Zootopia culture: glossary and headcanons.
Pussy: an insult for felines. Great Cats take it more as an offense, but for Lesser Cats it’s more of a derogatory term, as it reinforces their possition as weak and inferior to lions, tigers and other felines who can roar. Different from “pussycat”. (Credit to @zootopiagush for the original headcanon).
Vixen: derogatory term for a promiscuous woman. Derives from the stereotype that female foxes are like this.
Pussycat: derogatory term for female mammals. Denotes a woman who is seductive and easy. Simmilar to ‘vixen’.
Civilized dogs/cats/pigs/sheep/etc: Zootopia’s equivalent of domesticated animals. Are called like that because they were seen by prey as superior to their ‘wild’ counterparts for their attempt at becoming less menacing by breeding. In the 18 and 19th century it was also used to denote a mammal of great beauty, specially if they had light fur or floppy ears.
Sheep contacts: eye contacts specially created for sheep, that gives their natural rectangular irises a round appearance.
Breeding: Refers to some species’ method to survive in a prey-dominated world, which is “mating with the goal of having children that look less threatening”, as this trait allowed them to be more respected by prey. The species that participated in breeding were wolves, boars, cattle, horses and sheep. The latter in particular were led by mouflons. Cats, notoriously, refused to breed, to the point of leading a rebellion in the Middle Ages against the prey that were pressuring them, which is known in feline history as the Feline Reunion, because Great and Lesser Cats united again to protest. However, the only animals that have been fully Civilized (see above) are horses and cattle; “wild” species of both are extint. Sheep, wolves and boars were split up when breeding started between the ones that wanted to do it and the ones that refused. This is why wolves, boars and wild sheep live alongside dogs, pigs and Civilized sheep. The earliest references to breeding and the social division it caused are found in stone paintings in early wolf settlements, showing several wolves leaving. By the Middle Ages, breeding had become less about survival and more about beauty and status. This led to mammals like dogs, horses, cattle and, to a lesser degree, pigs, to mate with the mammals they thought would make cuter or stronger babies, deciding on the most desirable size or fur color for their future children. By the 19th century, light fur and (specially for dogs) floppy ears became signs of beauty. Horses, however, put more emphasis in physical strenght, and horse athletes became well known. This all ended at the beginning of the 20th century. Coming out of the Great War and getting into the Roarin’ 20s, the world started to change and everyone could see it. The Time of Rebellions began: in dog families, the sons and daughters refused to mate with the mammals their parents had set them up with, instead mating with the dogs they loved; for horses, it was much slower, but the will to live a freer life was still there. The sentiment spread to other Civilized mammals, and by the end of the decade breeding had fallen out of favor. Nowadays, the legacy of breeding lives on in dogs and pigs and other mammals, but the action itself has died down considerably, only practiced in very traditional families. It is seen as a dangerous practice, because bred children have a higher tendency to having breathing and heart issues. Mammals mate and marry with whoever they fall in love with, reason why you’ll hardly find a dog or a cow of a distinguishable breed.
Berserk: refers to a state of wild, unstoppable fury and agression. Its origins are Scandinavian and means “bear skin”, although it appears in Russian and, to a lesser degree, Central Asian and Eastern European medieval lore, where tales of brown bear soldiers that entered a trance-like state of unbinded rage when they fought their enemies are common. Recent studies have lead historians to believe this state was produced by the ritual consumption of night howlers or related plants before battle, as the plants are native to those areas and the description of ‘going berserk’ is simmilar to the Night Howler effect on mammals.
Unicorn: the main deity in horse religion, depicted as a white horse with a single horn in their forehead. Originally a creator deity, they became the main god when the religion became more widespread. Unicorn doesn’t have a definitive gender. The horse creation myth says that Unicorn existed before the world, when all there was was the Void. From Their Horn They shone an all-encompassing light, that revealed what the Void could be : trees, birds, rabbits, frogs and creatures created to Their own image, as well as many things more. Unicorn realized that all these things could be real if just They put Their hooves and mind to it. However, They also knew that it would demand all Their energy, and that maybe They wouldn’t be able to live among Their creation. Unicorn, undeterred by the danger, started to work. Concentrating in the pictures They saw of what was to be, They created the bodies out of the light from Their Horn, then They gave each one a name of Their choice. To some, however, They also gave something else: the gift of sentience. Touching each of those beings that deserved it, Unicorn spoke its name and made it sapient, then set it free. Bringing everything that was to be to life took a lot of time and energy, and by the end Unicorn was exhausted. They knew that They didn’t have much power left, but what They had They wanted to use to create those beings They had seen, the beings that resembled Them. Knowing Their physical body wouldn’t survive, Unicorn used all Their power left to create the horses, and when they were done, not only did They give Their creations the gift of sentience, but also the power to communicate with Them after They were gone. The first horses caught a glimpse of Their physical form as it dissapeared, and promised to put their gifts to good use.
