What if sealing the Predators away was to SAVE them?

[Spamotron]

I was just thinking. In predator to prey ratios prey generally has to outnumber predators a at least a couple hundred to one or the whole thing collapses as predators consume prey faster than they can reproduce.

The problem with the predators of Foenum is that their prey is sapient and capable of forming armies.

In stream Lauren said she envisioned the predators as being more primal and less civilized than the ungulates. That implies they're less technologically advanced.

The majority of ungulates are some kind of herd species and naturally organize and work together. Teamwork using pack predators likes wolves and lions are a minority on the predator side.

To sum up. The ungulates would have outnumbered the predators at least a couple hundred to one. They had better tech/magic and would organize into large combat formations more easily.

A big badass bear may be able to take out a dozen scattered deer. But that fight changes if the deer are all formed up in a square and kitted up in full plate armor.

It seems to me that while predators would be very scary preying on isolated ungulate civilian communities in a full scale war they would lose very, very badly.

What if the Bearded Prophet realized this and concluded that sealing them away was the best chance for the predators survival. Because unless something was done a war of extermination was inevitable?

 

[Mighty Alicorn Hunter]

That's an odd way of looking at banishing a race of people to another world, but if there's a way for predators to get food within the hold, there may be some truth to it.

 

[danmiy12]

Lookng through the lore and seeing how much hatred the ungulates have of predators and the fact the story might be skewed a bit it might be true. Also it might have some strange implications for tianhao seeing how hes half predator and for the puppies that follow pom seeing how they can live in peace with sheep.

There could be the 100% evil predators but maybe most of them might have fled for their lives so they wouldn't die seeing how they were just outnumbered and ungulates arent completely helpless I mean look at the reindeer, they can throw ice magic at you, the logmas can breathe fire at you, and so many other things...and then of course the victors are the ones who write the history maybe it was written in a way to make it seem like the ungulates are the heros and that the predators are just some savage beasts with no soul when that might not be true at all.

 

[OCisbestungulate]

What if, perhaps, the predators were capable of adapting? Perhaps as the ungulates of Foenum became more advanced, the predators would become more dangerous? And what if the bearded one foresaw the day when the arms race would finally come to its final conclusion? Thus, by sealing them away, BOTH sides of the coin could live?

 

[Feanor]

Well, if we are being this logical about it, then the Hold seems like a death sentence anyway, unless there is something very important we don't know about it. There is simply no way I can see the Predator population keeping pace with their dietary needs (unless they reproduce and grow up in a matter of days).

But here they are thousands of years later poised to return, so the only explanation I can think of is that physical sustenance is not necessary in the Hold. The Prophet would have had to have known this somehow before throwing them in there, if it was indeed for the Predators' benefit. There is no argument to this post I guess, just brainstorming out-loud.

Lauren Faust has said some things on the subject in a stream, suggesting that the Predators may have had to eat each-other and even their own young to survive, but she wisely confirmed nothing, so that doesn't preclude anything.

Oh, and about the Predator/Prey dynamic pre-banishment, I can see the Ungulates being more co-operative and organized, but at the same time they don't seem to use weapons of any sort, and the Predators' physical superiority would come into play a lot here, even if the Ungulates DID have plate armor (who knows? It would make for some nice fan-art!) Ofcourse, hooves are a strong enough weapon to kill Lions irl from a big enough animal, so they would probably have to rely more on stealth and raiding - hit and run guerilla tactics.

 

[OCisbestungulate]

Well, if we are being this logical about it, then the Hold seems like a death sentence anyway, unless there is something very important we don't know about it. There is simply no way I can see the Predator population keeping pace with their dietary needs (unless they reproduce and grow up in a matter of days).

But here they are thousands of years later poised to return, so the only explanation I can think of is that physical sustenance is not necessary in the Hold. The Prophet would have had to have known this somehow before throwing them in there, if it was indeed for the Predators' benefit. There is no argument to this post I guess, just brainstorming out-loud.

Lauren Faust has said some things on the subject in a stream, suggesting that the Predators may have had to eat each-other and even their own young to survive, but she wisely confirmed nothing, so that doesn't preclude anything.

Oh, and about the Predator/Prey dynamic pre-banishment, I can see the Ungulates being more co-operative and organized, but at the same time they don't seem to use weapons of any sort, and the Predators' physical superiority would come into play a lot here, even if the Ungulates DID have plate armor (who knows? It would make for some nice fan-art!) Ofcourse, hooves are a strong enough weapon to kill Lions irl from a big enough animal, so they would probably have to rely more on stealth and raiding - hit and run guerilla tactics.

Well, there is this image:

Though I suppose that's more ceremonial then functional.

 

[sirbacon]

Well, there is this image:

Though I suppose that's more ceremonial then functional.

True, but ceremonial armor implies the existence of functional armor; if there isn't actual armor in their society, why wear something that looks like it for special occasions?

 

[Mighty Alicorn Hunter]

True, but ceremonial armor implies the existence of functional armor; if there isn't actual armor in their society, why wear something that looks like it for special occasions?

On the other hand, we are talking about the Longma, being descended from dragons may mean that either dragons specifically or all predators had armor and assumedly weapon forging. This would give predators the edge they need over their prey, and would make sense considering their probable inclination to combat. All you gotta explain is how they forge, and you don't even have to for dragons for obvious reasons.

 

[Gamerdude854]

Honestly this is a very interesting way to look at it and it actually kind of reminds me of A Bug's Life in a way. In that movie the ants never took advantage of their high population, they vastly outnumbered the grasshoppers, yet they let themselves get pushed around. When the ants finally noticed that in numbers they are much stronger they fought back, and won.

 

[Feanor]

Honestly this is a very interesting way to look at it and it actually kind of reminds me of A Bug's Life in a way. In that movie the ants never took advantage of their high population, they vastly outnumbered the grasshoppers, yet they let themselves get pushed around. When the ants finally noticed that in numbers they are much stronger they fought back, and won.

One of my favorite movies ever!

 

[Spamotron]

Honestly this is a very interesting way to look at it and it actually kind of reminds me of A Bug's Life in a way. In that movie the ants never took advantage of their high population, they vastly outnumbered the grasshoppers, yet they let themselves get pushed around. When the ants finally noticed that in numbers they are much stronger they fought back, and won.

One of my inspirations was actually White Wolf's World of Darkness setting. The question that needs answering in any "Supernatural in the Shadows," setting is exactly why the supernatural is hiding when they by definition have amazing powers that ordinary humans don't? In World of Darkness the answer is that while a vampire or werewolf significantly outclasses an individual human humanity as a whole outnumbers them so much that if it came down to an all out war between humanity and the supernatural the supernatural would lose, and they know it.

Likewise while the average predator likely heavily outclasses the average ungulate (note I said average, not elite heroes like the game's main characters) the ungulates must outnumber the predators significantly or the ecology would make no sense.