Mudokon

The Mudokons are a highly spiritual race that are native to the continent of Mudos. They were once considered the supreme race on Oddworld, before being enslaved by the Glukkons. The majority of the Mudokon population are now born into captivity, and are forced to work in Glukkon factories. However, recently, thanks to the effort of Abe, they are now starting to revolt against the Glukkons.

Mudokons are the main protagonist race in Abe's Oddysee (and its remake), Abe's Exoddus (and its reimagining), and Munch's Oddysee (alongside the Fuzzles and Gabbits).

Anatomy and Physiology
Mudokons are greenish-blue avian humanoids with turtle-like facial features. Having evolved from birds, Mudokons have hollow yet strong bones and well-toned muscles, and are quite agile compared to the other creatures of Mudos, able to jump further than a Paramite and outrun a Scrab. Unlike earthly avians, however, Mudokons have pointed, elf-like ears and lack beaks, instead possessing human-like teeth and lips. Despite this, however, Mudokons do apparently have gizzards. Mudokons also possess feathers, but these feathers are usually present in small clusters on the head and (occasionally) forearms, with the rest of their skin being mostly bare. As seen with the Mulletokon tribe, Mudokons can also grow short, downy feathers on their faces in a manner similar to facial hair. The hands of Mudokons are large and tetradactyl (four-fingered) in structure, with an enlarged thumb, two main fingers of equal length, and a very small, seemingly vestigial outer finger that lacks a nail or claw. Their large hands are one of their primary means of self-defense when unarmed, and allow them to perform powerful slaps. Their feet, as is the case for many ground birds, have three functional toes, though they walk in a plantigrade gait, and the outermost third toe is much smaller than the first and second toes. Uniquely, Mudokons have the ability to alter their skin-tone to reflect their current mood; angered Mudokons turn a reddish hue, overjoyed Mudokons turn yellow/green, and depressed Mudokons turn blue. Mudokons are oviparous and come from eggs produced by the Mudokon queen, Sam. Mudokons are also known to live a lifespan of roughly 40 years. In addition, they are the only species in Oddworld to bear a close resemblance to humans. According to Alf, most Mudokons (with the exception of queens and male drones) are infertile and are most likely incapable of reproducing.

Spiritual Power
Mudokons are very spiritually active, although it's unknown whether this is part of their biology, or whether it was developed through their religion. Mudokons can gain spiritual energy from a variety of sources, such as through spooce shrubs, to gain spooce. Mudokons can bring out their spiritual power through chanting. This displays itself through possession/chi orbs, which allow Mudokons to possess other beings, to power spooce locks and upgrade shrines or to activate bells. They can lend their powers to each other in various ways. Even the average Mudokon unaware of his cultural history can lend another Mudokon his innate spiritual powers, but bird portals can allow Mudokons to send healing energy or even a Shrykull Ring as thanks for the teleportation. With enough practise, Mudokon monks can lend another Mudokon the ancient psychic techniques of the Spirit Ring and the Healing Ring. Even dead mudokons can lend alive ones Invisibility Rings.

History
For centuries, the Mudokons were the supreme race of Oddworld. The Mudokons were known for their prowess above all of the other races and species on Mudos. Centuries prior to becoming an enslaved race, the Mudokons excelled in religion, art, philosophy, politics, architecture, and military. Thousands of years ago, the Glukkons were said to have been close allies of the Mudokons. After a long period of peace, a moon appeared in the skies of Oddworld which the Mudokons proclaimed to be the Mudokon Moon.

The Schism
Shortly after the appearance of the Mudokon Moon, the Mudokons established an omen that declared their species as the Chosen Race. Outraged by this, the Glukkons broke off their relations with the Mudokons and retreated underground. This event marked the beginning of a period known as the Age of Alchemy, in which the Glukkons tried to disprove the Mudokon belief of being the supreme species. During the Age of Alchemy, the Glukkons formed their own isolated society in which they spent their lives indoors and refused to see the sky or the accursed Mudokon Moon that had disgraced them. As time passed, they gradually abandoned their spiritual ways, until they became one of Oddworld's most prominent industrial races.

The Decline of Mudokon Society
As Glukkon society continued to flourish, the Mudokons started to work with the Glukkons in creating the forerunners of the products manufactured today. Over time, the Mudokons were belittled or oppressed by their Glukkon collaborators and became a species enslaved by their former allies. During their enslavement, a majority of the Mudokon species forgot their long-treasured heritage. The structures that remained from the once proud Mudokon race are either abandoned, being reclaimed by nature, or desperately being maintained by the few Mudokons who still practice their ancient traditions.

