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Description

NOTE: A lot of the text in the sheet will be repeated in the description, this is in case some may find it more easy to read in descriptions and to just have everything collected into one. Sorry if it's annoying to read the same thing twice.

EDIT 25/7-19 : Added new sections on their clothing and how they can remain intact after shifting, some extra stuff about female horns, and some more stuff on imprinting and how it makes them powerful.

EDIT 3/9 - 19 : Added new section called "Language & Linguistics" about the linguistics of their language and names.

EDIT 21/12 - 23 : It's been decanonized for a while but the latin name of all my species are not canon anymore! (because they're wildly inaccurate, duh lol)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ThePrimoverse

Common name - Shapeshifter
Kin - Mimic

Recorded amount - 20-25~ per planet
Age (of discovery) - Unknown
Homeplanet - Eiora
[Eioras status is unknown seeing as the planet can no longer be found due to its location being lost. Though it is heavily theorized that the planet and its many doppelgangers is nowadays inhabitable.]

[All that is known on Eioras habitat and biomes was that is was mainly consisting of extreme hills and mountains with a large variety in biomes, ranging from arid deserts, taiga, montane forests, savannas and more.]

- STATUS -
Heavily endangered, and dangerously close to extinction. Efforts of reviving the species are being made, and it’s nowadays a protected species.

Average life-span - 80~ years (20 Gyres)
Average height - 5’9 (Average amongst diverse sample pool. Heights will vary depending on habitat.)
Habitat
Does not mind any habitat, very good at adapting to their environments. Able to blend in with crowds, but not in their base form. Most shapeshifters nowadays know how endangered and hunted they are, so they tend to stay away from people and only enter cities while in the form of an appropriate animal.

Hostility
Shapeshifters are very kind and caring, and accepts anyone into their family or clan. They rarely get hostile with strangers, however if they’re threatened or their close family is, they won’t hesitate to try and harm you.
They do not want to harm anyone, but they will if they have to. A formal suggestion from us all is to not piss them off. Keep your skin away from their Sting.

Diet
Omnivores. They can eat a bit of everything, which fluctuates depending on what form they are in and what form they prefer. If they for example favoritize shifting into herbivores, they’ll be more inclined to eat greens in their human form. If they prefer predators, they’ll eat more meat, etc.

Reproduction
Shapeshifters have one 2-month season per year during spring, that lasts from march through april. Their seasons can often get a little confused if they are traveling from planet to planet via ship. For example there are times they don’t get a season for many many years, and other times where a season could last for a good 10 months (these measurements depend on what kind of system they use on various planets).
They are monogamous and will remain loyal to one mate throughout their life. They fall in love with a person extremely easy.*
Normal maternity for a baby is 9 months. Very common for a shapeshifter couple to have a large amount of children.
*more on this in the overview

Language & Linguistics
Primarily, Shapeshifters nowadays speak Terran (also known as "English" to humans) or any language native to the area they live in, but before they began to spread out and drop in numbers, the Shapeshifters were the first founders of the language known as Primoric; the first language developed that is the root behind all other languages spoken between humanoids. Shapeshifters often speak Primoric between one another, but as time went on they had to adapt to their environments and began picking up other languages that developed.

Shapeshifters naturally have a sense for speech, where they can easily learn and speak new languages. They later began speaking Terran alongside Primoric, and began adopting in terran names in favor of their primorian names. It's almost guaranteed that a shapeshifter that you meet has two names; one Primorian name given to them due to their background with primoric, and a second name in terran or in a language from the planet they originate from.

Overview

Shapeshifters are a mimic-type humanoid that is able to shapeshift into any animal of their choosing. The animals that they can shift into varies depending on where they’re from. If there are shapeshifters on Earth, the northern shapeshifters may only shift into northern animals such as wolves or elk, while southern shapeshifters shift into southern animals such as cheetahs or rhinos.
This also varies depending on the planet they’re on, meaning if they are on a planet that has more extreme animals such as griffins or manticores, they too are a shifting option. And if they are on a planet of purely non-earth creatures, they will only stick to them, etc.
This is called Imprinting, where a shapeshifter will closely study the behaviors of an animal and live amongst them until they are able to shift to one. The amount of time it takes for them to study one varies, but it normally takes a week or two of careful observing.

