Niche Headcanons!

[jaxpsylla]

what are some headcanons you guys have for the world of niche? can be anything; genes, predators and prey, plants, etc. and why!

heres some of my own headcanons:

big body is big, but toxic body is bigger! living in an environment where you have virtually no predators or competition for food probably leads to some serious weight gain, and i imagine the swamps are quite cold from all those rainy days, so some blubber would do them good as well. theyre not necessarily stronger, but probably harder to move if they decide to lay on you. i also like to imagine toxic body nichelings are mostly hairless, with the exception of manes and a thin layer of peach fuzz. thinking like a seal type texture?

when drawing water body, i like to move the gills down to the chest/lung area. idk why it just makes more sense to me, and looks better on ocs. i also add a LOT of fins and other stuff to make them more fishy. like toxic body i imagine their fur is quite short for better swimming, but maybe not quite as short? maybe like an otter instead of a seal yaknow.

for heat body, i like to interpret it as these funky frills that can let out/close up their very, very hot cores. the fans are really hard, maybe similar to the shell on armor body (but weaker, cause they dont have defense) and the heat radiates from underneath them. they can fan out or close up, and can be used to intimidate predators or show emotions and stuff. the underside of the fans can probably burn something if touched directly, which is how it melts the snow around them.

lastly, i really like drawing armor body nichelings as literal armadillos. their undersides are unprotected, but theyre really good at curling up quickly to protect themselves from hungry predators. usually their shells extend to their tails (so they can fully cover their underside) but i got lazy with this drawing lol. an idea my partner came up with a long time ago was the idea that the underside of their necks was their weakest point, very fleshy and soft in comparison to the rest of them. (if youre wondering where the manes would be, they would poke out from under the shell on the neck, heres an example:)

thats all for now, might do more later. let me know yours and let me know what you think of my hcs !!!!

[Stranger]

On 9/17/2024 at 6:54 AM, jaxpsylla said:

what are some headcanons you guys have for the world of niche? can be anything; genes, predators and prey, plants, etc. and why!

heres some of my own headcanons:

big body is big, but toxic body is bigger! living in an environment where you have virtually no predators or competition for food probably leads to some serious weight gain, and i imagine the swamps are quite cold from all those rainy days, so some blubber would do them good as well. theyre not necessarily stronger, but probably harder to move if they decide to lay on you. i also like to imagine toxic body nichelings are mostly hairless, with the exception of manes and a thin layer of peach fuzz. thinking like a seal type texture?

when drawing water body, i like to move the gills down to the chest/lung area. idk why it just makes more sense to me, and looks better on ocs. i also add a LOT of fins and other stuff to make them more fishy. like toxic body i imagine their fur is quite short for better swimming, but maybe not quite as short? maybe like an otter instead of a seal yaknow.

for heat body, i like to interpret it as these funky frills that can let out/close up their very, very hot cores. the fans are really hard, maybe similar to the shell on armor body (but weaker, cause they dont have defense) and the heat radiates from underneath them. they can fan out or close up, and can be used to intimidate predators or show emotions and stuff. the underside of the fans can probably burn something if touched directly, which is how it melts the snow around them.

lastly, i really like drawing armor body nichelings as literal armadillos. their undersides are unprotected, but theyre really good at curling up quickly to protect themselves from hungry predators. usually their shells extend to their tails (so they can fully cover their underside) but i got lazy with this drawing lol. an idea my partner came up with a long time ago was the idea that the underside of their necks was their weakest point, very fleshy and soft in comparison to the rest of them. (if youre wondering where the manes would be, they would poke out from under the shell on the neck, heres an example:)

thats all for now, might do more later. let me know yours and let me know what you think of my hcs !!!!

Your head canons actually make so much sense!!! I tend not to have a huge amount of headcanons, I just think of the game as it is lol but I'd love to hear more of yours!! 

[jaxpsylla]

heres some more !!

i know the in-game models show the bottom part of the beak on platypus and bird beak, but i like the idea that the beak part only takes up the top of the snout. the bottom part of the snout is still canid/felid like? with teeth for maybe chewing or something. idk its just a design choice for when im drawing

this ones a little more silly, but nichelings with digging trunk can suck in their nose to scrunch it up. an even sillier idea is that they can actually make sounds while doing this! it makes for a great way to communicate, or even make songs in their 'cultures', but i also like to imagine it sounds like an accordion, which is really funny. id also like to mention that female digging trunks have tusks!

i like to compare venomous fangs to snakes who have fangs like that in real life, and i imagine that the venomous part actually pops out from behind their real teeth, making a sort of fake out, possibly intimidating appearance? maybe some nichelings with long fangs can make others believe they have venomous fangs when they dont. i imagine, like real snakes, they have venomous glands, and would probably not want to waste their venom on something small like a rabbit, so they keep the venomous ones hidden.

this one is more of a story/world building thing, but when i imagine a nicheling with big body using their strength, its in the form of strong kicks. using their body to attack is hard for me to imagine? like are they throwing themselves at the enemy, body slamming them? idk but i like the idea of them just having really strong legs to kick at their enemies, or even better, strong paws that they can use to stomp.

lastly, this one doesnt have an image, but i have a few ideas with paw types. runners leg and berry paw have small, retractable claws that can be used to defend themselves in a pinch. maybe not enough to deal damage, but enough to distract their enemy. i also like to think digging paw and bat wing can claw pretty well too, considering theyre both pretty sharp-looking. (i mean, if a digging paw can pull up roots from the ground, surely it can pierce the skin?) this is once again more of a world building thing, most of my headcanons are. me and my partner share a huge pantheon so we have a lot of niche stories.

[jaxpsylla]

also once again PLEASE feel free to share some of your ideas if you have any!! or opinions on my ideas!! i love feedback and discussion !!!!

[jaxpsylla]

i made another one really quickly (this time poorly drawn in ms paint with a mouse because im on my pc rn) but i wanted to explain how i think the fishing tail works because its always been an interesting concept to me. its kind of hard to see the actual model, im pretty sure its meant to look like an acorn as a lure? but i like to imagine its similar to an angler fish, with a light that attracts the fish. the three "sharp" parts on the outside work like a shell that closes the light when they need to (if theyre not currently fishing, or trying to camouflage or whatever) and the "barbs" underneath are for larger fish. (when catching little fish, usually a nicheling can scoop them out of the water once theyre close enough. for bigger fish, who might try to eat the lure, they will get their mouth caught on the barbs, like hooks on a fishing line.)

heres some examples of fishing tail ive drawn on a few ocs:

(you might notice i also enjoy giving the fishing tail a striped pattern despite their actual pattern/color)