The Rise of the Messiah
Within the confines of the Glukkon food processing plant RuptureFarms, a single young Mudokon had a revelation after years of unquestioned loyalty to the Glukkons. The young Mudokon was known as Abe. Abe was waxing the floors of a corridor and stumbled upon leaked information from the RuptureFarms' CEO, Molluck, and fellow officials in the conference room. The Glukkons claimed that they were in danger of bankruptcy, due to the decline in RuptureFarms product sales caused by a decrease in healthy livestock. As a desperate last resort, Molluck unveiled a new product called Mudokon Pops, a new meat product made of Mudokon meat. Shocked by this discovery, Abe made it his goal to escape RuptureFarms. Upon escaping RuptureFarms, Abe met a native Mudokon shaman known as Big Face at the Monsaic Lines. Big Face stated that Abe was the Messiah who had returned to restore the Mudokon way of life outside of slavery and save the rest of the Mudokons from RuptureFarms. He then told Abe that he had to pass a Mudokon test of fate, which required him to travel through the Scrab homeland of Scrabania and the Paramite homeland of Paramonia. After passing these tests, Big Face was convinced that Abe was the Messiah and branded his hands with the marks of both creatures; giving him the ability to transform into Shrykull, one of the Mudokon demi-gods.

Reconstruction of Mudokon Society
After the destruction of SoulStorm Brewery, the Mudokons started to gradually rediscover their once lost heritage. Though their society and culture hasn't achieved the grand scale that it was once recognized for, the growing race managed to successfully establish most of their lost religion as well as the associated traditions. With the help of the native population of Mudokons led by Big Face, the Mudokons began to train spiritual successors of the once fearsome Mudokon warriors including Mudarchers and Tomahawkers. Once their race gained a stable foothold as a new-found civilization, Abe and a group of his many followers established the Mudokon Resistance.

Variants & classes
Mudokons can have five different conditions exclusive to Oddworld: Abe's Exoddus, adding a challenging obstacle when Abe tries to rescue them.

Angry
An angry Mudokon can be identified by the red hue on their skin. If Abe smacks an angry Mudokon, it will immediately strike back. They will smack other nearby Mudokons and operate traps, hampering the player's progress. Angry Mudokons won't follow Abe until Abe tells one that he's "sorry", in that it will no longer be angry and follow Abe's orders. Normal Mudokons can get angry if Abe unjustly hits them.

Wired
A wired Mudokon can be identified by their slap-happy, erratic behavior and yellow-hued skin. These are Mudokons that have been exposed to laughing gas. While wired, these Mudokons will follow Abe no matter what. However, they will hyper-actively run around and be hard to manage, making sneaking by enemies impossible. They can be calmed by hitting them once, after that, they will no longer be wired; unless they're exposed to laughing gas again.

Depressed
A depressed Mudokon can be identified by their sharp-blue hued skin. Mudokons can either be discovered this way or will become depressed upon seeing another Mudokon getting killed, including Abe. They will not follow Abe's orders, so Abe must tell a depressed Mudokon he's "sorry" to snap them out of their depression. However, striking a Mudokon in this state will turn it suicidal, and it will constantly hit itself until it dies unless Abe uses the "sorry" command to stop it in time.

Sick
A sick Mudokon is the least common type of the five. There are only two known factors that can cause Mudokon sickness; drinking the highly addictive Soulstorm Brew, or being left in a Tear Extractor. Their sickness negates the ability for them to do anything at all, and they must be cured by Abe using a healing ring given to him by a shaman. This first occurs on the five Mudokons that followed Abe to Necrum at the beginning of Abe's Exoddus and doesn't occur again until Abe reaches Soulstorm Brewery. They can be slapped but all it will do is make them do a "Sad" groan and kneel back down. Trying to talk to them will just make them groan and grip their heads.

Blind
A blind Mudokon can be identified by their greyish skin. Because of their blindness, they can't simply follow Abe the way Mudokons normally can and have to rely solely on well-timed voice commands that Abe gives out. Poorly-timed voice commands could have a blind Mudokon wandering into hazards. Despite their blindness, they will run straight into activated bird portals (though can comically run into a wall before doing so). Like normal Mudokons, they can become angry, depressed, sick, OR wired.

Warrior Classes
There are two new native warrior Mudokon types exclusive to Munch's Oddysee that are capable of combat. Because their homes are where Abe finds them, they do not need to be rescued with bird portals. These Mudokons types can either be found how they are or can be transformed or upgraded with Spooce.

Tomahawker
A Tomahawker is a melee-fighter capable of doing a good deal of damage to enemies with its club weapon. They will fight enemies when Abe commands it, or if they encounter threats on their own. Normal native Mudokons can be upgraded into Tomahawkers, which can be further upgraded to Mudarchers, provided there's enough Spooce to do this.

