Are Charr foot dewclaws/talons useful, or primarily vestigial? — Guild Wars 2 Forums

Are Charr foot dewclaws/talons useful, or primarily vestigial?

Weindrasi.3805Weindrasi.3805 Member ✭✭✭

The nearest real world equivalent I can find to those enormous talons on the heels of charr feet are the back talons on a bird of prey. However, an eagle's back claw allows it to grip and carry prey. Charr back talons aren't close enough to their toes to provide any kind of grabbing ability, and unless the charr is hunched in a crouch, as when holding a greatsword, those talons never come close to touching the ground. Do they have a use? The only thing I can think of is that they aid a charr's balance when it stands on two legs. If this is so, would a charr be capable of standing upright if the talons were lost or removed?


  • derd.6413derd.6413 Member ✭✭✭✭

    given what we know about charr i think it's to defend themselves when attacked from behind.

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  • you should look up male chickens... and that horrifying spur some have.. to fight other male chickens...

  • Yannir.4132Yannir.4132 Member ✭✭✭✭
    edited November 2, 2018

    Primarily vestigial I suppose. Intelligence is pretty much the ultimate evolution so any defensive purpose it might have had has been replaced with guns at this point.
    It's actually pretty interesting to look at charr history from the last 300 years. You can clearly identify the evolution of their intelligence, going from bestial and primal savages 300 years ago to the industrial empire they are today.

  • Danikat.8537Danikat.8537 Member ✭✭✭✭
    edited November 4, 2018

    There are some real-life mammals with spurs. The platypus is probably the most well known, but echidnas have them too and male ring-tailed lemurs. The internet keeps telling me there's many other examples but isn't actually telling me what they are. In those 3 species they're now mainly used by males during mating rituals, but may originally have been for defense.

    Since both male and female charr have similarly sized spurs it seems unlikely they're for mating. I think defence/attacking things behind them seems quite likely (which is also what the ones on real-life mammals may have originally been for). I think it's unlikely they help with balance because they don't actually touch the ground, and they seem too small to weight their feet down. but they'd be great for kicking out at anything behind them, especially when running - then they're pointing more directly backwards than towards the ground.

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  • Probably for delivering an absolutely savage spinning roundhouse kick.
