Hairy crocodiles!

Dionysos

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Seriously.... Not even a clickbait title. :argor:

What is it with the Final Fantasy franchise and sometimes including hairy or woolly crocodiles and alligators?

Is anyone else unsettled by them?


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BaritineCroc.png
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Temple_Croc.png


The crocodile-type monsters in FFXII and FFXIV are like this, and I'm not sure if this is true of any other crocodiles elsewhere in the FF franchise or in other franchises.

In FFXIV most of the crocodiles seem to live in the frozen Coerthas region, so that might explain why being woolly would help them survive in those climes, but the region only became frozen in very recent history (in the original FFXIV those highlands were not yet frozen).

It's not just that the crocodile-type existed and they happened to create a version of the crocodile for colder climes.... The 'Temple Croc' lives in the sandy Southern Thanalan... Similarly, in FFXII some of these hairy gators exist in the desert.

They actually made it so that ALL crocodiles in these games were hairy, as if hairy crocodiles are something we should casually accept as a normal thing. This suggests that their FIRST thought when designing a crocodile creature was to make it a hairy crocodile, since normal crocodiles don't exist. I've searched for prehistoric crocodyliformes from Earth's past in an attempt to find a crocodile-type creature which might have been hairy, but I cannot find such a creature. I don't think hair has ever been in fashion with the crocodile community.


That's before we even begin to talk about the freaky Predator-style split jaw thing... Have the crocodiles split their lips in the cold or something?

So.... If anyone has a clue about these creatures, feel free to comment on them here and make it snappy!




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I actually always thought (and still see it as) it was moss. You know... like algae, but then I guess for areas like Coerthas that would make no sense?

But I'm gonna pretend it does.
 
I actually always thought (and still see it as) it was moss. You know... like algae, but then I guess for areas like Coerthas that would make no sense?

But I'm gonna pretend it does.

That's possible. I suppose it can look a bit like moss. Maybe the crocodiles were staying still waiting for prey and moss grew on them.

But some of the hairy crocodiles have white, black, or brown fur rather than green fur. One monster is even called 'Wooly Gator' so it would seem that in these contexts they have deliberately made them hairy.

I find it oddly fascinating, yet I haven't seen many people double take and question the hairy crocodiles. :D
 
I noticed this screenshot you posted @Mitsuki

ffxiv_04152019_153521_686-png.7210



Where did you encounter this crocodilian? It is remarkable in its authenticity to real world crocodilians instead of being hairy.

If this is new content, maybe the nightmare is over? :argor:
 
I had to go back to the game and search for them. They are called Velodyna Sarcosuchus! You're welcome. Anything for you and your obsession for hairy crocodiles! @Dionysos

So normal crocodiles do exist!

If you wanna pay them a visit, I even took a screenshot of the map for you. Have at it. Enjoy!


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As for the topic... uh no, no I can't say I've ever wondered why they Square Enix have a thing for hairy crocodiles. They kinda look like moss-covered logs, do they? Maybe that was the point? But it would've made more sense to place them in Gridania's environment in oppose to Coerthas - if we were to go with the camaflouge theory angle.

Huh, beats me!
 
Velodyna Sarcosuchus

Interesting!

They've gone down a palaeontological route again then. The Sarcosuchus is an extinct crocodilian from the Cretaceous period (sharing its time with dinosaurs).... It was one of the largest crocodiles ever.

Since it was named after a real animal, maybe that is why they have kept it scaly.

It'll be far too big and scary for hair, even in Final Fantasy!
 
Nobody:
Literally nobody at all:
Square Enix:
Polyphemos Bromios 06_04_2020 17_36_26.jpg

Polyphemos Bromios 06_04_2020 17_35_59.jpg



Yeah...
I encountered more hairy crocodiles today in the Lakeland region in FFXIV: Shadowbringers. It seems that even the First isn’t free of this peculiar freak of evolution!

This hairy crocodile was named Proterosuchus (meaning something like 'before the crocodiles') which is actually named after a genuine genus of archosaur with some crocodilian features from the Early Triassic. I guess they had a bit of a funny lip or overbite (though not a freaky split one) but to my knowledge they were not hairy! :argor:

Proterosuchus_BW.jpg
 
I think the more unsettling part is the face plate opening up like that! What's with the face?

As for hairy crocs... I agree with Moss/Algae. I think a jumbo sized croc with a load of moss and/or algae stuck to it would make for a pretty epic boss actually! It could show some serious age and some wear/tear from it's past battles.

Would the 'hair' get in the way of basking if it needed to sun like real crocs? Would it help retain heat, and thus explain why they could live in fridged temps? :hmm:

Interesting nonetheless! :lew:


:flappyfeet:<-- At least he could survive, I think.
 
I think the more unsettling part is the face plate opening up like that! What's with the face?

As for hairy crocs... I agree with Moss/Algae. I think a jumbo sized croc with a load of moss and/or algae stuck to it would make for a pretty epic boss actually! It could show some serious age and some wear/tear from it's past battles.

Would the 'hair' get in the way of basking if it needed to sun like real crocs? Would it help retain heat, and thus explain why they could live in fridged temps? :hmm:

Interesting nonetheless! :lew:


:flappyfeet:<-- At least he could survive, I think.

Yeah... That face is nightmare fuel. I'm no zoologist or palaeontologist but I don’t know of any precedents for a split upper jaw like that in a crocodilian. Or, you know, anything really...

Coming to think of it not all of the ‘hairy’ variety of these Final Fantasy XIV crocodiles live near water. Sure, the general regions might contain water in them (Lakeland, Coerthas, etc) but the monsters are often fought far from the water, up in the mountains or in the forests. I think FFXII is different in featuring them in locations like the Garamsythe Waterway.

So maybe some of these are crocodilians which filled other niches and couldn’t bask in the sun like a regular croc and swim etc. Maybe these ones had to adapt to other locations and other niches. A bit like prehistoric crocodilians (Pseudosuchians) which used to be significantly more diverse during the Triassic in particular.

There were proto-crocodilians with long legs capable of walking/running or others with spikes and armoured plating. Even calling them proto-crocodilians is stretching it but then again these Final Fantasy crocs are stretching things too.

Typothorax_coccinarum.jpg


Prestosuchus.jpg
 
I was digging into the Encyclopedia Eorzea volumes and found this:

20210415_174706 (2).jpg


So it turns out that we have confirmation from the official lorecrafters that this is in fact hair and not moss! At least in the Final Fantasy XIV universe.

As suspected, this wool evolved so that crocodiles could survive in a snowy climate. My only question about that is that they must have been quite snappy with their evolution... The Coerthas region wasn't meant to be covered in snow until the Seventh Umbral Calamity which destroyed 1.0.

One of the greatest mysteries of our age has been solved!

Although it doesn't really explain why Square Enix decided it would be great to put hair on crocodiles before needing to justify it with lore. It might just remain one of those quirky things they do sometimes.
 
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