Kouga "Mohawk" Theory

[kaidog]

I'm pretty much going to copy-paste and edit the Skype IMs that I sent to my girlfriend discussing this. I'm lazy.


Unlike the Iga dogs, the Kougas' breed is never specified. As for their "mohawks"... You know how a genetic mutation led to Rhodesian Ridgeback dogs having that reverse fur on their back around the spine? I theorize that the Kougas went through a similar mutation, resulting in the "mohawks".



You can see here that the "mohawk" starts at the crown of the head and ends between the shoulder blades.

Considering they're such a small clan and don't seem to have any outsiders to mate with, inbreeding could have been the cause of the mutation.


Anyone have thoughts, input, or other theories? I'm honestly curious.

[Kit]

I have always been convinced that the Kouga are horribly inbred, LOL. But I remember in GDW, Kyoushirou tells a story about the supposed history of the Kouga ninja dogs, in an effort to dissuade Weed from visiting Tesshin and his men that have been living with the elder at their old territory.

The story itself isn't really enlightening, but the first Kouga dog to exist was just a stray, and he already looked like all the other generic Kougas - mohawk included. My best guess is that because he saved the village women using a katana, and (as it mentioned) they decided to worship him as a God in a dog's body, they simply aspired to breed dogs very specifically to look like him (since I'm pretty sure the dog ran off soon after?). Whether that originally involved inbreeding, I don't know, but if the current "owner-less" Kougas aren't inbreeding, I have no clue how on earth they all retained the odd traits, lol. Especially since it's common knowledge that women are an endangered species in the Ginga world.

So in short, my assumption is that the original stray was some weird mixed breed that may have had a mutation trait, like you said, and then the humans who revered him bred and bred dogs until they got one that resembled him. And the rest, I assume, is history. Quite literally, according to GDA - which now has several Kouga with different facial markings and such, which could be taken as further evidence to the mix-and-match breeding process before the Kougas ran out of non-blood-related girl suppliers. Or Yoshi's just trying desperately to make characters look different because he knows people are already getting bored of his stories... Your pick.

Original dog who inspired the Kouga:

[Klomonx]

Plot twist: Kougas are all Inca Orchid x Shikoku Crosses.
Also of note, Hyouma, the GNG wolf, has a mohawk, as well. Is he perhaps a wolf hybrid, and part Kouga*?

* Kouga being its own 'breed'.

[M-92 Mantis]

Actually that's interesting because Yoshi used to draw wolves with the mohawks. In Farewell! Wolves of the North, the pup named Chibi has a mohawk (he's the little pup in one of the rainbow banners up top), Tom Tom in SSY has a mohawk and he's confirmed to be a wolf. Chibi's father, the leader of the wolves, also has the same mohawk as Chibi, except both mohawks are much smaller and more like a fur ridge instead of a crest. Some of the GNG wolves also have short ridge tufts on their heads and back of the necks at times, too. I don't know if Yoshi made any connection between the two or why they're even there. It might be to try show that wolves are much thicker with fur around the neck? I doubt Yoshi really thinks deep enough to give subtle hints about people's breeds or mixes since he loves marking more than half of the cast as "unknown breed/mix"

[Lukrietz]

I like this theory, and I too think it makes sense for the Kougas to be inbred; I've regarded them as such for some time now. What M-92 Mantis said about the wolves is really interesting as well.

Now, it'd be hilarious if Yoshi spoke up on the matter, being all "lulz u guize they're just punk rockers "

[M-92 Mantis]

Just remember: when in doubt, think What Would Yoshi Say?

What would he say, you ask?

"It's a manga."

[Deleted]

I wish I could find the source. There is a genetic reason as to WHY it's only the fur on the spine, and if I remember correct, it's a pretty nasty health reason.
That aside, I may have some other possibilities:

In humans, there is something called Hypertrichosis, or werewolf syndrome. It is when extra hair grows all over the body. However, it can indeed be localized, perhaps some from of this mutation causes extra hair to grow on their heads.

Or they may simply have a mutation in that region on the fibroblast growth factor-5 gene, which controls coat length in dogs, causing the coat to grow extra long in these areas.

