Griotte: The Possum Baroness

[Talisman]

After playing Griotte a few times and examining her character model and emotes, I have come to an inescapable conclusion. Griotte, the Butcher Baroness, fourth hero of the Rat Clan, is not, in fact, a rat.

Rather, she is a Virginia opossum.

Let's go over the evidence, shall we?

Griotte, alleged rat[vignette.wikia.nocookie.net]


Virginia opossum, Didelphis virginiana[c1.staticflickr.com]

• Griotte is significantly larger than Mercurio, Zosha or Sargon. Opossums are significantly larger than rats.
  
• Griotte has a large, bulky physique, nothing like the lean, agile appearance of the other rats.
  
• Griotte's fur pattern matches that of the Virginia opossum, and is nothing like a rat fur pattern. Mercurio and Zosha have normal rat fur patterns.
  
• Griotte has a very toothy, intimidating grin which in no way resembles the distinctive dentition of a rat. Opossums will often bare their many teeth in a toothy "grin" as a threat display. Rats do not do this.
  
• Griotte is depicted as fighting with a cleaver, which is a large, heavy weapon. The other rats use a rapier and dagger, twin short swords, and flaming staff, respectively - all weapons designed for grace and agility, with the exception of the staff which is clearly defensive.
  
• Griotte has a distinctive, waddling stride, nothing like the swift gait of a rat. It does, however, closely resemble the gait of an opossum.

The evidence is clear. Griotte is a Virginia opossum, and not a rat at all.

How does this fit into the vaguely European world of Armello? It is my contention that Griotte is a refugee from some distant land, one with more North American fauna/inhabitants. Coming to Armello, she joined the Rat Clan due to bearing the closest physical similarity to rats (she was instinctively wary of both Bear and Wolf, and feared that the clever Rabbits would see through her ruse). Posing as an unusually large rat, she slowly built her influence, disposing of anyone who got close to learning her secret; it was this which earned her the title of Butcher Baroness.

If Griotte claims the crown, Armello will be ruled by another foreigner, from another distant land. Perhaps her reign will see an unprecedented influx of new species: raccoons, coyotes, armadillos, and, yes, more opossums.

Beware the Possum Queen.

[AngelofAnger]

Oh dear, Someone at the concept art team will get fired and thats becaise you revealed this dreadful secret. Also that person won't be able to buy a doll house for her lovely daughter that she always wanted.

The daugher is currently in the hospital and she is finally getting out after a furious fight witha severe illness.

But you know, i guess she won't have what she deserved after all :,(

You monster.

[Meneluma]

I mean when I saw her for the DLC cover art I thought that she was a cat just looking at the head, so... it can be worse.

[Frog-Whisperer]

This is the FBI, don't move

[Kittenpox]

Nonsense. The rat clan are simply the first to embrace multiculturalism within their organisation. :-)
It's no secret amongst the rats themselves, and none of the other clans have bothered to ask (not that it's any of their business anyway.) ^_^

[Wyld kin]

A very nice theory ! Seems legit ^^.
About non european native species in Armello, though most species indeed are, Racoons are definitely already represented, as seen in the wall of thorn, beheaded and merry thives card art.

[Frog-Whisperer]

Oh also to note, Griotte is definitely absolutely killing and eating her fellow rats. I don't know much about Virginia Opossums since I'm not from the states, but I feel like they would hunt a rat where they could?

(Also to note that there's already an opossum in the game in the form of the Poison Taster! As for other species, I could make a whole list, but among others we have tigers, anteaters, red pandas, galapagos tortoises, lemurs, and of course, a lion!)

[AngelofAnger]

I dont know why they decided to be european. Well, with the proper artstyle everything can fit. Im not a big zootropilis fan. Just to say.

[Currently Nameless]

I like this idea, too, though I somehow can't imagine Griotte rolling over and playing dead.

Originally posted by AngelofAnger:

I dont know why they decided to be european.

If I had to guess, I'd say it's because many fairytales are set in that kind of environment.

[AngelofAnger]

Originally posted by Omicron-14:

If I had to guess, I'd say it's because many fairytales are set in that kind of environment.

reasonable. I wonder. There should be australian classic fairy tales. Australia has 200 years old must have something coming from the 1900

[mturkhan]

It's canon that a clan includes members of many species, not just the "titular" one (although the main species, of course, is the ruling class). So it's definitely a possibility. In fact, if there will be another character DLC, I think that including such characters - non-wolf members of the Wolf clan, etc. - might be a good idea.

[Talisman]

Originally posted by Frog-Whisperer:

Oh also to note, Griotte is definitely absolutely killing and eating her fellow rats. I don't know much about Virginia Opossums since I'm not from the states, but I feel like they would hunt a rat where they could?

(Also to note that there's already an opossum in the game in the form of the Poison Taster! As for other species, I could make a whole list, but among others we have tigers, anteaters, red pandas, galapagos tortoises, lemurs, and of course, a lion!)

Opossums are not really predators, but they'll eat whatever they can get. An opossum would almost definitely eat a dead rat if it found one; I imagine a starving or desperate opossum would attack a rat. I guess Griotte just decided to speed the process up.

Forgot about the Poison Taster! So opossums are canon to Armello. Interesting! I posted this as a joke, but it actually looks somewhat plausible.

Originally posted by AngelofAnger:

I dont know why they decided to be european. Well, with the proper artstyle everything can fit. Im not a big zootropilis fan. Just to say.

Well, they also want to sell their product, and "fantasy" to most folks is "generic European-inspired fantasy." Much easier to explain the Wolf Clan than the Numbat Clan, say.