Analysis / Neopets

Reproduction, Genetics and Young Neopets

• Genetics and breeding work the same way in Neopia, but interspecies couples generally (if not always) have adopted children. Users are also not allowed to write stories in the Neopian Times concerning hybrid pets. This possibly indicates that Neopets cannot breed with other species.
• Unlike some Earth species, no Neopet species has special names for the males and females. A male adult Neopet is referred to as a "man", a female adult as a "woman", a male juvenile as a "boy" and a female juvenile as a "girl", just like humans, regardless of species. Likewise, there are no special names for juveniles of a particular species per se, although a baby uni is sometimes referred to as a foal.
• For reasons unknown, Draiks will hatch out of eggs as adults, but baby Draiks do exist.
• Draiks and Pteris lay eggs.
• Baby Neopets that come from Boochi or the Baby Paint Brush can speak and only some of them wear diapers. This could be due to the fact that they became a baby artificially and therefore still have their adult mind, or it could be because they're more like preschoolers.
• Pteris can speak while they're still in the egg and, unlike most eggs, the Pteris in the eggs still need food. It is unknown how they eat, however one user believes that they absorb food through their shells. Seeing as baby Pteris are just eggs, they may already be around school age when they hatch.
• Most Neopet species are all a certain colour as babies (for example, all baby Vandagyres are blue), however, there are exceptions, as the baby Usul in the haunted house story was yellow despite the fact that most baby Usuls are lilac.
• Baby Nimmos have only two legs, and tadpole-like tails.
• Baby Gnorbus don't have manes.
• All faeries are very long-lived, possibly immortal, and are all female, so it's unknown how they breed, although some faeries seem to be related, such as The Drenched.

Magic and Faeries

• Lennies and Aishas are said to be "good at magic", however, most Neopets don't actually have magical powers, but they can do magic by creating items that produce magic and by using items such as wands. Neopets that work magic seem to be known as "witches", "mystics" or "wizards".
• Magic is possibly responsible for Jelly World.
• Unlike Neopets, Faeries do have powers. Some faeries have unique powers that do not relate to their type, especially if they don't have a specific type, but all faeries with specific types have powers that go with the type.
  • Earth Faeries can make plants grow.
  • Fire Faeries are pyrokinetic.
  • Water Faeries can control water. They also have mermaid tails and their tears have healing properties.
  • Many faeries are psychic, and in extreme cases this is referred to as "the Sight".
• Magma Neopets are an exception to the "Neopets don't have powers" rule, as they can control magma.
• Each faerie has her own aura, that either depends on type, or, if she doesn't have a type, is unique. Dark Faeries have a purple aura and Queen Fyora has a pink aura.
• Earth faeries have brown hair with a green skunk stripe and leaf-like wings. They generally wear green.
• Dark faeries normally wear purple and have purple skin and hair. Their clothes and hair are generally dark purple while their skin is lilac. They have bat-like wings.
• Light faeries are generally blonde, have yellow wings and wear yellow.
• Air faeries are usually blonde and wear blue.
• Not all Dark Faeries are evil, but most are at least mischievous and the evil ones are probably considered "more dark" judging by the fact that the Darkest Faerie is called that.
• Faeries are either immune to ageing or extremely long-lived, judging by the fact that Fyora and the Darkest Faerie are both over 1,000 years old. They don't seem to get sick, but they do sustain injuries and may be susceptible to hypothermia as Taelia's sisters (who are probably faeries too) complain about Terror Mountain being "too cold".

Geography

There are twenty areas, known as "lands", on Neopia that can be accessed via map. Despite Neopia's being an entire planet, Time Zones Do Not Exist and the planet has only one timezone, called NST (Neopian Standard Time). The lands are:

