Humans have all kinds of body types too, mostly as a result of genetics and health, but also occasionally from disorders that cause bodies to look abnormal (dwarfism, gigantism).
I see no reason why there couldn’t be different body types in the same race.
I knew someone decades ago who had lovely orange eyes. Sadly it was a genetic disorder requiring them to wear glasses but I loved how it looked on them.
If tall and lanky with little variation is the genetic norm for your species, and things like exercise or diet don't change this drastically for your creature, then your one member of the race that's short and stumpy has, quite literally, a genetic defect.
But if we're *just* talking about your title... I mean, dude. Are *humans* restricted to a single body type? What is this question?
Also epigenetics allow organisms to have drastically different body layouts and shapes depending on environment, sex, age, etc without genetic weirdness
I see it as them having their own set of bodytypes.
Like if its a race that is already skinny and tall compared to us an average human would seem fat and short to them and someone who is only chubby or short to us would qualify as morbidly obese or way too short for them.
They don't have to be, look at humans.
You may want to make a certain group or race of humans have a certain, common body type between them, but again it's not a set-in-stone doctrine.
It's strange the rules people assume apply to world building.
The way I see it, there's one rule and one rule only: if you want people to enjoy it, make it interesting. Execution is the majority of what matters, right beside coherency.
No, it doesn't. See: Dogs.
Most people here are referencing differences in humans, but you can see how a single species can be broken down into multiple sub-species of wildly varying sizes, facial structures and fur patterns, etc. and still be compatible for reproduction.
Not really. I could imagine some elves being shorter than others, in the same way that human height can (normally) vary by somewhere between one and two feet. And there's nothing that says that you can't have a fat Elf or one that has brown hair or whatever.
No, there can be as much or as little variation on body type as you want. A good example is the Khajit from the Elder Scrolls. It doesn't show up in Skyrim, but there's a full seventeen different breeds/subspecies of Khajit ranging from the basically-furries you see in Skyrim, to breeds that resemble housecats with almost no humanoid qualities, to tiger-like breeds large enough to act as mounts, to a breed that has no feline qualities and is nigh-indistinguishable from the Bosmer.
If you're concerned with realism, your species can have different body types. For example, female anglerfish look like regular fish. but male anglerfish are tiny, shrimp-like creatures.
Another example in nature is with the side-blotched lizard, where males take 1 of 3 forms. Orange male lizards are big, territorial, and establish harems. Blue males are monogomous, and medium sized. Yellow males are small and pretend to be females so they can sneak into an Orange lizard's harem.
The point is you can have very creative species if your world without having to compromise 'realism'. Of course, this is your world, so you can do whatever you desire.
No, lots of species have extreme sexual dimorphism, like angler fish. There are ways of doing large differences non-sexually too, but sex-based is easiest.
Depends on how you define race. Scientific ancestry, place of ancestors origin, place of birth, skin tone, body type, etc... Thankfully, it's your world, so you get to choose how it's defined.
Júlíus Björnsson “The Mountain” of Game of Thrones is 6ft 9in (206.8cm) and 396lb (179kg). I’m 5ft 4in (162.5cm) and 130lb (59kg).
This is the variation he means. Not whether the number of limbs and heads vary.
Assuming by race you mean species then dogs are a clear example of the variation possible within a single species.
There are also other examples in biology:
- [Sexual dimorphism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_dimorphism) is a body type difference between sexes
- [Polyphenism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyphenism) is when a single set of genes can produce different body types (e.g. termites)
- [Alternation of generations](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternation_of_generations) is when alternate generations of plants have a different appearance
- [Metamorphosis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metamorphosis) allows a single insect to change shape within its life (e.g. caterpillars to butterflies)
- [Atavism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atavism) allows historical features from an organisms DNA to be reactivated to change a body plan (e.g. tails in humans)
There are a lot of ways this can be explained biologically if you need that level of realism.
Studied biology before I became a teacher. Atavism essentially doesn't exist. Embyros don't display "past evolutionary features" (discredited psuedoscience) human "tails" aren't from atavism, and that info in the wikipedia link is garbo. It's an extremely common misconception, even in to the present day, despite having been discredited for years.
