well there are two notable things I did on the subject of anthropomorphism. well this one I did before but I will mention it now since it was interesting. I looked into book called ''Theory of visual perception'' which is a psychology book on how we see things and how are mind registers and process the information we see.
I found this book from a talk I had with a relative of mine about anthropomorphism which he suggested I should look into the ''Theory visual perception'' and the ''Gestalt theory''. I asked him about anthropomorphism since he is studying his Psychology Masters degree so I thought he would now something or point me in the right direction which he did.
shortly after I was with my group '' we got games'' in the library looking for information which we found a copy of theory of visual perception which I then took home.
after looking into the book I found a really useful chapter which covered the Gestalt theory. In this chapter I found an interest passage which covered a topic called ''Cross-Cultural similarites'' which described how are minds start ruffly the same however is shaped throw what we see and experience. It also covers how primarily we are all the same and that why you can sometimes understand a person how speaks a different languages by there tone of voice, like if you hear some one speaking really quick, load and aggressively then you can presume the person is angry or how they express there emotions throw facial expressions and body language since that what humans used before they adapted with voices. so to use basic human emotions or behavior you can apply that to any thing and it would make it easier to relate to like ''Lumiere'' from Disney's ''Beauty and the Beast'' which he is only a candle on a metal frame but by making him speak, have facial emotions and organic movement then it make it easier to relate to him as a human then a object since we use are primal precipitation to understand him like if we took away his voice you can still understand him throw his movement.
The book I looked into was written by a man called Ian E. Gordon ''1989''. after looking after this book I found a Other book by him which had the same title but was published in ''2004'' which after looking at this book I found a extract which talked about how are minds can register something even it was change slightly for example he talks about how you can recognize a song even if it is ''played in a different key'' so with this theory applied to anthropomorphism if you change something like a person into animal or a object like a table or a robot but keeping quality like a face or body shape it makes it easier to recognize it as a person.
However for what I actually done this week, well I have been playing the new elder scrolls title, Skyrim on the ps3. This may seem like a lazy way out of the assignment however in this game there is vast number of anthropomorphic characters and creatures in the game which have there own interesting aspects which I will list below.
There is a summon in the game called a ''Flame Atronach'' which is a humanoid fire elemental ''daedra''. The interesting aspect behind this ''daedra'' is her feminine body shape and how elegant she movies in the air, similar to how fire is. fragile and elegant but wild and dangerous as seen by how see spins in the air like a ballerina how ever is ready to burn down anyone how threatens you however for me I use her a meat shield to distract the enemy while I charge at them. A example of her can be seen from the video I found below.
A other interesting creature is the Spriggan which is a very similar to the flame atronach but is made of wood and uses powers of nature rather then flames. The spriggan is usually found in the woods or any were there plant life as they serve as guardians of nature and kill anyone how goes by as human and other humanoid races since they are a threat to nature so there's a sense of responsibility which this reminds of the Titan ''Gaia'' from the God of war series since she is mother of the earth and that sense of responsibility is there. That and they live animals of the forest like one quest I had to go to area were it was full of spriggan and grizzly bears but I made short work of them with my good friend... FIRE!
A other notable creatures are the dragons in skyrim. Besides they have no human like quality since there very sharp and evil looking however one point which makes dragons stand out from other creatures in the game is that they can speak in human and there tong which is one of the main plot points in the game since you can there learn there language which is how they use there power and use it for your self, earthier from basic breathing fire, becoming invincible, sprinting unnaturally fast or my favorite '' Ice Form'' which freezes the enemy in ice and they fall on the floor like a statue, unable to move. All ways a good laugh. These dragons remind me allot of the dragons from the table top board game '' Dungeons and Dragons'' since in D&D, dragons are actually intelligent creatures how can speak, take human form and take have alliances ether Good (Metallic), Neutral (Gem) and evil (Chromatic) like the 'Red Dragon' which loves gold and killing people, very evil.
A good example of this is with the video below.
However in skyrim there are two actual anthropomorphic races aside with the humans, elves and orcs which you can pick from and exist throw out the game which are Khajit and Argonians.
The Khajit are a race of humanoid cat people and the Argonians are a race of lizard people which they both shear similar attributes like they can wear clothing, Armour, use weapons and tools like blacksmith or making potions. They can talk and live with human society as proper proper people since they can talk and express emotion quite easily however they differ to in Skyrim rather then previous titles like Oblivion were Khajit and Argonians would be seen as equals to most in this one they are treated differently by people now. In Skyrim there is a huge emphasis on race in the political world of the game were Skyrim is divide by civil war between the ''Imperial'' empire which consist of all the races in the elder scroll world vs the ''stormcloaks'' which are rebal army how are fighting ageist the empire because of there alliance with the ''Thalmor'' or High elves which now the stormcloaks fight for the freedom of skyrim and to let it be run by ''Nords''. This effects the Argonians and Khajit since because of this they are seen as second class citizens, especially by the ''Thalmor'' which see everyone as lesser. All ways good kicking there butts, high class snobs.
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