as screwed up as they are now, I'm inclined to agree with you on that. Whether that's Natural though, I'm not sure. How do Kheldians reproduce anyway? Are all Nictus manually altered to the negative energy beings they are today, or is their species propagating? They're considered Science officially, so the answer to that question would determine whether I consider Rikti Science or not, I guess.
But furthermore, that also discounts the fact that Rikti are still performing more genetic experiments on their own people, altering themselves constantly, especially with each new generation. Check out Timothy Raymond's story in CoV. He's gonna be a daddy.
/SPOILER
Yeah, there are a near infinite number of stories we can come up with to explain who our characters are and where they come from, but Mutants are still just born the way they are, like the X-Men. That's the archetypal Mutant concept. That's what the origin means. If you're mutated by drugs, gamma rays, something else, that's Science.
The origin only means that if you make it mean that. /sigh
Lemee splain why I'm so focused on this - in the end, the origins don't mean much - and frankly they should be changed so you can type a short blurb about yourself instead. Why? Because this kind of silliness happens!
When it comes down to it - the reason I say "as long as you can explain it..." is because this is an RPG, and I've played pen and paper RPGs for some time now (close to a decade); that means that to me, in particular as a GM/DM, I want to know how *you* see you. It only starts to matter if there's a real mechanical reason. As is though, its just an RP tool and should be treated as such.
Also, I'm something of a writer - not a *good* writer; but I do write stories; and that makes me desire a broad canvas. Attempting to narrow it without a *real* good (namely, mechanical) reason, isn't going to do anyone any good. And again - its merely an RP tool, so why be so limiting? Remember - its not everyone else's view of you - its YOUR view of you.
Yeah, technically its your hero ID, so maybe they have some in-game litmus test. But until they do - it doesn't work that way. They can't possibly include every sub-possibility in those little paragraphs now can they?
Finally - Ever notice the Mutation DOs? The ones that state you've been given a genetic therapy or treatment? Yeah... They're Mutant/Science - and there's a reason for that. You can make a mutant via science.
Mutant - by its nature, is simply something altered from its original form. *Why* its a mutant is less important than that it *is* a Mutant. You can call yourself Sci or Mutant - it really doesn't even matter; its just how you want to view the character.
As for Nictus - I suspect nicti undergo some sort of treatment after going evil. That's why there are evil "peacebringers" who are still normal kheldians, and there are also warshades, which have nictus powers - and those powers don't change even though they changed sides.
So I suspect Nictus may breed as normal kheldians still (however kheldians do so).
I haven't finished the kheldian arcs though - so all of the above is just speculation.
A Warrior's Friend: ID 335212 - Help Infernal save Valkyrie from Battle Maiden.
Above Mars Part 1: The Wellington: ID 159769 - Save Mars by destroying a monstrous battleship from the inside!
>.> My DA page, where I attempt to art.
Well, no one is forcing you to read what the origins mean, but every possibility pretty much easily fits into its proper holder.
I'm not interested in the two of us repeating the same points back and forth, so I'll restate it one more time and call it done on my end. The word "mutation" isn't limited to this particular definition in the English language. As a CoX origin, however, it's usage is limited to mean, specifically, someone born with extraordinary abilities due to genetic mutation. Someone changed by something outside their genetics is Science origin. Not sure how that's debatable.
Whether you think the word "mutant" is fun to use in that case or not doesn't change what the origin means in the scope of this particular game. When you're creating a character, it's there on screen. The player gets to decide whether they want to acknowledge prescribed terminology or not, I guess. We can pretend Paragon City is in Wisconsin too.
Big difference there though - Paragon City is a PLACE; *YOU* are a Person.
You play in Paragon - but who you are is more individual. That's the big thing with CoX is that we get to be whatever we want - that's why we have costume options like we do; why we can select any power, why we can do pretty much anything - because basically CoX is the closest you can come to taking a pen and paper, drawing out a character, and then actually doing something with that character in a game.
But anyways, thats' all I'll say too.
A Warrior's Friend: ID 335212 - Help Infernal save Valkyrie from Battle Maiden.
Above Mars Part 1: The Wellington: ID 159769 - Save Mars by destroying a monstrous battleship from the inside!
>.> My DA page, where I attempt to art.
Arguing about what an origin means is just silly.
Excersize in semantics. Natural, Science, Mutation, Technology...they are all related. Science is the study of nature. Mutation occurs Naturally but can be caused or accelerated by Science and or Technology. A Naturally occuring radiation could trigger a Mutation. Too many chest X-Rays could cause a Mutation. For that matter a time traveling gnome could cause a mutation by casting a magic spell. Ha! Perhaps the "magic" was just technology to advanced for our simple understanding?
Telling someone their origin is wrong is even more hypocritical for the artistic portion of our CoX community.
You there! The language you used to describe your artistic ideas is all wrong! How dare you use that particular medium! That is wrong!
For shame, I say! You have your ideas of what a particular origin label means. Great! Depending on how you frame the question you may very well be correct. But that doesn't mean it is the only way to frame the question.
The argument is silly...my response may be silly because it is the middle of the night and I can't sleep.
=^_^=
Cookies and hot milk for you then (unless of course you're lactose intolerant).
I am not.
No cream? 
Hehe, thanks.
I decided to make a cat type scrapper. Mainly because of all the great art I keep seeing on Rowr and Feral Kat/Kitten, it inspired me.
Ali-Kat. She's 5' 4" and a claws/regen Scrapper. Problem is I can't seem to come up with a good bio for her. Anyone willing to help out here?