Say hello to Archer! Enjoy all the crazy, in depth information I am about to give you on his species and himself!
Archer is a very old character of mine, who used to be called "Archer Saggitarius" and was predictably a centaur. Unfortunately that aspect of him didn't fit with the story I had created, so he was in need of Tyler's Patented Retcon Treatment (tm)!
So, now that he's been fixed up...
He's what the Voan (most specifically, the Sahn'Voan) refer to as a "moonbeast". They are mammals which reside on one of Eturia's moons. They are a social species who live in large groups (for now, I'm caling them herds). They are similar to many earth animals in that they have a patriarchal caste based system. One male leads a pack, with closely related males allowed within the group, and only the lead male having breeding access to females.
Like all other creatures on Eturia and it's associated planets and moons, they are not binary in gender. Unlike the Voan, however, males and females are common, while third gender members of the species are rarer (and generally delegated as den-watchers, looking after babies, and so on). Also, unlike the Voan, third gender members of the species are sterile, making it a binary-breeding species only- males can only impregnate females, and females can only be impregnated by males. As a result, homosexuality among the species, while it occurs, is taboo. There is no use for male on male or female on female relations, so gay members are treated much in the same way as third gender (similarly useless to the herd), if not outright exiled.
They are not a very cultured species either. They are intellegent, have a language and complex social interaction, but things like music and art don't really matter to them. This, (coupled with their behavior that appears and can infact be brutally violent and the fact that their language sounds very primitive to Voan ears) leads Voan to believe they are insentient.
They are however very much sentient and emotional people, leading to vicious battles for supremacy between males that involves headbutting, grappling, dueling with their chin-plates, and even loud bellows. They are territorial with huge herd territories that rarely overlap.
They are omnivorous, eating low lying plants, fallent fruits (as they are terrible climbers, they resort to eating the dropped food left behind by birds and smaller mammals). They also hunt smaller creatures than themselves, and do at times cannibalize lone members of their species if they stray into herd territory.
They walk on the knuckles of their primary arms, using their smaller, secondary arms to grip branches, fruits and other food items. The large, strong claws on their primary arms are also used for stripping bark to eat, and clawing apart bug nests for delicious, protein filled grubs. Their feet end in broad toes with hoof-like claws that give them great stability when standing on their hinds to reach for food or perform a threat display.
They stand between 5 and 8 feet at the shoulder (with females being smaller). When standing on their rear legs, they can stand as tall as 14 feet (though that would be a very large individual, common height is around 10-12').They are heavy, broad, and not capable of long term speed, but are extremely fast in short bursts, with ramming speeds ranging from 120 to 150 km/h. Their spines are not extremely flexible, a bit less than a humans is. They are very strong, however, and have thicker at the neck. The top of the head and back of the neck have very thick bone plating that they use to ram into each other, enemies, trees, and whatever else gets in their way. Their tusks face the rear and slightly outward- these and the bony chin plates are smaller in females than in males, and are very small, sometimes non existant, in third gender members of the species. They have very little hair on their bodies, usually seen as a mane on the back of their neck and running down their spine in some that live in slightly cooler places. Their front teeth are a solid plate on their top and bottom jaw that have a sharp edge, bordered by large canines (again, smaller in females and third-genders). These teeth are perfect for slicing through many of the tough plants they eat (some of which are similar to earth bamboo).They also are great at slicing chunks of meat from prey animals.Their large nostrils make it easy for them to get lots of oxygen, needed for their short sprints, and their vocal threat displays.
Archer himself is a long term "friend" of Vahn. He is, in fact, a father figure to the man, who was granted the DNA modification technology by a group of Tor'Voan who make it their business to monitor the Sahn'Voan activities on Eturia, Enrugi, and Earth. He was chosen as he was unique from the Voan in his mannerisms and emotional reactions, and was gay- meaning that he would not be missed from his herd and would also be able to relate in some ways to Voan sexuality, assisting the boy emotionally as he dealt (as a human) with his sexuality, unknowing of his Voan heritage at the time. This also meant he would have a relatively fresh point of view to add to the Tor'Voan's own. Most of his time on Earth is spent as a parent-figure to Vahn, flying solo. Unfortunately though, due to the nature of his species, when he eventually does take a lover, he eventually becomes very jealous and protective to the point of being abusive to both his lover, and to Vahn. He's a very good person who is partly a victim of his biology, though holds responsibility for his own actions as well.
In the end, he's a strong willed, stubborn man who retains many traits of his species, despite many years of living as (and acting as) a human. He's very herd-oriented and is dedicated to his loved ones. He works hard, but gets very focused and can be self centered when it comes to his needs.
(His species doesn't have an official name YET, nor have I any idea on colors... but they were inspired by gorillas, megatherium, thylacoleo, wild boars, moose, bighorn sheep, among others. Once I figure out how his face looks now, as opposed to how I drew him when I was 12, I'll post his human looks!
...Also, yes, they have genitals. No, I did not leave them out on purpose. This drawing IS of a male... but I am not 100% sure whether they should be internal or external, and what would be more likely for their species in terms of biology, quite yet... I'll worry about that a bit later.)
