squid's hot take on largos ☕

[squid]

In which I've made a bunch of headcanons for my favorite murder fishy lads, ladettes, and every fishy body in between!

A couple things to know before getting started:

• These are communal headcanons. Meaning: everyone in the guild can use the information here as a springboard for their own Largos. As well as make their own derivative headcanons.
• This thread will be ongoing! I will update it if/when I have more thoughts to add. Whether it's new headcanons or expanding on the ones I've already written.
• Almost everything here is (for the most part) lore friendly. But it is speculative, and/or made up by yours truly. I've tried to keep all of my headcanons and fanlore some basis in canon, and keep it lore friendly. But take everything here with a grain of salt. This is simply the wish of one person to bring more depth to an otherwise mysterious species.
  
• Headcanons are subject to change! At the time of writing, we have precious few scraps of lore to go on. In the event that we get more lore for the Largos, I will make changes and updates to headcanons as needed.
  

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largoronis

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[squid]

Society

As of the time of writing, based on currently available canon lore, Largos are known to come from two locations. Either they come from incredibly far north, or very far south from the Unending Ocean. Regardless of their place of origin, all Largos adhere to the ordinances of the Tethyos Houses.

Basically: track, hunt, kill, and bring the trophy back. The better the kill, the higher a Largos's rank and status. Failure to kill a target is dishonorable. This determines a lot in their lives, based on their ranks within society.

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Ranking

A Largos's rank in their society determines a lot for them. So much hinges on successful hunts and promotion to higher ranks. Everything from a Largos's standing with their entire species, to their individual community. Even the privileges of pairing and reproduction are determined by their rank.

• Ranking is a complicated, intricate system. Societal ranking is primarily rooted in, and determined, by a Largos's ambition and success with their hunts. The better they hunt, the higher their rank in society. Ranking is determined by the council consisting of veteran hunters within a Largos's local community.

• Veteran hunters are the ones who determine the rate and rank of hunts. Only the most experienced and successful hunters are invited to join the council. Invitation to join considered to be a great honor and is rarely refused. The Largos within in the council are oftentimes still upholding responsibilities within their community as well; or may even be retired from hunting. (Whether due to age, health, ability, etc.)

• There are few barriers for ascension. As long as a Largos doesn't commit any major offenses or crimes in their society, their societal ranking will continue to rise. Or, depending on the goals of an individual Largos, they can maintain their current ranking.
  

• Plateauing isn't necessarily frowned on, within reason and up to a point. If a Largos chooses to, they can plateau-- or even stop --at a certain point in their ascension of the societal ranks. What is considered an acceptable plateau varies by individual Largos community. 

• Demotion only happens as punishment. There are few crimes in largos society, imprisonment (and by extension execution/death penalty) is very rare. When a crime is committed, demotion is oftentimes the punishment. The severity of the crime determines how steep the demotion is. Depending on the severity of the crime demotion can be added to punishments of service to their community and/or imprisonment.
  

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Pairing & Reproduction

For the Largos, romance is not inherently necessary to reproduce. However Largos can, and sometimes do, pair romantically and stay together in lifelong relationships. Regardless of what they want to do, a Largos is explicitly forbidden from seeking a partner and/or reproducing until they've earned privileges to do so.

• Bloodline lineage is tracked through the birth giver.
  

• Largos below a certain rank aren't allowed to pair, or even reproduce.
  

• Getting to the minimum rank and doing so is allowed, but frowned down upon. waiting until reaching a higher rank is considered better.

• this leaves some largos frustrated and even discouraged about hunting. all the same, they may go ahead and pair in secret. some will even have children and raise them outside of their community as well.

• because of this, some largos have taken on ambitious hunts more in the name of impressing a lover, and/or hunting in the name of love and family than honor and prestige.

• as long as the rank gap between two largos isn't too great, a couple won't be frowned down upon. pairing of largos of drastically different ranks isn't illegal per se, but very stigmatised, much like a human noble marrying a human commoner.

• largos can eventually retire from hunting for any reason if they so choose. doing so means that they won't be able to advance in society any more, but can stay within their communities long term. many who do this are those who make up the domestic portions of largos society.

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misc & extra

• All genders and orientations are accepted in Largos society. Unlike many surface dwelling species, the Largos do not have the same pressing need to label their genders and orientations. Still, if an individual wishes to apply specific terminology to themselves, it will be respected. By that same virtue, -phobias and surface dweller behaviors corresponding to them are considered one of the stranger things that surface dwellers get up to.

• Armor choice can be a statement as well as a form of posturing and flexing. While it's not the case of every Largos, there are some who choose to wear armor that shows off parts of their bodies. This is often a flex, saying: "I don't need complete coverage to hunt you!"

• It's a deep expression of trust to a Largos to remove their masks in front of other people. Especially on the surface. It's very rare that a Largos will remove their mask in front of people outside of emergencies. Removing their mask makes them very vulnerable and to remove it expresses that they feel safe enough around another person to let their guard down.
  

