# Introducing the Wind Bear



## Svrtnsse (Dec 9, 2013)

I decided I needed shape shifters that could fly for the short story I'm working on. One of the restrictions in my setting is that theriantropes (fancy word for werewolves and all other were-animals) can only have predatory mammals as their animal aspect. I could go with were-bats, but that didn't feel right and since there are no other flying mammals I had to invent something of my own:

*Wind Bear*
The wind bear (ursus optera) is, like the bat, one of only a few mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Wind bears are generally found at high altitude in mountainous regions and while some species have a wingspan of less than a foot most are significantly larger. The largest of the species, the windkaiser, has a wingspan of at least 21 feet, but individuals with wingspans of up to 33 feet have been reported.
The wind bear has a large body, a round bear-like head and short hind legs. The wings of the wind bear also function as arms and have strong clawed paws at their ends. It is generally covered in thick fur, but a few hairless species in the deep south are the exception to the rule. 
The fur on the underside of the wind bear is usually dark or bright depending on if the species is nocturnal or active during the day. Smaller species may need to hide from larger predators and have overside coloration matching the ground of the region they make their home in. 
The larger species have few, if any, natural enemies and their overside fur is often bright and colorful. Red, brown, green, yellow and orange are common colors, but a few purple, blue, black and gold variants exist. 

All wind bears are predatory but most are able to digest fruits and berries when needed. Wind bears primarily hunt flying prey, but will occasionally take creatures climbing on cliff sides or on top of ridges or large rocks. The long unwieldy wings and the short hind legs of the wind bear make them clumsy and vulnerable on flat ground. 
The body mass of a wind bear is huge and most species are unable to take off from even ground and require a ledge or other elevated point to throw themselves from. Fortunately they are good climbers with the their long winged arms giving them a good reach. 
The overside fur of the larger wind bears is a prized trophy for big game hunters and many of the larger species have been hunted to near extinction. Those that still exist tend to live in regions, or at altitudes, too hostile for most hunters.

Attempts have been made to domesticate wind bears to use as flying mounts. Several species are large and strong enough to be able to carry the weight of a grown man both in the air and on the ground. Unfortunately the species do not react well to domestication and no successful cases of anyone managing to tame a wind bear have been recorded. There are several legends of mountain dwellers who have managed it and there are stories of wind bears who have carried stranded climbers to safety.
Wind bear have some innate magical abilities. These are mainly related to navigation to help the wind bear find its way back to its lair through low visibility situations such as fogs or snowstorms. Some species flying and hunting at high altitude are able to use magical abilities to home in on prey which would otherwise be out of sight.

Questions?


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## TrustMeImRudy (Dec 10, 2013)

So these are actually bear-sized?  I would never go on a plane again.


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## buyjupiter (Dec 10, 2013)

When you say bear, you mean American Black Bear, where the medium sized ones weigh on average 190 pounds (male) or 128 pounds (female), right?

Will mass be lost during transformation?

I might suggest with going with more of a Sun Bear based critter (they weigh 60-150 pounds and are also more compact), because with your wingspan as is, they might have a better chance of not kersplatting the minute they take off.

I love what you've done here, and creating new mythical beasts is tricky. And bears are awesome.


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## psychotick (Dec 10, 2013)

Hi,

If the wind bear is capable of carrying a man in flight then I find it hard to accept that it can't take off from the ground. Not having the strength for that suggests it's basically a glider, and couldn't carry a lot of additional weight.

To model the type of flying creature your describing I'd suggest investigating teradactyls. They were gliders of about the right weight and size, and hung out a lot on cliffs etc to use the thermals.

Cheers, Greg.


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## Snowpoint (Dec 10, 2013)

I think of the Flying Bison from Avatar. There is no logical way for it to fly, it just does.

I don't think the bear needs wings at all, unless the wings look COOL, then go for it. 

These are the types of wings I imagined for this beast.

Link


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## Svrtnsse (Dec 10, 2013)

buyjupiter said:


> When you say bear, you mean American Black Bear, where the medium sized ones weigh on average 190 pounds (male) or 128 pounds (female), right?
> 
> Will mass be lost during transformation?
> 
> I might suggest with going with more of a Sun Bear based critter (they weigh 60-150 pounds and are also more compact), because with your wingspan as is, they might have a better chance of not kersplatting the minute they take off.



I have a fairly wide range of sizes in mind for the various species, from as small as a rabbit to as large as a polar bear (over 1,600 pounds). Admittedly, I didn't do any research on what'd be a reasonable wingspan for a creature that size, but I figured 20+ feet would be big enough.

As for shape shifting the mass of the subject would remain roughly constant. Some variation will occur as the relative amounts of body tissue varies from human to animal and conversion rates between different types of tissue may vary. Overall, the difference in mass shouldn't be more than a few percentage. I might have to revise that in case someone has a reasonable/logical/funny objection.
A human changing into a wind bear of a typically larger kind will result in an abnormally small member of the species, while someone shifting into a small variant will result in a too large specimen.






psychotick said:


> If the wind bear is capable of carrying a man in flight then I find it hard to accept that it can't take off from the ground. Not having the strength for that suggests it's basically a glider, and couldn't carry a lot of additional weight.
> 
> To model the type of flying creature your describing I'd suggest investigating teradactyls. They were gliders of about the right weight and size, and hung out a lot on cliffs etc to use the thermals.



