#but I'm grateful they exist cuz history isn't pretty

[chatterbox-juice]

tw: very brief mention of torture

DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY UNUSED ALPHAS THERE ARE???

"This list is derived from the named animal statues that are sold alongside the main active Alpha statues. These animals may have multiple den items dedicated to them, but they have not made any active appearances in the game." - TAKEN FROM THE WIKI. BUT THERE ARE 37 UNUSED ALPHAS:

Amelia - Fox Alpha

Andy - Llama Alpha

Atlas - Lion Alpha

Aurora - Arctic Fox Alpha

Barrett - Polar Bear Alpha

Biff - Hyena Alpha

Boomer - Kangaroo Alpha

Calypso - Sea Turtle Alpha

Carmen - Pig Alpha

Cornelius - Crocodile Alpha

Dakota - Cougar Alpha

Drake - Shark Alpha

Edmund - Giraffe Alpha

Fang - Sabertooth Alpha

Faye - Sheep Alpha

Harper - Seal Alpha

Hudson - Otter Alpha

Jade - Snow Leopard Alpha

Jamal - Toucan Alpha

Jarvis - Lemur Alpha

Koko - Flamingo Alpha

LaSalle - Raccoon Alpha

Manni - Sloth Alpha

Marco - Penguin Alpha

Mica - Coyote Alpha

Olive - Cheetah Alpha

Otto - Elephant Alpha

Perry - Falcon Alpha

Ruby - Rhinoceros Alpha

Sigurd - Deer Alpha

Sophia - Horse Alpha

Star - Direwolf Alpha

Valentina - Eagle Alpha

Victor - Octopus Alpha

Star and Fang are no longer shamans in my rewrite (will elaborate on later) so that's 35, but HOLY SHIT. the newer animals (red panda, camel, moose, arabian horse, clydesdale horse, great horned owl, fennec fox, skunk) don't have any known alphas, so that's eight unknown alphas. we're at 43, which is a lot to incorporate into the timeline. i'm not counting the original six in this count

BUT because I want it, I want to include reskins as well, which are the spring bunny, snowflake arctic wolf, polar arctic fox, enchanted eagle, autumn coyote, spooky snow leopard, fearsome falcon, jamaaliday deer, legendary eagle, royal red panda, frolicking fox, and rainbow raccoon. each reskin has seven colors that can be chosen in the customization tab, but legendary eagle is based on elements (?) and has four different patterns respectively that can be chosen from: wood, lava, metal, and crystal. i'm counting it as four different "animals," and wood, lava, metal, and crystal, have four colors that can be chosen instead of the usual seven. including all of the variations, we're at 143 (?) shamans to create characters for

OH FUCK okay so here's what I'm thinking; the reskins can be delegated to their respective shamans. for example, I'm already planning for Jade, the Snow Leopard Shaman, to have the spooky snow leopard reskin part of them, as a curse? this part is still being worked out, but base Jade and s.s.l are the same leopard but in different forms. the ones getting wiped completely are snowflake arctic wolf (no shaman) spring bunny (it's getting changed into a power), autumn coyote (no), and jamaaliday deer (also no).

GOD this is going to be a bit more difficult than I anticipated. I need to come up w lore for 143 (? i forgot) characters within the cohesive timeline. i'm thinking the unused shamans are going to emerge after the Renaissance, in Late-Early History, Late History, and Modern History eras.

i could've sworn it was said somewhere that alphas can't create new alphas for some reason? well if they can't, they can in my AU yeah, it's relevant now. Mira in her haste to save Zios from the phantoms, left behind some of her feathers unintentionally. the six can't create new shamans on their own, but with the use of a feather and an animal heartstone, a new shaman can be created. not as powerful as the six bc they weren't borderline tortured as children (here), and were just given magical abilities, but still. here's what i'm thinking:

Liza, the leader of the shamans after Mira and Zios' disappearance, most likely granted shamanship to the most animals, and we'll go from most to least:

Liza: Andy Biff Boomer Edmund Hudson Jarvis Manni Otto Sigurd Tavie

Sir Gilbert: Atlas Barrett Calypso Cornelius Harper Marco Ruby Sophia

Peck: Amelia Jade Jamal Koko LaSalle Mica Valentina

Graham: Dakota Drake Faye Victor

Cosmo: Carmen Olive Perry

Greely: Aurora

Tavie is an interesting case. In the game, she's the first underwater alpha. Now, since underwater areas in aj don't get much love, it's natural Tavie, the ONLY active underwater alpha in the game, would be left in the dust, but NOT IN MY AU. Here, since she was the first underwater alpha, I imagine that Liza gave Tavie the ability to grant shamanship by proxy.

the phantoms canonically can go underwater, and don't seem to be affected by it, so maybe Liza gave Tavie a task or something (task is not the word I'm looking for). Tavie would scan the oceans for most underwater shamans since the number of ocean animals compared to land animals is, uh, pathetic, to say the least. when Tavie found someone suitable, she'd go to one of the original six and be like "hey I think [name] would be a great shaman" and BAM. so, if you're counting Tavie:

Tavie (by proxy):

Calypso Drake Victor I'm not counting Barrett, Harper, and Hudson towards Tavie's count because they can go on land, and I imagine that one of the original six found them wandering around.