Pegasus: a mythical leader and hero of the horses. He is the protagonist of several myths and legends; however, the story of his downfall, seen below, is by far the most popular. Pegasus was born with wings, something that was considered a gift from their deity, Unicorn. Because of that, growing up Pegasus was always asked to speak to their deity in their behalf. The more Pegasus helped his people, the more they trusted him and by the time he was a young adult, he was elected as their leader. Pegasus proved to be a kind and generous ruler, but he had one flaw: cockiness. Indeed, Pegasus was keen of proving how fast and strong he was, how high he could fly. One day, he was dared by an enemy to fly to the sun. His advisors tried to dissuade him, but he wouldn’t listen. He flew to the sun, or at least tried to, for the closer he got, the hotter it was, until Pegasus was incinerated and turned to dust. Although the story has a clear moral (don’t attempt the impossible if you don’t want to end dead), many horses actually admired Pegasus for daring to fly to the sun, even if it resulted in his demise. In ancient times, horses used to pray to Pegasus to give them courage before battle, specially if their enemy was stronger than them.
Bark marking: an ancient practice in bear culture, which consists in rubbing and trailing tree bark around a bear’s living place to mark it as their own. Each family has an specific tree; when a couple is expecting, a special ceremony is conducted to reveal the new family’s tree. In ancient and medieval times, clans were formed by families who had the same tree. Nowadays, the practice of bark marking is still present, although some bears prefer to use artificial scents rather than actual tree bark. If it’s used, it’s usually found in little bowls around a bear’s house. Bears usually know each other’s tree because its scent is impregnated into the mammal’s natural smell. Some bears believe having a certain tree has an specific meaning, like dictating the personality of the mammals in the family or even their fate. Polar Bears and Pandas don’t practice bark marking.
Dendromancy: the modern practice of observing a family’s tree to divinate their near future. Not all bears practice it and many consider it irrelevant.
Pack Dynamics: refers to a type of relationship found specifically in wolf culture, that puts emphasis in family and hierarchy. While certainly wolves are not the only mammals who have historically lived in groups, over hundreds of years the pack relationship has acquired symbolism both in and out of wolf culture. Essentially, a pack is an extended family, consisting in parents, grandparents and children. In prehistoric times, a pack had command over a portion of land they marked as their own and all the prey within those limits. Packs were often related to each other, as grown pups left their family to start their own. Even though they were related, packs rarely united and they all competed for prey. With the advent of predator-prey peace, however, this no longer took place, and disputes between packs became about social matters (a wolf of one pack had spited a member of another, per example). By ancient times, the pack had become something akin to a political unit, and arranged marriages between packs started, mostly to establish peace between wolves; because of this, packs started to have more territory and began to identify under common names instead of family surnames. Packs also became larger, as grown pups didn’t leave the family and instead started their own while still having contact with their parents. Thus, the figures of the uncle, the aunt, nieces and nephews was born in wolf culture. Nowadays, packs still exist, but they no longer have legitimate political power except between each other. They are usually structured as follows: an Alpha or pair or Alphas, who oversee the matters of the family; the parents of the Alphas, which are respected but usually don’t have direct input in the matters of the pack (nor do they need it, given they are retired Alphas themselves); the Betas, which are the wolves directly controlled by the Alphas, often their children (in which case the eldest will inherit the title of Alpha upon their parents’ retirement), but sometimes - if the Alphas don’t have children or these are still too young - can also be the title of the Alphas’ siblings (in which case they are also heads of their own families, but still respond to the Alphas) or even their nephews; and the other wolves who don’t have titles or position in the hierarchy, but are still expected to represent the pack and will always have their support in whichever problem they have.
Omega: a derogatory term for a wolf without a title or specific position on the dynamics of their packs. It was born in wolf culture to insult members of the pack who seeked dominance without being heirs, and it denotes their inferiority. However, the term is no longer used, as wolves realised that insulting family was not the answer and that civilized solutions to their problems ought to be seeked. Nowadays, calling a fellow pack member “omega” will receive a grave punishment (unless it was in the heat of a fight or by a young who didn’t really know the meaning of the word). Outside wolf culture the term is still used, but people who do so are not well seen. Being called an omega outside the pack can be seen as enough of an offense to be brought to the Alpha.
Corsie: mocking name for Corsac Foxes. Originated in fox culture, specifically within red foxes. Corsac Foxes don’t seem to mind being called “corsies” by non-vulpine mammals, but they do if they are called that by a fox, specially a red fox: these two have an historical rivalry dating all the way back to ancient times. The different fox species, despite sharing beliefs and language, tend to not get along with each other: red foxes have historically dominated the others, only responding to grey foxes as superior to themselves. For this mistreatment, many fox species are pretty resentful of red foxes today.
Wow, you put a lot of thought into these.
