Shapeshifters Species

Social Structure

Social Structure

Shapeshifter social structure is based almost entirely around longevity; the natural hazards of their way of life mean that the elderly shapeshifters are seen as experienced, and successful survivors. They have a great reverence for their old and bow to their guidance in almost all circumstances.

Shapeshifters are a highly social creatures; intense and prolonged isolation has been proven by research to be incredibly detrimental to a shapeshifter's mental health. Whilst some shapeshifters are perfectly happy to get their socialisation from other sapient species, most prefer to solely seek the companionship of other shapeshifters. After witches, shapeshifter societies tend to be the most homogenous; however, with witches their isolationist tendencies are often due to mere logistics.

Shapeshifter communities can range in size from a single family, where every family member is related by blood, to a large settlement. There are currently very few shapeshifter nations on the human world and Mushroom Kingdom world, though this was not always the case throughout the history. These tend to be places where it has been difficult for humans to gain a foothold, such as the heavily rain-forested island of the Mushroom Kingdom world. Some small groups of shapeshifters have integrated themselves into human society, though even there they tend to stick to their own kind.

Most shapeshifters tend to pair up with the opposite sex, though this is mainly for reproductive purposes as many have the ability to be attracted to any sexualities and all genders. Polyamory relationships is much more common in shapeshifter cultures than in other sapient species cultures, and in some cultures it is considered odd to have only one partner.

Shapeshifter society exists as a 'pack' or clan structures, with each pack led by a single elder. Largely autonomous and isolated from others except for during times of crisis, packs will have little contact outside of unique racial crossroads like their ancestral homeland of the wilderness. The wilderness is the one place where shapeshifters adhere to a more intricate leadership structures, and decisions affecting the entirety of the sapient species are made there by a council of all pack elders.

A pack is generally comprised of fifteen to fifty individuals and functions as a single large family, with little to no distinction on the basis of blood. While couples within the group are typically monogamous, children are raised communally without much distinction of their parentage. Packs will often have a tighter, more core formed of the leading elder, individuals who wear a more 'human' clothes, and the group's children and adolescents; this core will then be supplemented by those who favor an animal form, some of whom are loners only included as members of the pack due to overlapping territory. A pack's living situation varies depending on time of year and the preferences of individuals within it; it's typical to disperse to live independently or in pairs during the summer months when resources are more plentiful, and then gather together for mutual support and semi-permanent housing during the winter months.