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Why I call kirins “Divine Dragon Horses”


Steve Piranha

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Simple. As you may know, the mythology behind the kirin is diverse. Each of the ancient East Asian countries believed in a different interpretation of them. But each of them had something n common: they were all chimeric ungulate creatures, namely deer or horse, with draconic  characteristics. They were regarded as high stemmed creatures, but others go beyond to outright divine

I call them as such due to the latter, but also as a reference to the divine dragons from Fire Emblem. Who are recurring benevolent (though there have been examples of antagonistic recently) species. 
 

yeah, I know the kirins in FIM displayed characteristic of other ungulates. But let’s be clear, they mainly look like ponies :proud:

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I remember being there an episode of an old anime (Nube, the teacher from hell if I recall it right) where Nube had to fight a Kirin to protect one of his students, since the student crossed into a forbiden, sacred pond to fish. In the dub I remember they called the kirin a giraffe, but it always looked like a horse to me xD

Either way, in that show Nube outright said the kirin was a sacred beast that carried out the will of other gods.

When I saw they were adding kirins to fim I was kinda excited. Sacred horses from eastern mythology. Cool!

 

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Reason for calling giraffes “kirin” in Japan, was due to an ancient Chinese monarch purchasing giraffes long ago, and to legitimize his rule, he called them quilin (the Chinese name of the creatures, pronounced “chee-lin). Word may have spread out in Japan, and they thought back then giraffes were kirin, and the name stuck until this day, knowing well they are far from the divine creatures

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1 hour ago, Steve Piranha said:

Reason for calling giraffes “kirin” in Japan, was due to an ancient Chinese monarch purchasing giraffes long ago, and to legitimize his rule, he called them quilin (the Chinese name of the creatures, pronounced “chee-lin). Word may have spread out in Japan, and they thought back then giraffes were kirin, and the name stuck until this day, knowing well they are far from the divine creatures

If youve seen a giraffe with that neck, in pretty sure anyone would call it devine.

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1 hour ago, Kujamih said:

Anyway i like hunting kirins in Monster hunter... Theyre considered elder dragons.

I hope they get added in Terraria. Monster Hunter collab or otherwise. Anything from them will look good in my pony-themed worlds

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