AMCO
I'm Sorry Dave
- Intent: Doppelgangers? That's just a children's tale, silly.
- Image Credit: Doppelgangers are like... Mood Rings? by JessJackdaw
- Canon: N/A
- Permissions: N/A
- Links: Sith Changeling | Shi'ido & Anzat
- Name: Myubbukderdutr (Literally "Doppelganger" in ur-Kittât), aka Sith Doppelgangers
- Designation: Sentient
- Origins: Darth Prospero | The Primyn Group
- Average Lifespan: 600 Standard Years
- Estimated Population: Rare
- Description: Adaptable and cunning shapeshifters with a gift for telepathy and a penchant for literally feeding on minds, Doppelgangers were originally created as unparalleled spies-cum-assassins, though their independent nature often results in them doing their own thing. Far more capable than their Changeling cousins, the Doppelgangers are nonetheless very rare - much rarer than the Anzati, certainly, and since they do not necessarily leave a trail of bodies when feeding, they are often much more benign... or insidious, depending on who you ask.
- Breathes: Type I and II, some Type III.
- Average Height of Adults: 1.8-2.4 metres
- Average Length of Adults: N/A
- Skin Colour: In their true form, the colour of a Doppelganger's skin changes with their emotional state.
- Hair Colour: N/A; doppelgangers are hairless in their true form.
- Distinctions: Genderless shapeshifter famous for their nigh-unparallelled adaptability, Doppelgangers only rarely reveal their true forms, usually opting to masquerade as a manufactured or stolen identity. While they have no sexes or races, many (but far from all) chose a gender identity for themselves and stick with it, though only the truly eccentric refuse to shift into the opposite gender if doing so would be convenient. From the moment they reach maturity to the end of their natural lives, there is little physically differentiating Doppelgangers, though the elders among their kind, those who overfeed, and those who start feeding very early tend to "assimilate" personality quirks from their preferred prey.
- Races: Doppelgangers are a diverse and adaptable bunch, able to change much about themselves with enough effort - it is thus hard to establish any clear "races", especially since such changes typically aren't passed on to offspring.
- Force Sensitivity: High; an incredibly high percentage of Doppelgangers - around 5% - are Force Sensitive, though the rarity of the species itself ensures that such individuals are very rare indeed. Though as able to expand in any direction as any other Force User, they tend to display a strong aptitude for Telepathy, Mind Tricks, and Force Stealth.
- Doppelganger: Doppelgangers are to Changelings what Changelings are to humans wearing fake moustaches, for they are able to make themselves resemble anything from Ewoks to Epicanthix while fooling all but the most thorough of medical examinations; they can even produce facsimiles of clothing or equipment, though nothing more advanced than a fancy sword. Much like Umbarans, they are able to read, subtly influence, and sometimes even control the wills of others, greatly aiding their infiltration efforts.
- Hyperadaptable: The apex of adaptability, Doppelgangers are able to modify their bodies on the fly to suit their circumstances, including but not limited to surviving in most atmospheres, breaking down all but the most insidious of poisons, growing long claws or vicious teeth, and generating potent toxins and strange acids within their bodies - most famously the neurotoxin which they use to pacify their prey and cloud their memories, a lethal variant used in combat, and an addictive substance used to create "willing" thralls.
- Apex Predator: While their true forms might appear fragile, this could not be further from the truth - devilishly fast and almost as strong as Wookies, Doppelgangers make ferocious opponents, though they will rarely fight unless forced into a corner.
- Regeneration: Adaptable almost to the point of absurdity, Doppelgangers have considerable regenerative potential; sufficient to stop bleeding in battle or even regrow entire limbs, albeit with days or weeks of feasting - preferably on meat - and intense concentration.
- Mind-Eater: An innately telepathic species, Doppelgangers are able to "feed" on the thoughts of others - when done with care to avoid harming the person in question, it can allow them to slowly assimilate knowledge and skills alike; more aggressive feedings are liable to cause brain damage or even "drain them dry", leaving either an easily controlled "husk" or a corpse with distinctive brain damage.
- Arcane Reproduction: As their fluid forms are ill-suited to maintain a womb for the duration of a pregnancy, the genderless beings will typically opt to impregnate the females of other species - a feat only possible after carefully nurturing a "seed" within themselves for months or even years. Even after all this work, however, eight out of ten children born of such a pairing will be Changelings.
- Simply Shocking: Doppelgangers are rather vulnerable to electrocution - being struck by a shock baton will force all but the best of them back to their true form and is more likely to cause side effects than with humans; even weaker currents can impede their shapeshifting, causing their flesh to "bubble" visibly unless suppressed with great effort, making it a relatively safe way to "be sure" for those in the know.
- Tainted Origins: Born of the Dark Side, Doppelgangers are predictably vulnerable to Force Light, with even weak or indirect bursts being more than sufficient to force them back into their true form - more powerful assaults can even be fatal, as it causes rapid cell death in the thoroughly unnatural beings. While the average Light Side Nexus won't kill them, they tend to cause constant pain, akin to a mild to severe headache.
- Cybernotics: Seeing as most forms of cybernetics are not designed for the ever-shifting forms of the Doppelgangers, it is a damned good thing they are able to regenerate from most wounds - damage done with the Force isn't necessarily healable except through the Force, however, giving the creatures even more reason to shun Force Light and sorcerous assaults like the plague.
- Mind-Eater: You are what you eat - for the Doppelgangers, this is true on a whole new level. An iron will is needed to consume the minds of others without changing yourself, and over the long lives of their existence all but those who renounce feeding entirely (a difficult prospect, comparable to overcoming a major drug addiction) tend to become more and more like the people they prefer to eat.
