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Pikachu

2023-06-12T23:34:10Z

2601:18D:4700:7640:2489:4549:3912:ACA4:

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{{Infobox fictional species
| name = Pikachu
| image = [[File:Pikachu.jpg|250px]]
| caption = ''Pokémon Omega Ruby'' and ''Alpha Sapphire'' promotional artwork by Ken Sugimori
| author(s) = Atsuko Nishida and Ken Sugimori
| creation date = 1990s
| publishing date = February 27, 1996
| alternate name(s) = Mouse Pokémon (Pokedex)<br/>
ピカチュウ (Japanese)
| home = Kanto (region where it was introduced)
| metazoan = [[Rodent]]
| type = Biological
| morphology = [[Feral]] semi-[[biped]]
| sapience = Semi-[[human]]; near-human when trained{{fact}}
| gender = Male, female
| locomotion = Terrestrial
| communication = Verbal, pantomime (Ash Ketchum's Pikachu)
}}
'''Pikachu''' ([[wikipedia:Japanese language|Japanese]]: '''ピカチュウ''') is a fictional species from the ''[[Pokémon]]'' [[animé]], [[manga]], and [[video game]]s. It is one of the more popular [[species]], and serves as the franchise [[mascot]], in addition to being one of [[wikipedia:Japan|Japan's]] mascots for the [[wikipedia:2014 FIFA World Cup|2014 FIFA World Cup]].<ref>[http://www.gamespot.com/articles/pikachu-is-japan-s-awesome-mascot-for-fifa-world-cup-2014/1100-6418347/ "Pikachu is Japan's awesome mascot for FIFA World Cup 2014"], GameSpot article by Martin Gaston, dated March 17, 2014. Retrieved January 13, 2015.</ref> Pikachu has also had a balloon in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade since 2001.<ref>[http://macysthanksgiving.wikia.com/wiki/Pikachu "Pikachu"], Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Wiki entry.</ref>

It evolves from Pichu and then into Raichu when exposed to a Thunder Stone.

The appearance of a Pikachu is that of a cartoon yellow mouse, with long pointed ears, black markings, red cheeks, and a lightning-bolt shaped tail. Their round bodies and bright eyes give off a general idea of "cuteness." However, their cheeks aren't just for show; they contain powerful electric sacs, capable of administering 1,000 amps of electricity.<ref>[https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Pikachu_(Pok%C3%A9mon)#Trivia "Pikachu Trivia"], from the entry for Pikachu at [https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Main_Page "Bulbapedia"].</ref>

Contrary to popular belief, the "pika" in Pikachu does not derive from the [[Wikipedia:Pika|pika]]. It is actually derived from the Japanese onomatopoeia "pikapika", the sound and electric spark makes.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20100501090040/http://www.time.com/time/asia/magazine/99/1122/pokemon6.fullinterview2.html</ref>

==See also==
*[[:Category:Pikachu characters]]

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
*[[wikipedia:Pikachu|Pikachu]] on [[Wikipedia]]
*[[bulbapedia:Pikachu (Pokémon)|Pikachu]] on Bulbapedia

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[[Category:Mouse characters]]
[[Category:Pokémon characters]]
[[Category:Fictional species]]
[[Category:Mascots]]

[[es:Pikachu]]
[[it:Pikachu]]

Badger's Parting Gifts

2023-06-12T22:17:15Z

2601:18D:4700:7640:2489:4549:3912:ACA4:

[[Image:BadgersPartingGifts.JPG|thumb|Front cover of ''Badger's Parting Gifts''. 1984 publication by Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books.]]
'''''Badger's Parting Gifts''''' is a children's book, written and illustrated by [[Susan Varley]] and published by Andersen Press. It uses a community of [[anthropomorphic]] animals to portray death, mourning, and remembrance.

Badger is old and feels himself dying. He leaves a note: "Gone down the Long Tunnel. Bye Bye, Badger."

The other animals of the community, particularly Mole, mourn Badger's death, but gradually come to less painful rememberance and to smiling as they share memories of what Badger taught each of them.

''Badger's Parting Gifts'' was first published in 1984 by Andersen Press Ltd in Great Britain. Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books printed the first U.S.A. edition in the same year. (ISBN 0688026990. Library binding 0688027032.)<ref>Varley, Susan. ''Badger's Parting Gifts''. New York: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books, 1984.</ref>

== References ==
<references/>

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[[Category:1984 births]]
[[Category:Works of fiction]]

The Katurran Odyssey

2023-06-12T22:15:13Z

2601:18D:4700:7640:2489:4549:3912:ACA4:

[[Image:KaturranOdyssey.JPG|thumb|250px|Cover of ''The Katurran Odyssey''.]]
'''''The Katurran Odyssey''''' is a [[fantasy]] book written by screenwriter [[David Michael Wieger]], created and drawn by ''[[Star Wars]]'' creature designer [[Terryl Whitlatch]], and digitally colored by [[Stephanie Lostimolo]]. It takes place in the fictional world of Katurrah, which is inhabited by [[sapient]] versions of Earth animals of both living and extinct species. The first book of the ''The Katurran Odyssey'' was published in 2004 by Simon & Schuster through the transmedia company Imaginosis.

