Possible Traits for New Human Ethnicities

First Written    Wed Jan  3 03:15:32 2024
File Modified    Wed Feb 14 18:32:26 2024
Latest Upload    Fri May  2 12:48:25 2025

Brainstorming for future worldbuilds! (Or just another one-shot!)

Skin:

• (1/1) Actually paper white skin that shines
• (1/1) Permanently pink flushed skin
• (1/1) Blue argyria from silver accumulation
• (1/1) Jet midnight black skin with no lustre
• (1/1) Grey-blue skin from low surface blood flow
• (2/2) Light skin tone
• (2/2) Dark skin tone
• (2/2) Rough, thick skin
• (1/1) Vitiligo
• (2/2) Hair all over face and body
• (1/1) Heavy freckles
• (1/1) Large moles/beauty marks

Eyes:

• (1/1) Grey irises
• (1/1) Black irises
• (1/1) Yellow sclera (benign jaundice)
• (1/1) Hypervascularized red eyes (benign bloodshot eyes)
• (1/1) Skin over eyes (poor eyesight unless surgically implanted with lenses)
• (1/1) Blue rings around eyes, mandrill-like
• (2/2) Epicanthic folds
• (2/2) Blue irises, possible heterochromia
• (2/2) Green irises
• (1/1) Amber irises
• (1/1) No visible sclera
• (1/1) Violet irises

Hair:

• (1/1) White hair from birth (non-albino)
• (1/1) Algae-colonized green hair
• (1/1) Fully hairless
• (2/2) Keratin plates instead of hair
• (2/2) Tightly coiled hair
• (1/1) Curly hair
• (1/1) Peppercorn hair
• (1/1) Very straight hair
• (1/1) Red hair
• (2/2) Blonde hair
• (2/2) Jet black hair
• (1/1) Two tone (e.g. salt and pepper) hair

Facial structure:

• (1/1) Inward pointing jowls (sunken cheeks)
• (1/1) Natural coneheads
• (1/1) Arching brow ridge (and brows)
• (1/1) Pronounced brow ridge
• (1/1) Appearance of no lips
• (1/1) Darkened nose
• (2/2) Aquiline nose
• (2/2) High cheekbones
• (2/2) Broad face
• (2/2) Tall face
• (1/1) Cheek pads
• (1/1) Very wide smile

Features:

• (1/1) Nostrils that can be closed
• (2/2) Pointed ears
• (1/1) Sharp teeth
• (1/1) Long upper canines (fangs)
• (1/1) Long lower canines (tusks)
• (2/2) Whiskers for mustache (both sexes)
• (1/1) Two rows of teeth (pronounced smiles)
• (2/2) Vestigial tail
• (1/1) No external ears
• (1/1) Voice modifying throat pouch
• (1/1) Long ear lobes
• (1/1) Cutaneous horns

Body traits:

• (2/2) Tall statue
• (2/2) Short stature
• (1/1) Dwarfism
• (1/1) Gigantism
• (1/2) Naturally lean
• (2/2) Naturally muscular
• (1/1) Naturally fat
• (1/1) Lobster hands
• (1/1) Webbed digits
• (1/1) Six digits
• (1/1) Finger-like toes
• (1/1) Claw-like nails

With 72 distinct traits, we can have 24 ethnic groups with four traits each (96 total).

This means 24 traits will be present in two groups (we can choose 4 from each category).

Trait Family	"Default"	Duplicated Traits
Skin	Medium skin tone	Light skin tone, dark skin tone, thick rough skin, hairy skin and face
Eyes	Brown, wavy hair	Epicanthic folds, blue irises, green irises, amber irises
Hair	Brown with no eye area features	Tightly coiled hair, blonde hair, jet black hair, keratin plates
Facial Structure	Medium face with medium smile, cheekbones, and brow ridge	Aquiline nose, high cheekbones, broad face, tall face
Features	No overly distinct features, normal teeth and ears	Pointed ears, long upper canines, whiskers, vestigial tails
Body Traits	Medium build and height, normal digits	Tall stature, short stature, naturally lean, naturally muscular

Note that there is no default human form in reality, but for ease of design, we'll take a mix of common and perceived "midpoint" traits to be default.

Groups

There are six continental regions: Central-Rising, Central-Falling, Sunrise, Sunset, Icepole, and Sunless.

There are three major migrations out of the central origin zone:

• The first migration, which populated the twin continents
• The sun migration, which populated the sunrise and icepole continents
• The night migration, which populated the sunset and sunless continents
• The wandering migration, which spread out to various islands across the continents

Traits of the first migration include coloured eyes.

