This page will explain the types of cells found in the skin, what effects they produce and what genes control them, as well as how phonies can use the colors they inherit from their parents.

A phony’s genetic info is composed of its genes and its colors, and each phony has a “color bank” including three colours on top of its base color. As an reminder, the genotype is the genetic information and the phenotype is how it appears to the eye. Here's a blank example:

Genotype: Base color geno, genes

Phenotype: Base color name with marking

Color 1: Color geno / Color pheno

Color 2: Color geno / Color pheno

Color 3: Color geno / Color pheno

There are 144 different genetic color combinations and 33 named colors. This means that some gene combinations will make the same colors.

All the colors that a phony carries can be used to color markings on the phony. The only color which has a predetermined place is the base color, which has to color the body. Aside from that, all four colors can be used in any quantity and in any place. Some color genes go unused on a phony's markings and some colors will be used on several different markings.

[insert image of various usages of the same colors]

The colors you see on a phony are created from several layers of pigmented cells stacked on top of each other. Phony skin is clear by itself, but with all of these pigment cells inside of it, many color combinations can be achieved. Each type of cell is controlled by a different gene that modifies it.

Now, for the specific cells and their genes:

The first layer of color cells are called Xanthophores. They're broad and opaque. They come in two variations: a bright, normal yellow, and a mutated pearly color which is called Nacreous. The cell is affected by a single dominant gene: CC.

  • CC: Yellow
  • Cc: Yellow
  • cc: Nacreous

The next layer of cells are called Erythrophores. The zone is made of two layers, each are controlled by an incompletely dominant gene: ER.

  • ER: Double red
  • Er: Single red
  • er: No red

The third layer of color cells are called Melanophores which provide dark pigment. While earthly melanin is typically brown, black or red, Confibulan cells are dark blue and purple. The layer is thin and so are the cells, so even at its fullest intensity the cells only create a sheer dark effect instead of black, though there are mutations that can add more layers of Melanophores. Melanophores come in two variations, and both can be present at once. The layer is controlled by a gene with multiple alleles, some of which are dominant: Mb, Mp and m.

  • MbMb or Mbm: Full navy
  • MbMp: Mixed
  • MpMp or Mpm: Purple
  • mm: None

The fourth layer of color cells aren't cells at all but crystalline rods embedded in the skin. However, they're referred to as Iridophores as if they were cells. Light reflects off of them in different wavelengths which results in different colors. Three types of rods are known, those being royal blue rods, green rods and blank rods. Royal blue reflects blue light the best, while green rods reflect green best. Blank rods are dull crystals which don't reflect or absorb much at all. Some genes cause a mix of different rods in the skin. The layer is controlled by multiple alleles which are incompletely dominant to one another: Ir, Ig and i.

  • IrIr: Fully royal blue
  • IrIg: Cyan
  • IgIg: Fully green
  • Iri: Dull royal blue
  • Igi: Dull green
  • ii: Blank

The final layer of colored cells are called Photophores which are active cells that glow on command. The genes controlling are incompletely dominant to each other. Originally, these cells were controlled by their own set of genes, but this became too complicated to run the game smoothly, so what color your phony glows is entirely up to your interpretation.

How these cells work is that the pH of the surrounding skin changes the shape of the chemicals inside each reflector cell, which thus changes the wavelength of light produced.