Biology headcanons

Alright I know some of you when seeing this immediately went oh no theres going to be nsfw in here, jokes on you most of what you will find in this section has less nsfw than a 6th grade health class textbook. Also its literally all just theory so who knows if any of this is actually how it work.

Blood color and Lusi

Trolls end up looking how they do in response to a biological mimic. Even blood color ties into this, you see a single species can’t have different blood colors unless something is up with a vast difference in diet, environment or blood compounds. Trolls are all the same species; they eat the same stuff for the most part and grow up in generally the same environment. So what makes their blood change color? Why do they have distinctive horns? Why do some have eye mutations or different shapes of fangs? I propose their body tries to mimic the lusus they are trying to attract (since adults don’t raise them they need to attach themselves or trick other animals like a cuckoo bird for example) as best it can with still staying in the constraints of their own anatomy. The lusi on Alternia also have different blood colors right? Trolls ended up evolving to mimic the blood color of others. If you look closer to your lusus, horns, blood, teeth, eyes, even body or gender you're more likely to attract one because they will mistake you as their offspring. It’s a survival technique, those who can't attract a lusus won’t live long so what do you do, you try to trick it into thinking you are it’s child so it takes care of you. Bloodcolor and the way trolls look and function just ended up as a survival mechanism, Alternian society just twisted it. We all know it happened to humans with skin color (we actually evolved to have different skin colors to help moderate vitamin D of survival, I kid you not), what's to say it didn't happen with a more violent alien species?

Reproduction and gender

I know everyone has a whole bunch of ideas about how the hell alternians do stuff since really they aren't like humans. What we do know from canon is that they need a mother grub to reproduce and trolls in quadrants need to provide their genetic makeup to pass on to the next generation. Here's the thing though we only know very vague things from canon, that is about as far as things get. There are always theories however. One of which being the mother grubs are in fact alternian trolls but they are biologically female trolls, they are the only trolls able to produce eggs. Male trolls are what we think of when we think alternian trolls they fill in the other half. This is why they need a mother grub, they are like insects, the mother grub is a “queen” while all others are essentially workers. There is also the fact that insect queens are usually bigger than the males, trolls follow this pattern. Not to mention males of most species have higher testosterone levels than females which plays into aggression, and what are alternain trolls? They are known to be aggressive and violent. This is also why their relationships are set up so much differently, and why they probably have very loose gender norms compared to humans, if there are any norms at all.

You may be wondering, well why would they need to be coupled to provide their genetic make up? Well that's likely because their genes are incomplete, they need a second half to complete the chromosomes that make up a complete reproductive cell. This is also likely why they tend to have gene mix ups or repeats that are super genetically close to others, there are only so many genetically classified females that can provide that last part of the puzzle.

As for what anything looks like hah no I'm not going into that, people can assume whatever they want no one really knows and canon is so vague people can pretty much only theorize. All I can say is that people are likely to have different opinions, no one needs to agree all of this is just theory but you have to respect that. (At least until Andrew Hussie starts explicitly confirming or explaining anything which I highly doubt.)

Likely diets

Starting with something simple, from the way alternians act to how their bodies work it is probably most accurate to say they are considered close to mesocarnivores or hypocarnivors. A mesocarnivore is an animal whose diet consists of 50–70% meat with the balance consisting of non-animal foods. From the way an alternian’s teeth are shaped, their claws and nocturnal behavior as well as their more solitary behavior it's safe to assume alternians were originally predatory hunters and likely meat eaters. Most carnivores in general have relatively large brains and high levels of intelligence.these types of carnivores can also still eat things like fruits, vegetables, grains and

starches. Considering a troll in hiveswap was said to be either vegan or vegetarian this also lines up. They would however need to do the opposite of humans when it comes to food though, they likely need to cook fruits or vegetables to make them easier to break down while meat generally doesn’t need to be cooked, they can digest it either way even when raw. Because of this, they can likely taste atp like cats can. Along with this they have a higher concentration of stomach acid and a simpler digestive system than humans. They would however have close to the same eating habits as humans, likely being warm blooded since they dont require the sun for energy they need to eat regularly to keep their energy up.

They also act socially like carnivores, they are more reclusive and tend to keep in tighter knit groups (quadrants). Carnivores also show this behavior, they tend to be less social and more territorial and will stay in smaller groups. It's also known that most carnivores are nocturnal which again lines up with trolls. They still have those genes from way way long ago that give them strong claws used for hunting, extremely sharp teeth, better night vision, even the placement of eyes being front facing leans into this theory.

(click on image for a closer look)

Seadwellers of course have extra organs that evolved for their survival underwater and their ability to still breath. This adds gills into their respiratory system as well as a new organ that is common in fish called a swim bladder. Because of these extra organs around their throat their vocal cords are pushed higher up in the trachea giving them slightly higher voices and the ability to speak in higher whistles and clicks underwater akin the dolphins.