This imprinting instinct is partly hereditary, where for example the father of a shapeshifter child can pass on his imprinted form onto his child when it is conceived. However, the child must be taught how to act as that creature by their father, since they have not studied the creature’s behaviors as the parent has.

Their shapeshifting abilities doesn't necessarily make them powerful; it's their constant traveling between countries or other planets/worlds that lets them imprint on powerful creatures that really makes them a threat. A shifter that can only shapeshift into a deer or a cat is significantly less of a threat than say a wandering rogue shapeshifter that has access to shapeshifting into a Dragon, Basilisk, Leviathan, Kaiju, or any other highly noteworthy creature.

The way that shapeshifting works is extremely complicated, and even today it’s extremely difficult for scientists to figure out how shapeshifters have the ability and energy to do what they do.
By closely studying shapeshifters as they transform from one form to another, it’s been discovered that when a shapeshifter enters the state of shifting, they break down their entire physical structure down to the molecules, gather and/or dispose of unknown matter from outside the material universe as they’re in this state, and rebuild their bodies into the shape of their chosen creature all in a matter of seconds.
How these creatures gather the energy to do this is beyond anyone’s understanding. There are many working theories, such as wormholes, pocket dimensions or some kind of magic. Though figuring it out in detail is in fact impossible.

How they are able to retain their memories after this is also unknown. Since memories are only tiny electrical signals in a creature’s brain, logically they would all disappear once a shapeshifter shifts. Though this is not the case for shapeshifters, and the reason why is unknown. It is theorized that they have some form of higher power brain where the signals are temporarily stored within the boundaries of the universe, and put back together as they finish shifting into their other form. This however is only speculation.

How they retain their clothing after shapeshifting is a little more understood. Shapeshifters only wear clothing made from Organic materials. Material that originally comes from animals, such as wool, leather, fur, silk, and so on. These materials are shifting-friendly, as they match their biological structure well enough to be used and absorbed by their bodies in the shifting process without being rejected. Materials such as cotton, rubber, spandex, plastic, anything synthetic/manmade and non-biodegradable will be rejected by their bodies, meaning once they shift back into their human form, they'll lose their clothes.

Any metal-based jewelry is a no-go, however there is one metal known that is shifter-friendly, known as Goralite. For some odd reason, goralite does not seem to interfere with their shifting, which may be because of the goralite's remarkable ability to be "programmable" and manipulated into many different shapes, such as space suit armor that adapts itself after the wearer's body. The working theory is that its programmable shape goes beyond just technical, and can adapt itself to work together with organic material such as a shapeshifter's body.

It takes a ton of energy for a shapeshifter to hold their form, and they cannot hold it forever. The bigger the form is, the less time and energy they have in order to remain that way. This however can be practiced, and if they continue to shift regularly throughout their life, they are able to hold their form for longer periods of time.

Dragons are considered an Apex form amongst shapeshifters, and only the Alpha of the clan is allowed to shapeshift into one. The dragon form is the only known animal form that is not hereditary from parent to child, and must be earned.

Their homeplanet Eiora is mainly made up of very rocky and tall biomes, with extreme hills and mountains stretching far up into the sky. Shapeshifters lived in these mountains in caves and crevices and shared their planet with a wide array of other creatures. However, at the top of each mountain lived a Dragon known as the clan's Apex. When the upcoming Alpha of the clan is of age, he or she will climb the mountain and join the Apex. There, the shapeshifter will be judged by the Apex to see if they are worthy to take on the form of one. If yes, they will live together with the Apex for a fortnight, following and studying the life of a dragon until they are ready to shapeshift into one.

