Genetic Profiles

Genetic Profiles: Markings, Characteristics, and Mutations

 

Every character in Tales from Equestria has a list of markings, characteristics, and mutations known as a genetic profile. This serves two functions: providing guidance for the design of randomly generated characters and providing a basis for heritable qualities in breeding. Some of these are general and can be found on any species, while others are specific to certain species and hybrids.

Markings determine how a character's colors are arranged on their body.

Characteristics determine common physical features on the body.

Mutations are rare, unusual changes in genetics that make a character have a very unusual trait of some kind. These can affect anything from colors, patterns, physical features, even body parts. 

 

Markings
 

Markings are the color patterns born on Equestrian creatures. Some markings are so common any creature can have them, while others are based on rolled genetics. Unless specified, markings can be put anywhere on the body, including wings, tails, and horns.

 

Common Markings

 

Common markings are those that you can use freely in any design. They are never rolled in a character’s genetics, because they are always available for use! You may use as few or as many as you wish.

 

Blaze: Your character has a marking on their forehead! This can go as high as the top of the head down to the tip of the nose. It can be any shape or size, but must remain on the nose and central forehead.

 

Ears: Your character has markings on their ears! These can be any shape or size. They can be on the inside or outside of the ear, or both!

 

Eyeshadow: Your character has a marking around their eyes! This can be any shape, but cannot go far below the eye or above the eyebrows.

 

Fade: Your character has a part of the body that fades from one color to another. It cannot make any shape or pattern, but can be used anywhere to create a large gradient on any part of the body.

 

Freckles: Your character has small spots across their nose and cheeks.

 

Horn: Your character’s horn or horns are a different color than their base color.

 

Muzzle: Your character has a marking on their muzzle! It can be any shape or size. This can go halfway up the nose, but not onto the cheeks or forehead.

 

Underbelly: Your character has a marking on the underside of the neck, belly, or even the inside of the upper leg. This can be any shape or size.

 

Whole Wing: Your character’s wings have a different color than their base color.

 

 

Genetic Markings

Brindle: Your character has very small, stippled looking markings in their coat.

Mask: Your character has a marking that covers some or all of their face! This can be any size or shape.

Patchy: Your character has markings that make big, patchy blotches of color, a bit like a cow! They can have defined or spotty edges.

Skunk: Your character has a marking that runs from the back of their head down their back. It can be any shape or size. It may go onto the tail if desired. It may not go down past the midsection of the character's side.

Socks: Your character has one or more markings that look like socks! They can go as far up the leg as desired. They can make some shapes as patterns, as long as they are still mostly sock-like.

Spots: Your character has spots on their body! They can be any shape, size, or number.

Streaks: Your character has long markings along the body, a bit like horizontal stripes. They can run anywhere from nose to tail, and be any shape or size.

Stripes: Your character has stripes on their body! These can be any size, shape, or number.

Symbol: Your character has markings that look a bit like deliberate designs or pictures! They can be soft, hard, or anything in-between. They can make patterns, pictures, and shapes if desired.

Tear: Your character has a marking that goes from the eye down the face. It may be any shape or size, and may have multiple parts.

 

Species Specific Markings

 

These are markings only found in certain species, usually because they apply to species-specific features. 

Eyespots [Pegasus, Bat Pony]: These are markings on the wings that mimic the appearace of eyes. They can be any eye-like shape and can use any number of colors.

Wing Outlines [Pegasus, Bat Pony, Changeling]: These markings outline the shape of the wings. They can be any design or shape, as long as they remain on the outline of the wing. 

 

 

Characteristics

 

Characteristics are physical traits that distinguish one character from another! These are completely determined by genetics. Just because a character has the genetics for a characteristic doesn’t mean it has to be seen. It would, however, still have the possibility of passing on to offspring.

 

General Characteristics

 

General characteristics can be found on most species. 

 

Feathering: This is when equines have what boils down to "fluffy feet". It includes longer fur near the hooves at the bottom of the feet.

Natural Horns: These are 1-6 horns made of kertin. They have no branches like antlers do, but can be in a wide variety of shapes. They are only found on the face. They provide no magical abilities.

Folded Ears: This is when one or more of the creature's ears are folded due to weaker cartilage. This can be a partial fold or a complete downward drop.

Whip Tail: This is when the tale is no longer composed of a mane, but instead has the hair of the regular pelt of the creature. It is also longer than normal. It can be unadorned, like a grayhound tail, or can end in a spade or other feature. It cannot have a tuft of longer hair at the end. 

 

Species Specific Characteristics

 

These are physical traits that can only be found in certain species or hybrids.

 

Long Ears [Earth Pony, Bovine]: Your character has long ears like a donkey or zebra! The length does not affect the ability of the ears to stand up or flop down.

Ridge [Earth Pony]: Your character has an extension of their mane that runs all along their back. If your character has a non-standard tail, the hair may extend onto it, but does not have to.

Angora [Earth Pony]: Your character has a pelt that grows long and continuously. This makes them extra fluffy. They may also have curls in their pelt to give a wooly appearance or extremely long fur like found in afgan hounds.

Wild Tail [Earth Pony]: Your character has a short tail with pelt-length furth until the tip, which has long hair as in the mane. This tail resembles that of a donkey or zebra. It cannot be long like a lion's.

Unusual Horn [Unicorn]: Your character's horn is an unusual shape and/or length. Despite its shape, it is still only one, singular horn.

Cloven Hooves [Unicorn]: Your character has hooves composed of two toes instead of one!

