Datau

A striking Near-Human species, Datau are easily recognized by their crown of horns and large curved claws. Despite their fearsome appearance, however, they're primarily herbivorous, and on their home planet, fulfill a role of prey to predatory animals.

Basic Information

Anatomy

As a Near-Human species, the base anatomy of a datau is similar to that of a human. Their strong arms are disproportionally broad, however, even accounting for muscles, and their fingers are all tipped with long curving claws. Though these claws serve as a defensive measure, they don't do their work alone: datau have a more insididious tactic up their sleeve... literally, as it's housed in the arm. A mechanism in their wrist lets them squirt out a red fluid, which is harmless of itself but strongly resembles blood. When a datau swings at a target, they will simultaneously release some fake blood, making the enemy think they've been injured even when the datau was bluffing with their strike (or missed entirely).
Aside from their claws, datau also have a rather spiky appearance. All datau have three pairs of horns growing on their head, referred to as a crown, which are straight and somewhat triangular in shape. In addition, they grow thin spines on their brow ridges, replacing eyebrows. These straight but thin spines are known as eyelashes. Finally, datau also grow a variety of broader spines on the rest of their bodies, like the neck, shoulders, and back.
Datau have alarming brightly colored eyes, strongly resembling those of a gecko. Their pupils are slit with pinholes, creating a strange wavering shape unless fully dilated (and even then to some extent). Their irises are typically red with yellow around the pupil, but other colors also occur.
They also have slightly elongated tongues, which end in an usually pointy tip.
Aside from their brightly colored eyes, datau tend to be pale and desatured in color, though darker skinned individuals do sometimes occur. Like humans and many other Near-Humans, datau lack patterns on their skin. They're typically pale grayish in color, with white hair and black horns. Their tongues, however, are a typical humanoid pink color.
Female datau are significantly taller than male datau, but otherwise lack sexual dimorphism, and usually tall or short individuals are known to occur, even outside of transitioning.

Datau concept portrait by DarkNymfa

Genetic Ancestor(s)

• Near-Human

Average Height

1.52 - 1.58 m (male)
1.83 - 2.1 m (female)