Gender Identity
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Gender Identity
How do you all go about deciding the gender of your pet? For me, if the gender is not defined in game I assign it whatever gender I want. If its already defined as a male or female I keep that identity. Loque, for example is the mate of Hara'koa so to me he is a male. Magria feels like a very female name so I assume the devs think she is too, although not all names ending in "a" are female in every culture. Others like worgs, ravagers, bears, hyenas, that wander about in game dont have assigned genders so they become what I feel they are. My bear is female and my hyena is male, for example. What about you guys?
- Vephriel
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Re: Gender Identity
I suppose I have a fairly easy time with this because all of my pets are male. 
I can't really explain why, but I've always found the idea of a male guardian animal more protective and reassuring I suppose. Female pets have never appealed to me, and while I might occasionally have a few on alt hunters, Vephriel will always have male pets. I think I view all in-game creatures as male by default actually excluding named mobs that have a feminine name or title.

I can't really explain why, but I've always found the idea of a male guardian animal more protective and reassuring I suppose. Female pets have never appealed to me, and while I might occasionally have a few on alt hunters, Vephriel will always have male pets. I think I view all in-game creatures as male by default actually excluding named mobs that have a feminine name or title.
- cowmuflage
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Re: Gender Identity
The only pet of mine I have given a gender to is my tallstrider as girls don't look as cool in a tophat.
Edit oh and DrFeelGood my hyena he's a dude
Edit oh and DrFeelGood my hyena he's a dude
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Re: Gender Identity
I definitely get that! There's something reassuring about a big hulking strap of a male protector. I actually prefer male pets irl. But females can be equally as protective, a mother bear with her cubs, for example, and male spiders are downright wimps compared to the females, lol. I guess that's why to me bears and spiders in game are mostly all females. It's interesting to see different POV's though.Vephriel wrote:I can't really explain why, but I've always found the idea of a male guardian animal more protective and reassuring I suppose.

- Vephriel
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Re: Gender Identity
*nodnod* Yeah, I've always preferred owning male pets in real life as well. ^^
And I completely understand the powerful female aspects of a mother animal protecting her young, and definitely spiders as well. I just can't break my preference trend.
And I completely understand the powerful female aspects of a mother animal protecting her young, and definitely spiders as well. I just can't break my preference trend.

- Finduilas
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Re: Gender Identity
If I tame a pet, I normally get a feeling about it's personality and with this comes normally a name, female or male. But I agree, that some pets like (Gondria or Magria) got female names from me, too, because I think they are female. Other pets (e.g. Banny) are either female or male, depending on my toon I have them with. Loque, too, was already both for my toons, male and female. I just normally know, what gender a pet has, after I tamed it.
- Lupis
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Re: Gender Identity
It really just depends on the pet for me. I admit, most of my pets are male on default. Not because I find it reassuring, just because all the models look very, well, male. But every once and a while one is clearly female - my King Krush, for example, is definitely actually a Queen Krush.
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- Sarantha
- Grand Master Hunter
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Re: Gender Identity
I base it on appearance. Loque is male in game lore, but is female for me. She looks too pretty to be male and as such has a female name. Ban'thalos seems a masculine name, but again, I think she looks female and I gave her a female name. The spiders seem totally ambiguous, except Anthriss and Deth'tilac. Anthriss is an obviously female name and Deth'tilac is the male mate of Beth'tilac. I kept Deth as male, because I saw no reason not to, and I kept Anthriss as female, and actually kept close to her real name. Named her Anni. 

