toonides

The toonides are a fictional clade of animated, cartoon-like beings described in speculative fiction, game lore, and art theory. They are depicted as living entities whose form emerges from drawn lines and color, existing in spaces where animation and reality intersect.

Etymology and concept: The name combines toon, from cartoon, with the -ide suffix used in taxonomy. In different works toonides are treated as either biologically animate creatures shaped by visual styles, or as metafictional agents embodying the rules of visual storytelling.

Morphology: Toonides show wide variation. Some resemble anthropomorphic cartoons with exaggerated features; others have amorphous, ink-washed bodies that solidify under light. Their bodies respond to line weight, shading, and frame boundaries, and they may shift between pencil, ink, watercolor, or cel-shaded appearances. Their sensory and motor systems are often tied to visual cues rather than purely physiological ones.

Ecology and behavior: They inhabit frame-based habitats such as story-scapes or canvas realms. Reproduction or renewal occurs through narrative seeds or new frames. Toonides respond to viewer attention and storytelling cues, and can alter their appearance to suit genre conventions or audience expectations. In some interpretations, they migrate between media formats, carrying stylistic traits across platforms.

Cultural usage: In design theory and media studies, toonides are used as a metaphor for the relationship between drawing, animation, and living systems. They appear in worldbuilding texts and fictional encyclopedias, and are sometimes subdivided into stylistic subtypes like scribble-born, inked, and cel-tooned forms.

See also: Cartoon character, Animation, Speculative biology, Metafiction.