[squid]

biology

that said: we know they live in the seas, but I can't find evidence of which zone. given their overall appearance and demeanor, I want to say they hide and live in the deep sea.
specifically: the midnight and the abyss layers. these are VERY cold and dark and the pressure there is immense. but it seems like a good spot to live and hide. and also a testament of their power and survivability.
when submerged, they use their wings to communicate basic messages and even lure prey lurking in the water.

to surface, they have to depressurise like real world divers. this doesn't take as long as a surface species person, but largos still have to do it.

on that note I think surface sickness would be a thing to them. the lack of shifting about in water and actually having to adjust to the surface gravity and their own weight can make them wobbly and sick.

largos won't pick on each other for surface sickness. it's an embarrassing thing but it's considered bad from to humiliate someone for it. ans it's not unusual for apprentices to get it a lot their first couple years of surface hunting with their mentor.
on heath: if you know what you're looking for you can tell the state of a largos's health by the state of their wings. (which I do believe are real and attached to their bodies.)

• an alert and healthy largos's wings are held upright and have an inky black sheen and gently pulsating glow. they're squishy and might be a little slick to the touch. they should be cold. a largos like this is at their best.

° a tired/fatigued/under the weather largos will not hold their wings as high/struggle to hold them as high as they should. the deep black color will dull to an ashy black/dark grey their wing glow will dim. the wing skin will be clammy and warm. largos like this are very tired. they might lean on things or get tired more easily that usual, etc. still very dangerous, but more likely defeatable.

• a very sick, injured, spent too long on dry land, etc. largos won't be able to hold up their wings very much. they'll be a dull grey and the glow will be faint at most. the wings will be very clammy and almost hot to the touch. largos like this may be getting the shivers, breathing hard, coughing, etc. swaying/struggling to stay standing/conscience. they're in really bad shape.
largos below a certain rank in society aren't allowed to pair or reproduce. that doesn't necessarily stop largos below the minimum rank from doing so, but they're not supposed to.

given that the xx of the species have boob fat on their chests, I say they're a lactating species that gives live birth. largos parents who are expecting aren't held to the tethyos contract bologna. they can stay home in the largos communities and have their litters and raise them.

they have 1-3 children in a litter, gestation is about 8-10 months. children don't spend very long in the infant stage. having a longer gestation lets them develop better than humans.

regardless of gender, expecting largos and their partner(s) can stay in the community to safely do this. it's one of the few times they'll stay around for long.

largos can also pair with humans and norn and make mixed children. this is rare, discouraged, and children conceived this way are frowned down on.


largos can vary in their appearance and there's some variation to their biology. this doesn't make them any less compatible with each other.

most often they will have eyes that are very good for seeing in darkness. because of their natural adaption to living in the dark, on the surface they might have to wear goggles or a modified shield on their breather mask to protect their eyes from the light on the surface. some largos might not be able to see the color red, since it doesn't reflect down in the midnight and abyssal zones. this is a recessive trait.

their hearing and senses of smell are impeccable above and below the surface. from the moment they can walk, children are taught to step lightly, and start masking their scents. surface dwellers smell bad to them like raw fish smells bad to surface dwellers.

their wings are coated in an oil produced by natural glands in the wings. this oil works like a duck's waterproofing, it will let a largos basically cut through the water to get around and not cause too much disturbance. when they sit still in the water their wings can detect changes in current and disturbance.

their body types can vary like many other humanoid species. they're usually more fatty than thin as natural insulation. their skin colors can vary wildly from the canon pale blue to all kinds of human and sylvari shades because anet won't let is make largos. so we have to make due. hair colors are a rainbow too fuck it.
largos can have some real whackass shit for eyes and jaws. go ham.

good examples are:

oarfish (cw: eyes, uncanny body horror with their mouths, dead animals.)

goose/angler fish (cw: wet specimens/dead animals, lots of teeth, lots of extra parts hanging off of them.)

sharks (sharks in general are whack)
plenty of others. these are just the ones I think about the most.
they have gill slots and lungs. they're basically lung fish (no cw that I can think of. lung fish are very cute.) the gill slots can be in their necks or their sides.
they have claws. these aren't usually used to hunt but they can be.
largos body temperature is about 70 degrees. their skin is always considered incredibly cold to surface dwellers. they consider being internally warm to be bad.
okay that's my ted talk tysm for coming.
they're losers basically.

[squid]

to be sorted

i think they do have a natural hunter/predator instinct that they've retained through their evolution. to be a society with a big part of culture being focused on the significance of the hunt, that has to come from somewhere.

it literally might be an instinct that is as natural and deep set to them as survival instinct is to humans. (ie human fear holding humans back from doing things, the lengths the body goes through to be able to survive.)
there's not a lot of food in the twilight and abyssal zones the deeper you go down in the oceans the more isolated it is.

so while I don't think largos probably have to eat very much, they still have this extremely strong, very shark and deep sea set urge to just hunt shit. it probably starts to affect mental health if they aren't hunting because it's violating that instinct.

like that might be a big concern and something they're always looking for new solutions to deal with in the largos that stay in the community long term.
able bodied hunters who stay in the community might instead become domestic hunters. always seeking and trapping prey to bring back.

in the wild and on the surface their species is very isolated. they try to do the hunt alone. but it's in the community you'll see them working in tandem to bring down the biggest prey possible and bring that back.

like whales and abyssal squid. sea wurms and sea serpents. whatever other shit.
because massive stuff like that can feed their communities for months.
so hunting is seen as this celebrated/embraced cornerstone of their society because it is such a deep set behavior for them that they never evolved out of.