Once they are able to, they will go back down and join their clan as the old Alpha steps down to welcome in the new one. Normally there is only one Alpha per clan where the firstborn of the current alpha will be the future leader. However if the clan is very large and requires more maintenance and surveillance, more than one alpha can appear, all coming from the same family.

The more they shift into one specific form, the more their base form will begin to look like that creature. Their body will start taking slight “shortcuts” whenever they shift, as it realizes which form is the most common for them. If they continue shapeshifting into that specific form over longer periods of time, slight traits of that creature will become visible in their appearance.
These changes will also impact their general behavior. For example if they prefer feline animals, they may begin acting more cat-like by purring, stroking up against people, sitting higher up like on the backrest of a couch, etc.
If they prefer for example larger dragons they may be more inclined to stealing shiny objects, feeling a burning sensation in their throat as if it’s fire, etc.

Shapeshifters have sort of a “second puberty”. First one is as normal; they have a growth-spurt at around the age of 12-14 depending on how early/late it is, but they also have a second one at around the age of 19-21. At this point their muscles will increase in mass, their height will increase, their horns will appear and begin growing, and they will generally become more mature in their behavior.
This is most likely due to that this is the general age where a shapeshifter is old enough to leave their home to pursue their own life, as is a Shapeshifter “tradition” among their race. They are given the strength and courage to survive on their own, so that they may choose whether they want to either leave their clan and become independent to start up their own family and eventual clan, or they may stay in their clan as an adult and leader that helps take care and guide future generations and will be guardians of their families.

Shapeshifters fall in love easily. They’re pretty emotional, and get easily attached to certain companions and will remain loyal to you unless you break their trust.
During mating seasons, the feelings they may feel for another person will become enhanced, giving them more courage to approach their potential partner. They always approach the person closest to them who they feel romantically attached to.
Between their first and second “puberty” (between the ages 15-20), it’s more likely for the shapeshifter to switch between partners because of the fluctuating emotions experienced. They could potentially have multiple partners, or doubt their emotions to their current partner eventhough they are in love with them. This behavior is normal, and almost every shapeshifter experiences these doubts around this age. If they’re single, they will most likely experiment with many partners, some even of the same gender, before they settle down.
Don’t worry, however. If your shapeshifter partner is around 20 and goes through their second “puberty”, this behaviour will begin to fade and they’ll be back to normal and remain loyal to you alone again.

Their Sting is a sharp, bone-like defense mechanism placed in the tip of their tail that shapeshifters use to defend themselves only if absolutely necessary. If they need to use it, their skin on the tip of their tail will peel back and fold out the stinger. This sting is covered in a heavily poisonous substance that, if injected into someone, will result in death within 45-60 seconds.
This poison is one of the main reasons they are hunted and so heavily endangered. Not only do hunters want their horns, teeth or other assets, they also strive to get their poison as it is currently one of the most dangerous liquids known today. With some tweaking, this poison is one of the most valuable and expensive items sold on the Invisible Market.
It’s often been referred to as the Kingslayers kiss, as it was once the poison used by a woman who was the lover of one of the previous incarnations of the King core, Mori. She had dabbled the poison over her lips and kissed the king goodbye, only to send him into an early death minutes later, clearly an intentional assassination. From this event, it’s also been known as the “Poison that killed Death”.
To protect their poison sack, a Shapeshifters ribcage is more extended downwards than for a regular human.

They are able to understand animals to a certain extent, and is able to communicate with them. They cannot control animals, but they can command them in order to avoid getting into dangerous situations with larger predators and enemies. There's no "spoken language" between shifter and animal, but more of a sensation and instinct that lets them communicate. Shapeshifters can mimic animal noises almost perfectly only with their mouths in order to communicate, known as "Perfect Pitch". This lets them understand and communicate with animals, but also distract and confuse hunters.

