Growth Stages

Legacy Lore

This page contains many lore elements that are not considered part of the new, official lore. It's very unlikely that it will still be considered canon for new lore, but will maintain relevance in old lore.

In the Dataverse, certain characters have growth stages that they go through during their lifetimes, similarly to how in real life organisms such as humans go from babies to adults.

These stages of development can apply to almost any class variant and, presumably, almost any Data-species (i.e. there can be Viruses that are Younglings, Juveniles, etc., Malware that are Younglings, Juveniles, etc., and other examples).

List of Growth Stages[]

Youngling[]

Younglings are freshly produced Data-entities. They are much smaller than fully grown Data-entities.

Younglings have the ability to understand basic speech and know how to use tools and move around.

Younglings usually cannot be Anthro-class. If they attempt to become an Anthro, they will die (same rule applies to Juveniles). An exception to this is Fenrir, because of his crown and mace, and Hollowboard, since she is a Motherboard.

Juvenile[]

After the Youngling stage the next stage of growth for a character is the Juvenile stage.

Developed[]

After the Juvenile stage comes the Developed stage, which is the fully developed adult stage of growth for a character.

Elder[]

After the Developed stage comes the Elder stage. Data-entities who are in the Elder stage will move onto the Abandonware stage if they are not updated frequently enough.

More Facts[]

Youngling Corruptions who are trained from the beginning tend to be much more experienced and battle-hardened than freshly-corrupted Programs.
There cannot be Hardware Younglings, presumably due to the fact that Hardware are not made of data and other reasons.
Program Younglings originally had a simpler design. On May 28, 2021, however, they were officially given their current design, which features a semi-transparent base.
Virus Younglings originally had a simpler design. On May 10, 2021, however, their design was updated to be less smooth in texture (more crystal-esque) and feature a semi-transparent base. The design was also updated to include elongated hands made to be more adept at attacking soft-bodied targets (i.e. Programs). At the same time, Viruses were given an extra growth stage, whereas they start out encased in a crystal that they eventually break out of (similarly to a creature hatching from an egg). According to DuncanDunclub, while developing inside the crystal, Virus Younglings are invisible, but once ready to "hatch", their eye becomes visible within the crystal.