• Altador: A rather green city with an ancient Greek/Roman aesthetic (perhaps because it was frozen in time for a thousand years), and it's where the Altador Cup gets its name, and it's named after its ruler, King Altador. The city runs on an aqueduct, and has four districts that surround the Hall of Heroes (a sort of shrine dedicated to Altador's greatest heroes): the Arena District (which, as the name suggests, houses an arena), the Park District (which contains many gardens), the Money District (where the archives are), and the Bazaar District (where, unsurprisingly, the stores are). There is also a rock quarry, a dock, and some farmland.
• Brightvale: A small kingdom ruled by King Hagan, where education and learning are prioritised. It is based on an idealised version of Medieval England. It neighbours Meridell and borders the Haunted Woods.
• Darigan Citadel: A barren city that levitates above Meridell and is ruled by the formerly-evil Lord Darigan. It has a dark, gloomy appearance, which originated from a curse that seems to have been lifted, but the appearance remains.
• Faerieland: A city that used to be in the sky but now is in a crater. The city is mostly populated by faeries and Faerie Neopets, hence the name, and many of the buildings are made of pink or purple rock. Due to the high faerie population, there is a great deal of magic in the city.
• The Haunted Woods: A very large, swampy forest that is right next door to Faerieland. As the name suggests, there are a lot of ghosts living there, as well as Werelupes (Lupes with lycanthropy), Edna the witch, and various other creepy characters. It also features a small village called Neovia and a "deserted" fair that actually has people working there.
• Kiko Lake: A lake where Kikos live, obviously. It is inside a dormant volcano's crater and mainly relies on tourism for its economy.
• Krawk Island: An island made of several islands literally chained together. It is mainly populated by pirates.
• Kreludor: The largest of Neopia's several moons, with thinner air and no weather, though a breathable atmosphere, and low gravity. Grundoes live here, and they have a mine. Its dark side is prone to meteor showers.
• Lost Desert: A large desert, which is a pretty dangerous environment, and very hot. It has many towns/cities in it, but the two most prominent ones are Sakhmet and Qasala, the latter of which is still recovering from a curse being lifted. The entire place is based mainly on Egyptian mythology.
• Lutari Island: An island which, as the name suggests, is populated mostly by Lutaris. It is currently inaccessible due to tropical storms.
• Maraqua: A city ruled by King Kelpbeard that is on the seafloor. It is famous for its restaurant, called Kelp, and the plot involving a curse being put on it (which is why there are ruins of Old Maraqua). The Neopets who live there can breathe underwater due to a bubbling pool altering their genes, but oddly enough, when you visit Maraqua, your Neopets can also breathe.
• Meridell: A kingdom that neighbours Brightvale and is ruled by Hagan's grumpy, lazy brother, King Skarl. It is also based on medieval England, though it has more of a Dung Ages vibe. It is notable for its farm and its rubbish dump, but it is also where Illusen the Earth Faerie lives.
• Moltara: A subterranean city near the core of the planet, where there is lots of mechanical devices and magma. There are also a mysterious set of caves, in which live worms and lava beasts.
• Mystery Island: A tiki-themed tropical island that is also a popular tourist spot. Most of the locals are friendly, though there are also coconut men who eat each other. Also on the island is a jungle which contains a deserted city called Geraptiku. Off the coast of the Mystery Island is a sort of Bermuda Triangle called the Mystery Island Triangle, in which scurvy, seasickness, and barnacles are likely to occur. The Mystery Island Triangle is also part of a larger area of sea, the Maraquan Circle, in which ships disappear, storms are frequent, and navigational equipment doesn't work.
• Neopia Central: A city located in a valley at the centre of the main continent of Neopia, which is where the name comes from. It is where the majority of the Neopian shops are, and where the Shop Wizard and Soup Faerie work. There are also catacombs under the city.
• Roo Island: An island ruled by King Roo and mainly populated by Blumaroos. Its culture mainly focuses on entertainment/fun, and the Games Room and Merry Go Round are located on Roo Island.
• Shenkuu: A mountainous region, shrouded in mist, and based on the ancient orient.
• Terror Mountain: A large mountain on which it is always winter, even at the bottom of it. There are three main places on Terror Mountain: Happy Valley (a joyous village at the bottom), the Ice Caves (in the middle), and the Top of the Mountain (which is obviously at the top). It is home to a giant snakelike beast called the Snowager, Taelia (a faerie with healing powers), and Donny the repairman.
• Tyrannia: A jungly region that is next door to Terror Mountain, but way hotter. It has a prehistoric vibe due to being frozen in time since prehistory. The citizens basically behave like cavemen, and speak a language called Tyrannian. Famous for its giant omelette.
• Virtupets: A space station that was created by Dr. Sloth, but which is now mostly a safe place. It is notably the only Neopian region with computer technology, and many Grundoes live there.