Lion's Tail [Unicorn]: Your character has a long tail that is pelt-length and tipped with a tuft of hair like that of the mane. This tail is flexible and cannot be extremely short.

Crested Tail [Unicorn]: Your character has a long tail that is mostly pelt-length with a crest of mane running down the back, culminating in a tuft at the end. This tail is flexible and cannot be extremely short.

Long Feathers [Pegasus]: Your character has feathers that are longer than normal. This can affect select feathers or all of them.

Large Wings [Pegasus, Bat Pony]: Your character's wings are excessively large.

Mini Wings [Pegasus, Bat Pony]: Your character's wings are excessively tiny.

Facial Feathers [Pegasus]: Your character has feathers on their head or face! These feathers cannot be extremely long without the Long Feathers characteristic.

Tail Feathers [Pegasus]: Your character has tail feathers! These can replace the regular tail or be in addition to it. They cannot be very long unless the creature also has the long feather characteristic.

Winged Ears [Pegasus, Bat Pony]: Your character has wings instead of ears! They can take on all the characteristics of traditional wings.

Bat Ears [Bat Pony]: Your character has ears like a bat! These can be like the fluffy bat ears depicted in MLP:FiM or can be more like real-life bat ears.

Bat Nose [Bat Pony]: Your character has a nose shape like those of a bat! It can have all sorts of odd cartilage shapes based on bats.

Fangs [Bat Pony]: Your character has elongated canines! This is common in bats who eat fruit, insects, or drink blood.

Unusual Wing Membrane [Bat Pony, Changeling]: Your character has wing membranes that are shaped a bit...differently. This may include extensions to the membranes or even missing sections.

Dragonfly Wings [Changeling]: Each wing your character has is made of two long, rounded membranes making them resemble that of a dragonfly!

 

Butterfly Wings [Changeling]: Each wing your character has is made of two wide, decorative membranes making them resemble that of a butterfly or moth!

 

Wingless [Changeling]: Your character was born without wings! They may or may not have the associated shell as well.

 

Unusual Shell [Changeling]: Your character has an unusually shaped shell on their back.

 

Antenna [Changeling]: Your character has a pair of antennas on their forehead. These may be smooth or fuzzy.

 

Mandibles [Changeling]: Your character has visible mandibles attached to their mouth. These mouth appendages may be any shape or size as long as they are insect-like.

 

Pronged Horns [Changeling]: Your character has a pair of pronged horns. They must have at least 2 prongs on each horn.

 

Stinging Tail [Changeling]: Your character has a segmented tail that ends in a stinger. The tail must have two segments with a stinger at the end.

 

Bug Toes [Changeling]: Your character has bug-like toes or claws instead of hooves. They may be any shape or size, but must resemble those of an insect.

 

Plated [Changeling]: Your character has extra plates of chitin and/or shell on their bodies. These plates can be any shape or size, but must not resemble fish or lizard scales. 

 

Thorax Tail [Changeling]: Your character has a tail that resembles a large insect thorax. It may have any number of segments. 

 

Spines [Changeling]: Your character has extra spines on their body. These can be in any location except the head and face.

 

Fuzzy [Changeling]: Your character has parts of their body that have fuzzy fur, quite unusual for a changeling! The fur can be short to medium in length.

 

Hornless [Bovine]: Your character is missing the species characteristic horns!

 

Long Horns [Bovine]: Your character has much longer horns then normal.

 

Unusual Horns [Bovine]: Your character has horns that differ from the standard straight or slightly curved horns.

 

Hump [Bovine]: Your character has a muscular hump on their back!

 

Shaggy Coat [Bovine]: Your character has a coat with longer hair! This can be curly, straight, or anything inbetween!

 

 

Mutations

 

Mutations are rare changes in a character's genetics that give them unusual traits. These often defy what is natural or normal for a species and override existing rules of design. They are not species specific.

 

Additional Eyes: Your character has at least one additional eye, but can have as many additional eye as desired. They can be anywhere on the body.

Additional Wings: Your character has additional wings. This adds wings to parts of the body, it does not replace limbs or physical features with wings. The wings can be placed anywhere.

Hairless: Your character has bare skin on all or part of their body! Think of sphinx cats or chinese crested dogs for reference.

Long Teeth: Your character has some longer than normal teeth. They can be blunt or sharp, upper or lower.

Shine: Your character has some markings with a metalic shine to them.

Glitter: Your character has some markings that sparkle or glitter. This can be star-like or more glitter-like as desired.

Albinism: Your character is an albino! Their eyes are pink and their colors can only be composed of whites and extremely light yellows and pinks. Their eyes and skin are very sensitive to sunlight.

Melanism: Your character has melanistic colors. This means your character's design may only use blacks, grays, dark browns, and extremely dark blues and purples.

Piebaldism: Your character has piebaldism, meaning that parts of their body do not produce melatonin and appear white! This creates white patche on the body among the normal colors.

Chimera: Your character has an additional genetic profile! Parts of the body use one profile, while the rest uses the other. Distribution of the genetic profiles does not need to be even and does not need to be down the middle of the character.

Glow: Your character has parts of their body that glow with bioluminescence!

Gemstone: Your character has some characteristics shared with gemstones! Their hooves and eyes can have the texture of precious gems. Optionally, they can have the "crystal" texture as seen in MLP:FiM. They cannot have literal gems or crystals growing on them or in place of horns.

Additional Limbs: Your character has more limbs than usual! These limbs must fit what is normal for your charactr's species and genetic profile. These limbs cannot be wings!