Ianto

Ianto is not exactly a were-anything, he was born to a small community of tigris tigris sapiens. These creatures are genetically human and tiger, they are a genetic anomaly and occur very rarely. Often they are a result of inbreeding to some extent when multiples appear in the same family. For a male like Ianto to reproduce a tigris tigris sapien, he'd have to mate with a female who had the recessive gene. Thus, if he simply mated with a human and produced a child it would be a human child with the recessive gene. Same as if he mated with a tiger and produced a child.

That being said Ianto's personal habits are extremely conservative. He doesn't date, he doesn't really see people at all. He lives and works in a zoo in the Nexxus, staring as a trained tiger and working as the zoo's owner's right hand man. Little know that he is the same creature, and those who do protect his lifestyle in order to protect his life.

For much of his early years Ianto traveled with his family, they were circus animals living in small cramped conditions. In order to protect themselves from too much scrutiny they allowed themselves to be mistreated and abused, he lived there and owned that life as his own until he was a young teen and the circus was raided with all animals confiscated.

From there Ianto changed hands into a private owner, fearing that he would be used for worse tasks than ideas the man had for a tiger Ianto didn't allow himself to change into a man for this period of his life. For most of these six years he was isolated from the world and used as a breeding tool to populate and sell tigers for the blackmarket, at least that's the most that you'll get out of Ianto. This particular period of time he doesn't talk too much about.

And from there, once more on his own he made his way to the Nexxus to live and work at the zoo. Protected and allowed his freedom, finally content with his position in life.

Basic Information about the Tigris Tigris Sapiens

The tigris tigris sapien is believed to have existed for much of the last 3000 years. Few records have been kept by these people, but humans have noticed several "oddly" colored tigers existing in their world. For the most part the tigris tigris sapiens appear as Bengal tigers, however they have been known to appear as Indochinese, Malayan, Sumatran, Siberian, and South China tigers. But, it is not uncommon for them to appear as the often thought extinct species such as the Bali, Javan, and Caspian tigers.

Tigris Tigris Sapiens can never be a tiger hybrid, or have the phenotype of such. To be a tigris tigris sapien they have to exhibit a true tiger "look". It is the same as when they appear human, they do not have any outward appearances that something is "different" about them. They appear as normal people.

Because of their unique genetic code they have a slightly abnormal lifespan for a tiger. While a tiger can live 20+ years, it is not uncommon for a T.T.S. to live around fifty years. There have been a few recorded cases of a sixty year old T.T.S. but this sort of lifespan is extremely rare. For the most part this species is very healthy, though it is not too unusual to see diseases such as cancer popping up here and there. Especially with the inbreeding that has occurred in the species.

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Etymology and Taxonomy

Tigris comes from the Latin for Tiger, specifically referring to the spotted tigerhound of Acteaon. The work Sapien comes from the Latin for Wise. Roughly Tigris Tigris Sapien translates as the "Wise Tiger" or for those really specific people, the "Wise Tiger Tiger".

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Characteristics

T.T.S.'s are muscular, have strong forearms, and tend to have large craniums. The body has a main color, a sub color, and tends to be shaded with stripes. However, some T.T.S.'s do not have stripes, others have wider stripes. It just depends in that respect on the "tiger" they end up displaying. As a tiger their pupils are circular, in both forms their eye colors must remain the same. Often times they keep a uniquely "cat-like" look to their eyes even as a human. They can have a yellow, green, amber, or in the case of white tigers blue eyes. Also as a tiger they have small rounded ears with white spots.

As a human T.T.S. tend to remain muscular, though their height and weight will fluctuate it tends to follow a like build as their tiger counterpart. They will have well muscled legs and arms, and they may have hair a similar color to their tiger form. Like many humans they have light colored body hair, however they will tend to have more. Especially the males. It will be light colored however, usually the same color as the hair on top of their heads.

The dentition of the T.T.S. is fairly normal considering, however as a human they will have slightly longer canines, and they do not have premolars. They have a mostly carnivorous diet, but in desperate times or in order to keep up appearances they can be seen eating an omnivores diet. They however, cannot survive as vegetarians because they need a healthy supply of red meat.

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Colors of the T.T.S.

As a tiger the T.T.S. can come in a vast variety of colors. Ranging in the full shade of oranges from tawny to xanthine orange. They also can be white, golden tabby, blue, or black. Though the blue and black varieties have been mostly hunted to extinction, in extremely rare instances there have been one or two that have popped up. They can be striped, stripeless, or have open stripes making them appear that they are banded.

As a human their skin tone often reflects that of their fur color as a tiger. However, do not mistake this for a blue human walking around. Their ability to survive in the human world depends upon them blending in. So as they were hunted and killed the "blue" T.T.S. also had to adapt, often these T.T.S. are the most solitary, if there are even any still in existence.

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Habitat

It's thought that the key to the T.T.S.'s survival was to infiltrate and live with tiger communities throughout the world. Those communities can and have been wild as well as domesticated. They easily can blend in human societies as well, and have done so in the past. However, they prefer to live in the woods or in wooded areas. They tend to live in small numbers, if they live together at all. And they prefer when living in the wild to have heavy cover, sufficient water, and abundant prey. They can and have inhabited many types of forests, from rain to evergreen. They are highly adaptable, and so can easily live in cities as well.

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Biology and Behavior

Territorial Behavior

Taking after their feline counterparts, T.T.S. are extremely territorial. They tend to live in a ratio of 1:10, one male for every ten females. The males claim an average of 100 meters of land, protecting their females and throwing out or killing any male cubs. Especially with their extended lifespans, this can go on for several decades until a younger male challenges/kills the previous male.

Despite the issues with the males of this species, they easily work together with the females in their area. They still tend to "den" alone, only coming together in that respect to reproduce. Often all in the community are invested in teaching the young cubs how to survive as both tiger and man.

Hunting and Diet

In the wild the T.T.S. generally hunts medium to large size prey. But, in rare cases when food is scarce or when the T.T.S. becomes injured they have been known to turn on humans for prey. Since those are generally easier to kill than their normal prey in such circumstances. Most often the T.T.S. hunts at night, and they are known to stockpile their food in caches for the group as a whole especially in times where they know they will have limited access to food. They can hunt in water, often diving or simply swimming after their prey.

Reproduction

Mating can occur all year round, in either form of the T.T.S. with either species. However, the prime "breeding" time for a T.T.S. female occurs twice a year. When in a community the females tend to link up and the prime time falls generally in April and November. But a six month gap is normal. However, only two days out of those periods are when the female T.T.S. is receptive for breeding. Thus, the population issue the T.T.S. has. Many females for that reason are technically infertile, but can reproduce occasionally. It just depends on their "mates" and the timing of the matter.

A T.T.S. female can have between 1 and 4 offspring at a time. Larger "litters" are uncommon, but occasionally do occur. Usually a great risk to the female. That being said the mortality rate for a T.T.S. litter is extremely high, it's not uncommon for a litter to be born and to have died within a few days.

Because of the genetic differences in the T.T.S. a female will reach sexual maturity at the age of 15 while the male will have reached their maturity by 18. In order to keep the population stable over a lifetime a female will produce an equal amount of male and female cubs.

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Miscellaneous Information

A brief summary of strengths:
- Intelligent
- Above average strength (above average to humans)
- Quick runners/Quick reflexes
- Emphatic connection to family members

A brief summary of weaknesses:

- Fiercely protective of friends/family
- Can be overly aggressive for human companionship
- Tends to live a solitary life, thus vulnerable
- The empathetic connection they have makes them vulnerable to empathetic attacks