Male horns tend to be more valuable than female horns. This is most likely due to the fact that female shapeshifters do shed their horns periodically, while males don't. Which makes male horns much rarer to come across, as you would have to capture a male shapeshifter and saw their horns off, as opposed to finding a pair of shedded female horns lying on the ground somewhere.

Shapeshifters are known for having a very sacred and respected relationship with life and death, seeing it not as the loss of someone, but more of a permanent shapeshifting into the next stage of life. Shapeshifters believe no one truly does die; much like their abilities, their physical matter gets repurposed into new life. When a shapeshifter passes away, they are buried with the seed of a native Eioran tree (called an Atlas tree) in their mouth. This seed will use the body of the deceased to grow and flourish. If you see a lone Atlas tree in the wild where they normally do not grow, it is likely a shapeshifter is buried there.
They believe their spiritual lifeforce (their soul in a way, but more so their general lifeforce without the consciousness) doesn’t go to an afterlife, but gets reborn into a creature of the same species they chose as their representative, aka the one they shapeshifted the most into and shares physical traits with in their past life.

Shapeshifters are generally considered the native/indigenous people of the Primoverse due to them being known as the oldest species and the origin behind most other species that came after.

They can get stuck in transformation. It's a very ugly and horrible experience for the shapeshifter. It often happens when they're shifting into something and it get halted by something, or that they attempt to shift into another animal while they haven't finished shifting into their first choice. The result backfires immediately, and becomes a horrid amalgamate of two or more creatures. When this happens they lose control of their shifting and cannot shift into anything. however it's reversible by hitting their lower chest.
As a defense mechanism to protect their poison sack from rupturing, hitting them in their lower chest-area will make their bodies react to the risk of rupturing the sack, and immediately shift back into their human form to avoid danger.

Meaning behind natural behaviours:

Tails

Curled - Comfortable. Usually when they're around friends of family that they can trust.
Slow wag - Neutral, basically the "default" movement of the tail. It's never really properly still.
Fast wag/Twitching - Agitated/stressed. If this happens you must watch out for their sting, that could show up at any moment to kill you. Shield yourself!
Shaking - Sensing something threatening, or something dangerous nearby. If your fellow shapeshifter does this you'll need to be weary.
Stiff - Scared. Usually curls up between their legs similar to a dog's tail.
Tip of tail wagging - Focused/listening. Usually when listening to something interesting that they want to remember or when stalking something/someone.
Tip of tail twitching frantically - Can be of mixed emotions, but it's common for frustration. In some cases even sexual frustration.
Laying it around someone - Sign of affection. Can do this to both family members and significant others.
Dragging after them - Sadness or illness. Could also be of fatigue.
Raised up high - This is a sign of pride, or leadership. Back when shapeshifters lived in clans, the alpha of the clan would keep their tail raised high to signal both enemies and allies that they’re the boss. It's actually a sign of protection as well, by signalling attackers that they should attack them and not their clan, so they'll have time to escape while the enemies attack their leader. Nowadays this can be seen in families, with the father or mother having their tail raised up by instinct because they are the protector of the family.

General behaviours
Putting palms together with another shapeshifter/person - A sign of trust. A gesture of loyalty, to show the one in front of them they're not there to harm them. If they hold up their palm with spread fingers, place your hand against it to show them you're a friend, not a foe.
Butting eachother - It may look violent, but in most cases it's harmless. They do this in order to build a stronger friendship, by grabbing each others hands and butting their foreheads and horns together in order to tip each other. The one that falls to the side first loses, but there's no actual penalty for losing. It's simply a game!
Stroking thumb over your hand - An affectionate sign, showing they have an interest in you. It's sort of like a confession, but more mild and hard to notice if you don't pay attention.
Stroking tail-tip against your cheek - A sign of affection as well, though through all forms of affection. This happens between friends, between family, and between lovers.

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ADDITIONAL LINKS

None yet!