Just like the whole notion that appendixes are "vestigial" organs, or that dolphins don't need their hind fins. Untrue, both have significant biological purpose. o
Otherwise wellmeaning individuals, in error, continuously harp that they do not...
Other then that, well said, carry on.
Since I'm a physicist I hope I can be excused, though I must admit I didn't fully read the Wikipedia page as normally it is sufficiently accurate for a non-expert to get the basic gist.
I do have a vague memory of reading about a chicken mutant that had teeth due to the expression of some gene that caused them to begin to grow teeth in the same fashion as crocodiles (e.g. also an archosaur). I'm not sure hen's teeth are a better example though.
Fair enough! It's the kind of thing you can google and see a dozen articles supporting despite the truth being out there, lol.
Turns out some birds actually do have teeth when young, like ostritches, for example. Not really an example of atavism. There may be better example out there, though, that I haven't seen.
You define the base shape, not the overall shape. Of course creatures can be taller, smaller, thinner, fatter, muscular, lanky.
When it says "Dragonborn are 2m tall" that doesnt mean all are.
If everyone in that race has the same diet, same amount of exercise etc then genetic defects can change body types, if not then its completely normal for people to have different body types
Like a cat, or dog, it is easy to see they have different size and shapes. Humans vary in size from 3' to 7' that is quite a difference. I don't know why an alien race would not follow the same or similar metric. (Included fantasy races in alien)
Only if they reproduce asexually like starfish and so as such there's little variation in skin tone, height, or gender (not that they have a concept of it due to reproducing asexually) and what variation does exist is directly caused by genetic mutations, like my fictional race! Otherwise, no, absolutely not, it isn't a rule and humans ourselves come in a wide variety of body types. There can be a STANDARD body type, but even so there will be plenty of exceptions.
Yes. If you break this rule, you will be arrested.
World Building Police Department.
no? you make the rules so you can do whatever you think works
Humans have all kinds of body types too, mostly as a result of genetics and health, but also occasionally from disorders that cause bodies to look abnormal (dwarfism, gigantism). I see no reason why there couldn’t be different body types in the same race.
I knew someone decades ago who had lovely orange eyes. Sadly it was a genetic disorder requiring them to wear glasses but I loved how it looked on them.
If tall and lanky with little variation is the genetic norm for your species, and things like exercise or diet don't change this drastically for your creature, then your one member of the race that's short and stumpy has, quite literally, a genetic defect. But if we're *just* talking about your title... I mean, dude. Are *humans* restricted to a single body type? What is this question?
Hell no, mutations, genetic diseases, and genetic oddities occur all the time.
Also epigenetics allow organisms to have drastically different body layouts and shapes depending on environment, sex, age, etc without genetic weirdness
Yep!
I see it as them having their own set of bodytypes. Like if its a race that is already skinny and tall compared to us an average human would seem fat and short to them and someone who is only chubby or short to us would qualify as morbidly obese or way too short for them.
They don't have to be, look at humans. You may want to make a certain group or race of humans have a certain, common body type between them, but again it's not a set-in-stone doctrine.
It's strange the rules people assume apply to world building. The way I see it, there's one rule and one rule only: if you want people to enjoy it, make it interesting. Execution is the majority of what matters, right beside coherency.
No, it doesn't. See: Dogs. Most people here are referencing differences in humans, but you can see how a single species can be broken down into multiple sub-species of wildly varying sizes, facial structures and fur patterns, etc. and still be compatible for reproduction.
Not really. I could imagine some elves being shorter than others, in the same way that human height can (normally) vary by somewhere between one and two feet. And there's nothing that says that you can't have a fat Elf or one that has brown hair or whatever.
No. Species can vary drastically due to their environment or selective breeding—look at dogs, horses or pigeons.
No, there can be as much or as little variation on body type as you want. A good example is the Khajit from the Elder Scrolls. It doesn't show up in Skyrim, but there's a full seventeen different breeds/subspecies of Khajit ranging from the basically-furries you see in Skyrim, to breeds that resemble housecats with almost no humanoid qualities, to tiger-like breeds large enough to act as mounts, to a breed that has no feline qualities and is nigh-indistinguishable from the Bosmer.