There are also some places which can't be accessed via map:

• Jelly World: A town made entirely of jelly (jello). TNT are notably in denial about creating it, and if you ask any questions about it, they'll claim it doesn't exist.

Diseases and Injuries

• All species can catch the same diseases (even Grundos and Alien Aishas), but faeries, as far as we know, do not get sick, however, they do sustain injuries.
• How illnesses are spread is a bit of a mystery. They apparently are contagious, although a sick pet cannot spread their illness to other pets on the account.
• Petpets do not get sick.
• Fire and lightning do have adverse effects on Neopets, but no not kill them. Scorchios and Fire pets are immune to fire. Magma doesn't do anything bad to Neopets, it just turns them into Magma pets.
• Some foods cause certain diseases (for example, Poisonous Jelly causes Neomonia and rotten omelettes cause Ugga-Ugga.
• Injured Neopets can function fine, but their "hit points" go down.
• Some species of Neopet will get certain diseases from eating certain foods.
• Strangely enough, even robot Neopets and ghost and zombie Neopets can get sick.

Pet Abilities and Traits by Species

Despite most abilities and traits not being dependent on species, some are.

• All Moltaran worms seem to be slightly blind but able to glow.
• All Acaras are good at swimming and Kikos, Flotsams, and Jetsams can breathe underwater.

Size of Creatures

Pets come in many sizes, which are:

• 21 cm: Flotsam
• 22 cm: Buzz
• 24 cm: Xweetok
• 25 cm: Jetsam
• 31 cm: Kacheek, Quiggle
• 32 cm: Cybunny, Kyrii
• 36 cm: Koi
• 37 cm: Yurble
• 40 cm: Aisha, Bori, Jubjub
• 41 cm: Acara, Elephante, Grundo, Peophin, Zafara
• 42 cm: Gnorbu, Pteri
• 44 cm: Hissi, Poogle
• 51 cm: Tuskaninny
• 55 cm: Draik
• 57 cm: Lutari
• 58 cm: Ruki
• 60 cm: Chia, Gelert, Kau, Lenny, Lupe
• 61 cm: Ixi, Kiko, Shoyru, Techo
• 65 cm: Kougra
• 67 cm: Krawk
• 70 cm: Korbat, Ogrin
• 71 cm: Tonu
• 75 cm: Chomby, Wocky
• 79 cm: Meerca
• 80 cm: Bruce, Mynci
• 81 cm: Nimmo
• 89 cm: Skeith
• 97 cm: Moehog
• 100 cm: Blumaroo, Grarrl
• 120 cm: Scorchio, Uni
• 160 cm: Eyrie

As such, when writing for the Neopian Times, it pays to know how big your characters are. You don't want to make mistakes like a Flotsam patting an Eyrie on the back!

Linguistics

• A group of Kaus is a "herd", a group of Lupes is a "pack", but there don't seem to be any other fancy names for groups of Neopets of a particular species.
• Most Neopets speak whatever language the player speaks, however:
  • There seems to be a language on Mystery Island despite most of the inhabitants speaking human languages. This is evidenced by the hieroglyphics and the fact that "Gadgadsbogen" translates to "good, good day". (Presumably, in this language, "gad" means "good" and "sbogen" means "day".
  • The Lost Desert has two written languages based on hieroglyphs: Sakhmetian and Qasalan, however they generally speak human languages.
  • Tyrannia has its own language: Tyrannian. Known words in Tyrannian include "ugga" ("go" or "food"), "a-ugga" ("to go to"), "gedd lacka" ("good luck"), "tyrannu" ("higher"), "evavu" ("lower")
  • Some Grundoes write backwards.

Fashion

Nudity is not taboo in Neopia, but many creatures wear clothes. Sometimes, this depends on age, species and/or culture. Dresses and skirts are generally associated with women, although men can wear them, just like on Earth.

