Ask Dawn and Vern; Nobull Prize

 

Dawn: Oh, of course, there is a Nobull prize. I think it's been awarded since as far back as the turn of the century if I'm not mistaken, to mammals deemed to have conferred the greatest benefit to all mammalkind. Since then it's been awarded almost yearly to mammals working in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology, Medicine, Literature and Peace.

Vernon: Wow, y'all know a surprisin' amount the Nobull prize Honey Lamb.

Dawn: Well, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't skimming the Wikipawdia on my phone to help fill in the gaps. *Giggle*

Vernon: *Chuckles* Aren't you sneaky.

Dawn: It also says here that Alexander was the creator of dynamite and that he might have created the prize out of fear he'd be remembered as a 'merchant of death' because of it.

Vernon: *Chuckles* So it was a PR campaign then.

Dawn: Or Atonement. *Laughs* Still, one cannot deny the importance of the Nobull prize, and the good it's done for Animalia regarding the recognition of some truly great mammals. Albert Einswine, Marie Curine, Neils Boar, Ernest Lemmingway, those are just some of the ones I remember.

Vernon: Suuure you ain't still skimming the Wikipawdia?

Dawn: *Laughs* No I swear! I remember them from school!

Vernon: Alright, I believe ya Darlin'....but tell me, Y'all said they got a category for Peace? How's that work?

Dawn: Well...according to the Wikipawdia entry it is awarded to those who have quote 'done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congress.

Vernon: Right...I'll er...be honest Darlin', I don't really understand some of what ya'll just said. 

Dawn: Basically those who advocated for peace, civil rights, helped to prevent wars or deescalate conflicts.

Vernon: Oh...y'know, goin' by those standards...wouldn't someone like y'all qualify fer one of them under civil rights? I mean...that's sorta what our book is all about, and I mean...it's made a purty big cultural impact.

Dawn: *Chuckles* Puppy you flatter me, really. But a mammal like me wouldn't deserve to have such a prestigious honor bestowed upon them. Honestly, I think I've done more harm to the world than good, and even so, my recent accomplishments couldn't possibly compare to a mammal like the Dahli Llama or Martin Luthor King...I...I just wrote a book.

Vernon: I think y'all are sellin' yerself short Honey Lamb. Y'all might never compare to mammals like them, but I think y'all have put way more good into the world than y'all even realize.

Dawn: You are too sweet Puppy. But even if I was nominated, I couldn't accept it. It just wouldn't be right...

Vernon: Like heck ya'll wouldn't. I wouldn't stand fer it. If ya'll ever get nominated, y'all deserve it. And I'll accept it on yer behalf iffin' I gotta. And I'll hang it right over yer work desk, so that you'll see it every day until y'all finally accept you deserve it.

Dawn: *Giggles* Aww Puppy...

Ask Wasty; Sanctioned Heroes

 

WT: In the Bellhunterverse, powerds have always been a thing, which makes Animalian history even more of a violent and bloody mess than we're used to. With powered making up at least 20 percent of the population on average, that could mean a lot of mammals out there slinging god-like powers with no oversight or regulations to protect those without said powers, or the cities they live in. Naturally, something like that couldn't be allowed to go on without nations and cities like Zootopia enacting elaborate systems not only to train heroes but to register and keep track of powereds for the good of public safety. Largely these systems are overseen by other, veteran powereds, working in part with normal mammals in the government and positions of power.

Those heroes who are 'sanctioned', and there are varying degrees of sanctions, are those powereds who are legally allowed to operate as heroes and are required to be registered with the government, as well as the ZPD in the case of Nick and Judy. The government do know their identities, although with special legal limitations upheld by various companies, and various hero rights organizations to protect their personal privacy. Basically, there are several layers of legal murkiness in place to allow just enough about their identities to be known by the right people for legal and security purposes. If they go overboard with collateral damage or go, rogue, having baseline knowledge of their true identities will make it easier for them to stopped and or held accountable.

So to wrap this up with a summary. The public have no knowledge of Nick, Judy, Finnick, or Bogo's identity. And those that do know it have an extremely bare-bones version of it tailor-made for said heroes own protection.

As for the corrupt elements in each organization that would seek to hold our heroes under their thumb, they are somewhat caught in a catch twenty-two that would risk them playing their hands and revealing themselves should they try to abuse that privileged information. But some of said corrupt individuals may...have other plans in mind. 

Ask Wasty: No World War Two!?

 WT: The serious answer, is that I really...didn't feel comfortable getting into such a dark, miserable chapter of human history and Zoopiafying it. I just...it didn't feel appropriate at all. I don't think I could do I could do a good job handling such a thing with all the gravity and seriousness it deserves.

The functional answer is...Hitler and the Nazis and world war two don't quite translate smoothly to a hyperdiverse world of sentient animals very well. Unless I went with a pred/prey supremacy angle. But the world of Zootopia as it stands shows two distinct traits in its makeup (At least in the film) Despite predators being looked down on, they seem to hold important positions of power. (Like Lionheart) And that prey outnumber preds ten to one. If any pred species tried to pull Hitler it would never get off the ground as preds are vastly outnumbered. And when it comes to prey, that ratio of ten is massively diverse. And if any prey species tried that, there's a good chance that the preds in power would ultimately stamp it out just as quickly. Also there are so many wildly different species of prey that it seems unlikely such a movement could unify without some serious hiccups, especially if it starts breaking down to something specific like deer or sheep supremacy. There wouldn't be enough of each individual species of prey to have a good chance of outweighing the others.

That's why the closest, and the most appropriate sort of...analogy for World War two that I could come up with for my Zootopia was the Great Rodent Exodous which had multiple nations and their leaders rallying against rodent kind and the diseases and overpopulation they foisted on the rest of Roarope. It really seemed like the most sensible stand-in, and allows a lot of room to play with the space, as I could conceive it would be really easy to rally preds and prey alike against rodents, especially after frequent outbreaks of plagues that always seemed to ravage rodent communities before making the jump to the larger mammals. 

That said, a sole Hitler wouldn't really work in that scenario, one driving force to push the rodents out whose sentiments were only really shared by his species. I imagine there would be a larger degree of species that would make the connection between 'rodent populations' and frequent plague outbreaks, and would agree to varying degrees that they needed to be ousted for...honestly a fairly reasonable reason. It's hard to argue against evidence like that, and see it as necessary for the survival of everyone else. It's less a supremacy thing, and more a survival thing.

As for a Pawcific war, I suppose it still could of occurred...but to be honest it I don't really know much about Japan's history, and how things got to that point. To be honest...history, in general, isn't my best subject. I know about as much as your average American, maybe a little more. So I'd have to research it before taking a stab at Zootifying it. That said, with Grussia and China still being communist agressors, It stands to reason North and South Korea would still be spilt for similar reasons, that is if I know what I'm talking about. Again, American History Student. All we know is the revolutionary War, the civil war, and Nazis.

-Wasty