#and I can better show characters’ inner thoughts and feelings in the fanfiction version compared to the comic version

[sweetandglovelyart]

Possibly going to post a new chapter of the fanfiction version of Knightfall in Dream Land tomorrow for Christmas… 🎄

[ladytygrycomics]

All You [N]Ever Wanted to Know about the Biology of Freeza’s Race. . .Probably

Disclaimer:

I will begin by saying that I feel it is in poor taste to explain world-building outside of a narrative because that is something that should be achieved within the narrative itself (however subtle or apparent it might actually be).

Still, this particular topic is a popular one and so many of the private questions I get are in relation to it that I feel I should post something, if for no other reason than to establish a precedent that yes, I do come up with this crap on my own. I’ll still address it, just as I intended, within the story itself, but I thought an infodump might be fun. After all, it’s going to take me years, at my current pace, to tell the entire story.

Finally, I post this only because this is the type of thing about which I geek out (but only to a certain point). I say it all in good humor and with a gentle reminder that we’re talking about a universe with energy blasts, flying people, and filthy wish dragons. Being legitimately mean-spirited about disagreements regarding fictional characters, their anatomy, and so forth? GTFO. ^_^

Oh, and hey, if this sort of rambling appeals to you, or if you just want to read some Freeza fanfiction, you can follow my webcomic here~

My Background: I’ve been an animal geek since I was a child back in the (gulp) 80s. I loved to read nonfiction about creatures and watch nature documentaries. That love has never died. I had nearly every type of pet of growing up but my first love was always reptiles.

Like so many who shared a fascination with the beings who inhabit our planet, I assumed that I would pursue a career in veterinary medicine. On two separate occasions, I sought out veterinarians to shadow professionally and both times, I knew that it wasn’t the field for me. Oddly enough, it seemed that one would need to adopt a sort of callousness (compassion fatigue) to survive in the career. Animal abuse and neglect were more common than I could stomach; I hated the idea of having to develop that sort of attitude just to do my job.

Despite choosing a different career path, my hobbies continued to reflect my interest in animals: dog obedience, animal training/behavior, equitation, falconry. . . the list goes on. As an undergrad, I worked as a department lead for one of the few pet store chains that has some integrity, e.g., spending hundreds on surgery for something like a six-dollar hamster in our care was not unheard of.

Specifically, I worked in exotic pet care and I was the go-to person for herps (reptiles/amphibians) and psittacines (parrots). I am by no means an expert on the level of a focused biologist in the field. I offer this information only to show that the biological decisions I’ve made in representing a fictional, alien race come from at least (some) experience and study.

Arcosians: Before someone gets their panties in a knot, I’ll touch on the name I use to denote Freeza’s race. For everyone who points out that “Arcosian” is exclusive to the Ocean dub, yes, I know. To anyone who says that the aliens depicted in this filler, who first contract the saiyans, are not the same race as Freeza’s clan, yup, I agree with you. Freeza didn’t even exist as a known concept when that was animated.

I had to pick a name to avoid being catachrestic. Clunky phrases like “Freeza’s clan” and “Freeza’s race” are jarring to the ear.

When I first entered the fandom, most people called them either Icejins or Changelings. “Icejin” makes my inner etymologist squirm (though this is the term I still use when talking casually). “Changeling” denotes something else.

“Arcosian” and “Arcos”, even given the source, have been the most satisfying choice for me. Rest assured, I don’t personally get hung up on anyone using the other terms (or having different head-canons, in general). If we can follow what the other person is trying to communicate, there’s little point in being pedantic (and it tends to reflect more poorly on the person acting like a dick than the person who is “wrong.”)

Commonalities:

Sexes:

For storytelling purposes and for simplification, I stick with two (male and female). It’s boring and uninspired but I can work with it without having to spend a lot of time establishing new information. Hermaphroditism in higher species is rare and while there are some instances of intersex in reptiles, I wasn’t interested in trying to focus on this.

Omnivorous:

While you get the occasional, herbivorous oddballs like uromastyx, many reptiles are carnivorous/insectivorous. You get omnivorous species as well so depending on which creature you’re using as inspiration, there’s a lot of room to make up information for a fictional species that shares reptilian attributes. I imagine that Arcosians are primarily fish and meat eaters. Veggies aid digestion. Fruit is a treat. Grains would be the least tasty meal for them.

