Miqo'te

Template:Sideicon

Seekers of the Sun to the left, Keepers of the Moon on the right.

Miqo'te (ミコッテ, Mikotte?) is a feline race from Eorzea in Final Fantasy XIV. They resemble the Mithra of Final Fantasy XI, but unlike the Mithra, both male and female Miqo'te are available. Like the Hyur, the Miqo'te is an immigrant race.

History

During the Age of Endless Frost, as the seas turned to ice and passage over them became possible, Eorzea saw an influx of foreign fauna to her shores. This brought the hunting tribes which subsisted upon them, the modern descendants of whom are today known as the Miqo'te. Since their arrival, the Miqo'te have diverged into two physically distinguishable groups: the diurnal Seekers of the Sun and the nocturnal Keepers of the Moon.

Notable Miqo'te

Culture

The Miqo'te have diverged into two separate ethnicities: the Seekers of the Sun and the Keepers of the Moon. While the diurnal Seekers of the Sun worship Azeyma the Warden with their culture revolving around the sun, the nocturnal Keepers of the Moon prefer the shroud of night and offer their piety to Menphina the Lover. The Keepers of the Moon have a custom of applying war paint to their faces, as it is believed the vivid colors grant lunar powers.

Physiology

FFXIVPCRaces — The Miqo'te alongside other playable races.

Due to the differences of their cultures there are some physical differences between the Seekers of the Sun and the Keepers of the Moon.

Due to their exposure to light, the pupils of a Seeker of the Sun Miqo'te are vertically aligned slits with irises faintly colored. It is common for their eyes to be disparately colored from birth, a trait considered auspicious among their kind.

In contrast, due to their exposure to darkness, the pupils of a Keeper of the Moon Miqo'te are large and round with little iris exposure. They are distinguishable from their diurnal cousins by their darker fur, larger ears, rounder eyes, more pronounced canines, and longer, skinnier tails.

The groups share a superb sense of smell and powerful leg muscles, results of a long evolution geared towards hunting and predation.

With the A Realm Reborn version a few differences are noted, for instance the Seekers of the Sun Miqo'te's ears are wider with thick hair, while the Keepers of the Moon Miqo'te have stylized ears with short hair and are slightly longer and thinner.

Male Miqo'te from the Seekers of the Sun have tanned skin and have wider faces and their tails have a leonine design, while the Keepers of the Moon have pale canine tails. The Seekers of the Sun do not have pronounced canine teeth, but Keepers of the Moon have long canines clearly visible when laughing, cheering, or most other emoting.

While the variation in Seeker skin color tends toward the more "traditional" tan coloration seen in many other races, darker-skinned Keepers tilt more toward blue and gray coloration. This even affects the lighter skin tones of Keepers, as a fair-skinned Keeper will still appear distinct next to a Hyur of similar skin tone.

Demeanor

Comparatively few in number, Miqo'te maintain an insular mentality within their clans, tending to avoid contact with the other races. Many individuals lead isolated lifestyles, even when living in the more populous cities.

The Seekers are widely regarded as quick-witted and prone to action, and many bore easily. The Keepers are known for their reticent and brooding personalities, but are also respected and sometimes feared for their tenacity.

Avid fishers, their high dexterity and quick wit makes them outstanding Archers and Pugilists.

Home areas

The Seekers are diasporized across Eorzea; a few can be found in nearly every single region of the land, bar Coerthas. Limsa Lominsa boasts a substantial Seeker population, as the Seekers are generally drawn to La Noscea's warm-temperate climate and abundant sunlight. Many of the Seekers who have settled in Limsa have also adopted most of its social mores, and do not follow the "traditional" clan hierarchy closely, if at all.

The other famous population of Seekers is to be found in Thanalan's Sagolii Desert. While there are, of course, Seekers to be found in Ul'dah (including the infamous Ul'dahn "dancing girls"), a number of Seeker tribes inhabit the southern parts of Thanalan, extending into the Sagolii. These tribes, in contrast to their urbanized cousins, tend to be stridently traditional, maintaining the social structure the Seekers have lived under for millennia and with an economy focused on hunting. The most famous of the tribes of this sort among adventurers are undoubtedly the "U", or Drake, tribe; the location of their home, Forgotten Springs, makes it a good stop-over point for anyone venturing out into the desert, and the village sees a good deal of traffic (to mixed feelings from the U).

Keepers are generally found in the Black Shroud. They are divided between those who have made peace with the Gridanians and integrated into their culture (and can be found making up a not-insubstantial portion of groups like the Wood Wailers), and the other clans who still resist Gridanian "domination" and have carved out their own small domains in the forest, like the Coeurlclaws. The latter tend to engage in banditry to aid their survival, forcing them into further conflict with Gridanians, who worry their behavior will incite the wrath of the Twelveswood's elementals.

The one city-state in Eorzea where Miqo'te of any kind are not found in number is Ishgard, especially thanks to Coerthas' recent climate shift, it is now too cold for a Seeker to be comfortable, and often too cloudy for the Keepers, making their reverence of, and connection to, Menphina more difficult. The general hostility of the Ishgardians toward outsiders only further deters Miqo'te moving into the region in number; any Miqo'te encountered in Coerthas is likely either an adventurer or traveler, neither likely to stay for long.

Statistics

Character models

The following images were taken from the Version 1.0 files. While the styles are available in A Realm Reborn, the new graphics engine may not render them exactly as shown.

Face types

	Face 1	Face 2	Face 3	Face 4
Seeker				\|
					Keeper
	Face 1	Face 2	Face 3	Face 4

Hair types

Hair 1	Hair 2	Hair 3	Hair 4
			\|
			\|
Hair 5	Hair 6	Hair 7	Hair 8

Starting attributes

The following table shows the level 1 attributes for each class a Miqo'te can take:

Seekers of the Sun

Job	STR	VIT	DEX	INT	MND	PIE
Base	21	20	22	18	19	20	12	18	15	15	17	13

Keepers of the Moon

Job	STR	VIT	DEX	INT	MND	PIE
Base	18	17	21	19	23	22	16	13	14	18	14	15

Other appearances

Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII

Template:Sideicon

The default Miqo'te costume is one of Lightning's garbs. It is obtained from the chocobo girls in Yusnaan. One of the Miqo'te's unique poses serves as Lightning's victory pose () while she is wearing this garb.

Non-Final Fantasy guest appearances

Phantasy Star Online 2

Miqo'te starting outfits will be available in the game as part of collaboration agreement between Square Enix and Sega.

Gallery

Etymology

While the origin of the word "Miqo'te" has not been established, both sub-races have their own naming conventions.

Trivia

Originally, players were able to play only as female Miqo'te, but males became playable since the Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn relaunch.
In the 1.0 version, while the busts of female members of other character races change depending on the face, the bust size of female Miqo'te depends on the sub-race (Seeker of the Sun, Keeper of the Moon). In A Realm Reborn the bust size option is independent of face.
Data Mining of Patch 2.5 of A Realm Reborn suggests that Miqo'te originally hail from Meracydia.

Template:FFXIV Template:Races