All credit for this discovery goes to my friend Sheesh4. She originally posted this on her blog, Animal Jam Insiders.
When Animal Jam was created in 2010, it was full of mythology that was sadly forgotten as time went on. One of the most important people in Jamaa was Zios - the "Sky Father" - who created Jamaa and everything in it. Jamaa's story isn't completely original, though, and there are many cases where AJHQ found inspiration from real-world history.
One of these cases is with Zios' mask. We all see it around Jamaa, but has anyone ever wondered why it looks the way it does?
Well, it turns out, Zios was inspired by Incan mythology. The Incas were an ancient empire that lived in the Andes mountains in South America. They worshiped many gods and godesses, the most important being the creator-god, Viracocha. He was called the god of the sun, and wore a sun shaped crown.
Looks just like Zios, doesn't it? It's interesting how Jamaa's culture was inspired by real world civilizations. Unfortunately, this is also why Zios is never mentioned anymore. As time went on, AJHQ realized they wanted Animal Jam to be for all religions, and having gods and goddesses as a part of the game would only shrink their audience.
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-Pumaa-
I still think they could have their own lore and mythology without starting a controversy.
ReplyDeletetrue I agree
DeleteTotes. ^^
DeleteDitto.
DeleteThen how would you learn about other mythology and stuff?
DeleteYes I agree as well
DeleteI agree too!
Deletecool Pic!!!
DeleteAgreed.
DeleteThat is so interesting. Nice post. I didn't know that. I still wish that they would talk about Zios more. Who knew it was originated from the incas god
ReplyDeleteI agree. Although, I do understand why AJHQ didn't continue talking about the Incan mythology. Some people may find that offensive to them or to their religion.
Deleteyeah, so I am actually happy they didn't because that could have turned into a mess
DeleteI agree, however it isn't offensive to me, it's not like im gonna worship him or something. :P but the reason there where no more myths and stuff where because some parents complained to AJ about shamans being "offensive" and mira and zios as well. I don't get how they're offensive. :I
DeleteThat's super cool!
ReplyDeleteThe Inca where conquerors and I believe rather hostile though..
They were hostile, lol. xP
DeleteXD I hope aj doesnt make a war thing
DeleteYes, they actually were conquerors Avvy G, I studied them in Social Studies.
ReplyDeleteThis is rlly ironic but I just finished a study on the Incan Mythology! And yea this is tru!
ReplyDeleteDon't believe me if u don't want 2 but seriously!
ringronies
Very cool! We studied Ican mythology in 5th grade. Pretty interesting stuff!
DeleteWe studied useless facts in 5th grade. -.-
DeleteHow kl emma k! It really is ironic I definitely believe you.
ReplyDeleteOh, that's pretty flippin' cool! I never knew any of that. ;)
ReplyDeleteYa agreed ajc has a good eye for stuff!
DeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteHi, I added AJC to my blog roll at ajroar.blogspot.com. Could you add Animal Jam Roar to yours now? :)
ReplyDeleteScrew Animal Jam for removing history. I don't think it would offend anybody... This just makes the game a whole lot less exciting without a rich lore and backstory. :/
ReplyDeleteI also agree with you too though, couldn't they have found some cool history thing that wouldn't offend any jammers!
DeleteWho IS Zios anyways. I know he's a pretty important person or animnal I have no idea…
ReplyDeleteWhy did they have to do that??? Why would anyone think that a King and Queen would offend any religion? Its not like there are gods or something BTW ShadowGrifin, Zios is the king of jamaa, He and his wife, Mira,(a great blue heron), made jamaa together. We are very unsure about what species zios was though.
ReplyDelete-tigerfort
(Most likely it was an eagle)
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, also I am Tigerfort on transformice! ^-^
I just recently started playing. :D
-tigerfort
Ikr, already knew about this, but cool beans :)
ReplyDeleteWow. I never knew about this Incan Mythology. That's cool! AJ made most of it's game using other myths and famous stuff. Like the Tiki set, for example.
ReplyDeleteI never new Incan were real! New discovery!
ReplyDeleteThats Interesting, NICE discovery pumaa!
ReplyDeleteily Zios <3 without Mira and Zios we wouldn't have jamaa! we wouldn't of have new friends, new adventures ANYTHING! *claps for Mira and Zios* Hmm... have u heard about the Mira inspiration?
ReplyDeleteWow I never knew that! Nice find Puma!
ReplyDeleteI LOVE THE INCAS
ReplyDelete-cowcowcowcowcow
How did u find this out?
ReplyDeleteIts amazing!!!
DeleteSheesh4 discovered it. :)
DeleteHuh- I always knew about the Incan religion but never connected it! Thanks Pumaa! :D
ReplyDelete-awesomepanda868
Wow, really cool! I <3 all these cool secret stuff!!!
ReplyDeleteThis is really neat. Though, I can understand why it would be controversial for them adding it in the game. It would probably be pretty demeaning to have a portrayal of your religion in a kid's game... I do think that there probably is a way they can have a backstory that's inspired by mythology while being respectful, though.
ReplyDeleteo3o... looks identical to Zios!
ReplyDeleteWow! My dad is from Peru, where I believe most Incans resided, so I think this is really cool.
ReplyDeleteI WAS RIGHT ALL THIS TIME ZIOS AND MIRA ARE NOT GODS!
ReplyDeleteI found that out as well, one time I was doing a group project of ancient civilizations, and my group did Inca, and while I was drawing viracocha, I realized how much he looked like zios, then I found out zips was inspired by him 🤯
ReplyDelete