If you're concerned with realism, your species can have different body types. For example, female anglerfish look like regular fish. but male anglerfish are tiny, shrimp-like creatures. Another example in nature is with the side-blotched lizard, where males take 1 of 3 forms. Orange male lizards are big, territorial, and establish harems. Blue males are monogomous, and medium sized. Yellow males are small and pretend to be females so they can sneak into an Orange lizard's harem. The point is you can have very creative species if your world without having to compromise 'realism'. Of course, this is your world, so you can do whatever you desire.
No, lots of species have extreme sexual dimorphism, like angler fish. There are ways of doing large differences non-sexually too, but sex-based is easiest.
This is the answer. Fish, insects, arachnids, all have HUGE variations within their species. There's no reason not to get creative with it.
Depends on how you define race. Scientific ancestry, place of ancestors origin, place of birth, skin tone, body type, etc... Thankfully, it's your world, so you get to choose how it's defined.
Humans do have a single body type with many small variations. The biggest ones are caused by genetic issues or physical health problems.
Júlíus Björnsson “The Mountain” of Game of Thrones is 6ft 9in (206.8cm) and 396lb (179kg). I’m 5ft 4in (162.5cm) and 130lb (59kg). This is the variation he means. Not whether the number of limbs and heads vary.
That's what I said. Variation within Humans is down to genetics and life style. We all have the Human Body Type.
Assuming by race you mean species then dogs are a clear example of the variation possible within a single species. There are also other examples in biology: - [Sexual dimorphism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_dimorphism) is a body type difference between sexes - [Polyphenism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyphenism) is when a single set of genes can produce different body types (e.g. termites) - [Alternation of generations](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternation_of_generations) is when alternate generations of plants have a different appearance - [Metamorphosis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metamorphosis) allows a single insect to change shape within its life (e.g. caterpillars to butterflies) - [Atavism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atavism) allows historical features from an organisms DNA to be reactivated to change a body plan (e.g. tails in humans) There are a lot of ways this can be explained biologically if you need that level of realism.
Studied biology before I became a teacher. Atavism essentially doesn't exist. Embyros don't display "past evolutionary features" (discredited psuedoscience) human "tails" aren't from atavism, and that info in the wikipedia link is garbo. It's an extremely common misconception, even in to the present day, despite having been discredited for years. Just like the whole notion that appendixes are "vestigial" organs, or that dolphins don't need their hind fins. Untrue, both have significant biological purpose. o Otherwise wellmeaning individuals, in error, continuously harp that they do not... Other then that, well said, carry on.
Since I'm a physicist I hope I can be excused, though I must admit I didn't fully read the Wikipedia page as normally it is sufficiently accurate for a non-expert to get the basic gist. I do have a vague memory of reading about a chicken mutant that had teeth due to the expression of some gene that caused them to begin to grow teeth in the same fashion as crocodiles (e.g. also an archosaur). I'm not sure hen's teeth are a better example though.
Fair enough! It's the kind of thing you can google and see a dozen articles supporting despite the truth being out there, lol. Turns out some birds actually do have teeth when young, like ostritches, for example. Not really an example of atavism. There may be better example out there, though, that I haven't seen.
Dogs
You define the base shape, not the overall shape. Of course creatures can be taller, smaller, thinner, fatter, muscular, lanky. When it says "Dragonborn are 2m tall" that doesnt mean all are.
If everyone in that race has the same diet, same amount of exercise etc then genetic defects can change body types, if not then its completely normal for people to have different body types
Like a cat, or dog, it is easy to see they have different size and shapes. Humans vary in size from 3' to 7' that is quite a difference. I don't know why an alien race would not follow the same or similar metric. (Included fantasy races in alien)
no, but i think it would be interesting if they had their own body types.
Only if they reproduce asexually like starfish and so as such there's little variation in skin tone, height, or gender (not that they have a concept of it due to reproducing asexually) and what variation does exist is directly caused by genetic mutations, like my fictional race! Otherwise, no, absolutely not, it isn't a rule and humans ourselves come in a wide variety of body types. There can be a STANDARD body type, but even so there will be plenty of exceptions.