==Synopsis==

The book opens with a prologue of a Bo-hibban storyteller opening the tale of Katook. Katook is the book's main character and hero, a small adolescent male [[Ring-tailed lemur]]. At the time of the storyteller's tale, his home village of Kattakuk was suffering under an extremely severe and lengthy winter. It hasn't rained in months, the baobab trees they live in are bare of leaves and figs, and most lemurs are starving. The High Priest who rules Bo-hibba, an Aye-Aye named Gamic, holds a ceremony and collects offerings of figs to try and appease their god, The Fossah. However, Katook and his best friend find the priests and their guards eating the offerings. They are discovered and are nearly caught, but not before Katook is saved by a mysterious appearance of The Fossah. Katook is caught, and to keep him quiet about what he saw, his now-blue eyes are used as an excuse to exile from his village to a beach on the edge of Bo-hibba.

There on the beach, he encounters hatching baby [[Leatherback turtle|turtles]], and defends them from being eaten by birds. In return for this, he is taken by the baby turtles' mother on her back across the sea to the port city of Acco, intending to search for others of his own kind. After an altercation with thieves in the city, he meets up with Quigga, a vain and proud [[Quagga]] who has lost his herd.

Quigga joins Katook and they run into the [[Colobus monkey|Kolloboo]]. However, Katook is homesick and still longs for his own kind. The Kolloboo tell Katook to search for the scientist Nadab, who is staying with the [[Snub-nosed monkey|Golden Monkeys]], and who may be able to find creatures similar to him. They give him a map, a compass, and a message to give to Nadab. From there, Quigga and Katook venture out snd become lost in a barren desert. As it turns to night time, they hide in some ruins to escape creatures called Bone Crushers until the [[Patas Monkey|Patah]] come to save them.

The Patah bring them to their tent guarded by [[Glyptodon|Glyptodonts]]. They present an elaborate demonstration. As Katook stays with the Patah, he learns of illusions and realizes that Gamic has been fooling the lemurs through trickery. After the demonstration, the Chief of the Patah requests Katook's presence. The Chief's son wishes to have Katook's map and compass but Katook defuses, saying that it his only way home. The Chief questions why he feels so alone and what he means when he seeks home, and shows him that he may not be as alone as he thinks.

They continue on their journey with the Patah, but are attacked by giant [[Dodo]] Birds. In the battle, many Patah are killed. Quigga and Katook escape into a river, where they are saved and healed by the [[Proboscis Monkey|Boskii]]. They are welcomed into their rainforest and comforted during their stay. Soon Katook must confront Dikemba and the rest of the Boskii who explain that his blue eyes may not be a curse after all, that they may even be a blessing. The [[Proboscis Monkey|Boskii]] point him in the right direction and tell him to follow the [[Blue Morpho|Butterflies]], which lead them to the city of the [[Snub-nosed monkey|Golden Monkeys]].

In the city of the Golden Monkeys, Katook finds Nadab. However, Nadab is not of much help and does not show him to other creatures like him. Instead, Quigga is enslaved and imprisoned and Katook becomes the Golden Princess's pet. Katook, though, explains his mission to the Princess and the Princess helps him and Quigga escape. However, they are found out at the last minute and in the commotion to catch the escapees, much of the city falls down in ruins and they escape only narrowly.

Afterwards, Quigga reveals to Katook that he does not have the instinctive direction as he claims to have and asks Katook to show him how to navigate by the stars. Katook shows him how to read the skies, as the Patah showed him. The next morning, Quigga sees his own herd in the distance and tells Katook that he must leave and rejoin his herd. Katook is sad to see him go and feels more alone than ever, but then he sees a strange shifting shape in the distance. This becomes the [[Fossa (animal)|The Fossah]], who tells him that he has been beside him all the time throughout his adventures. The Fossah shows him True Home - a paradise with those who are not yet born and those who already lived. Katook does not want to leave, but knows that he must if he is to save his village from the long winter. The Fossah gives him a seed which he must plant in the ground.

Katook is transported back to his own village where he sees the starving lemurs digging for food. Katook is brought to Gamic and his Indrii guards, but uses the trickery the Patah had taught him - the same which Gamic used to fool the lemurs that he was showing signs from the The Fossah. Katook persuades the Indriis to let him go. They do, and Katook finds shelter among a rock, feeling that all hope is lost. As he sleeps, the seed which the Fossah gave him falls from his hands and into the soil. When he awakes, the sun is shining and the baobob trees are once more growing plentiful with figs.

''And that is how Katook ended the Long Winter'', the Bo-hibban Storyteller finishes. The audience of young lemurs insist on another story and ask whether Quigga and Katook ever meet again, but the Storyteller says that ''that is a story for another day.''

