What weapons should dogs use is a heartbreaking question for designers


If the animal characters in various game film and television works can complain about their designers, their biggest opinion may be “equipment”.

Animal characters often appear in cute anthropomorphic images, but human designers often start from a “human-centered” perspective and do not consider whether the objects they are matched with can be used normally. A common question is “how do rabbits wear headphones?” Over the years, many creators seem to have never considered the issue of rabbit ears not on the sides of their heads.

动画《猫屎一号》里兔子们戴耳机的方式 The way the rabbits wear headphones in the animation “Cat Shit No. 1”

Until Disney arranged a pair of in-ears for Judy in “Zootopia”, rabbit rights were finally reasonably guaranteed.

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The weapons of animals are also “hardest hit”.

No matter the knives, guns and sticks in the cold weapon period, to all kinds of guns and guns in modern times, and then to electromagnetic and laser weapons in the near future, most of these weapons are manufactured according to the standards suitable for humanoids. A weapon that can be freely controlled by hands and feet.

In other words, most of these weapons are not very suitable for non-human species to use, and animal friends bear the brunt. Some time ago, a pusher wanted to test the rendering effect of the Unreal 5 engine on firearms and animal skins, trying to make a furry squirrel carry weapons… The results were a bit funny.

起飞! take off!

A submachine gun that is light enough for humans, still looks like a giant in the hands of a squirrel. The contrasting video has received more than 80,000 likes on Twitter. In addition to lamenting the Unreal 5 engine’s strong ability to handle physical effects, it is difficult for netizens not to imagine: if we really want to design a weapon for an animal, it is not surprising what it should take?


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The easiest way to get animals to take up weapons is to anthropomorphize them, which is also the way most animal characters on the market are currently dealing with them. You can see many animals carrying guns on their shoulders like humans, or dancing with knives and sticks in various works. It’s hard to say whether these weapons are tailor-made for animals, after all, as long as the size is right, some of them seem to complement each other.

《银河护卫队》的火箭浣熊就是成天拿着枪炮突突的代表 The Rocket Raccoon of “Guardians of the Galaxy” is the representative of all day long with guns and guns

Similar designs are numerous, and some of them are quite brilliant. But unfortunately, when the animals can stand up on their hind legs, the use of weapons is not a special setting.

In other words, the advantage of personification is that many difficult-to-explain settings can be solved at once. The disadvantage is that it is difficult to restore the vigorous posture of animals in the wild, and the starting point of weapons designed with this is not on animals.

However, there is one animal that can well combine the relationship between humans and beasts, and that is the “dogs who bite swords” who often appear on various studios.

人能用我也能用 People can use it, I can also use it

This method can keep the natural posture of animals to a considerable extent while allowing dogs to hold weapons, and can also portray a character image of “loyal dog and owner”, which is also a very useful method.

But if you want to further restore the wildness of canine animals, biting the sword is obviously only a stopgap measure. The key to further building weapons for dogs on this basis is how to understand the daily behavior patterns of dogs.

Compared to humans, dogs generally have faster running speeds, sharper senses of smell, hearing, and a tail that has been around since birth.

拔刀! Draw the knife!

Here we can talk about an excellent case in “Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance”: the technology dog ​​blade wolf.

刃狼的尾部直接设计成了可抓握的机械臂 The tail of the blade wolf is directly designed as a graspable mechanical arm

The blade wolf is not actually a living animal, but a war machine built on the prototype of a canine animal and equipped with an AI capable of learning.

According to the official settings, the weapons equipped by the blade wolf include steel claws, thermal throwing knives, mechanical arms at the tail and chainsaws. The most unique mechanical arm not only allows it to hold the chainsaw on its back during combat Attack, you can also pull out the core of the enemy after breaking the armor for execution.

标准的攻击流程就是先切再掏 The standard attack process is to cut first and then dig

Compared with anthropomorphism or biting swords, this way of designing weapons in combination with animal habits may be better, not only retaining the wildness of animals, but also making the appearance of weapons quite reasonable.

The addition of the robotic arm is quite a tricky part, it will not make the animal image become a half-orc, but also increase the ability to hold it. In theory, the combat capability is a qualitative leap.

只是有机械臂了还要伸爪子按密码,这点我就不是很认可了 It’s just that I have to stretch my claws to press the password when I have a robotic arm. I don’t really agree with this.


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I don’t know who came up with the setting of the robotic arm first, but the method of installing auxiliary machinery for small animals is obviously quite useful.

Mainly because of the addition of a robotic arm, the animals have successfully linked to the human arsenal.

If you have to divide it, this design idea can probably be classified into the equipment auxiliary group. Cyclops, switch knives, flamethrowers and the like basically belong to this category.

《瑞克和莫蒂》里雪球进化后的首要标志就是给自己装了一条机械臂 The first sign of Snowball’s evolution in “Rick and Morty” is to install a robotic arm for himself

虽然严格上来讲不算机械臂,但《爱死机》第三季里也出现了装备义肢的生化熊 Although not strictly a robotic arm, the third season of “Love Dead” also featured a biochemical bear equipped with a prosthetic limb

Another case worth mentioning is the dolphin from Red Alert.

As the cheapest member of the Allied naval forces, the dolphin is the easiest to manufacture, the fastest and most suitable for reconnaissance of the sea, but the low price does not prevent it from playing a considerable role in fighting high-priced submarines.

