Thursday, November 22, 2018

Tribes of the centaurs, part 2: the horse-centaurs

As I explained in part 1 of this series, Greek myth posited that the centaurs are divided into a number of tribes. The ixionidae are descended from Ixion: his son(s) the Centaur or centaurs sired the hippocentaurs (horse-centaurs) on the Magnesian mares. However, there were a few tribes of hippocentaurs without a common origin. More below the break...

Greek mythology

The Thessalian hippocentaurs were the descendants of Ixion, and thus are also known as the ixionidae (singular ixionides). Of all the tribes of centaurs, they have the most myths associated with them such as the Centauromachy in which they warred with the Lapiths. In later myth, they are the only tribe mentioned to include centauresses (e.g. Hylonome).


The Peloponnesian hippocentaurs (or "centaur-silenes" according to Calvin W. Schwabe's Cattle, Priests, and Progress in Medicine) were the descendants of the rustic god Silenus and the ash-tree nymph Melia. They are known for their battle against Heracles over their brother Pholos' wine, which ended with most of them felled by poisoned arrows and the survivors forced to seek refuge from Poseidon in the south.

The Cyprian centaurs (aka the Beasts of Cyprus) were the accidental children of Gaia and Zeus, and served as attendants to the goddess Aphrodite. They were distinguished by growing the horns of bulls; curiously, they are not specifically described as being part horse so their inclusion here is speculative. They are likely related to the Cerastae, bull-horned Cyprian devotees of Aphrodite. According to one myth, the Cerastae sacrificed their guests upon the altar to Aphrodite; the horrified goddess cursed them into the forms of bulls.

Cyprian centaur

The Centaurs of Dionysus (aka the Beasts of the Lamus) were twelve rustic deities sent to guard Dionysus against Hera. She cursed them into hippocentaurs with the horns of bulls or oxen as a result. Although named centaurs by Nonnus, they were described as man-shaped creatures with bulls' horns and horses' tails so they may have been envisaged more like satyrs.

As I mentioned in my post on the centaur's "mermaid problem," centaurs were originally envisaged as all-male and possessed the genitals of both man and horse in order to reproduce with both women, nymphs and mares. Only in later periods were centauresses (female centaurs) added.


Chiron forms a tribe all his own. He had the body of a man with the partial body of a horse attached at the rump, and wore a toga with boots. He was the son of the titan Cronus and the nymph Philyra, and father to the Nymphs of Pelion. After Nephelê abandoned the centaurs, they were nursed by Chiron's daughters. Unlike the rapacious Thessalian centaurs, Chiron was a sage and surgeon. Curiously, Chiron was brother to the ichthyocentaurs (fish-centaurs) Bythos and Aphros.

The onocentaur ("donkey-centaur") is another kind of equine centaur that appears in medieval bestiaries. He has the lower body of a donkey instead of a horse. He is considered the personification of hypocrisy: his upper body is rational whereas his lower body is wild (as typical of liminal beings), and he speaks of doing good while committing evil acts. Naturalists later applied this name to a species of ape, possibly the chimpanzee.

Onocentaur by Kris Moore

Fantasy fiction

More recently an episode of the 1990s television show Beastmaster, "The Centaurs," depicts centaurs as being a human and horse who share a soul. When they wish to, the human and horse may merge temporarily into the form of a centaur. I find this fascinating and think such a tribe would be a welcome addition.

J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series depicts centaurs as being sages, similar to Chiron. Which such a tribe was never mentioned in the myths, it is easy enough to assume that perhaps Chiron managed to civilize some of the hippocentaurs raised by his daughters. Indeed, they may have even married his daughters and produced a Chironian tribe that descends from him.

In the Warcraft fantasy universe, centaurs are bastard cousins to the dryads and keepers of the grove. This is curiously similar to their family tree in Greek myth, where they are kin to the nymphs and satyrs.

A number of stories depict a correlation between a centaur's equine half and their human half's ethnicity. For example, Mutants in Xanadu states:
Note that there are various types of centaur, hippocentaurs have a Caucasian look and bodies like a domestic horse, onocentaurs have an Asian appearance and the body of a donkey or onager, while hippotigercentaurs have an African appearance and the body of a zebra. The differences in these races are purely cosmetic and they all have the same statistics.
Zebra-centaur
(Note: The Ancient Romans named the zebra a hippotigris meaning "horse-tiger," because it had the proportions of a horse and the stripes of a tiger.)

Using horse-centaurs in gaming

Horse-centaurs are a staple of fantasy gaming, although they are severely watered down compared to their mythological depiction. They are civilized like Chiron and enjoy alcohol like the Thessalian centaurs, but the sagely wisdom of Chiron and the rowdy behavior of the Thessalian centaurs is absent.

I find this pretty bland and boring. Consider taking inspiration directly from mythology and introducing the Thessalian, Peloponnesian, Cyprian, Lamian and Chironian tribes straight out of myth and fantasy. Or take a shortcut by reading any of the numerous gaming supplements made about centaurs!

I highly recommend buying a copy of Slayer's Guide to Centaurs and Advanced Races 7: Centaurs for ideas on using centaurs in adventures or even playing them.

Consider adding additional sub-races or sub-classes.
  • Use other animals as the lower half, such as donkey, onager, zebra, horned, stag, deer, camel, unicorn, pegasus, sleipnir, etc. These may have their own invented names, such as onocentaur, hippotigercentaur, cervitaur, etc.
  • Use other races as the upper half. For example, Midgard Bestiary introduces the alseid as an elf/deer centaur (elven cervitaur?).
  • Don't forget giant centaurs! For example, Monsters of Myth depicts onocentaurs as being part cyclops and part giant donkey. Pathfinder introduces the "svathurim" as a centaur composed of frost giant and sleipnir.
  • Rolang has a few ideas for mutated centaurs, highlighting their nature as liminal beings. Great if you are running a dark fantasy or more comedic campaign.

The Minotaur Isles suggests the following:
Rare physical features:  20% of Centaurs exhibit one of the following features: 20% Horse teeth or 20% Large nose or 20% Mohawk mane or 20% Human torso covered with hair or 20% horse ears

In my setting

Horse-centaurs and so forth are kin to satyrs and nymphs, descended from a variety of parents. They are not so much a species as a platonic form taken by multiple different bloodlines. They come in many different tribes with their own unique traits. Some are rowdy and always male, others are wise and sometimes female.

(A niche idea I briefly entertained was that centauresses were androgynous, explaining the myths of centaurs being always male. But that way lies the dark and evil path of the furry...)

Research links

Gaming links

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