Stickmen by all means are visually fairly close in external anatomy to an average human, with an upright posture and four supple limbs. They are organic, breathe oxygen and drink water, and are omnivorous.
However, stickmen internally are anything but hominids. They are instead ursids, being descended from a temperate relative to bears. These differences show mainly in their skeletal anatomy, especially their skulls, which have little resemblance to the skull of a primate. The head of a stickfigure is mostly filled out by muscle and nasal airways; the result of these features combined creates a round, sphere-like head with a slightly prominent snout.
A drawing of a stickfigure's skull, with labels describing anatomy.
Stickfigures have incredibly dense muscles, which leads to the average weight of the species being much higher than their slim physiques would imply. This dense musculature allows them to battle with little damage to their bodies, leading to the cultural sport of dueling being one of their biggest contributors to modern stickfigure society. In the case of malnourishment and dehydration, a stickfigure's muscles will show through under their skin, as opposed to being covered by a layer of healthy fat and thick skin.
An image showing an average physique vs. an extreme of malnourishment.
During winter, stickmen will gain large amounts of weight and become lethargic. This is referred to as "pseudo-hibernation". These changes are based on both temperature and natural light level, leading to sticks living in tropical areas not gaining as much weight.
Notably, Cierian stickmen have lifespans nearly twice as long as that of a human, with the healthiest individuals living up to 155 years before dying. This is theorized to occur due to the large amounts of healing mana present in Cier, as well as the highly advanced scientific and magical medicine culture.
