User blog:Zeranno/What Are Demon Beasts (A Chimaera Post)

One of my favorite species of mamono is the chimaera. The idea of having multiple monster girls in one is a pretty fun one, to say the least. That being said, one thing is fairly... unclear. According to their encyclopedia entry, they are 'formerly a Hybrid beast born from a combination of several demon beasts via sorcery.' That raises a question... What are demon beasts? One could say they're just monster girls since dragons and baphomets are mentioned but there isn't any lion mamono to my knowledge, at least not yet. You could say that they're the animals of the demon realms... Which seems to hold at least a little water. Still, the fact that dragons and baphomets are included makes me think there's more to it. I'm the type who, when I don't get clear and concise answers to things, likes to come up with my own answer.

This is going to be a bit of an unofficial look into what can make up a chimaera. It's going to be comprised of opinions so I want to stress the 'unofficial' part... This by no means is an end-all-be-all post on the subject. I don't want anyone to think I see myself as some expert or something because I don't. These are just my thoughts and in all honesty, I love the idea of using any monster girl as part of a chimaera. It's also worth mentioning that many people in the fandom seem to be okay with using just about any mamono species being included. That being said, I thought about this for a while and wanted to put it somewhere for posterity so a blog post seems appropriate. Just keep in mind that this is all speculation.

I'll be listing off families of monster girls below as specifics so as to reduce the amount of text at least a little bit. If you don't want to read through all of my thoughts, please feel free to read the summary at the end instead.

Thoughts
First off, let's start with what we know. A chimaera is made of a number of demon beasts, each with it's own personality. In most cases, the involved species are the dragon, goat (suggested to be baphomet), lion, and snake. That being said, there can canonically be chimaeras containing species of other types. In rare cases, a chimaera can even be made up of more or less species, though they'll all have their own personality. At the very least, this confirms that monsters that became mamono when the current Demon Lord came into power are very much possible candidates. Additionally, both baphomets and dragons are fairly strong so power level should not be a problem.

The fact that dragons and baphomets are mentioned pretty much confirms that most beastmen and reptilian mamono are fine. That includes the Apemen, Baphomet, Bat, Bear, Cat, Centuar, Dragon, Fox, Lamia, Lizard, Minotaur, Mouse, Orc, Rabbit, Satyros, Sheep, Squirrel, Tanuki, Tiger, Weasel, Wendigo, and Wolf families. That being said, I'm hesitant to include the Chimaera family... Chimaeras themselves are definitely out as that would make no sense and be needlessly redundant. As for manticores and familiars, that's a maybe, but I think it might make more sense for the chimaera to have the species-specific parts as separate personalities instead. for instance, having the manticore tail might be more of a scorpion feature. Still, it's... unique enough that maybe it's just a manticore feature. The Griffon family is kind of in the same place, being a gestalt creature. I'm honestly surprised its not considered a chimaera.

Next up, I'd say it's safe to say that aquatic, avian, and insectoid mamono are fine too since they're all based on animals. That adds the Ant, Arachne, Bee, Beetle, Cancer, Centipede, Devil Bug, Fly, Harpy, Lamia, Lizard, Mantis, Mermaid, Papillon, Sahuagin, Scylla, Shell, Toad, Turtle, and Worm families to the list. I think they work due to how they're included in manticores and griffons. Naturally, animals that aren't mamono, like lions and snakes, are probably okay too.

The Alraune, Dryad, Mandragora, Matango, and Tentacle families, being plants, are iffy, in my opinion, as plants and fungi aren't really animals. Still possible, I suppose, but I think that's past the line of what a 'demon beast' would be. Meanwhile, the more humanoid ones like the Angel, Ex-Giant, Goblin, Imp, Ogre, Succubus, Temptress, and Troll families seem a bit too 'human' for it. They're also past the line of what a demon beast is. The Majin family is especially here as it's mostly humans corrupted while keeping much of their 'human' forms. Also, lilim are the one species I'd rule out entirely since they're exclusively the children of the current demon lord.

Undead like the Dullahan, Ghost, and Zombie families seem unlikely. That's not to say that a chimaera can't be undead, it just wouldn't result in another personality. The fact that dragon zombies exist suggest that an undead chimaera could very much happen.

Constructs like the Armor, Doll, Golem, Ittan-momen, Mimic, Sword Devil, and Tsukomogami families seem especially unlikely, being, well, objects. They aren't even based on living things, even if they are alive now. The Spirit family is much the same. I'm thinking the Gazer, Roper, and Slime Families are also probably out... They don't seem super conducive to the idea of a Chimaera.

Summary
Long story short, beastmen and reptilian mamono are pretty much confirmed. Those based on insects, birds, fish, and mollusks are also probably okay. The plants and majin are more iffy, however, as plants aren't really animals and majin wouldn't be super apparent. Undead seem like a no. Chimaera might be able to be undead but there wouldn't be another personality. Constructs, spirits, slimes, gazers, and ropers are the least likely as they probably aren't super conducive to the idea of a gestalt creature. Finally, animals that aren't mamono are probably also okay, though I think the mamono versions are more likely.

All of this being said... If evidence comes out proving me wrong here, I'm okay with that. A chimaera that was part shoggoth, for instance, would be a dream come true for me. I'd say more about what my dream chimaera would be but I'm still figuring that out... Besides, that's not really the subject at hand here and this post is fairly long. Maybe I'll make another post for that. Anyway, I'd like to know people's thoughts on this speculation.