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[This is not an adoptable species. You're free to reference them when making your own species, but please do not copy/trace/steal anything.]
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Other species' reference sheets:

ALL SPECIES

Description

NOTE: A lot of the text in the sheet will be repeated in the description, this is in case some may find it more easy to read in descriptions and to just have everything collected into one. Sorry if it's annoying to read the same thing twice.

EDIT 25/7-19 : Added new sections on their clothing and how they can remain intact after shifting, some extra stuff about female horns, and some more stuff on imprinting and how it makes them powerful.

EDIT 3/9 - 19 : Added new section called "Language & Linguistics" about the linguistics of their language and names.

EDIT 21/12 - 23 : It's been decanonized for a while but the latin name of all my species are not canon anymore! (because they're wildly inaccurate, duh lol)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ThePrimoverse

Common name - Shapeshifter
Kin - Mimic

Recorded amount - 20-25~ per planet
Age (of discovery) - Unknown
Homeplanet - Eiora
[Eioras status is unknown seeing as the planet can no longer be found due to its location being lost. Though it is heavily theorized that the planet and its many doppelgangers is nowadays inhabitable.]

[All that is known on Eioras habitat and biomes was that is was mainly consisting of extreme hills and mountains with a large variety in biomes, ranging from arid deserts, taiga, montane forests, savannas and more.]

- STATUS -
Heavily endangered, and dangerously close to extinction. Efforts of reviving the species are being made, and it’s nowadays a protected species.

Average life-span - 80~ years (20 Gyres)
Average height - 5’9 (Average amongst diverse sample pool. Heights will vary depending on habitat.)
Habitat
Does not mind any habitat, very good at adapting to their environments. Able to blend in with crowds, but not in their base form. Most shapeshifters nowadays know how endangered and hunted they are, so they tend to stay away from people and only enter cities while in the form of an appropriate animal.

Hostility
Shapeshifters are very kind and caring, and accepts anyone into their family or clan. They rarely get hostile with strangers, however if they’re threatened or their close family is, they won’t hesitate to try and harm you.
They do not want to harm anyone, but they will if they have to. A formal suggestion from us all is to not piss them off. Keep your skin away from their Sting.

Diet
Omnivores. They can eat a bit of everything, which fluctuates depending on what form they are in and what form they prefer. If they for example favoritize shifting into herbivores, they’ll be more inclined to eat greens in their human form. If they prefer predators, they’ll eat more meat, etc.

Reproduction
Shapeshifters have one 2-month season per year during spring, that lasts from march through april. Their seasons can often get a little confused if they are traveling from planet to planet via ship. For example there are times they don’t get a season for many many years, and other times where a season could last for a good 10 months (these measurements depend on what kind of system they use on various planets).
They are monogamous and will remain loyal to one mate throughout their life. They fall in love with a person extremely easy.*
Normal maternity for a baby is 9 months. Very common for a shapeshifter couple to have a large amount of children.
*more on this in the overview

Language & Linguistics
Primarily, Shapeshifters nowadays speak Terran (also known as "English" to humans) or any language native to the area they live in, but before they began to spread out and drop in numbers, the Shapeshifters were the first founders of the language known as Primoric; the first language developed that is the root behind all other languages spoken between humanoids. Shapeshifters often speak Primoric between one another, but as time went on they had to adapt to their environments and began picking up other languages that developed.

Shapeshifters naturally have a sense for speech, where they can easily learn and speak new languages. They later began speaking Terran alongside Primoric, and began adopting in terran names in favor of their primorian names. It's almost guaranteed that a shapeshifter that you meet has two names; one Primorian name given to them due to their background with primoric, and a second name in terran or in a language from the planet they originate from.