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Part of Dynasty, lvl 25 Alliance guild, casual and hardcore (your choice, no one forces you to raid, but you can), very helpful
Come on over if interested (Runetotem US, Horde name Sarantha, Ally name Ellysetta or Valeraud)
Re: Gender Identity
Is Deth really the mate of Beth'tilac? I was searching for lore on that spider but never found any so assumed "she" was female. If so I'll have to come up with a new name. I've had 2 failed attempts on Deth but when I finally land the tame I was planning on Aranea for a name, after the scientifc Order spiders belong to. That's too female sounding though for a male spider. I suppose it would make sense that Deth'tilac is male since as badass as he is Beth'tilac is clearly even more so lol. Wonder if we'll ever be able to tame her.......Sarantha wrote: Anthriss is an obviously female name and Deth'tilac is the male mate of Beth'tilac. I kept Deth as male, because I saw no reason not to, and I kept Anthriss as female, and actually kept close to her real name. Named her Anni.
And Anthriss is just gorgeous, even though she's not unique. I never realized how beautiful her model is until I tamed one of the other yellow spiders running around to help with a Deth attempt. Stunningly gorgeous jewel toned yellow! Now I want the real thing!
- Vephriel
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Re: Gender Identity
Deth'tilac the NPC is definitely male, as his emotes during taming are 'Deth'tilac asserts his Molten Will', and such. As for the mate part...that's just the general assumption, but I don't believe it's officially verified. The -tilac suffix was originally and uniquely used on Rekk'tilac, so it could just be a generic arachnid name with no correlation between the mobs themselves.
Re: Gender Identity
Interesting! I was so frazzled during both taming attempts I didn't even notice the emotes. I guess I'll have to come up with another name for "him" now. But coming up with names is one of my favorite parts of the whole pet hunting experience so I don't mind at all. I find that the more I like a name the more I like a particular pet. And I've gone through an entire stack of Ownership Certificates already because I change my mind so often, lol. A guildie was kind enough to make me two more stacks last night so I'm stocked back up now
.

