Elemental Anatomy

Basic
''On Zanzus, there are three dominant species, and only three. There are no humans, nor primates. The first two species have been around since the beginning of the planet, Droggons and Drats. Droggons appear as canines with draconic traits, depending on the Elemental classification they follow. Drats appear as felines with draconic traits, and just like Droggons, depending on their Element, have certain traits. Neither species is a hybrid of either they look like; it's just very easy to explain them like that.''

''Sub-Breeds determine their main anatomy (body shape, leg length, etc) that isn't influenced by their Elemental Traits, such as a Water Elemental having a finned tail, despite their Sub-Breed having a long, fluffy tail like a fox. Sub-breeds may be any type of canine or feline as long as they're not domesticated/bred by humans in real life. Ask me for examples (or scroll down if you're on the Zanzus Wiki) of unique Sub-Breeds that only exist on Zanzus.''

''Drandas are another species, a less complicated species. They have no Sub-Breeds, simply looking mostly like red pandas. Like with Droggons and Drats, their Element may change some basic anatomy, but they mostly stay the same.''

There are 14 elements, but for lore purposes, Drandas are missing 2.

''The elements are Water, Ice, Plant, Rock & Gem (Which Drandas can't be), Air, Lightning, Fire, Light, Psychic, Archangel, Shadow, Undead, and Devil. Undead Elementals have 3 different categories, Spirit, Half-Dead, and Skeleton. The final six listed are called the Six. They were created by the Deities, primarily Dawna, the 'Alpha Deity' so to speak. One of the Six may breed with a mortal and produce a Hox (term to be changed), which is basically a less powerful, mortal (but longer living, given no one murders them) Elemental who is part of the Six.''

The majority of Elementals and their anatomy and such. Below are some rules when creating an Elemental, what to do and what not to do, basically.

For All
All Elementals must have wings, ears, a tail of some kind, and 4 main limbs only. Having more than 4 limbs is reserved for the True Forms of the Six. Having an extra paw on the end of a tail like a Zolt should be done in heavy moderation as it is considered a birth defect and not a normal trait.

'''Hair is also barely even a concept on Zanzus, so no, you cannot have hair. There may be implants or wigs, but no Elemental will naturally have hair like a human. Styled manes of fur/feathers are fine, as are manes, but that's about it.'''

For Droggons
Droggons are always digitigrade, have a canine-body shape (which depends on their Sub-Breed), and are on average larger than Drats and Drandas. This is not always true, though, as a Plant Droggon will usually be smaller than a Fire Dranda, depending on the Droggon Sub-Breed.

For Drats
Drats, like Droggons, are all digitigrade, and have various feline body shapes. Any type of non-domesticated feline (You wouldn't find a sphinx Drat, even if they were a Fire Drat, or a Maine Coon Ice Drat, etc.) such as lions, tigers, and cheetahs. Sand cats, black-footed cats, and other smaller wild felines are also accepted.

For Drandas
When making a Dranda, it is important to remember that they all have the same basic shape. Their legs must be plantigrade, they never have paw pads, and their external layer of skin is always fur or feathers. They may have scales beneath fur, but never under feathers or only scales. Depending on the Element you choose, their wings may be feathered, webbed, or something else, given you can find a valid reason for it to fit that Element.

Real Quick...
If you can justify a trait for being on an Elemental, do it. If you can justify bug wings for a Plant Elemental, make sure it makes sense. Try to avoid technicalities. It has to also make sense biologically.

Required Traits
Gills in some place. They can most commonly be found behind the cheek fins (which are a common but not required trait) but may be found on the neck or torso (though the torso is much rarer nowadays). Webbed toes in the Anthro Form are also a requirement, but only required toes for anthro; the front paws may not be webbed, and in feral forms must be webbed on all paws. These are also exclusive to the Water Element.

Additionally, the wings must also be webbed and extra sensitive to pressure and temperature.

Element Exclusive
Please see the Sub-Breeds Luminescent Fluff Cats and the Hard-Pawed Cats for more info about Water-Elemental exclusive Sub-Breeds!

Common But Not Exclusive/Required
Wings made of Ice Crystals

Required Traits
A plant type. Can be based on a real plant, can be entirely made up. Just depends on what tickles your fancy, so to speak. You can find some canon plants in the article Plants! Also falls under Element Exclusive.

Additionally, plant Elementals are the color of their plant type, with traits relating to said plant. This typically implies most of their body is green of some shade, unless stated otherwise.

Element Exclusive
A good portion of Plant Elementals have extra fluff on their bodies, usually on the paws, chest/neck, or tail, which secretes a gooey substance called Gulp, which is toxic to other Elements, but Plant Elementals can digest it without issue. Young Plant Elementals often feed off of it for the first few months of their life before they're big enough to sit out in the dawnlight and convert the rays into energy.

Required Traits
Some kind of gemstone. You can find a list of gemstones by clicking that link. Also falls under Element Exclusive.

Required Traits
A feathered body and large, powerful wings. Generally, Air Elementals are brightly colored and complexly patterned, or very simple and one color.

Common But Not Exclusive/Required
Usually very brightly colored

Required Traits
A feathered body along with large, powerful wings. Claws, horns, and teeth are also needed, but I'll be lenient on the horns part if your Elemental had an Air Elemental parent along with the Lightning one. Just make it make sense.

Element Exclusive
Lightning Elementals usually have a material called Bonetropium as part of them somewhere. It typically acts as a plating for claws, horns, teeth, and bones (yes, inside, typically the tail, electricity pools there commonly on most Lightning Elementals). It is a conductor of electricity and grows quite fast when knocked off body parts. It can cause health issues later in life, if it gets knocked off the inner bones and latches onto the tissue of an Elemental's body, and too much build-up will require surgery.