Overview

Shapeshifters are a mimic-type humanoid that is able to shapeshift into any animal of their choosing. The animals that they can shift into varies depending on where they’re from. If there are shapeshifters on Earth, the northern shapeshifters may only shift into northern animals such as wolves or elk, while southern shapeshifters shift into southern animals such as cheetahs or rhinos.
This also varies depending on the planet they’re on, meaning if they are on a planet that has more extreme animals such as griffins or manticores, they too are a shifting option. And if they are on a planet of purely non-earth creatures, they will only stick to them, etc.
This is called Imprinting, where a shapeshifter will closely study the behaviors of an animal and live amongst them until they are able to shift to one. The amount of time it takes for them to study one varies, but it normally takes a week or two of careful observing.

This imprinting instinct is partly hereditary, where for example the father of a shapeshifter child can pass on his imprinted form onto his child when it is conceived. However, the child must be taught how to act as that creature by their father, since they have not studied the creature’s behaviors as the parent has.

Their shapeshifting abilities doesn't necessarily make them powerful; it's their constant traveling between countries or other planets/worlds that lets them imprint on powerful creatures that really makes them a threat. A shifter that can only shapeshift into a deer or a cat is significantly less of a threat than say a wandering rogue shapeshifter that has access to shapeshifting into a Dragon, Basilisk, Leviathan, Kaiju, or any other highly noteworthy creature.

The way that shapeshifting works is extremely complicated, and even today it’s extremely difficult for scientists to figure out how shapeshifters have the ability and energy to do what they do.
By closely studying shapeshifters as they transform from one form to another, it’s been discovered that when a shapeshifter enters the state of shifting, they break down their entire physical structure down to the molecules, gather and/or dispose of unknown matter from outside the material universe as they’re in this state, and rebuild their bodies into the shape of their chosen creature all in a matter of seconds.
How these creatures gather the energy to do this is beyond anyone’s understanding. There are many working theories, such as wormholes, pocket dimensions or some kind of magic. Though figuring it out in detail is in fact impossible.

How they are able to retain their memories after this is also unknown. Since memories are only tiny electrical signals in a creature’s brain, logically they would all disappear once a shapeshifter shifts. Though this is not the case for shapeshifters, and the reason why is unknown. It is theorized that they have some form of higher power brain where the signals are temporarily stored within the boundaries of the universe, and put back together as they finish shifting into their other form. This however is only speculation.

How they retain their clothing after shapeshifting is a little more understood. Shapeshifters only wear clothing made from Organic materials. Material that originally comes from animals, such as wool, leather, fur, silk, and so on. These materials are shifting-friendly, as they match their biological structure well enough to be used and absorbed by their bodies in the shifting process without being rejected. Materials such as cotton, rubber, spandex, plastic, anything synthetic/manmade and non-biodegradable will be rejected by their bodies, meaning once they shift back into their human form, they'll lose their clothes.

Any metal-based jewelry is a no-go, however there is one metal known that is shifter-friendly, known as Goralite. For some odd reason, goralite does not seem to interfere with their shifting, which may be because of the goralite's remarkable ability to be "programmable" and manipulated into many different shapes, such as space suit armor that adapts itself after the wearer's body. The working theory is that its programmable shape goes beyond just technical, and can adapt itself to work together with organic material such as a shapeshifter's body.

It takes a ton of energy for a shapeshifter to hold their form, and they cannot hold it forever. The bigger the form is, the less time and energy they have in order to remain that way. This however can be practiced, and if they continue to shift regularly throughout their life, they are able to hold their form for longer periods of time.

Dragons are considered an Apex form amongst shapeshifters, and only the Alpha of the clan is allowed to shapeshift into one. The dragon form is the only known animal form that is not hereditary from parent to child, and must be earned.

Their homeplanet Eiora is mainly made up of very rocky and tall biomes, with extreme hills and mountains stretching far up into the sky. Shapeshifters lived in these mountains in caves and crevices and shared their planet with a wide array of other creatures. However, at the top of each mountain lived a Dragon known as the clan's Apex. When the upcoming Alpha of the clan is of age, he or she will climb the mountain and join the Apex. There, the shapeshifter will be judged by the Apex to see if they are worthy to take on the form of one. If yes, they will live together with the Apex for a fortnight, following and studying the life of a dragon until they are ready to shapeshift into one.

