#hellhound lore

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Okay I know they probably don’t mind.. but the fact hellhounds can’t kiss makes me so sad!! THEY DESERVE SO MUCH LOVE

I KNOW ;A;

But also, look at it from their perspective. Sure, a young hound may envy other species and their ability to kiss because it looks so intimate, sharing that space like that--but also, maybe they pity other species for their lacking in other senses? Can they (other species) languish in their partner's scent even after days of them being gone? Can they track down their loved one by scent alone to play a prank? Play extreme hide and seek pretending to be hunters of old? The classic game of hunter and prey.

No, frankly, because other species don't have as keen a smell, they lose their partner's scent after only a few days if not shorter. They cannot tell when their partner is nearby, cannot sense when their family is getting closer--there are facets that other species lack in where others prevail, and I'm sure there's a jealousy just inherent from being around other species (who wouldn't want an extra pair of arms like a basilisk? Who wouldn't sometimes be jealous of a unicorn's ability? A harpy's wings?)

And yeah, sometimes they want to kiss like the others do, but they can also nuzzle and love in different ways. And yes, they do accept kisses just the same. <3

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So, if Hellhounds are in no way related to canines: Where DID they come from?

And why are they referred to as hellHOUNDS?

I mean think of it this way. Hellhounds developed same as we did irl, as did every species on this planet. They had distant ancestors, maybe even a shared common ancestor between all sentient species, and through isolation, adaptation, etc. etc. they developed into the modern day hellhound.

I like to think that they're the ones who first tamed the wolf and named them after themselves as a kind of reverence for their species? So the first dogs were probably hounds, or, at least, were all called 'hound' despite maybe not being exactly what we consider hounds.

As for the term hellhound there's two stories, exhibit a being when first contact between species happened the term hellhounds went by was either mistranslated/colloquially translated to the other language as 'hellhound' or even 'hound from hell'. Or exhibit b, some ignorant explorer witnessed a coming of age ceremony and titled them hellhounds in their own narrow-minded view and the name stuck.

I'm rather more fond of exhibit a because then it infers that hellhounds in their ancient language, whatever that may be, named themselves as such. Why? For fun? Because they liked the imagery? Or was there a sect of hellhounds that truly believed their species came from the depths?

This is also assuming hell is the same as we understand it, and since Christianity doesn't exist in the same capacity (as if Christianity was the creator of what we know as 'hell' lol), we should assume that hell is, perhaps, a different understanding in this world and maybe more refers to a specific place--perhaps the original land by which hellhounds originated from? Though I do like religious imagery being peppered in their backstory too if just for aesthetic lol

Maybe hellhounds in medieval times were keen on serving religious orders? Hence why they can sometimes come with religious iconography/aesthetic these days?

So maybe a bit of all of the above? It is an ancient name by which no one truly knows exactly where it comes from, and this can go for a large number of species on this planet where it's just all they've known/the original culture or language died out so they don't fully understand the origin/or they adapted a more modern name to describe themselves (i.e. Porcelains).

I also wouldn't be surprised if the same species is referred to differently across borders too. There are, of course, different languages in this world, but colloquially, hellhounds are called hellhounds, plus or minus variances therein.

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Sorry if this has been asked before, I couldn’t find it! But do Hellhounds have the same kind of colorblindness dogs do? Or do they see colors normally?

Generally speaking they see colors normally! Every species might have some nuances in the colors they see, but generally everyone has same or similar color range.

This can go into the evolution of species, since there are multiple sentient species on this planet, each with unique needs but ultimately the 'dominant' species in their region during early development, they'd need to develop color sight for survival much as humans irl have done. This isn't to say that some species might have limited or very different color capacity (in case of underground/underwater species), but generally speaking, they're all pretty on par with each other. :)

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Thought I'd offer a funny mental image. You know that cat that makes a funny face when a flower gets put on its head? Imagine stoic Hellhound having that exact same reaction when one of the ROs put a tiny flower on their head.

That is a hilarious image and I love it asdsfkjbdskjb

The hellhound deactivation button!

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sorry if this has been asked before! but i am all aboard the nico train right now and was thinking about my hellhound boy kissing him... then got to wondering how that would actually work, since y'know, head of a dog lol. is there a cultural equivalent of kissing for hellhounds?

Yes! so hellhounds don’t kiss that way, the most intimate form of affection for hellhounds is pressing foreheads or noses. Pressing heads together is common in romantic partners and close families, pressing a nose ‘kiss’ is more commonly seen as playful, a kiss on the cheek, and some hellhounds will often greet close friends by pressing their nose to their friend’s cheek in enthusiastic greeting.

Other than that, nuzzling is very affectionate, or offering themself for a nuzzle by exposing their neck--it’s also a form of asking for/giving comfort.

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Speaking of... What does Hellhound fire, uh, spit ? look like ?? You mentionned during puberty the coal makes their throat hot, does this stay as long as they have coal burning and would that be an easy sign that MC's not taking their pill?

So when they spit fire it’s a combination of flames shooting out a la dragon breath and a heavier ‘wetter’ substance not dissimilar to napalm that splatters and burns. This is the primary reason why hellhound’s spitfire only has so much range and is best used as a close or medium range weapon.

It cools down after puberty but is still abnormally warm compared to other species. The pills basically stop production of the substance that ignites so that would cool it down even further though the presence of the organ is still going to generate some heat but not nearly to the point that a hellhound would be used to.

So yeah, elevated heat in the throat would be a give away that MC isn’t taking their pills though I’d imagine that an MC not taking their pills would take them again a few days before your scheduled medical visits with Nico to give the appearance of obedience before stopping them again afterwards.

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Just did a hellhound run and I love it. I thought the way you described how they "blush" was super cute. I know you've talked about this a little with some other asks, but are there any other little tells or reads that most people won't notice on a hellhound? (sorry if this is a bothersome ask or if it's retreading too much)

It’s not bothersome at all!

I like to think that a hellhound does a full ghibli blush if it’s a deep enough fluster ;P

Their ears a very emotive, and sometimes their noses twitch depending on the emotion they’re feeling. The tail, of course, is also a dead giveaway. So a stoic hellhound could control all these notions well enough, its the fur ruffling up that is harder to hide.

This isn’t really a part of the ask but I also like to imagine that one can tell when a hellhound is about to spitfire because they’re taking in deeper breathes and, if it’s dark, can actually see their coal lighting up in their throat as they’re taking in more oxygen in preparation for that action.

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Hellhound question! Is their diet more like a human's or a dog's? Might be a weird question but I'd love to know

UHM good question! I imagine they'd be more similar to a human's, they can eat grains and veggies and such just fine.

But I also like the addition that they're not as sensitive to raw meats as humans, and other species, are. They have the constitution to eat raw meat just fine.... which you could also argue for the porcelains since the porcelain stomach just breaks down all food into its raw ephemeral magic state creating zero waste, but the taste would be awful for them whereas, for hellhounds, they'd actually have the tastebuds for it.

So, ultimately, a mix of both!