Some fun HWHBH piglin/piglin hybrid facts
in honor of mikey b's birthday!
1: Piglins and piglin hybrids are physically quite similar. Both are large, tall, have thick leather skin that varies between pale pink and grayish-brown, and are strongly built to pack on fat and muscle. The biggest difference between the two is their stature and height. Full-blooded piglins are hunched with bigger backs that prevent them from standing fully bipedal, and they are taller than their mixed hybrid relatives, who're able to stand up fully straight at the cost of averaging around 7-8 feet as opposed to the full piglin's average of 9.
2: Both piglins and piglin hybrids grow tusks. Full piglins get theirs shortly after birth while hybrid children have their tusks grow in around puberty(about 12-13 years) or sometimes earlier(9-10). Piglin hybrids take a great deal of pride in keeping their tusks well-maintained, with many cultures developing various designs that are carved or painted onto the tusks to indicate wealth, class status, achievements or even crimes. Regardless of culture, the majority of piglin hybrids keep their tusks very sharp by rubbing them against stone or by using some manner of blade as a file. It is considered a mark of great shame for a piglin to lose their tusks, so in many communities, piglin hybrids who are found guilty of crimes or otherwise immoral acts have theirs publicly removed.
3: Piglins are bald with the exception of bristly body hair, but hybrids grow rich manes of thick fur around the same time they begin to get their tusks. Piglin hair comes in a variety of colors. The most common are black, brown, dark red and shades of burgundy, but there are rarer shades that are viewed as more exotic: namely blonde, dark purple, pale bluish-white and pink.
Piglin hybrids often braid their hair or otherwise tie it back so it stays out of the way while they work. The way a piglin styles their hair has often been used as a way to indicate wealth or status: the longer the hair, the richer the piglin, and by extension the less hooves-on labor they'll be assumed to have done.
Likewise, a piglin hybrid who keeps their head shaved has likely done so to rid themself of any additional weight or distraction while they work/fight.
4: It is unknown were zombie piglins come from. There are records found on the walls of piglin bastions and temples that show they've been around well before what's often agreed to be recorded history, but they do not show how these semi-undead creatures were born, where they came from or how they were otherwise created.
Unlike undead creatures in the Overworld, zombie piglins(aka zomblins) are fully sentient, same as other humanoids. They have their own cultures and communities that have developed within the Nether, but many live in hybrid settlements, though notably not in full piglin cities, since non-hybrid piglins are strangely hostile towards these zomblins and will attack them without mercy.
Zomblins are physically indistinguishable from their hybrid counterparts aside from two factors: Paler skin pigmentation and patches of benign green rot that often expose bits of their bones. These patches do not hurt but do leave the exposed tissue vulnerable, but they do not spread as the zomblin grows overtime. Zombie piglins live full lives the same as piglin hybrids, and actually live a bit longer by several years to a few whole decades.
5: Though not inherently dangerous, full-blood piglins are noted to be very hostile towards other humanoids. They rarely wish to speak to Overworlders and will attack them on sight unless they're visibly wearing clothing or armor that is made of genuine gold, and even then, interactions with them tend to be short, curt and focused strictly on trading gold for various items such as glowstone dust or ender pearls.
It is unknown what is the reason behind this aggression. When asked, many piglins have remarked about some manner of betrayal, an event they've often referred to as "The Slaughter". The term has led to many historians theorizing about some manner of genocide that might've been done against the piglins in the past, but extensive research has turned up nothing that could confirm such an idea, though a handful of particularly skilled magical scholars that specialize in divination have noted something of a "tear" in certain areas of strong magical potency that manifest near some of the larger piglin settlements.