==Animals==
One of the hooks of The Katurran Odyssey is that all of the animals (except one) featured in the book are all animals that can or could be found on Earth[http://www.katurranodyssey.com/presskit_pdfs/KATURRAN%20ANIMAL%20FACTS.pdf]. Many of the still living animals shown are [[endangered]] including the ones that are extinct.
Some of the more prominent animal species featured in the story are listed here. Many Katurran species names in the story seem to be derived from the animal's English or [[Binomial nomenclature|scientific names]].
* [[Fossa (species)|The Fossah]], the singular, all-powerful creator of Katurrah. [[Blue Morpho|Butterflies]] and [[swifts]] seem to serve as his messengers and attendants.
* The Bo-hibbans, assorted [[lemur]]s who live in [[baobab]] groves in hanging wicker nests. Lead by Fossah-worshipping [[Aye-Aye|priests]]. Bo-hibba is a lone island located to the southwest of the main [[supercontinent]] of Katurrah, and seems to be similar to the real-life island of [[Madagascar]].
* The [[Quagga]] roam the grasslands and [[veldt]]s of Katurrah in large herds, and strongly hold the belief that they are the most beautiful creatures in the world.
* The [[Colobus monkey|Kolloboo]] are intellectuals, artists, and scientists who live in a feudal castle society just east of Acco. They possess great knowledge in forms like libraries and compasses, but have little compassion.
* The [[Proboscis Monkey|Boskii]], peaceful [[mangrove]] jungle dwellers.
* The [[Patas Monkey|Patah]] are a culture of desert nomads who live with herds of [[Glyptodon]]ts; which serve as transport, pack animals, and armored protection from desert predators such as Bone Crushers and [[Phorusrhacoid|Phorcus]].
* The [[Snub-nosed monkey|Dourahnah]], or Golden Monkeys, are the most technologically and (supposedly) culturally advanced animals on Katurrah; but they are also warlike, power-hungry slave-keepers. They worship themselves, though in older times they worshiped gods, their ancestors, and in most ancient times, The Fossah.

==External links==
*[http://www.katurranodyssey.com/ The Katurran Odyssey]

{{Wikipedia|The Katurran Odyssey}}

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[[Category:Works of fiction]]
[[Category:2004 births]]

Zebra

2023-06-12T22:12:20Z

2601:18D:4700:7640:2489:4549:3912:ACA4:

[[Image:Extinctioners-Twister.jpg|right|thumb|[[Twister]], a fictional '''zebra''' character in [[Extinctioners]]]]The '''Zebra''' is a relative of the [[horse]] native to the savannahs of Africa. The name ''zebra'' may refer to any of three extant species or eight subspecies of the genus ''Equus''. It is easily recognized by the black and white stripes of its fur, which, like a human fingerprint, vary between each individual.

The three extant species include the [[Wikipedia:Plains zebra|plains zebra]], the [[Wikipedia:Grévy's zebra|Grévy's zebra]], and the [[Wikipedia:mountain zebra|mountain zebra]]. The former two belong to the subgenus ''hippotigris'', whereas the latter belongs to the subgenus ''Dolichohippus''. The Grevy's zebra and the mountain zebra are endangered, and the [[Wikipedia:Quagga|quagga]] went extinct in the late 1800s, but has since been rebred from zebra DNA.{{fact}} Of the three remaining species, both the mountain and the Grévy's zebra are in the threatened category, the mountain zebra classified as Vulnerable and the Grévy's zebra endangered.

Unlike their close relatives, the [[horse]] and [[donkey]], zebras have never truly been domesticated due to their unpredictability and liability to startle under stress. Therefore, hybrids are prefered for domestication. [[Hybrid]]s of zebras and any other [[equine]] species are known as [[Wikipedia:zebroid|zebroids]]. Such hybrids include the zorse, zony, and zonkey.

Zebra [[characters]] are few and far between in [[furry fandom]], though they are used occasionally as [[funny animal]] counterparts to humans of African descent.

== See also ==

* [[:Category:Zebra characters|Zebra characters]]

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[[Category:Equine species]]

[[es:Cebra]]
[[it:zebra]]

Theriotype

2023-06-12T21:39:28Z

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{{wikify}}
{{unref}}
A '''theriotype''' is the animal or animals that a [[therian]] believes the anomalythey are inside or identifies as or, more specifically their own non-human animal identity. The most common theriotype is a [[wolf]]<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20080616123915/http://www.otherkin.net/community/directory/species.html Otherkin directory by species], web archive copy from June 2008. Wolf is the top animal theriotype.</ref>, accounting for approximately half of the online therian community{{fact}} ([[mammal]]s in general are most frequently seen).{{fact}} The word was developed as a replacement for the word "[[phenotype]]", which held the same meaning but was felt to be a misnomer, as 'pheno' refers to the observable attributes of an organism. Some therians believe they have more than one theriotype, and are called "Poly-Weres" or [[Polymorph]]s. [[Mythical animal]]s are usually considered to be [[otherkin]]-types (refered to as a '''kintype''' or '''kin-type'''), but this has been disputed, especially in the case of [[dragon]]s and [[gryphon]]s, who are mythical beasts.{{fact}}

==References==
<references/>
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[[Category:Terms]]
[[Category:Spirituality]]
[[ru:Териотип]]