She's a Rude Dude

I was talking to AquaTiffy and Balisk the other day about deku in general. I brought Petil up for a few jokes and this kind of came up.

In Majora's Mask, Tatl says what she does in the image about mad scrubs, which are still deku. Mad scrubs seem to just be a more territorial type of deku scrub. But the joke here is that Petil is literally a mad deku scrub, lmao. I've determined that Petil is a "take no BS" character and therefore kind of has a dry humor to her. This is an example of that because I couldn't get it out of my head, lol.

Deku are actually a really fun and unique race. They are canonically weak which means they're not capable of most everything other races are. I want to say the business scrubs really highlight the strength of the deku: wits. They have the capability of using their minds to their advantage. So what they lack physically they seem to make up for mentally. Which makes sense to me considering you can literally kick them around if you tried.

What I like about deku is that literally they are plants. They aren't humanoids, they aren't flesh, rock or scales... they are just a plant. While canon shows little or no variation in their flowers/plants, the deku have the same potential for diversity as the zora when it comes to appearance. But beyond that, plants vary by region and have their own attributes in most cases. Imagine deku that hibernate in winter. Imagine a deku whose flower opens and closes depending upon the time of day. Maybe deku who only live so many years before dying (IE: biennial and annual plants). Maybe their leaves change according to season. Maybe deku grow limbs back like a plant grows new leaves/stems/etc. There's just so much to draw from actual plant life that can help make the deku even more unique (in the same way zora can be based on fish types, you know?).

The fact these guys vary so much in body shape is what makes them great. They aren't like humanoid Hyruleans who all have a strict humanoid shape. It's a pity so many people base off Deku Link (and subsequently their deku look like him). Why? Mostly because they ignore that shapes can grant a unique appearance. All deku have a general shape for the body and then have mismatched proportions. Even their snouts which are immovable and don't flex like a normal mouth can have different shapes! That's what I love, honestly. It's also why I like the twili: they don't have strict set proportions and you can customize the anatomy in so many ways. I love races that don't look strictly human proportioned.

Plant people are honestly my favorite types in fantasy and deku scrubs in general are a unique race. They're weak, they're small plant people, they have little going for them and can't live like other humanoid races. Legitimately they only have deku nuts and deku flowers they can use as a jumping point/home. They are known for their business and aggressiveness. Yet Hyruleans (and any people) tolerate these guys and acknowledge that deku scrubs are... nothing special. They have no significance in the canon and end up as the comedy relief. But they have some of the most unique biology of the Zelda series which often gets overlooked because people like to draw them as human as Deku Link (well, a bit more since even Deku Link is a bit odd proportionally to a humanoid). TBH that is what saddens me the most.



-------------
Petil (C) Me
Tatl, deku scrubs, and Legend of Zelda (C) Nintendo
Art is mine.

I'll shade this later when it's not like 1am;;