Traits of the sun migration include curly, tightly coiled, and plate hair types.

Traits of the night migration include light, pale, and blue skin tones.

Traits of the wandering migration include modified dentition.

Haplogroup Alpha

The most basal phenotype; arose on central-rising.

• Covered in dense hair
• Blue irises, often with heterochromia
• Vestigial tail
• Finger-like toes and long fingers

Haplogroup Beta

An ancient offshoot present in central-rising's deep forest.

• Covered in dense hair
• Blonde hair
• Cheek pads on sides of face
• Naturally muscular

Haplogroup Gamma

Central; with delta, ancestor of all haplogroups other than alpha and beta.

Descends primarily from haplogroup alpha, with some intermixing from beta.

• Green irises
• Two-tone blonde and brown hair
• Broad faces
• Six pronounced digits

Haplogroup Delta

First group to spread to central-falling by boat.

Other ethnicities descend from a mix of gamma and delta, explaining why coloured hair and eyes are not more common (they are recessive traits and the delta-gamma founder population carries both brown hair and eye genes).

• Red hair
• Two cutaneous horns, one on each temple
• Darkened nose pigmentation
• Naturally lean

Haplogroup Epsilon

Central-falling; along with gamma, formed the first empire.

• Heavily freckled skin
• Pronounced black irises
• Blonde hair
• High cheekbones

Haplogroup Zeta

Central-falling; formed the religious elite of the gamma-epsilon proto-empire, but was generally marginalized along with other central ethnicities.

• Rough skin like bark
• Bright blue irises
• Long ear lobes ("fairy ears")
• Green hair due to algae colonization

Haplogroup Eta

Originator of the sun migration; developed on sunrise continent from primarily epsilon stock, likely fishermen blown off-course.

• Curly hair
• Dark skin tone
• Sunken jowls
• Yellow sclera

Haplogroup Theta

Sunrise

• Tightly coiled hair
• Very wide smile
• Tall, well-built stature
• Voice modifying throat pouch

Haplogroup Iota

Sunrise

• Peppercorn hair
• Gigantism
• Violet eyes
• High cheekbones

Haplogroup Kappa

Back-migration to central-rising

• Light toned tightly coiled hair
• Dark skin tone
• Elongated skulls
• Two large fingers per hand

Haplogroup Lambda

Plate hair, icepole

• Keratin plate hair
• Shineless jet black skin
• High cheekbones
• Amber eyes

Haplogroup Mu

Plate hair, icepole

• Keratin plate hair
• Pronounced brow ridge
• Naturally muscular and broad
• Claw-like nails

Haplogroup Nu

Originator of the night migration; developed on sunset continent from explorers of gamma-delta stock early in central history, potentially via ice-age bridge of shallows connecting central-falling and sunset.

• Light skin tone
• Pointed ears
• Whiskers
• Vestigial tails

Haplogroup Xi

Sunset

• Permanently flushed skin tone
• Pointed ears
• Aquiline nose
• Dwarfism

Haplogroup Omicron

Sunset

• Silver-induced blue argyria
• No external ears
• Broad faces
• Tall, somewhat hunched posture

Haplogroup Pi

Sunless

• Light skin tone
• Whiskers
• Skin-covered eyes at birth
• Tall faces

Haplogroup Rho

Sunless

• Pale shining skin
• Aquiline nose
• Red sclera
• Jet black hair

Haplogroup Sigma

Sunless

• Grey-blue hypoxic skin
• Arcing brows and brow ridges
• No visible sclera (giant irises)
• Appearance of no lips

Haplogroup Tau

Originator of the wandering migration; developed on sunset continent from mixed population from the gamma-epsilon proto-empire.

Icepole

• Sharp teeth
• Rough skin like stone
• Short stature
• Green eyes

Haplogroup Upsilon

Icepole

• Tusk-like canines
• Naturally fat frame
• Blue rings around eyes
• Extremely straight hair

Haplogroup Phi

Sunrise

• Multiple rows of teeth
• Very wide smile
• Pronounced epicanthic folds
• Jet black hair

Haplogroup Chi

Central-falling back-migration

• Waterproof contracting nostrils
• Webbed digits
• Pronounced epicanthic folds
• Large beauty marks

Haplogroup Psi

Sunset

• Long upper fangs
• Completely hairless
• Vitiligo
• Naturally lean

Haplogroup Omega

Sunless

• Long upper fangs
• Grey irises
• White hair from birth
• Short stature