Races

Michaels

Michaels are an asexually reproducing race of males, all of which look identical. Their appearance is similar to humans, but don't have reproductive organs, or naturally grow hair of any kind, though they DO have hair and a stubble beard. They ALWAYS keep this identical physique and appearance, which means they look similar to a muscularly toned human male in their mid-thirties, even when just "born". Furthermore, members of this race age similarly to humans, but their hair doesn't turn gray, and they don't get weaker or crippled during the aging process, in fact, they grow stronger and faster the older they are. Michaels WILL experience a quick decline, and natural death from said old age however, but they can just "split" to teach their offspring how to live their legacy anytime they wish.

The downside to this is that Michaels can only sustain THREE reproductions at a time at MAXIMUM, determined by the level of the reproduction skill, which means NOT ALL Michaels possess this ability. These offspring will continue to live if their "father" dies of old age, but NOT if killed off. Michaels usually reserve this for the end of their life expectancy, or when numbers run low, say after war. Should one individual Michael reproduce more than this amount, the oldest of these identical offspring will die to "make room" for the newest one if their "father" is still alive, or died from old age. This means that if a Michael has the skill to sustain two offspring from his lifeforce, he can "split" a MAXIMUM of two times, and any more will cause the oldest to die. In the event that the Michael "father" dies, UNLESS the cause was old age, all the offspring die too.

Michaels are wholesome and peaceful by nature, but strong and resilient. While they like to be strong and train to become even stronger, they also do NOT like to be overpowered, and will throw away, not use, or unequip certain items or weapons to keep fights challenging. The race was ALSO unsure of how to utilize their full potential in the first Michael's Quest, causing three soldiers to be about equal to a Ye (give or take). These creatures treat and think of each other as brothers though, always by each other's back and trying their hardest, even if it's clearly a losing bet. This is a weakness of theirs though, as without a leader (later proclaimed as the king), they fall shorter than usual. Typical lifestyles for these creatures consist of constant training, fighting, resting when needed, and admiring nature during the downtime or rest periods. Fighting styles of the race are few and far between, as almost all beeline towards the aggressor or possible threat, and fight with everything they have (though they learned evasion\dodging tactics as well as other skills further down the timeline). Most Michaels make up in strength for what they clearly lack in intelligence however, which explains their inhumanly love and centralization around combat. All Michaels' attire resembles medieval times, consisting of nothing but a tunic, later color coded in Michael's Quest II - The Maddening Shadows.

The tunic colors are based on the social class of the individual, white being a Citizen (who typically can NOT handle a weapon but CAN punch if brave enough and\or faced with a weak enough foe, CAN handle a weapon but only for self-defense, or just started training), orange being a Fighter, olive green being a Soldier, gold being an Elite, royale blue being a Captain, and crimson being Guards. All but Guards always stay in the Michael Kingdom to defend their home, food sources (typically crops like wheat), and fellow Michaels. Those donning the crimson tunic are trained differently, and strictly protect the king, of which wears a slate tunic.

While there IS a social hierarchy that ANYONE can climb, they do bow down to one Michael in particular at the end of the first Michael's Quest. This Michael is a rarity, as he was the first to learn skills (magic powers or physical abilities granted from study of a particular field or force), SINGLE-HANDEDLY rid the land of Ye Lwin, and commanded the once aimlessly fighting Michaels to victory. By definition of the race, this should be an impossible feat, as they do NOT possess the intellect, NOR the coordination to communicate and work together in such a way, setting this Michael apart from the rest. It was upon return from this victory that the city rejoiced and laid a crown upon this now regal member of their race.

Humans

While humans are indeed present during the entire story, they are infrequent, unimportant to the plot, and often stay away from Michaels. While Michaels are NOT aggressive and would accept ANY human into their kingdom as their own, humans are MUCH weaker than Michaels, even in the first Michael's Quest, where members of the race were at their weakest in the series, three of which were equal to about one Ye. Rather than kingdoms, humans like to make smaller villages at a time, since they don't all get along with another (contrary to Michaels). One example of these locations is the Village of Stonehaven, seen in the Grasslands of the first Michael's Quest.

Yes

Yes are a peculiar race, they are neither male nor female, have no social hierarchy, and depend on their leader to survive. They work most similarly to ants in the real world, where all work for the colony leader. That leader is Ye Lwin, who greatly dislikes the Michaels. Ye and it's fellow race members have fought with Michaels for as long as anyone in the land can remember, and their kingdoms are right next to each other. Furthermore, Yes do NOT age or die a natural death, but they will aimlessly roam without their leader, often killing themselves in doing something they shouldn't have. Yes also REQUIRE their leader, Ye Lwin, to bare eggs that more Yes can hatch from in order to reproduce.

Typical Ye biology is humanoid from above the shoulders, but starts to become some other wraith-like creature the more downward one looks. Yes have four hands with sharp claws that seemingly float since their arms are invisible to the naked eye, and their bodies come to a tip where legs would be, resembling a tail. Yes magically drag sand around, as they are somewhat creatures of magic and descend from demons of some kind, but they cover themselves in identical clothing to one another to seem like one unit. Their bodies also disintegrate upon death, unlike Michaels, so finding the remains of these creatures is next to impossible. This property also gives them the ability to burrow into the ground, no matter the material.

The biology and physical appearance of the Yes is not the only thing out of the ordinary compared to humans or Michaels, as the Ye Kingdom can be seen growing obsidian from the fiery ground they've burned and dug out below. This is actually their food source, as both the leader and members of the race eat these rocks. Just as food gives humans (and Michaels) energy, these obsidian rocks are left to sit in the fiery pits, which heats them up and fuels the Yes' sand and fire skills.

Shadowstalkers

Found in The Shadow Dimension during King Michael's search for the Hand of Balance in Michael's Quest II - The Maddening Shadows. These demons of the dark dimension were forced to work together with the Nightstalkers from the Dream Dimension, to distract the Michaels from Ye's return. They willingly do this out of fear, since they believe power above all else, and the inhabitants of the Dream Dimension are indeed very powerful. The same can be said for their leader, who they follow and serve every wish of, though willingly.

This was accomplished by the Shadow Dimension Leader stealing the Michaels' Hand of Balance and using it to make himself an all-powerful being. Shadowstalkers look like dark demons, with a shadow cloud that emanates by their feet while living. They can sink into this cloud to phase around since their normal movement speed is very little due to their bone structure.

Nightstalkers

Found in The Dream Dimension during King Michael's search for the Hand of Balance in Michael's Quest II - The Maddening Shadows. These creatures resemble Shadowstalkers, but are more powerful, and some possess skills of the Dream Mastery. Those having the intellect to obtain such skills are the Shadowcaster Nightstalkers, melee AND skill users are Shadowlord Nightstalkers, while others are either archers or grunts.

Descending from a demon-wolf cross, these creatures stem from human nightmares, and can travel from their dimension to the living's via Mnt. Deminsin (a mountain which sometimes opens portals to other dimensions from the magic deep within). Faster, stronger, and smarter than the Shadowstalkers, these monsters command and control The Shadow Dimension with threats and scares, knowing that even demons can fear.