The Chinese Zodiac and Its Influence On Zodium

Zodium Community
Zodium Community
Published in
4 min readDec 14, 2021

History of Chinese Zodiac

The Chinese zodiac, known as Sheng Xiao, features 12 animal signs — rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and pig. It originated from ancient zoolatry and has a history of more than 2,000 years, thus playing a crucial part in Chinese culture. Apart from representing years in China, these zodiac signs are also believed to influence a person’s fortune, career, personality, compatibility and marriage.

The Chinese zodiac symbolises the blessings of the year a person was born. In the zodiac calendar each animal or sign has its unique personality and attribute. Every zodiac year comes after 12 years with each associated with a certain zodiac animal.

The ancient Chinese believed that all things in the world, including the zodiac animals belong to five categories; metal (monkey, rooster), wood (tiger, rabbit), water (rat, pig), fire (snake, horse), and earth (ox, dragon, sheep, dog). The compatibility of the 12 animals is also controlled by these elements, which are in a balanced generating cycle. Thus, some zodiac animals with agreeable elements can perfectly support and promote each other when they are together, while some would stay in peace and tacit agreement. Moreover, some are a danger to others or act as a hindrance to each other when they meet.

The Zodium Story

Zodium has a planet called Trunico that contains Zero, a body for souls. On this planet, when an awakening soul meets Zero, it gains its life and awakes. Zero can fuse with any soul and become a creature. Thus, 12 souls fused with Zeroto become the 12 zodiac animals, popularly known as 12 KINDs in Zodium.

These 12 KINDs compete on Trunico for certain resources, with the option of co-working and exchanging to balance the planet.

In the Zodium universe, there exists a spiritual power called Charis, which is both a blessing and a strength. Charis is the source of every 12 KINDs power, and consists of five unique elements; fire, water, metal, wood and earth. The compound and the balance of the five elements are the sources of Charis that give unique ability.

Influence of the Chinese Zodiac On Zodium

Zodium has derived a lot of inspiration from the Chinese zodiac. Its animated NFT characters are from the 12 Chinese zodiac characters, each with its unique abilities. A player is required to provide their date of birth so they can discover their zodiac and see their inherent blessings when they first want to play.

The attached qualities are similar to those from the Chinese zodiac, and players can use this knowledge during the game to make decisions on the cards to mint and upgrade.

The game also has a universe with a spiritual power and unique elements, similar to those in ancient Chinese beliefs. These are metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. The 12 KINDs compete individually or in guilds to control some of these resources.

According to Zodium, the animals can work together to gain what they require, although they are in competition. Therefore, similar to the 12 zodiac animals with varying attributes, certain animals can collaborate to achieve better results, while others can avoid collaboration. For instance, collaboration between rat and ox, rabbit and sheep or snake and rooster would bear the best results. However, it would be inadvisable to match a tiger and a pig or a snake and a monkey.

The Benefits of the Chinese Zodiac Knowledge

Players with adequate knowledge of the Chinese zodiac have a better chance of reaching the Soul Zodiac level as well as possessing the authority on Trunico. The 12 KINDs compete for Aqua on Trunico, which gives life to the planet and its inhabitants, making it the most crucial resource.

Knowledge of the compatibility and relationships among the 12 animals will help players make decisions on when to work with others to gain these resources, as well as animals that should be avoided.

Closing Thoughts

Zodium has integrated ancient Chinese beliefs and practices into an engaging and fun game where gamers from different backgrounds can connect for entertainment and education purposes. The Chinese zodiac has played a huge role in the game play dynamics by introducing 12 different and diverse animals that characters can be associated with.

The originality of this idea is tied back to the signs, and other beliefs. Players need to simply input their date of birth to be matched with an animal and start enjoying the game. However, it would be an added advantage if a player had some information about the Chinese zodiac signs to get started, as it can be used to get ahead in the game and influence their decision making

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