This situation can be caused, in addition to the fact that the dolphin itself is a lightweight unit, moves faster, and can also dive and stealth, it is also due to the ultrasonic weapon designed for it in the game.

红警3中展示的各种海豚设计稿,背上的就是武器原型 Various dolphin design drafts displayed in Red Alert 3, with the weapon prototype on the back

According to the setting, the device on the back of the dolphin can carry out an ultrasonic attack in a straight line. This attack can not only cause penetrating damage to the enemy, but also has considerable power behind it.

This ultrasonic weapon is also very good in combining the characteristics and settings of the dolphin itself. The designer should consider that the real dolphin also has the ability to use sonar positioning, so he decided to put this setting into the game.

In the game, in addition to sea units, ultrasonic waves can also damage land units within a certain range. If a boat is entangled by a giant squid, as long as the dolphin is used to emit ultrasonic waves, the giant squid will release the boat because it can’t stand the high-frequency sound.

海豚桥,没有坦克可以活着走完,来源B站@红警要塞 Dolphin Bridge, no tanks can walk through it alive, source B station @Red Alert Fortress

Unfortunately, apart from the blade wolf and the dolphin mentioned above, I really can’t think of a few similar animal weapon designs for a while. After all, designers are also human beings. It is really difficult to think about the behavior of animals with human psychology, and then design weapons according to the suit.

The design is beautiful and practical, and it is reasonable, probably not as good as the “articulateness” of the animals themselves.

This should be the reason why human weapons are numerous and animal weapons are scarce. Animals are born with their own defense mechanisms and survival instincts, and they don’t need people to meddle in their own business.

Most of the animals that are armed with weapons are also basically in bad shape. There are only a few choices: move closer to humans and become orcs; strengthen teeth, claws, and skin, and become mechanical creatures or monsters; otherwise, they can only become human beings like cannon fodder.

红警的废案坦克杀手自爆犬(但其实现实中有类似案例) Red Police’s abandoned tank killer self-destructing dog (but there are similar cases in reality)

These roads, no matter which one is, are not very easy to go.


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Of course, apart from these cruel endings, it is not that there is no other way to go.

If you want to keep your wildness and have a better future, you might as well consider taking the exam as a civil servant in the animal kingdom—incarnating into a magical fairy or monster.

Most of the gods and monsters in myths have a background in the animal world, so the magic weapon they hold can be regarded as an exclusive weapon. For example, the Qing Niu Jing in “Journey to the West” was formerly the Taishang Laojun’s mount “Banjiao Qingniu”.

一个冷知识,哮天犬虽然看起来是神兽,但其本身是一件法宝 A cold knowledge, although the roaring dog looks like a divine beast, it is a magic weapon in itself

The classic game “Okami” (Okami) also uses the allusions. Because the allusions of the Japanese legend Amaterasu are used, the protagonist “Amaterasu” in the game can use the legendary artifact Amaterasu Cloud Sword, Yata Mirror, and Gouyu San. of weapons.

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剑大概是用原力背在背上的,不过只要别用嘴咬就行 The sword is probably carried on the back with the force, but as long as you don’t bite it with your mouth

The development of this kind of ability and superpower seems to be a better place for animals, and from the perspective of game design, the play will be more stable and reliable. Imagine if the three-headed hellhound stopped breathing fire and instead used a fly swatter to guard the door, it would be somewhat inconsistent.

In general, the animals themselves seem to have enough magic power to play their role when they appear in the game as various elements, which may be related to people’s early nature and animal worship.

They don’t need the blessing of weapons, and people always need to use them as inspiration when building weapons, such as houndstooth dagger, lion’s head axe and so on. The appearance of monsters in the game often requires the help of animals. Even thinking about it in reverse, the sword spirits that come with many weapon settings are more similar to animals.

如果小精灵也算动物的话,宝可梦里的坚盾剑怪估计是一例 If the elf is also an animal, the Shield Sword Monster in Pokémon is estimated to be an example.

On this basis, designing weapons for animals is mostly like an icing on the cake.

Back to the blade wolf’s weapon design. In the game, the image of the blade wolf holding a chainsaw appeared when it was still under the control of the outlaw organization. Because it is treated like a killing machine, the scarlet head and bloody chainsaw will make it look more cruel, which is quite tragic compared to the idea of ​​​​not wanting to kill and longing for freedom.

It was not until he was defeated by Raiden and others that he was freed, and the blade wolf was able to remove the chainsaw and replace the weapon with sharp blades on his limbs. The tone was darker, and the style was more stable and calm.

刃狼的官方设定集,右下角原先还有装载轨道炮的设定 The official set of blade wolf, the lower right corner originally has the setting of loading rail gun

Using the replacement of equipment to reveal the change of the character is a quite effective method, which is the same for human and animal characters – just as Kratos in the new “God of War” did not take the old buddy Chaos Blade at the beginning. , but the Leviathan Tomahawk.

These game designs ultimately serve the content. There are not many good animal weapon designs. Perhaps on the one hand, there are few game content dominated by animals. On the other hand, when people focus too much on the weapons themselves, they ignore them. the existence of animals.

Hopefully, there will be more eye-catching weapon designs in the future. After all, for animals, it is more reassuring to keep safety in your own hands than to be concerned by PETA every day.

“走路上看到有猫拿狙击枪瞄我” “I saw a cat aiming at me with a sniper rifle while walking”

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