Person

An abstract painting of a person by Id Kogan

Personhood is the state of being a person. Defining personhood is a controversial topic in philosophy and law, and is closely tied to concepts of citizenship, equality, and liberty. According to common legal practice, only a person has rights, protections, privileges, responsibilities, and legal liability. Personhood continues to be a topic of debate, and has been questioned during the abolition of plump helmet man farming, in the fight for kobold rights, and in animal person-rights advocacy.

The criteria for being a person… are designed to capture those attributes which are the subject of our most dwarvane concern with ourselves and the source of what we regard as most important and most problematical in our lives. -Geshud Imush

The defining features of personhood and, what makes a person as a person, differ widely among cultures and contexts. To determine if someone or something is a person, we must first look towards ourselves and ask, "What makes a dwarf a person, and what distinguishes us from the beasts?" So, what are some features of a dwarf? A dwarf can open doors, can feel pain, can learn, can speak, can join civilizations, can pet animals, and can spit. Although none of these characteristics on their own may be the defining characteristic of a person, they can be used to look for trends and compare and contrast ourselves with other creatures as a starting point for a determination.

Creature	Doors	†Pain	Learns	Speaks	Civ/Hero	Pets	Spits	Rifts
Dwarf	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Civ	Yes	Yes
Human	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Civ	Yes	Yes
Elf	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Civ	Yes	Yes
Goblin	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Civ	Yes	Yes
Kobold	Yes	Yes	Yes	Utterances	Civ	Yes	Yes
Gremlin	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes		Yes	Yes	Exotic Pet
Troll	Yes	Yes	Slowly	No
Ogre	Yes	Yes	Slowly	No
Satyr	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes		Yes	Yes	Pet Value: 250☼
Bronze Colossus	Yes	No	No	No				Mega Beast
Giant	Yes	Yes	Slowly	Yes		Yes	Yes	Semi-Mega Beast
Cyclops	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes		Yes	Yes	Semi-Mega Beast
Ettin	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes		Yes	Yes	Semi-Mega Beast
Minotaur	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes		Yes	Yes	Semi-Mega Beast
Yeti	Yes	Yes	No	No
Sasquatch	Yes	Yes	No	No
Blizzard Man	Yes	Perhaps	Slowly	No
Fairy	No	Yes	Yes	Yes				Pet Value: 10☼
Pixie	No	Yes	Yes	Yes				Pet Value: 10☼
Grimeling	Yes	No	No	No
Foul Blendec	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes				Pet Value: 250☼
Nightwing	Yes	No	Yes	No				Pet Value: 1000☼
Harpy	No	Yes	Yes	Yes		Yes	Yes	Pet Value: 30☼
Merperson	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes		Yes	Yes
Mountain Gnome	No	Yes	Yes	No		Yes	Yes
Dark Gnome	No	Yes	Yes	No		Yes	Yes
Blind Cave Ogre	Yes	Yes	Slowly	No				Pet Value: 500☼
Magma Crab	No	Yes	No	No			Yes	Pet Value: 200☼
Blood Man	Yes	No	No	No
Molemarian	Yes	No	No	No				Pet Value: 400☼
Gabbro Man	Yes	No	No	No
Gorlak	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Heroes	Yes	Yes
Plump Helmet Man	Yes	Perhaps	Yes	No	Heroes
Amethyst Man	Yes	No	No	No
Troglodyte	Yes	Yes	Slowly	No
Fire Imp	Yes	Yes	No	No
Cave Fish Man	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Both	Yes
Olm Man	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Both	Yes
Bat Man	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Both	Yes
Fire Man	Yes	No	No	No
Magma Man	Yes	No	No	No
Iron Man	Yes	No	No	No
Mud Man	Yes	No	No	No
Cave Swallow Man	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Both	Yes
Amphibian Man	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Civ
Reptile Man	Yes	Yes	Yes	With a Lisp	Civ
Serpent Man	Yes	Yes	Yes	With a Lisp	Civ
Ant Man	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Civ
Rodent Man	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Civ
Animal Persons	Yes	‡Mostly	Yes	Yes	Heroes	Yes

† Not an exhaustive list of creatures that can feel pain.

‡ All animal people can feel pain except for these 3: Bark Scorpion Man, Jumping Spider Man, and Brown Recluse Spider Man

Legend:

• Doors: CanOpenDoors
• Pain: Yes = Has_Nerves. No = Feels NoPain. Perhaps = neither.
• Learns: Can_Learn or Intelligent
• Speaks: Can_Speak or Intelligent
• Civ/Hero: Species belongs to a civlization or is capable of joining one
• Pets: Can pet an animal
• Spits: Is able to spit
• Rifts: These are qualities that make this creature less like us.