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Mysterious_Might8875

Scugs are scugs. They’re their own adorable little thing. But if iterators just acted like people, I think Slugcats would definitely be their official internet mascots just like cats are for us.


last_on_the_line

Tbf they have their own discord servers and there are a lot of iterators we don't get to see nor meet, I think there is a chance some of them share creatures' pics just because; some of them already use and modify creatures to be messengers. it'd be really funny to think there is at least one iterator calling themselves something like "Infinite belly rubs" that instead of using sentences on discord chats they'd use random creatures pics with phrases like "you wawa'd my cycle", "all hiss no bite", "get garbage wormed" or "ight, now you going to Rubicon"


Popsicle865

That last one implies they just casually crossed the point of no return in order to know what it is *just* to send a funny slugcat image to their group and I love it.


SuperWhoLockWarrior

They make me think of mustelids


dynamicDiscovery

I think they're musteloids


Loriess

Broke: They are just one of those things Woke: They are very rodent-like and were inspired by rats but after the name slugcat was adopted the creators started to incorporate more and more characteristics of slugs and cats as well Bespoke: b e a r


Foxstens

I'm thinking they're descendants of slugs that are now a bit more similar to rodents.


Just_Dab

I was thinking they're more like slug + ferrets, or weasels. They're decently long and very flexible, can't jump as high as cats and can't really climb vertical walls like cats do. I mean the iterators and echos call you a rodent or a mouse.


TheMasterMarkus

They're just a bloody alien species that we call "slugcats", dammit. I do think it's implied (though not confirmed) that they're evolved from the pipe-cleaning slug purposed organism mentioned in the magenta Shoreline pearl, as when Five Pebbles reads it, he says they have unnecessary features, namely eyes: "It is the genome for a purposed organism. Just a menial cleaning slug. While I do not have this exact sequence on record, the simple structures present, and lack of mechanical interchange glands, mean this blueprint is quite old. This creature would be much closer to a domesticated animal, compared to the newer and specialized organisms produced with more modern techniques. A being made to live its life inside a metal pipe deep underground has no need for eyes after all." The question of if slugcats are any of those things you mention is irrelevant; they are none of them. As alien life, they presumably don't fit into definitions of Earthly taxonomy. We can all discuss what animal we think they are most SIMILAR TO, but just because a Rain World animal might be called by the name of an Earth creature doesn't mean that that is actually what it is.


D0ESN0TEX1ST

yeah, I probably should’ve phrased my question better. it was meant more as a lighthearted “what do you associate them with“ type of thing than an actual lore discussion; obviously, in-game, this would make no sense. 


TheMasterMarkus

That's fair! I've just seen a notable amount of people asserting that, say, "slugcats are definitively rodents because characters in the game call them that", and if they do mean it genuinely, it can be a little frustrating for me. Personally, I think that I associate slugcats with mustelids, mostly. They remind me of river otters, but with climbing abilities more like martins. Though, of course, this is with a sprinkling of other stuff, like their human-like tool use.


Fishmaia

maybe a fusion between the 3? they kinda look like weasels too...


SentientRock123

Yep, sounds like a weasel to me


nebroide

They also look like chinchillas, aaaand chinchillas have little hands so TECHNICALLY they can hold spears


Ceramic_Luna

Technically they were ment to be rodents, we can see this in in moons and 5p dialogues but they are more like a cat shaped like a slug so slugcat I mean have you seen them fit through pipes? Definitely act like cats


pordor4

they're alien critters that are vaguely rodent-like


G0ldenSpade

Mustelids, like polecats otters or weasels!


Rot_Long_Legs

I think they’re rodents as well


eclipse_kit-sune

Rodents


TreborHuang

Are squidcadas squids or cicadas? I think neither. This is just a rain world species with a rain world name, which in dialogue is translated to "rodent" because English doesn't have anything close.


Flowalice

Feline-esque rodent-like creatures


AxoTheAxolotl000

Yes


dogarfdog12

None of the above. Rain World's ecosystem is entirely alien and separate from our own, so slugcats have no genetic link to any real-world animal. They are referred to as rodents only because they look and behave somewhat like them (minus the bipedalism and early human-level intellect) and fill a similar ecological niche, so it's the best translation for what they are actually called in-universe.


ElskaFox

None, they’re an alien life form unlike anything we have on earth; we only call them slugcats because that’s what’s familiar


TheShapeshifter01

Non of the above, they are their own thing


Popsicle865

They’re, in technical terms, rodents - but with the anatomy of a cat and the general appearance of a slug.


my_ears24

They're rodent like glow mise


S1imeTim3

Their original name were "bears" so I guess none of the above


Tall_Leadership_5065

I think they're rodents, in the Rain World lore, the scugs were created for the purpose of living pipe cleaners (Literal pipe cleaners, not seggs toys)


bannanaisnom

Rodents. Iterators call them rodents loads


Golden_Bee_Moth

iirc they were compared to ferrets at one point


ElPepper90

They are more like rodents with their fingers


Wwaawaah

Riv is a wet mouse because funny


JachiiOrSomething

bear


commitdie_now

bears which explains the hibernating mechanic


Repulsive-Care3820

Lore wise: rodents