Finally finished with the headcanon of the Twili and the Twilight Realm! Or at the very least the main stuff regarding them and their culture. O: Took me so long ‘cuz I had to draw everything up first but I’m really happy with how everything came out. Now before I get into the headcanon I’d like to thank ya’ll for allowing me to have some of your OCs cameo in the post, it saved me quite a bit of time instead of me having to design the characters from the ground up, and it was a lot of fun! <: The following is featured:
Panel 1:
Akamu (owned by drawingshady)
Rishai (owned by takitacomako)
Eclipse (owned by Desphiria)
Panel 2:
Dream Walker (owned by
elosoquelee)
Cass (owned by furysscorn)
Alix (owned by
Crunchy-Cucumber)
Again thank you all so much! ^.^ Aight then, now onward to the headcanon!
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-The Twili are a unique race that inhabit the Twilight Realm, a realm of which they didn’t originate from but have since made their home all those many centuries ago. They were once Hylian but when their ancestors, a group called “The Interlopers” were banished to the Twilight Realm for their crimes, they have since evolved to adapt to their environment and, in turn, have evolved into a race of their own.
-Twili are covered in a short but thick coat of fur, often coming in two different tones and distinct markings. The tones are usually a greenish gray or blue-grey with a much lighter color of the same tone, however it isn’t too uncommon to see Twili with a more reddish tint to their fur. Their hair color is often a unique gradient of red to yellow and their eyes are often a shade of red (with the
sclera usually a light yellow).
Despite having normal-like feet, the Twili are digitgrade and always stand on the tips of their toes.
Twili all have slit pupils, claw-tipped fingers, and small-ish fangs adorning their mouths: they are most likened to being more “feral” in appearance in comparison to their Hylian relatives, which is true to some extent.
All Twili have natural tattoos that are etched into their skin (and is entirely visible through their fur), and these marks have the capacity to glow if the individual is using magic. These tattoos are almost always a bright green-blue or electric blue in color. While each individual’s tattoos are generally different, all Twili have tattoos that seem to share the same motifs and repeated patterns as shown in the “Common Markings” panel above.
-The three headshots show off rare color mutations seen within the Twili. All the information about these mutations can be seen and read in the info-boxes of each headshot above! <:
-The Twili, given their evolution to better inhabit their environment, all have a sensitivity to the sun. Exposure to the sun doesn’t necessarily harm them however sunlight upon their bodies can cause discomfort, especially if exposed for too long. Overexposure to extreme and direct sunlight or divine light can be harmful or even lethal to a Twili (ex: Midna being mortally wounded when exposed to a Light’s spirit’s unfiltered light directly). As a means to protect themselves, the Twili will often don hooded cloaks when visiting the Light Realm.
-Culturally, the Twili are indifferent and unbothered by nudity. It isn’t uncommon to see a Twili waltzing around in near nothing as far as clothing goes, however all Twili wear loincloths out of politeness instead of any real embarrassment to their bodies. Pants and shirts are very rarely worn unless the Twili’s specific profession requires it, which will be talked about a little more in detail below.
-The Twili don’t quite follow the typical social ranking system often seen in other cultures. That’s to say, “Upper-class, Middle-class, Working-class, ect” doesn’t necessarily exist in the Twili’s culture. Instead they are categorized by the profession they choose to partake in, though that doesn’t necessarily separate them from each other, due to their belief that every Twili serves an important purpose to their society, no matter where they’re born or who they’re born to. The only exception to this belief are religious figures and royalty, but while Royalty are distinguished by blood, any Twili can become a religious figure should they choose to commit themselves to the profession.
At any rate, their society is categorized by profession:
Artisans: Twili who’s focus is on the artistry of their culture. Includes professions such as: Painters, writers, musicians, craftsmen, architects, chefs, so on.
Enforcers: Twili who’s roles are to provide law enforcement and the protection of their people. Includes professions as: warriors, law enforcers, knights to the crown, judges, so on.
Providers: Twili who’s roles focus on providing the necessities of living to their society. Includes professions as: hunters, farmers, fishermen, healers/doctors, so on.
Mentors: Twili who focus on the pursuit for knowledge as well as the desire to share that knowledge. Includes professions such as: philosophers, teachers, librarians, wizards/witches
Spirituals: Twili who’s focus is on the spiritual and religious aspect of their society, they act as the superficial bridge between their people and the gods they worship. Includes professions such as: Priests and Priestesses, shamans, monks
-Despite their non-nonchalance toward clothing, what a Twili wears can indicate their profession. For example: a monk or a shaman are often seen in etched pants or traditional robes, while a Twili with a profession in fashion may wear transparent silks and an abundance of jewelry. Twili with practical and labor-based professions, like farming or metalsmithing, are unlikely to wear anything more than the bare minimum of the cultural loincloth so it won’t get in the way of their work, while royalty and Twili involved with the government are often seen wearing moderate but relatively intricate jewelry, often in copper or bronze.
-Midna is no longer the Queen of the Twili, having since willingly stepped down to allow another leader to the throne. However, the events of Twilight Princess has since elevated her as a sort of demi-god to her people, much to her chagrin. As a living deity to her culture, Midna still retains much of the power she had as queen, if not moreso given her current status. If you’d like to learn more about Midna in my headcanon, you can check out the post dedicated to her HERE.
-The panel with the 2 BG speedpaintings are my vision of the track leading to the Twilight Realm and the Twilight Realm itself respectively. The destruction of the mirror may have made traveling between the realms more difficult but it didn’t make it impossible. Sometime in her long-standing rule as the Queen of the Twili, Midna eventually went hard at work to re-establish that direct connection to the realms and, once she did, set out to put into place an alliance between the Twilight Realm and the Light Realm. It took a couple of long centuries before it was fully in effect, and from that point on relation between the two realms have only grown stronger. It wasn’t long before transportation between the realms was established, which in turn only strengthened their comradery. Nowadays it’s very common to see Light Dwellers visiting or even living in the Twilight Realm, and vice versa for the Twili.
-The Twilight Realm is accessible through the use of a Spirit Train, a unique locomotive that has access to traveling into realms connected to its native one. The train that runs to the Twilight Realm is a one-way train that travels through nearly every possible realm that’s available to visit, with the Twilight Realm being it’s first stop.
-The last panel is a depiction of a Twili Wolf. The Twili Wolf is a sacred animal in Twili culture, a creature who was once of the light realm before adapting to the Twilight Realm way before the Twili even inhabited the land, they are a symbol of survival, freedom, and power. Their heads are covered in a strange skull-like chitin that is often mimicked by the Twili when making armor and artifacts. The Twili Wolf is typically huge, about as big as a horse, and they have orbs of raw magical energy rolling off their fur as if it were flickers of flame.
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WHEW! A long-winded headcanon but I’m pretty happy with the result! I hope ya’ll like the headcanon here and if ya have any questions you’re more than free to ask. Otherwise, thank you so much for takin’ a look! <:
Nah, the Shadow Beasts were Twili forcibly changed into the monsters to be slaves to Zant’s will. I’d imagine their resemblance could be Zant’s way of spitting in the eyes of the gods, but even he would be too scared to actually desecrate a Twili Wolf, so the next best thing he could think of would be forcing his own people into parodied shapes of them as a means to mock them.
It probably scared him shitless, then, when Midna shows up on the back of a glowing wolf that resembles a Twili Wolf. o3o
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