Heavy inbreeding could cause these both to become much more prevalent in the dogs, however it would also cause a huge host of other issues, and over however long it took to develop the modern "Kouga", we would likely see many more cases of health issues like cancer frequencies increasing, joint issues and many more still births.

Though, the still births raises a fascinating point, it might be why the Kouga leader was so scared of his son dying, perhaps birth rates are extremely low, survival rates even lower.

[Klomonx]

This ALSO makes sense as it isn't unheard of for dog breeders to inbreed dogs in order to keep certain traits in the gene pool, at the risk of health. This would also explain why the groups are SO small, and why there are only males.
Maybe females die young, such as in Calico Cats, wherein almost all are female, and males are born sickly.
I like thinking Kougas are wolf hybrids who are inbred, to be honest.

[kaidog]

Sept 10, 2014 17:09:31 GMT -7 @kaiju said:

I wish I could find the source. There is a genetic reason as to WHY it's only the fur on the spine, and if I remember correct, it's a pretty nasty health reason.
That aside, I may have some other possibilities:

In humans, there is something called Hypertrichosis, or werewolf syndrome. It is when extra hair grows all over the body. However, it can indeed be localized, perhaps some from of this mutation causes extra hair to grow on their heads.

Or they may simply have a mutation in that region on the fibroblast growth factor-5 gene, which controls coat length in dogs, causing the coat to grow extra long in these areas.

Heavy inbreeding could cause these both to become much more prevalent in the dogs, however it would also cause a huge host of other issues, and over however long it took to develop the modern "Kouga", we would likely see many more cases of health issues like cancer frequencies increasing, joint issues and many more still births.

Though, the still births raises a fascinating point, it might be why the Kouga leader was so scared of his son dying, perhaps birth rates are extremely low, survival rates even lower.

I was so excited to see specific genes and syndromes that I almost shrieked. Bless you, @kaiju, you incredible individual. I am nerdgasming. (Is that term even still used? I'm stuck in internet circa 2007)

Perhaps the Kougas are part wolf, like other people mentioned? They look more like dingos to me, to be honest. But wolf is more plausible LOL. Maybe the mutation began in the wolves and was able to cross among members of the canis genus?

The connection between still birth and the size of the Kouga clan is such a neat synthesis. Like, god damn. It didn't even cross my mind. Same with a shorter lifespan in females. So much sense has been made.

Headcanon: Tesshin was the only pup of Kurojaki's who wasn't still born.

Yoshi should hire us to write his stories.  :youcanhasitplz:

[Klomonx]

Sept 10, 2014 18:19:10 GMT -7 kaidog said:

Sept 10, 2014 17:09:31 GMT -7 @kaiju said:

I wish I could find the source. There is a genetic reason as to WHY it's only the fur on the spine, and if I remember correct, it's a pretty nasty health reason.
That aside, I may have some other possibilities:

In humans, there is something called Hypertrichosis, or werewolf syndrome. It is when extra hair grows all over the body. However, it can indeed be localized, perhaps some from of this mutation causes extra hair to grow on their heads.

Or they may simply have a mutation in that region on the fibroblast growth factor-5 gene, which controls coat length in dogs, causing the coat to grow extra long in these areas.

Heavy inbreeding could cause these both to become much more prevalent in the dogs, however it would also cause a huge host of other issues, and over however long it took to develop the modern "Kouga", we would likely see many more cases of health issues like cancer frequencies increasing, joint issues and many more still births.

Though, the still births raises a fascinating point, it might be why the Kouga leader was so scared of his son dying, perhaps birth rates are extremely low, survival rates even lower.

I was so excited to see specific genes and syndromes that I almost shrieked. Bless you, @kaiju, you incredible individual. I am nerdgasming. (Is that term even still used? I'm stuck in internet circa 2007)

Perhaps the Kougas are part wolf, like other people mentioned? They look more like dingos to me, to be honest. But wolf is more plausible LOL. Maybe the mutation began in the wolves and was able to cross among members of the canis genus?