Once they are able to, they will go back down and join their clan as the old Alpha steps down to welcome in the new one. Normally there is only one Alpha per clan where the firstborn of the current alpha will be the future leader. However if the clan is very large and requires more maintenance and surveillance, more than one alpha can appear, all coming from the same family.

The more they shift into one specific form, the more their base form will begin to look like that creature. Their body will start taking slight “shortcuts” whenever they shift, as it realizes which form is the most common for them. If they continue shapeshifting into that specific form over longer periods of time, slight traits of that creature will become visible in their appearance.
These changes will also impact their general behavior. For example if they prefer feline animals, they may begin acting more cat-like by purring, stroking up against people, sitting higher up like on the backrest of a couch, etc.
If they prefer for example larger dragons they may be more inclined to stealing shiny objects, feeling a burning sensation in their throat as if it’s fire, etc.

Shapeshifters have sort of a “second puberty”. First one is as normal; they have a growth-spurt at around the age of 12-14 depending on how early/late it is, but they also have a second one at around the age of 19-21. At this point their muscles will increase in mass, their height will increase, their horns will appear and begin growing, and they will generally become more mature in their behavior.
This is most likely due to that this is the general age where a shapeshifter is old enough to leave their home to pursue their own life, as is a Shapeshifter “tradition” among their race. They are given the strength and courage to survive on their own, so that they may choose whether they want to either leave their clan and become independent to start up their own family and eventual clan, or they may stay in their clan as an adult and leader that helps take care and guide future generations and will be guardians of their families.

Shapeshifters fall in love easily. They’re pretty emotional, and get easily attached to certain companions and will remain loyal to you unless you break their trust.
During mating seasons, the feelings they may feel for another person will become enhanced, giving them more courage to approach their potential partner. They always approach the person closest to them who they feel romantically attached to.
Between their first and second “puberty” (between the ages 15-20), it’s more likely for the shapeshifter to switch between partners because of the fluctuating emotions experienced. They could potentially have multiple partners, or doubt their emotions to their current partner eventhough they are in love with them. This behavior is normal, and almost every shapeshifter experiences these doubts around this age. If they’re single, they will most likely experiment with many partners, some even of the same gender, before they settle down.
Don’t worry, however. If your shapeshifter partner is around 20 and goes through their second “puberty”, this behaviour will begin to fade and they’ll be back to normal and remain loyal to you alone again.

Their Sting is a sharp, bone-like defense mechanism placed in the tip of their tail that shapeshifters use to defend themselves only if absolutely necessary. If they need to use it, their skin on the tip of their tail will peel back and fold out the stinger. This sting is covered in a heavily poisonous substance that, if injected into someone, will result in death within 45-60 seconds.
This poison is one of the main reasons they are hunted and so heavily endangered. Not only do hunters want their horns, teeth or other assets, they also strive to get their poison as it is currently one of the most dangerous liquids known today. With some tweaking, this poison is one of the most valuable and expensive items sold on the Invisible Market.
It’s often been referred to as the Kingslayers kiss, as it was once the poison used by a woman who was the lover of one of the previous incarnations of the King core, Mori. She had dabbled the poison over her lips and kissed the king goodbye, only to send him into an early death minutes later, clearly an intentional assassination. From this event, it’s also been known as the “Poison that killed Death”.
To protect their poison sack, a Shapeshifters ribcage is more extended downwards than for a regular human.

They are able to understand animals to a certain extent, and is able to communicate with them. They cannot control animals, but they can command them in order to avoid getting into dangerous situations with larger predators and enemies. There's no "spoken language" between shifter and animal, but more of a sensation and instinct that lets them communicate. Shapeshifters can mimic animal noises almost perfectly only with their mouths in order to communicate, known as "Perfect Pitch". This lets them understand and communicate with animals, but also distract and confuse hunters.