• Most Aishas wear a collar with an "A" on it, with the exception of Darigan ones who have a "D", Snot ones who have an "S", and baby ones who have a pacifier.
• Most Elephants wear a hat with a gem on it.
• Most Kikos wear a Pointless Band-Aid on their foreheads.
• Baby Skeiths, Wockies, Shoyrus, and Techos wear onesies.
• Baby Xweetoks and Korbats wear bows on their heads, while baby Bori wear them on their tails.
• All Ixis wear collars, with the exception of baby ones, who wear bibs. Baby Acaras wear bibs too.
• All Usuls wear bows on their tails.
• 8-bit Neopets generally wear casual shirts and pants with the exception of Bruces who wear scarves but no shirts, Chias who wear dungarees but no shirt, Cybunnies, Jubjubs and Wockies who don't wear clothes, Koi who wear no shirts, and Korbats who wear dresses regardless of gender.
• Christmas pets wear Christmas-y clothes, if they do wear clothes. Items such as Santa suits and clothes with festive colors are popular among them.
• All Bruces wear collars, most of which have bows.
• For the Altador Cup, each team is associated with a certain insignia. As such, professional Yooyuball players may wear their team's insignia, as might supporters.
• Desert pets generally dress up like ancient Egyptians.
• Elderly pets generally wear semi-formal shirts, pants and dresses, however, this depends on culture.
• Pirates are normally Dressed to Plunder.
• Alien Aishas wear space suits.

Sports and Traditions

• Once a year, for a few weeks, a sporting event called the Altador Cup is held where a team from each land plays Yooyuball, which is like soccer except a Yooyu is the ball, there are less players per team and no strikers and defenders, and participants can use their hands. Slushies are served for the audience.
• Gormball is a sport like hot potato except the ball explodes sometimes, soaking the player in water, which disqualifies them.
• Neopets seem to celebrate a holiday that's eerily similar to Christmas except Jesus is not mentioned and they call it the Day of Giving. There doesn't seem to be a Santa Claus either, but the word "Christmas" is known in Neopia as proven by the existence of the Christmas Paint Brush.
• Neopets celebrate Halloween and Valentine's Day like humans.
• "Gadgadsbogen", which translates to "good, good day", is a festival on Mystery Island, which celebrates the harvest and storage of fruit.

Food and Drink

• There is a group of foods known as the "gross foods", which most Neopets are averse to, but not Alien Aishas. Unlike most disliked foods, Neopets will eat gross foods, although they will not generally enjoy them.
• Skeiths and Grarrls will eat anything.
• Most of the time, Neopets are perfectly fine eating spoiled food. Omelettes are an exception because rotten cheese omelettes can give pets Ugga-Ugga.
• Apparently, eating chocolate can turn Chias Chocolate and eating garlic can turn Chias and Kikos Garlic. However, this has not been proven.
• In the Haunted Woods, Neopets eat weird food like eyeballs and rotten food.
• In Jelly World, pets eat nothing but jelly.
• The Giant Omelette is a huge omelette in Tyrannia which provides one omelette per owner per day. After it gets eaten, a creature lays a giant egg, which is cooked into an omelette and other Neopets add the seasonings.
• Berries that exist in Neopia, but not on Earth, include the Voidberry, Fishberry, Loveberry and Waterberry.
• Grarrls like to eat meat.
• Neopets, unlike humans, can have unbalanced diets and still be perfectly healthy. They also don't need to drink to survive.
• Neggs are a popular fruit in Neopia that are similar in some ways to eggs. A few of them have side effects. Apparently, Neggitus is caused by too many Neggs, although only one type of Negg has been reported to give Neggitus (not counting the Neggs which can give pets a random disease).
• Another popular Neopian fruit is the Juppy. Meepits like the juice from these fruits, especially when it's the same colour as their fur.
• Doughnutfruit are a Neopian fruit popular amoung Meepits and Hassees.
• Chokatoes are a fruit that apparently taste like a cross between chocolate and tomatoes.
• Neocola and Achyfi are two famous soda brands that come in different flavors. Achyfi is quite unpopular and is similar to root beer, while Neocola is quite popular.
• Borovan is a drink you get from mixing hot chocolate with asparagus.
• Neopets seem to be fine with eating dung, although many have an aversion to it.
• Neopets have very strong teeth because they can eat the Stone Jelly.