Is There A Connection Between The Viera And Garif?

[Tifon-Shivar Diamondheart]

Im speaking for and from info gained in ff 12 I believe that like someone said before it half right I think that the Garifs and the Viera do mate because we remember they say humans are not allowed and that Village nor the Woods and the garif are not human so I believe if the child is born girl female it is Viera if it is born male it is Garif and if you think of it if you look at the map you'll notice that they are literally right across on opposite sides of the continent and also where the henn minea are there are nearly none of the fiends and Monsters in that area so they may meet there and that's maybe they're mating ground cuz that is technically in the middle cuz thats the ozmone plains

 

[Dionysos]

Im speaking for and from info gained in ff 12 I believe that like someone said before it half right I think that the Garifs and the Viera do mate because we remember they say humans are not allowed and that Village nor the Woods and the garif are not human so I believe if the child is born girl female it is Viera if it is born male it is Garif and if you think of it if you look at the map you'll notice that they are literally right across on opposite sides of the continent and also where the henn minea are there are nearly none of the fiends and Monsters in that area so they may meet there and that's maybe they're mating ground cuz that is technically in the middle cuz thats the ozmone plains

Personally, I feel like it is only tempting to link the Garif with the Viera because of their social quirks concerning gender roles. Only the Garif males are seen in the village, and the unseen females are cited to live elsewhere. Likewise, only the female Viera are seen and the males are cited to live elsewhere. Since the sexes of both races live separately, I can understand the thinking behind connecting them.

However, Garif look nothing like Viera. Their muscular build and hairy arms are more apelike. To me they seem more like sasquatches in Cubone masks. The Garif also appear to have goblin-like ears just behind the bone mask and overlapping with the antler aspect of their mask. The Viera, by contrast, are humanoid bunnies, as we know.

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Additionally, we know that male Viera exist, but are just hidden away. Viera are also not supposed to leave the woods (those who do are outcasts or treated with suspicion), so if the Garif and Viera do mate, it is more likely that the Garif come to the forest rather than the Viera leave the forest and meet them halfway.

FFXIV develops the idea so that male Viera act as sort of border guards, high up in the trees, protecting the boundaries of the forest and ensuring no trespassers enter, while the women do everything else. Males only meet up with the women every five years to mate to continue the species.

I believe something similar about the FFXII race is implied, if not stated outright. It has been a while since I last played the game so I am not familiar with individual NPC dialogue in Eruyt Village or elsewhere.

 

[Tifon-Shivar Diamondheart]

Well if yo view it in terms of attraction and chemistry it is still a match.. From the name viera. Is a very feminine and majestic word like the female viera.. Yet they also have qualties and characteristics of a females in most species.. Smaller finer but shaper claws and or nails and other things of the sort. The Garif. Is a strong tough more masculine and intimidating word. They to a re built like males. More hair or fur. Taller stronger. Etc... If u think about it the garif. Are the sons of the neverending desert and plains that protect the woods and the viera are the daughters of the woods. The opposite attract and remember the wood are alive who is to say that. The wood dosent outreach her arms just for this particular time. Amd reason... What u think??

 

[Dionysos]

Well if yo view it in terms of attraction and chemistry it is still a match.. From the name viera. Is a very feminine and majestic word like the female viera.. Yet they also have qualties and characteristics of a females in most species.. Smaller finer but shaper claws and or nails and other things of the sort. The Garif. Is a strong tough more masculine and intimidating word. They to a re built like males. More hair or fur. Taller stronger. Etc... If u think about it the garif. Are the sons of the neverending desert and plains that protect the woods and the viera are the daughters of the woods. The opposite attract and remember the wood are alive who is to say that. The wood dosent outreach her arms just for this particular time. Amd reason... What u think??

It's possible that there is a sexual dimorphism of sorts to account for their different builds, sizes and features.
The Garif are so mysterious that there probably is space for headcanons on them along these lines, if you like. At the end of the day, their faces are covered so we don't really have a clear impression about what they actually look like. They could, after all, have leporine-like noses underneath those bone masks. They could be very hairy rabbits with short, goblin-like ears.

I'm still not sure about the Viera leaving the wood. We know that some did (Fran being the main one, but we do meet others), but these are for the most part treated as outcasts. It would seem unlikely to me that the Viera who remain pure in the eyes of their sacred wood would habitually leave it in order to mate.
Unless, if we may consider that idea, they consider the act of mating itself to be impure. Therefore they decide to do it away from the eyes of the woods (which is a sacred space). If so, they may be granted a temporary reprieve to go out, get pregnant, and then return to the purity of their home without severing their connection with the the wood. That would make sense, I suppose, since the Viera were meant to be in constant communication with the forest. If they were to mate within the woods then they run the risk of the entire ecosystem of Golmore Jungle listening in, which could be a bit embarrassing for every living thing there.

 

[Tifon-Shivar Diamondheart]

I can agree with that.. I believe we just uncovered another question needing answers...... Are we to assume male viera have never left or been outcasted from the wood

 

[Dionysos]

I can agree with that.. I believe we just uncovered another question needing answers...... Are we to assume male viera have never left or been outcasted from the wood

I think that they are living in the wood too, but are high up in the trees and/or at the borders of the forest to make sure that nobody trespasses. That is how they are described in FFXIV, and this depiction of Viera culture is directly stemmed from FFXII in terms of lore, although I am not aware of their role in FFXII being explained in so many words.

I believe the male Viera act unseen. Probably shooting to kill upon detecting a threat rather than descending to talk to any interlopers. They are not outcasts as they serve important social functions (this protective function, if correct, but also their use for mating). It is curious to consider that all of the verified Viera outcasts that we are aware of in the game are female. Fran and the other Viera women who have left the wood and joined the world at large, living in the grand cities or travelling as sky pirates, etc, are the only outcasts we are aware of. We do not see any male Viera who have shunned the Viera way in this manner. This may be because they are 100% devout, rebel more rarely, or, if your initial post is correct, they are in fact the Garif who live outside of the wood anyway (but within their own accepted social norms).

It could also be that the males make up only a tiny amount of the percentage of the overall Viera population. That way there may be only a small, manageable number of males out there, with the women essentially running everything else.

Maybe Square Enix just never really wanted to create a male bunny humanoid model, instead preferring to nurture the Amazon-inspired aesthetics and theming of the Viera as a gynocentric species of warriors adept at archery.