Mudarcher
A Mudarcher is an elite Mudokon capable of ranged combat - doing damage that's very effective against armored enemies. They will fire at enemies when Abe commands it, or if they encounter threats on their own. Mudarchers can be upgraded from Tomahawkers, provided there's enough Spooce to do this.

Monks
In New 'n' Tasty, many natives wear masks. These are the natives that you have to whistle to get past.

Monsaic
These Mudokons appear in the Monsaic Lines and Rupture Farms. The Monsaic Lines monks are guards that will attack you with a lethal slingshot if you approach them. They will only calm down if Abe replicates their passcode correctly. In Rupture Farms, they will stand in the background and chant if Abe approaches to give him a red Spirit Ring. Their mask is wooden and the surface is bark, with spirals carved in where the eyes would be. This mask appears to blind the Mudokon, although that might be the point, as a part of the spiritual training.

Paramonian
These monks live in the Paramonian forest and Temple. The ones that live in the forest block Abe's way, until he whistles a code to them. The ones that live in the temple will give out Spirit Rings after the whistle code. They wear heartwood masks with six eye holes with a black Paramite glyph drawn on.

Scrabanian
These monks live in the Scrabanian desert. They can either pull levers or summon spirit rings after a whistle combination. Their mask appears to be taut leather, with red paint drawing of the Scrab glyph and many black dots on.

Scrubs
Scrubs are the enslaved Mudokons that are still held at the Glukkon Businesses and establishments. These Mudokon prisoners sport a prisoner outfit and have tedious tasks no one would want to do. These Mudokons can be saved by Abe to earn good Quarma; to save them from their horrendous jobs.

Shaman
The Shaman is a servant to the Almighty Raisin in Munch's Oddysee. This Mudokon can be found guiding Abe or Munch on their journey by saying tips and such to help them on their adventure. He teleports to the protagonists via Shaman Circles. In Soulstorm, the Shaman plays a similar role and can communicate with Abe from beyond the grave.

Keepers
keepers appear to be some sort of monk subclass introduced in Oddworld: Soulstorm. They inhabit massive underground vaults, where they keep records of oddworld's past hidden from industrial forces. They seem to refer to themselves as a single entity and all remain in a constant state of suspended animation similar to Sokushinbutsu mummies. They mummify themselves within massive honeycomb-shaped structures, and are constantly suspended in honey. They seem to have a reverence for bees, which maybe sacred to them. In Soulstorm, an individual keeper guards the legendary Eye of Fraggon and helps lead Abe to its location.

Religion
Mudokon religion revolves around nature and the spirits all around them. The native landscape is very sacred to the Mudokons and some will put down their lives for it. Along with nature worship, some tribes are known to worship certain wildlife. For example, the Mudomo worship the Paramites and the Mudanchee worship Scrabs. However, Mudokons are also known to worship individual figures such as the Almighty Raisin seeing him as being the embodiment of wisdom and Shrykull seeing him as the embodiment of strength.

Notable Mudokons
Mudokon society depicts a naming system uncommon to others. Mudokons, being a race with little contact with a motherly figure, name each other when the time calls for it, sometimes based off of descriptive features they possess (such as Big Face and the Three Weirdos) or possibly after sounds or grunts (although this is uncertain), such as Abe and Alf.

Notable Mudokons include:
 * Abe
 * Alf
 * Toby
 * Big Face
 * Sam
 * The Three Weirdos
 * Newscaster Mudokon
 * Shaman
 * Masked Shaman
 * The Keeper

Locations Sacred to Mudokon Culture

 * Mudos
 * Mudomo Vaults
 * Mudanchee Vaults
 * Paramonia
 * Scrabania
 * Necrum
 * Monsaic Lines

Trivia

 * The original design for Mudokons depicted them having four fingers. Due to a cultural difference in Japan involving the Burakumin, who find four-fingered characters highly offensive, Mudokons were depicted with three fingers in both Abe's Exoddus and Munch's Oddysee. It wasn't until the HD remaster of Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee that the fourth finger saw a return. Since then, the four-fingered Mudokon has returned as the standard Mudokon design in both Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty and all promotional materials worldwide.
 * The three-fingered design of the Mudokons' hands bears some resemblance to the Vulcan salute from Star Trek.
 * On the Steam Trading Card artwork "New Kind of Meat" the fingers are marked as "Finger cutlets, market carefully in eastern regions" as a possible reference to the Japanese finger controversy.
 * The name "Mudokon" is based off the continent they are native to: Mudos.

Appearances

 * Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee (First appearance)
 * Oddworld: Abe's Exoddus
 * Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee
 * The Art of Oddworld Inhabitants: The First Ten Years 1994 - 2004
 * Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee HD
 * Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty
 * Oddworld: Soulstorm