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Gender
v50.14 · v0.47.05 This article is about the current version of DF.Note that some content may still need to be updated. |
Gender, along with orientation, determines if two creatures can breed. Gender may also influence the size, attacks, or other characteristics of very dimorphic creatures (e.g. elephant seal, moose). For instance, female giant mosquitos alone can suck blood from other creatures. On the other hand, intelligent species are generally not very dimorphic - for instance, the only difference between male and female dwarves - apart from breeding ability - is the presence of a beard. This means that apart from the occasional and infamous soldier giving birth mid-fight the player can pretty much treat male and female citizens interchangeably. (A notable exception is animal people, whose dimorphism (and other attributes) reflect that of the animal they're inspired from.)
Determining gender
When viewing a unit, a symbol appears below its name:
| Gender | Symbol | Common names | Other uses |
|---|---|---|---|
| Male | ♂ | Boar | Bags |
| Female | ♀ | Sow | Amulets |
Additionally, when viewing a unit from the u menu or with v-z, the creature will be referred to as "he" or "she".
A gelded male's gender will appear as x♂x.
Raws
In the raws, genders are defined using generalized caste tokens (not to be confused with casts). Castes are often just defined as "male" or "female", but there are a few notable exceptions.
Future development
Currently, gender and sex are conflated as the same thing. According to Toady One, transgender and intersex dwarves will be added in the future. It has been hinted that this will likely take the form of a (male or female) soul inhabiting in a (female or male) body, as body and soul (the set of mental attributes) are separate things in the game, even though they are not (yet) gender marked. In the meantime, soul swapping can already be done with DFHack. It is unknown whether future additions will include non-binary and genderfluid dwarves.