- Diet: Omnivores; owing to their hyperadaptable nature, Doppelgangers can eat almost anything, from entire bodies, bones and all, to trees. They are not required to telepathically "feed", but doing so comes with practical advantages, is highly enjoyable, and staves off significant withdrawal symptoms that usually take years or even decades of harsh discipline to overcome - and even then, the temptation remains.
- Communication: Doppelgangers are naturally telepathic, though they will only rarely communicate with any outside their own kind in such a manner, owing to their secretive nature - for the average Doppelganger, this is a line of sight ability only usable within a few tens of metres, though FUs and the exceptionally skilled can project their thoughts much further. They are able to assimilate languages from those they feed on, with the very best of them being able to learn an entire language in a single feeding while leaving the victim's psyche mostly intact.
- Technology Level: Incredibly rare beings who almost never congregate in large numbers, Doppelgangers have no real technological basis of their own, though they often accumulate significant scientific knowledge by "snacking on the clever".
- Religion/Beliefs: A recent addition to galactic society, Doppelgangers are, as a whole, selfish and sceptic in equal measure, rarely putting much stock in religion or ideology outside of cold pragmatism; that being said, many among them hold great respect for the Sith, especially Darth Prospero and the other alchemists responsible for their creation. While they only rarely belong to organised cultural structures, they tend to value intelligence and cunning quite highly and accusing someone of lacking subtlety is a grave insult. Much like with Changelings, lying to "their own" is taboo; when in their true forms (a rare event), they tend to share their thoughts and emotions freely, see "Skin Colour".
- General Behaviour:
- Social Structures: Rarely congregating in large numbers, most Doppelgangers are alone or in groups of up to five, with groups of around twenty being considered exceptional. They have been known to serve as leaders, of sorts, for groups of Changelings and frequently establish "Shadow Cults" made up of brainwashed sentients, most of which will have no clue they serve a Doppelganger.
- Reproduction: Unable (or rather unwilling, due to the immense difficulty) of reproducing with their own kind, Doppelgangers tend towards one of three extremes - staying to raise the child as is the norm for other species, kidnapping the child shortly after the birth and raising it alone or entrusting it to trusted minions, or impregnating an unknowing female before departing - whether the latter ever intends to return for their offspring varies and might depend on whether the child is born a Changeling or a Doppelganger.
- Childhood and Maturity: Changelings and Doppelgangers alike are born resembling their mother's species, for Changelings see their species submission. Doppelgangers develop their telepathic abilities naturally around puberty, or considerably sooner if a conscious effort is made to bring forth this ability - upon reaching this point, they will often mature very rapidly by "feeding" upon adult sentients, which in turn will trigger their shapeshifting abilities; failure to feed will eventually result in them more or less "becoming" their mother's species permanently, though this is unlikely to happen without specialised guidance, due to the strong urges involved. It is possible for shapeshifting and telepathy alike to occur as a defence mechanism if prepubescent Doppelgangers feel especially threatened.
- Combat and the Hunt: With a few exceptions, Doppelgangers tend to shirk combat like the plague, only ever fighting when subterfuge fails, when their cover is blown, or when targetting beings far weaker than themselves. This is reflected in their feeding habits - most favour feeding carefully, so carefully that the victim might not even notice that it is going on and rarely suffers long-term damage, though the most ruthless of their kind have been known to completely devour someone in body and mind before taking their place in society. They tend to be "picky eaters", quickly establishing preferences, sometimes truly esoteric ones such as "male mirialans".
- Naming Conventions: Owing to their secretive nature, the names of Doppelgangers are deeply personal things which they rarely share outside a small circle of trusted friends - some do not even choose a name for themselves, instead opting to merely project a specific emotion or impression towards others of their kind. Aliases, on the other hand, are plentiful and often shed as readily as a human would his clothing, though there are certainly those out there who have decided to live their life as an alias, whether manufactured... or stolen.
Years ago, a mere Acolyte had attempted to create the perfect assassin, a formless horror, unkillable, unstoppable.
It failed miserably, of course, but he had learned much since then.
As a Knight, this quest for perfection drove him to revise and repurpose his old research, ending in the creation of the Changelings. Free willed, versatile, and fully able to integrate into society, they were in many ways the "Sithspawn citizens" he strived to create for so long.
Even so, a perfectionist will rarely rest on his laurels for long, and so Vandiir began to improve upon his creations.
As a Lord, this research finally bore fruition, the vast resources made available to him as he assumed the mantle of Triumvir of Power expediting the project and giving him access to exotic test subjects that had previously been out of reach even to his most well-paid acquisitions agents.
Born from Changelings heavily augmented with DNA from the Shi'ido and Anzati - and allegedly stranger beings yet - the Doppelgangers share many similarities with their lesser cousins and often coexist with them, though they are just as likely to be loners, either truly alone or at the centre of a vast web of blackmail, economic ties, and brainwashed cultists - a "Shadow Cult", in their terminology.
So close is this relationship, most attempts of reproduction by Doppelgangers will result in Changeling offspring; the care with which the "seed" is nurtured prior to impregnation affects these odds, as does the Force Sensitivity of either or both parents - that being said, even under optimal circumstances fifty-fifty odds are the best one can hope for without alchemical assistance.
Owing to their youth as a species, the Doppelgangers in existence at the time of writing were not raised as such, with some being transformed from more conventional species, typically Changelings or Humans, through a complicated and time-consuming ritual, while others were born from alchemical wombs and repeatedly exposed to telepathy until they develop the ability to feed on others at an unusually early age, potentially reaching maturity after a mere year or two, though this method leaves them very vulnerable to adopting huge chunks of personality from those they feed on.
Unsurprisingly, a significant portion of these early Doppelgangers are eccentric at best, insane at worst.
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