Bats

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Triert
Master Chaos Chao
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Joined: Fri Jul 10, 2009 1:36 am

Bats

Post by Triert »

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If you only need two of these to make a joke on furry confusion about, what does three give us?
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Ivogoji
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Re: Bats

Post by Ivogoji »

I'm just, uh, gonna leave this here
Ivogoji wrote:Recently examined anthropomorphism in Sonic the Hedgehog and the Dragon Ball universe, coming to the conclusion that both series seem to follow roughly the same 'rules' when it comes to how talking animals work in each setting. Both universes have humans being the dominate sepcies on Earth but sharing the planet with a smaller population of humanoid and sentient animals (it's unclear how large the none-human population is on Sonic's world, but DBZ supplementary material says that 17% of Earth's inhabitants are talking animals). These anthropic animals are divided into a diverse number of species, of which mammals appear to be most abundant in both universes. Humans and their anthropic animal neighbors possess essentially equal statuses in both worlds, with no particular species having any clear privileges over the others- though Dragon Ball Earth is ruled by a global monarch, King Furry, talking dogs don't otherwise show any sign of being 'elite' in that setting. Some animals in DBZ are fully dressed, some can acceptably go about naked; few dress like Sonic characters however, and Sonic's world appears to have different standards about public modesty. This brings us to the most significant point of comparison, in that both settings apparently categorize animals into three groups defined by the level of anthropomorphism; in the case of DBZ, whether or not a talking animal is fully dessed depends on which group they're part of.

Group 1- the most anthropomorphic animals, those like Sonic himself and his friends in the Sonic universe, and King Furry, Oolong, Shu, and Boss Rabbit in the DBZ universe. Individuals in this category can talk, walk upright, have human like appearance and mannerisms, and can function as normal people in their worlds' societies. They live in houses and wear clothes (though less so in the case of Sonic characters), can hold political offices, and don't generally display very many animal-like behaviors. They do seem to value their identity as specific species however, and get defensive if anyone attempts to lump them together with another type of animal (see Sonic's attitude towards being called a rodent in Sonic and the Secret Rings; Oolong occassionally voices a similar attitude). Another major thing to remember about this group of anthropic animals is how much larger they usually are in comparison to an 'normal' specimen of their given species; Sonic is much larger than an ordinary hedgehog, and Boss Rabbit is bigger than any kind of rabbit in the real world. A more human-like appearance comes with a more human-like size. Which brings us to the second category...

Group 2- sentient animals who otherwise resemble normal animals; Flickies and Amy's friend Birdie in Sonic's world, Puar and Master Roshi's friend Turtle in DBZ. The two defining characteristics here are that they can communicate with other sentient beings and have appropriately expressive, cartoonish faces that serve to distinguish them from their non-sentient counterparts. I should note the evidence for Flickies and other small animals in the Sonic series being sentient, since the most recent games can be ambiguous about their nature. Early material made it pretty clear that Sonic's animal friends are roughly as intelligent as he is; images in Sonic the Screen Saver show them operating machinery, joining Sonic and Tails in outer space, and driving small vehicles. The Japanese manual of Tails Adventure has a Flicky speak and inform Tails about the arrival of the game's antagonists. The Japanese manual of Sonic 3 also implies the small animals on Angel Island talk to Knuckles (I hope they do- who else was there for him to talk to?) while Sonic 3D Blast again suggests Flickies are capable of at least some level of intelligent communication. Birdie doesn't have any dialogue in Sonic Adventure, but she does wear a pendant with a Chaos Emerald in it; wearing jewelry would be a sign of sentience. Plus there's just how small animals tend to be treated by characters in-universe. Dragon Ball talking animals are a much more clear-cut issue. Puar and Turtle have the ability to speak as well as expressive faces that aid in humanizing them despite mostly looking like normal animals. Puar is interesting in that he has attended a shapeshifter academy to learn transformation techniques- in DBZ's world, would Puar be considered a full citizen of the global state, with a photo ID and social security number? The curious thing about Group 2 animals is that, while sentient, they don't appear to participate in civilized society the way Group 1 anthropic animals do. Flickies live in the wild just like normal birds; while Turtle hangs out with Mater Roshi a lot, he pretty much lives the life you would expect an non-sentient sea turtle to have. This might be a product of the physical limitations of having a non-anthropomorphic body; Turtle is smart enough to talk, read, and do martial arts, but he would have an awkward time going about mundane human tasks like filing his taxes, working at a job, or just grocery shopping. Heck, just picking mushrooms for Master Roshi went all wrong. It's just easier for Group 2 animals to live like animals. On that note, it's significant to consider that these kinds of animals are of comparable size to normal animals, unlike those in Group 1. Which brings us to...

Group 3- plain old regular animals just like the ones in real life; Big's pet Froggy and Dr. Brief's pet cat Scratch. They both look and act very normal. This is where the question of 'ethical food source' comes into play- eating sentient life forms would be pretty much unacceptable, so the existence of non-sentient animals that can be killed and consumed in good conscience is necessary. Sonic hopefully doesn't include parts of his friend Picky the Pig in the chilidogs he eats.
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You wouldn't knowingly eat this guy, would you? Nah, of couse not.
Although the 'ethical' part is open to subversion, in Dragon Ball sentient beings try to eat other sentient beings all the time, like when the bear bandit threatened to eat Turtle. Or when Yajirobe actually killed and ate Piccolo's son Cymbal, while also claiming he was prepared to eat Goku! Still most people aren't comfortable eating something that can talk. The fact that Group 2 and Group 3 animals can look rather similar presents some concerns. Puar is basically the same size and shape as Scratch; do people look at him and think he's Yamcha's pet? Do some people think Scratch might be a silent, stoic but sentient cat? One also must wonder what animals in Groups 1 and 2 think about their less civilized counterparts. Would Amy be comfortable keeping around a pet hedgehog? (... I can see her doing this, painting it blue, naming it Sonikku...) How does Oolong feel about eating pork? (He's probably commented on it at some point and I just don't remember)
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