The connection between still birth and the size of the Kouga clan is such a neat synthesis. Like, god damn. It didn't even cross my mind. Same with a shorter lifespan in females. So much sense has been made.

Headcanon: Tesshin was the only pup of Kurojaki's who wasn't still born.

Yoshi should hire us to write his stories.  :youcanhasitplz:

Hellz yeah, Id take that job.

[M-92 Mantis]

I always got the feeling the Kouga were meant to look like an ancient breed, or lack of one. Before Kai, Kishuu, Shikoku and Akita Inu existed, they became what they are now through isolation with clans and families. It would make sense then, that the Kouga Clan, being an isolated location, would breed or inbreed their dogs to have a uniform appearance. It's how the Kishuu and Kai came about - the hunters wanted dogs that could blend in with their surroundings and/or be built to take down their specific game like deer, boar, bears, etc.

The Kouga, like the Iga, could have bred their dogs for their needs as shinobi to blend in (GDA mentions that white Kishu - which weren't predominant in that age - were unacceptable because they could be seen easier during nighttime), have nimble legs to run and leap in the trees, move quietly on their paws (most Japanese breeds all have a 'cat-like' quality to their walking and even stalking prey), and all sorts of other things. Real-life canines used in warfare were picked and bred to have incredible endurance, stamina, strength, and intelligence so they could make decisions on their own and remember their training during stressful moments.

Lots of strains of Japanese breeds today are bred to look like older forms of their ancestors. Some Kai Ken are long legged to maintain an old role of the Shiku Inu - the deer hound, to hunt deer. Others are shorter so they can weave among the feet or hooves of bigger animals, like bears and boar. Some Akitas that are the Japanese type look a bit like American Akitas because they are made to resemble the father of the Akita, the Matagi Inu, specifically the Akita Matagi, or other strains like the Odate Inu or Dewa Inu, even if they don't have European blood in them.

I don't like making too much head canon on what the Kouga are, but I do believe they are meant to look like an unchanging breed to resemble the first Kouga like Kit mentioned. Same as how the Iga now apparently only use white Kishuu, although this could be because Yuushoku Kishuu are hard to find nowadays. I'm not sure if there's a wolf-Kouga connection with the head tufts, since throughout time, Yoshi's wolves began to lose it and only his oldest work had it - he may have simply liked the look and kept it alive in the Kouga, who knows? I do think it's cool to try figuring out how at all the Kouga could be in real life, since Yoshi leaves so much open for consideration, whether intentional or not. Knowing how bad he is with his own canon, I sincerely doubt there'll be any mention of the First Kouga in GDA, unfortunately, to add more to the story of the breed.

[Deleted]

kaidog I am glad I am able to help! I only know of a few of these because I have been introduced to them. Honestly the coat length gene came up when I was looking into the presence of manes on female lions in a population in Africa, I thought maybe it had to do with a similar mutations to the Kougas. After doing a bit more research on the FGF5 gene, there IS a known mutation called the angora mutation, so named because when FGF5 is disturbed, it increases the length of the growth(anagen) phase in hair.

In rabbits, it looks like this:

SPOILER: Click to show

However, assuming it could isolate itself, it could explains the fluffy head fur on both Kouga's and wolves.

Just imagine a male whom was born full angora though.

[Chani]

Interesting theories.

In case some don't know this, I'd like to point out something Yoshi has mentioned about the Kougas:
"Their breed is a made up one... But if I had to specify a breed then I guess it would be some offshoot of Kai dogs. That breed has lived in Japan since ancient times."

[M-92 Mantis]

Oh cool, Chani! Where does Yoshi say that? I know he mentioned specifically that they're just an unknown breed or mix, but never heard about the Kai part, that's really neat since I never knew he explained more about it

[Chani]

Sept 11, 2014 15:12:31 GMT -7 M-92 Mantis said:

Oh cool, Chani! Where does Yoshi say that? I know he mentioned specifically that they're just an unknown breed or mix, but never heard about the Kai part, that's really neat since I never knew he explained more about it

It's from the Finnish GNG vol 18. It included an interview.