Required Traits
Webbed wings

Element Exclusive
Anything flaming (flaming tail, horns, etc.)

Element Exclusive
Feather Ears. It does occasionally occur in the Air Element, but only because the gene is compatible with that Element. You will never find an Archangel with Feather Ears.

Required Traits
All Psychic Elementals have a third eye. There are no exceptions. Additionally, some Psychic Elementals may alter their physical form, but the eye is always there, no matter what else they can change. The eye is also very vulnerable, but can be plucked out and regenerated fairly quickly. During the regeneration period, they can't see into the future or use any time-related powers they may have.

Required Traits
Halo, Two pairs of wings (one or both for Hoxes, both always for Immortals.) These traits are also exclusive to Archangels (except for the two pairs of wings, but it only occurs in other members of the Six in their True Forms.)

Element Exclusive
Spades on the end of the tail are exclusive to Devils, Hox or Immortal. The spades are always extremely sensitive, adding almost an extra sense. Generally, the spade can sense pressure, temperature, and certain gases that are deadly to mortals (or sense Dulimite powder or the stone when it's nearby and the power level is strong enough).

Dranda Exclusive Elements
In the year 2200, the Deities added 4 new Elements exclusive to Drandas, simply because they were bored and felt bad for the simplicity of Drandas (the lack of Sub-Breed and the Rock/Gem Element). They wanted to do something special for them, so they added 4 new Elements, just for them. 'These Elementals can only be born if both parents'' are Drandas. They don't need to both be the same Element (Candy x Candy for a Candy Baby) but they need to be Drandas or else they'll be the Mortal Element 100%. No exceptions.'''

Required Traits
A food type. This can be any candy, dish, etc. on Zanzus! Feel free to make your own up! Also falls under Element Exclusive

Hyenas
Hyenas are tricky; they're part of their own family, Hyenadae, meaning, unlike other canines (wolves, foxes, coyotes, etc.) they aren't canines at all. In real life. However; for simplicity's sake, they will be Droggons. They look like canines, act like canines, and the Deities would assign them as such.

Dire Coyote
Dire Coyotes are like big coyotes. They have closer anatomy to a coyote compared to a dire wolf, just bigger. They tend to way more, have stronger muscles (though they run slower), and are taller on average. They also, on average, tend to be less intelligent, but they were still incredibly smart in FE.

Burrowing Trap Fox
The Burrowing Trap Fox is a Sub-Breed of Droggon that was known for its constant burrowing in F.E.. It was most common on Dritura and Leafly, Leafly for hiding from Fire Elementals, who weren't super great at digging, and Earth Elementals used it for digging holes to hide in and jump out at prey or as a sneak attack tactic. Packs of them would often build underground city-type things, and some can even still be found on Leafly on the Ground Level. They're rarer nowadays, but the Sub-Breed itself is everywhere now.

It is known for, appearance-wise, having large paws with thick claws, evolved especially for digging. Their muzzles are also sensitive, but they tend to have a terrible sense of smell. Half the time all they smell is dirt. Their coloring is much more earthy on average, coming in brown, green, and grey most of the time, if their Elemental doesn't affect them (but it usually does).

Fleet-Footed Wolf
It'd be a species of wolf, called the Fleet-Footed Wolf. It could very easily give a Cheetah a run for it's money, very fast with average stamina. It's top speed is about 57 miles per hour on average, with very bright colors except around its eyes, for the same reason a cheetah has dark eye markings. They have a slimmer tail, but only slightly so, kind of like a lion's tail but the fur is more prominent instead of looking shaved on the tail with a fluffy tip. Their paws have thicker claws that dig into the dirt and are pointed back like snake teeth to trap prey and keep a hold on dirt beneath them when running. Their teeth are similar; pointed back. They're super common in Fire and Lightning Elementals but have been bred into Air Elementals and are rare, but do happen in them."

Tigaon
The Tigaon is like a hybrid between a tiger and a lion, but naturally occurring. It's an uncommon sub-breed on Zanzus, but it's not super rare. It's more common to find them on Falecea and Dritura, given they tend to be on the larger side. They typically have thick, fluffy manes around their necks, no matter their biological sex (though Female manes are typically longer and thicker), commonly a paler color than their skin, but not always, especially with the Element coming in to play.

Luminescent Fluff Cats
This Sub-breed of Elemental is exclusive to Water Elementals and very rare to see nowadays. They lived, back in F.E. in pods of 25-50 Elementals. Their eyes are naturally very large, and they have stripes of glossy, glass-like patches on their backs, with thick, coarse fur everywhere else, which glow, attracting and collecting microbacteria. Their bodies were very small to compensate for how little nutrients they received from microbacteria.

Hard-Pawed Cats
This Sub-Breed is also exclusive to Water Elementals, and again, very rare to see. During FE they lived in pairs, usually, and had big, thick paws, very dense and heavy, which they used to crush open the shells of crustaceans, their prime meal is now named after them, the Hard-Paw Lobster (Yes those are probably temporary names, but there's a breed out there called the Sand Cat so don't come @ me for creativity). These cats were very large with shorter fur and lived in decently deep waters where the Lobster lived.

Crystal Leopard
Exclusive to the Gem Element, Crystal Leopards are very beautiful Sub-Breeds. Known for their shining, crystal-like bodies and bright colors, they're a result of selective Elemental Breeding on Dritura. They usually have either bright, crystal-like feathered wings, or wings made out of solid crystal themselves, a distinct trait of the Sub-Breed, which rarely overtake a Elemental Trait.