Noises: The only reptilian noise I’ve adopted is “purring” and this is loosely based on crocodilian behavior that males use to attract mates and establish territory. I’ve taken some major liberties with this one in that it’s used as an involuntary indicator that a male of the species is feeling especially amorous. Look for it to be used for comedic effect later.

Scents: Those big eyes in the center of the face typify predators and the Arcosians are no exception. While primarily a visual species, there will be some instances where scent comes into play, particularly in a breeding behavior involving scent glands under the tail and an ability to perceive female receptiveness (in their own species and in some others). Have you ever wondered why human females are discouraged from owning male iguanas? It’s not pretty on the rare occasions that something goes REALLY wrong. <.<

Oviparous: Honestly, I think it’s more likely, given some of the dissimilarities I use, that Freeza’s race would bear live young (like some reptiles). I needed them to be egg layers for a narrative decision that won’t become apparent until much later in my story. I did take advantage of this though and go with the tendency that some reptiles have their genders determined by temperature during incubation (so these fancy aliens have the technology to choose the sex of their offspring by the time Freeza is born).

Dissimilarities:

Sexual dimorphism: This is the fancy way of saying that males and females can be visually distinguished from each other and in a way more telling than having a look under the tail. I wanted to play with this a lot more than I ended up doing but the key difference I use is that black lines on the face are a male trait (perhaps serving a similar purpose as those on a cheetah) while colored markings under the eyes are a female trait. Defined lips are a masculine trait.

Bio Armor: I waffled on this for a while because of how ambiguous Freeza’s first form looks in terms of being either organic or technological. I ended up going with the former which seems to be the common head canon anyway.

Endothermic: This is the fancy way of saying they’re warm-blooded. The simple explanation is that Freeza has proven he can survive in space, though I imagine he would adopt a defensive state of torpor, even when healthy, i.e., not cleaved in two. Surely he should have SOME vulnerabilities, right?

Most of the fandom assumes the species is cold-blooded but here’s the fun factoid that many don’t seem to know: cold-blooded animals DON’T sweat. More specifically, unless I’m forgetting some exception, only mammals sweat (and not all mammals do).

While the similarities between reptiles are intentional, I also don’t want to be TOO on-the-nose when it comes to drawing those similitudes. Toriyama (likely unintentionally) establishes that Freeza’s species shares mammalian traits (apart from other physical similarities, of course) by making him sweat like a pig in his fight with Goku.

Mutant traits: “[Cold and Freeza] are the only ones [of their race] who possess an abnormal level of battle power and cruelty”—so said Toriyama in an interview about Bardock. I treat most Arcosians as being comparable to strong humans—they can’t fly, manipulate energy, etc. I decided to make transformation a purely mutant trait as well. There are elements of Freeza’s suppressed forms present in other OCs of the species but this is solely because I wanted to better differentiate characters.

Asexuality: From the same Bardock interview, Toriyama commented that Freeza was born from his father alone. In context, the phrase modifies Freeza’s traits as a mutant. Did Toriyama actually mean that the species is asexual? Maybe? Probably? It would be fitting for a perfect life form but at the end of the day, there just aren’t a lot of female characters in DBZ. It would not surprise me if this were a potential means to include procreation without needing to include another character (which Toriyama has certainly done in the past). Still, I’m ignoring the hell out of this, regardless of intent/correctness, for narrative reasons.

"Biogems”: I haven’t yet decided on a specific term to indicate the shiny carapaces that sit on the heads, chests, forearms, shoulders, and shins of some Arcosians. But you know what I mean.. . I’ll probably just continue to say “carapaces.” I had some fun with this one and I imagine that these are something wholly alien about the species. They serve to regulate body temperature in all parts of the body and protect important organs (namely the brain and guts). For the chest bit, I used a bit of bird geekery: it will also serve as a brood patch during natural incubation.

Genitals: (because everyone loves the naughty bits). I don’t have an established head canon on how their junk looks. The NSFW stuff I draw varies and will likely continue to vary unless there is a lot of interest in seeing an 18+ version of the steamy scenes (at which point I’ll commit to a design). Until then, expect to not get a clear look in the public version of the comic.

All I can say is that the males keep their equipment stored in the base of their tails until it’s needed (just like most reptiles). I did have a laugh about giving Freeza some hemipenes or some other type of weird-looking reptile gear (and boy, is there ever some out there) but if push comes to shove, don’t expect something too alien.

I think that covers it. . . Did I miss anything? Let me know your thoughts. And hey, if you like this sort of thing and want me to do more, let me know! Otherwise, I’ll be content to keep quietly turning out comic pages. :3