Miss Raven have u seen cub Cheka in the manga, I sincerely cannot tell if he is a baby there or a literal cub pls help
Good question!! Let’s take a closer look at the newborn Cheka’s anatomy and compare it to that of a real human baby and real lion cub.
First, let’s look at newborn Cheka’s key traits:
Ears (on top of his head)
A very round face shape; no snout (which would elongate his nose/mouth region)
Legs that resemble hind paws + no arch to the foot
Small stature (small enough to fit in Falena’s hands)
Comparing this to the profile of a lion cub:
Cheka does have animal traits, like the ears, tail, and hind feet without an arch. I also want to note that the paws (?) may be a TLK reference, as Simba's paws drape over the hands of Rafiki, who is holding him. It's hard to tell from the silhouette if those are Cheka's hands though; they could also be elbows or something.
Real lion cubs have their ears placed lower and more off to the sides of their heads. They also have very notable snouts. This results in an overall more ovular face shape.
The smallness is close to the size of a real lion cub; human infants start out larger.
Comparing to a human infant:
They have similar bendy legs?? And the face shape is much closer too; very round and smooth, without a snout. However, a human infant has a noticeable arch to their feet, which baby Cheka seems to lack. Please also note that, depending on how the fingers are maneuvered, they could be curled to more closely resemble paws.
Side note: depending on how uh… “fresh” the baby is, their face COULD be smushed/compressed from being birthed. Personally though, I think the a cub’s snout is way too different from a human baby’s profile to bridge this gap.
So, in conclusion, I don’t think beastfolk babies are literally born as the animal(s) they share DNA with. It seems to be more of a hybrid situation. The head shape and ear placement definitely suggests more human-leaning, but the hands and feet + size suggest animal. I’m guessing it’s possible the mammal beastfolk are born small and with hands/feet resembling animals, but they eventually grow to be more human-like.
If we take a look at 5-year old Cheka, he has human hands and feet. If my speculation is true, then beastchildren grow out of their animal paws before the age of 5 years old.
We don’t know how this works for avian beastfolk (like Kifaji). Like… are they born from eggs? How do they look when they emerged…?
The only case we know of someone being born “fully animal” is Malleus; apparently dragon fae hatch as dragons and learn to shapeshift into humanoid forms later in life, although it is not stated at what age this typically occurs.
