Formatide

A formatide demonstrating the fusion between fungus and host. Note the fungal bodies sprouting out of the body, and the green spots where fungal mycelium is growing just beneath the skin. The bloody patches of flesh indicate that this formatide is starving.

Introduction:

The formatide are a species of fungi native to Eox that parasitizes nearly all animal life. While the fungus can live in colonies without a host, a host body allows them to thrive, move, breed, and most importantly, hijack the host's nervous system and become sentient. They are seen by most people as disturbing at best and monsters at worst due to their role in The War of the Bleeding Sky , which is often regarded as the most violent and atrocity-filled war in known history. In recent decades, the formatide have attempted to engage in peaceful trade with other species to increase their reputation among the galaxy's inhabitants.
Scientific Name: Cordylia unilateralis

Appearance:

One formatide "person" is composed of two parts: a colony of the formatide fungi, and a living host. The fungi weaves mycelium together in intricate strands to create a structure that functions as a brain. This "brain" is connected to the real brain of its host and slowly devours the nerves connecting the real brain and the host's motor neurons, preventing the host from moving and successfully taking over the host's body. After a successful fusion, the formatide "person" resembles the animal host, but with rotting flesh and fungi sprouting from wounds in its body. Unsurprisingly, this appearance is frightful to most.
While it is believed that the formatide fungus originally evolved to parasitize large mammals on Eox, it quickly adapted to parasitize nearly all animal life thanks to a mass extinction event on Eox 200,000 years ago that forced rapid evolution. One major consequence of this adaptation is that the fungus prefers any host with the most developed nervous system. Unfortunately for the people of the galaxy, this means that sentient humanoids function at the most effective hosts for the formatide. After the War of the Bleeding Sky, the nations of Eox worked with the Empire to develop a vaccine that rendered all sentient citizens of the galaxy immune to being parasitized by the fungus.
After the signing of the Eox Integration Proposal, any formatide that wishes to leave Eox can purchase a lab-grown humanoid host that lacks a sentient nervous system. The formatide must wear a provided airtight suit at all times in order to prevent the spread of spores and to hide their appearance to avoid upsetting others.

Lifestyle:

In the current day, most formatide live on Eox and inhabit unintelligent animal hosts native to their planet. Most nations on Eox encourage their citizens to seek friendly connections with other sentient species.

Each formatide must consume a small amount of food and water each day. They are capable of eating almost any organic matter, but prefer raw flesh and decaying plant matter. If a formatide is unable to eat for long periods of time, they will slowly digest parts of their host to gain resources. While formatide feel no pain and are not bothered by this digestion, it will destroy the host if it is allowed to persist for long enough.

For the few that leave their planet and travel the stars, many formatide travelers find themselves unwanted in many parts of the galaxy due to their species' reputation. The most friendly places to formatide are major cities in the Core Sector and a select few settlements that have predominantly formatide citizens. While the formatide may struggle to find acceptance, they are still subject to antidiscrimination laws that prevent other species from treating them differently because of their species.

(Meta) Playing a Formatide:

As a person with free will, your character can act and think in any way you want them to. If you want them to follow the norm for a formatide, take the following into consideration:
-While accepted on a large scale, some people are still afraid of the formatide. Many formatide are therefore reluctant to travel to alien environments outside of dense population centers.
-While wearing a pressure suit, you cannot exchange spores to communicate with other formatide. While you can still communicate verbally, long periods without communicating naturally with spores can cause distress. Formatide will usually find discrete places to commicate without pressure suits.
-Your natural appearance is horrifying to most species. Even in private, many formatide choose to completely cover their bodies.