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Is sexual dimorphism still a potential theory?

I guess it still could be, but acknowledging that fact that the only Grecian Sphinxes we’ve seen (Michelle and Jocasta) are girls, and the only Egyptian Sphinxes we’ve seen are lads (Michelle’s Dad and Wosret) that does seem to point towards each species being single gendered like Satyrs.

Gavin, the evidence you’ve cited could be equally well used to prove either point. You’re saying all Grecian sphinxes are girls and all Egyptian sphinxes are boys; the sexual dimorphism theory says all girl sphinxes are Grecian and all boy sphinxes are Egyptian. Without more data, the difference is semantic.

If it turns out that Michelle’s mother is definitely NOT a sphinx, then they must be the same species that happens to tie winglessness to the Y chromosome – otherwise, in that case, only Michelle’s hypothetical brother could have turned, because a pair of related single-gender species would mean that an Egyptian sphinx could only have a sphinx son, with daughters always inheriting their species from their mother (much like Greg could not have a satyr daughter, and Tony the male harpy only being possible because of weird magic). If Michelle’s mother is or could be a Grecian sphinx, both theories are still valid and we must wait for the Word of Kory.

I’m not sure it’s useful to discuss Y chromosomes or Mendel genetics because we’re talking about mythical creatures and magic, but we can safely assume that if Michelle’s mom is human, then Michelle is the same species as her dad.

(In fact, the fact that Michelle, Merial, Greg, etc. are 100 percent monsterthings suggests that Mendel genetics don’t apply.)

Although, we only have two data points to work with here. It’s very possible that “Grecan” or “Egyptian” isn’t a sexual dymorphism and instead behaves more like a gene independent of sex.

Problem in your thinking about Mendel genetics not applying across the board. That doesn’t work.
Merial, human parents.
Greg and Jim, confirmed Mythicals in their family lines.
Michelle, an Unturned Mythical father, and as far as we know human mother.
Merial is the one where that thinking seems most valid. But for the other three, it doesn’t actually work.

Sphinxes are supposed to wield powerful magic right? Perhaps part of th Jocasta/Worset plan was to “merge” the two species. So that as long as at least one of their family lines survived both species would survive.

Though I still don’t get why they insist that Michelle’s mom is human. They can’t know for sure unless they throw a sphinx amulet on her. She could very well be a Greecian sphinx and not know it.

I tend towards this theory too; I wonder if there’s any other way to spot an unturned-but-potentially-turnable person without taking the drastic step of exposing them to a medallion? Madam U attempted to with Tony in “Exchanges”, but I’m still not certain if that was an actual attempt or showmanship to impress the rube. If there is, I’d love to see it applied to Michelle’s mom; I’m betting there are secrets there that even she isn’t aware of.

In the case of Vadona testing Tony in Exchanges, she was definitely playing up the spookiness. Remember that Blanche made mention to Tony about how Vadona plays those tests, as they were walking away from her shop.
I wonder what happens if the Medallions she uses to test Unturned people causes an actual Turning? She can’t try to sell those Medallions to others, since they are now directly tied to a particular user.
As for the Nokk Medallion which caused the spell break on Tony, I wonder where that is now?

Talking about spotting an Unturned person, there’s a further question which needs answering:
Is there a way to identify a person with a human shaped ‘shell’ unknowingly covering their True Form, without exposing them to a Medallion?

The reason she uses that method is so that, if it works, the poor person has no choice but to buy the medallion. She could practically charge anything she wants for it. It’s kind of evil really.

Tim seemed like he might be able to get some sort of read on someones true form upon close examination. That could be his magic, or maybe he’s just gotten adept at it. Considering his apprentice’s condition, it’s probably something he’s been studying up on.

Eustace Swiftrunner also seemed able to tell a lot through mere visual examination. In moments he was able to tell Michelle was something mediterranean with feline and avian elements.

On the other hand, Eustace was examining her /after/ her Turning. He may have been picking up on small slips in her hold on her human disguise, like more subtle versions of Greg’s tendency to gesture like he still only has two fingers and a thumb on each hand even though his medallion allows him full human dexterity.

That is interesting. Yay for seeing the sphinx mid-form.

I kept getting mixed up about which sphinx was Worset, but it’s presented clearly enough.

I imagine that they were lovers, and Jocasta’s heirs have markers for both sphinxes.

Do both types of sphinx use the same medallion? I would imagine nixies and nox have the same one, and that the Finn that took after his mother could simply use one of the heirlooms.

Hope to help you out! :)

From what we’ve seen, Jocasta was the female Grecian sphinx, and Wosret, a male Egyptian sphinx.

Ravi has implied that Grecian sphinxes are usually female, and Egyptian usually male. Furthermore, Ravi has said that Michelle “looks exactly like Jocasta,” which means it’s the Grecian sphinx Michelle took after.

Therefore, it’s the wingless sphinx in the last panel that was Wosret, and Jocasta the winged sphinx. Hope that’s clear! :D

Yeah, I finally managed to get that when I went back and read it a few times. I think I was already working with a preconception that they were a couple and the male name would get passed down.

If Michelle looks like Jocasta, from The Great War, then the reasonable assumption is that there must have been some unknowing interbreeding between Unturned members the two Sphinx family lines since then.

The real evidence for that theory is the combination of the late Michael’s surname and (hidden) form. He had the surname of the Grecian Jocastas, but the true-form of the Egyptian Wosrets. That suggests that the bloodlines have crossed at some point in the intervening centuries, whether or not his widow has any sphinx ancestry at all.

Why do they have to have crossed lines? If you can get a Grecian sphinx (Michelle) from an Egyptian sphinx (Michael), why can’t you get an Egyptian sphinx from a Grecian sphinx? If they’re the same/related species anyway, why wouldn’t Jocasta already have the potential to have Egyptian descendants?

So it seems like a lot of people are positing genetic theories.

Guyyyyssssss. This is magggicccccc.

Besides, any attempt to discern if it actually is genetic through phenotypic descriptions of pure folly because of another really obfuscating factor called “Magic”. eg. the talismans. Even more confusing, as described before, the talismans can be used in such a way that a person is born human and may go through entire life thinking they’re purely human when they are, in fact, “other”.

Some of it is to do with Magic, not ALL of it, though.
And right now, we’re trying to figure out what applies, based on what limited info we can get hold of.

Medallions. Not Talismans. Get It Right.

And the Medallions only factor into the discussion about Michelle in a very OLD historical sense.

To me, it’s obvious that Michelle is a cross of the two sphinxes and that the Grecian just happened to be the genetics to be expressed. And, her mom might be human, but if you go into genetics, she probably has sphinx blood and the crossing with her and Michelle’s father caused the Russian Roulette of DNA to make Michelle a sphinx rather than a human with dormant sphinx genes. I think we can be pretty confident that her dad was 100% Egyptian Sphinx and that the two different kinds of sphinxes are related. (Much like coyotes and wolves.)

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