Male horns tend to be more valuable than female horns. This is most likely due to the fact that female shapeshifters do shed their horns periodically, while males don't. Which makes male horns much rarer to come across, as you would have to capture a male shapeshifter and saw their horns off, as opposed to finding a pair of shedded female horns lying on the ground somewhere.

Shapeshifters are known for having a very sacred and respected relationship with life and death, seeing it not as the loss of someone, but more of a permanent shapeshifting into the next stage of life. Shapeshifters believe no one truly does die; much like their abilities, their physical matter gets repurposed into new life. When a shapeshifter passes away, they are buried with the seed of a native Eioran tree (called an Atlas tree) in their mouth. This seed will use the body of the deceased to grow and flourish. If you see a lone Atlas tree in the wild where they normally do not grow, it is likely a shapeshifter is buried there.
They believe their spiritual lifeforce (their soul in a way, but more so their general lifeforce without the consciousness) doesn’t go to an afterlife, but gets reborn into a creature of the same species they chose as their representative, aka the one they shapeshifted the most into and shares physical traits with in their past life.

Shapeshifters are generally considered the native/indigenous people of the Primoverse due to them being known as the oldest species and the origin behind most other species that came after.

They can get stuck in transformation. It's a very ugly and horrible experience for the shapeshifter. It often happens when they're shifting into something and it get halted by something, or that they attempt to shift into another animal while they haven't finished shifting into their first choice. The result backfires immediately, and becomes a horrid amalgamate of two or more creatures. When this happens they lose control of their shifting and cannot shift into anything. however it's reversible by hitting their lower chest.
As a defense mechanism to protect their poison sack from rupturing, hitting them in their lower chest-area will make their bodies react to the risk of rupturing the sack, and immediately shift back into their human form to avoid danger.

Meaning behind natural behaviours:

Tails

Curled - Comfortable. Usually when they're around friends of family that they can trust.
Slow wag - Neutral, basically the "default" movement of the tail. It's never really properly still.
Fast wag/Twitching - Agitated/stressed. If this happens you must watch out for their sting, that could show up at any moment to kill you. Shield yourself!
Shaking - Sensing something threatening, or something dangerous nearby. If your fellow shapeshifter does this you'll need to be weary.
Stiff - Scared. Usually curls up between their legs similar to a dog's tail.
Tip of tail wagging - Focused/listening. Usually when listening to something interesting that they want to remember or when stalking something/someone.
Tip of tail twitching frantically - Can be of mixed emotions, but it's common for frustration. In some cases even sexual frustration.
Laying it around someone - Sign of affection. Can do this to both family members and significant others.
Dragging after them - Sadness or illness. Could also be of fatigue.
Raised up high - This is a sign of pride, or leadership. Back when shapeshifters lived in clans, the alpha of the clan would keep their tail raised high to signal both enemies and allies that they’re the boss. It's actually a sign of protection as well, by signalling attackers that they should attack them and not their clan, so they'll have time to escape while the enemies attack their leader. Nowadays this can be seen in families, with the father or mother having their tail raised up by instinct because they are the protector of the family.

General behaviours
Putting palms together with another shapeshifter/person - A sign of trust. A gesture of loyalty, to show the one in front of them they're not there to harm them. If they hold up their palm with spread fingers, place your hand against it to show them you're a friend, not a foe.
Butting eachother - It may look violent, but in most cases it's harmless. They do this in order to build a stronger friendship, by grabbing each others hands and butting their foreheads and horns together in order to tip each other. The one that falls to the side first loses, but there's no actual penalty for losing. It's simply a game!
Stroking thumb over your hand - An affectionate sign, showing they have an interest in you. It's sort of like a confession, but more mild and hard to notice if you don't pay attention.
Stroking tail-tip against your cheek - A sign of affection as well, though through all forms of affection. This happens between friends, between family, and between lovers.

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