- Meggers
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Re: Gender Identity
Vephriel wrote:I suppose I have a fairly easy time with this because all of my pets are male.
I can't really explain why, but I've always found the idea of a male guardian animal more protective and reassuring I suppose. Female pets have never appealed to me, and while I might occasionally have a few on alt hunters, Vephriel will always have male pets. I think I view all in-game creatures as male by default actually excluding named mobs that have a feminine name or title.
Pretty much my sentiments exactly. Unless the mob appears overly feminine or is denoted as such...I figure its male.
Re: Gender Identity
I added the genders for my pets in my pet grids in my sig below.
The only pet I have that had a certain gender in the wild is Hahadori, my Strider Clutchmother. Otherwise, for Wassa, pet gender is random. Most of the names I use for Wassa's pets are either made up or don't have a gender associated with the name/word I use, so I just pick what feels right. On the other hand, with my alt Ptay her pets where a little more picky. I used Native American names only and they are either masculine or feminine. Most of the time I found a name I liked based on the meaning and that pet became that gender. A few names I picked could be used for either a boy or girl, such as Niyol her chimaera, in which I just picked what gender I saw the pet as. You might also notice both of my worm pets are hermaphroditic or both genders. This is because earthworms in real life are as well, so I see them as both genders. I'll usually call both "he" though if I need too.
Silly story with pet genders, originally Ptay's white bat was named Yakez, a male name that means heaven. However, later on I ran into Olm the Wise and tamed him, deciding Yakez would suit a ghostly owl better. Looking up new names for my bat the only one that I liked was Suwanee, meaning echo, but it was a female name. I just couldn't rename him. He was the wrong gender! I had to release Yakez the male bat into the wild and retame "her" to see the same bat skin as a female now.
The only pet I have that had a certain gender in the wild is Hahadori, my Strider Clutchmother. Otherwise, for Wassa, pet gender is random. Most of the names I use for Wassa's pets are either made up or don't have a gender associated with the name/word I use, so I just pick what feels right. On the other hand, with my alt Ptay her pets where a little more picky. I used Native American names only and they are either masculine or feminine. Most of the time I found a name I liked based on the meaning and that pet became that gender. A few names I picked could be used for either a boy or girl, such as Niyol her chimaera, in which I just picked what gender I saw the pet as. You might also notice both of my worm pets are hermaphroditic or both genders. This is because earthworms in real life are as well, so I see them as both genders. I'll usually call both "he" though if I need too.
Silly story with pet genders, originally Ptay's white bat was named Yakez, a male name that means heaven. However, later on I ran into Olm the Wise and tamed him, deciding Yakez would suit a ghostly owl better. Looking up new names for my bat the only one that I liked was Suwanee, meaning echo, but it was a female name. I just couldn't rename him. He was the wrong gender! I had to release Yakez the male bat into the wild and retame "her" to see the same bat skin as a female now.
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- Moore
- Master Hunter
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Re: Gender Identity
My loque is female, even though Loque is the mate of Har'koa I never saw why it couldn't be female so :shrug:.
Just whatever for me I don't really think about it.
Just whatever for me I don't really think about it.
- peanutbuttercup
- Artisan Hunter
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Re: Gender Identity
I usually start off assuming the pet is male, since I prefer male pets in real life. And I seem to prefer male names. Though there are always exceptions. Like I have a wolf I decided was female after she'd been saddled with a male name, but I can't imagine her with another name.
There's also the pets that simply have no gender. Things like nether rays, ravagers... I don't know, they're just genderless to me.
There's also the pets that simply have no gender. Things like nether rays, ravagers... I don't know, they're just genderless to me.
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Re: Gender Identity
Usually the opposite of the toon's gender, though not always.
- Lisaara
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Re: Gender Identity
PetEmote either decided randomly for me if I have nothing in mind oooor I just decide on my own pending on the name(of my choosing or the mob). Like most spirit beasts? I view them as male. All the molten front rares? Male. Gondria, Ankha, and Magria are one of few female rares.
Aotona is another I view as female.
Aotona is another I view as female.
Last edited by Lisaara on Tue Oct 04, 2011 8:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.
- Furiku
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Re: Gender Identity
For me I usually have to run around with a pet before I figure out what gender it is. Some I know from the instant I see them (...kinda hard not to with the lions XP), like from the start I knew Rai was female and Fenrir was male. But others I had to wait and see. Like with Zamai and Nix. It took me a while to get a feel of what gender they were, and then I named them accordingly.
I'll typically take a pet through a dungeon or two as a bonding experiance before I name/gender them, because that's usually how I get a feel for them. One exception was Ratchet though...knew Ratch' was male...was just stuck on his name for a while until I went back to reading Transformers fanfiction. Eh, what can I say? I need a cranky Ratchet to keep Grimlock in line sometimes. /end Transformers geekness
I'll typically take a pet through a dungeon or two as a bonding experiance before I name/gender them, because that's usually how I get a feel for them. One exception was Ratchet though...knew Ratch' was male...was just stuck on his name for a while until I went back to reading Transformers fanfiction. Eh, what can I say? I need a cranky Ratchet to keep Grimlock in line sometimes. /end Transformers geekness
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- Nubhorns
- Master Hunter
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Re: Gender Identity
I have a serious male pet problem. :P I default to 'he' when I'm talking about pets(normally stuff like 'what should I name him?') and 98% of the time it sticks. That said, some of Veeka's 'big guns' as it were are female - Stella the bear, Scuppers the crocolisk, Picket the parrot aka 'She who eats eyes', etc. ICly, Veeka prefers male pets because they're 'stronger' - that is, until she got her very own mama bear and homicidal crocolisk and so on. Maybe some of my other hunters will have all female pets, but for Vee in particular they're pretty rare - and the ones she has are all considerably more dangerous than her male pets.
I always sort of assume certain pets are <so-and-so> gender because of the related gender stereotypes around them - mama bear and papa wolf and so on, but it's generally set aside if the pet has a personality that says otherwise. My ravager was female, despite being pointy and angry, but the name 'Tiffany' stuck even after I decided she was more of a he - probably why he's so angry all the time. :P
I always sort of assume certain pets are <so-and-so> gender because of the related gender stereotypes around them - mama bear and papa wolf and so on, but it's generally set aside if the pet has a personality that says otherwise. My ravager was female, despite being pointy and angry, but the name 'Tiffany' stuck even after I decided she was more of a he - probably why he's so angry all the time. :P
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- Kyria
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Re: Gender Identity
I decide the gender of my pets based on the vibe they give me, or I let PetEmote decide for me. I care very little for what gender the creature is in the wild. Once I've tamed it, as far as I'm concerned, I get to choose, and I do!
Lions are the one exception, because they have manes, which belong exclusively to the males. Lions are never female to me. Other than that, anything goes.

Last edited by Kyria on Tue Oct 04, 2011 8:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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