I can see where you're coming from about them not being able to take off from ground. It doesn't quite make sense.
The way I picture it the wind bear on ground will use their wings as forelimbs to support them when walking (kind of like proto-drakes in WoW). Lifting the wings from the ground to beat the air would unbalance them, causing them to fall forward on their chest. 
It's possible they might manage to take off after a couple of attempts if no one is bothering them, but overall they're meant to quite clumsy on level ground. It's not their strength that is lacking, it's technique - if that makes sense.

For reference, here's an image of a proto-drake:






The wind bear wouldn't (easily) be able to rise up on the hind legs like the proto-drake does. It'll be dragging its wings along on the ground when walking.

Does that make sense?


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## UnknownCause (Dec 10, 2013)

I think it's a good idea. I personally had come up with many mythical creatures for my WIP, _The Fantastic World Of Mr. Fable_ (I'll explain it to ya'll sometime) And I know it's really hard. You have to keep in mind enviroment, camouflage, eye size and position, diet, hibernation/migration, young, defense, offense, all that good stuff. I kept a journal with all my ideas in it, complete with sketches and all. (Big mess that turned out to be) Anyway, I think you did a great job there. But I do have a question... CAN I HAVE ONE?  (That's not the question) Nah, what I was going to ask you was, How does it balance itself when walking? Bears typically walk on all fours, and, referring to your last post, it drags it's wings on the ground. Wouldn't that break the wings? Bears are naturally very sturdy in build, and having wings as upper legs would not go well, at least in my mind. 

Also, I read something about "human changing into a wind bear"? I'm strangely intrigued by the idea.. I don't.. What.


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## Svrtnsse (Dec 10, 2013)

UnknownCause said:


> But I do have a question... CAN I HAVE ONE?  (That's not the question) Nah, what I was going to ask you was, How does it balance itself when walking? Bears typically walk on all fours, and, referring to your last post, it drags it's wings on the ground. Wouldn't that break the wings? Bears are naturally very sturdy in build, and having wings as upper legs would not go well, at least in my mind.
> 
> Also, I read something about "human changing into a wind bear"? I'm strangely intrigued by the idea.. I don't.. What.



Sure you can have one, they're in the mountains, just go catch one and make sure you don't fall off the cliff and go kersplatt! 


The wind bears do walk on all fours. The forelegs are the wings and there are paws somewhere near the end to use for standing-gripping. The limb is used for support and the wing fans out behind it. I guess the picture I posted isn't very clear as it doesn't show a shadow where the limb touches the ground. I found this video instead. Again, it's a proto drake, but it illustrates the concept:




*EDIT:* The actual walking part starts at the 7 second mark, but the forum didn't like the youtube timestamp it seems.

Based on feedback I believe I will have to make this more clear in the text when describing how they look and walk.


There are humans able to turn into wind bears - just like there are humans able to turn into wolves or cats or tigers or pretty much any other predator, kind of like werewolves.


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## Asura Levi (Dec 11, 2013)

"Every thing worse with bear."

Lol, not really related but I loved the way it walk, is your wind bear walk in similar fashion?
Also, I imagine Owl Bear when first thought about it.

Anyway, good work with the idea. I liked it.


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## Snowpoint (Dec 12, 2013)

The forleg wings make perfect sense to me. I posted a Link to the Barrioth, a Sabertooth Tiger with Wings on it's arms. Moster Hunter has also done that with a Panther, the Naracuga.


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## Scribe Lord (Dec 16, 2013)

Are they easy to tame? So it won't attack me when I want to snuggle? I've always wanted a flying teddybear! XD


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## Svrtnsse (Dec 16, 2013)

Scribe Lord said:


> Are they easy to tame? So it won't attack me when I want to snuggle? I've always wanted a flying teddybear! XD



Attempts to tame Wind Bears have been made, but they don't respond well to it. There are legends about mountain dwellers who have befriended individual bears and managed to ride them, but there are no records of independently confirmed cases.


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## Ruby (Dec 17, 2013)

The picture of a Wind Bear looks a bit like a dragon. If it can fly and lives in caves would it be interested in killing dragons?


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## Svrtnsse (Dec 17, 2013)

Ruby said:


> The picture of a Wind Bear looks a bit like a dragon. If it can fly and lives in caves would it be interested in killing dragons?



The pictures are of proto-drakes as they appear in World of Warcraft. They were added to give people a better idea of the build of the Wind Bear - particularly as far as the fore-legs/wings go.

They do fly and live in caves,  but dragons in my setting aren't really like dragons in most other settings and only exist for a very short time span when they spawn.


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## Ruby (Dec 18, 2013)

Do Wind Bears eat fish? I seem to remember a video of bears catching salmon. Bears that could fly could skim the surface of the water to do this.


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## uknowitbeb (Dec 25, 2013)

I love the creativity. Once you work out all the kinks, you should have a really interesting creature for your lore's bestiary.


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