Thread: K9 enemies...
View Single Post
Old 07-04-2019, 10:12 AM   #10
Irish Wolf
 
Irish Wolf's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Earth, mostly
Default Re: K9 enemies...

Quote:
Originally Posted by Turhan's Bey Company View Post
When you see a dog, you see the dog, not the training, so yes. This is a cultural thing which has varied over time, but it's particularly strong these days. The first reaction to seeing any dog, in many people, will be to want to make friends with it. Any training it may have had is a subtle intellectual distinction which has to be taken on, and it won't erase the fundamental belief in dogs as, at the core, inherently friendly companions. They're seen as essentially benevolent, and if they're hostile, it's because they're legitimately defending someone or they've been misled by a bad human. On some level, many people see all dogs as good dogs.
One of the things that makes the wholesale slaughter of dogs in the Fallout series acceptable is that most of them have been horribly mutated, both by radiation (Mongrels) and FEV exposure (Mutant Hounds). Neither one looks particularly like a dog any more - Mongrels are rail-thin with scattered, ratty fur and no lips covering the teeth, and Mutant Hounds are green and hairless (like their Super Mutant masters) and somewhat resemble giant pit bulls on steroids.

There are a few normal-looking dogs around, but in general they're either heroic (Dogmeat in various incarnations) or potential pets (if you have the dogs mod for Fallout 4, available in the Creation Club). The Legion in New Vegas have "dogs", but in appearance they're more like wolves and don't seem to trigger the same instincts in humans who play the games.
__________________
If you break the laws of Man, you go to prison.

If you break the laws of God, you go to Hell.

If you break the laws of Physics, you go to Sweden and receive a Nobel Prize.
Irish Wolf is offline   Reply With Quote