Pterawho?

Obviously it is impossible to cover all of the aspects of such an amazing neopet in such a short article, but I'll outline a few different areas and maybe this will prompt you to do some Pteri research of your own!

The Pteri

I'm sure you all know the basic facts about Pteris, but let's go over it quickly. The Pteri is a bird like neopet that originated from Tyrannia, they have been spotted in a wide range of different colours and Pteri Day is on the 8th day of Storing, just a week before the most important day of the year!

Have you noticed that one of the most annoying things someone can do is to pronounce your name wrong? And no matter how many times you tell them how they should say it, they still end up getting it wrong. Well, imagine being a Pteri. They spend most of their life being called a 'Puhterri' by most Neopians. So let's try this once more; say it after me: ter-ree. Ter-ree, ter-ree, ter-ree. The P is silent, try not to forget that. And believe me, you don't realise just how grateful a Pteri will be if they hear you pronouncing it correctly; you may even gain yourself a new friend! Don't worry if it takes you a while to get it right as even TNT has the occasional pronunciation issue. *cough* Acaras *cough*

Although they were originally from Tyrannia, you can now spot many Pteris (ter-rees) all around Neopia and they come in many different shapes and sizes.

Pteris get on well with most other Neopians; however, there have been rumours of disagreements between many Pteris and Grarrls, which suspiciously started happening around the time of the release of Pterattack. But I'm sure it has nothing to do with it; Pteris are nice, well mannered creatures. They wouldn't hold a grudge just because there happens to be one annoying Grarrl that occasionally tries to eat them when they're playing their favourite game. Would they?

Famous Pteris

Have you ever been interested in seeing what famous Pteris are listed in the Neopedia? Well, I was, and guess how many I found? Did you guess 0? That's right; there isn't a single Pteri deemed famous enough to be granted a page in the Neopedia. And you have to admit if you were a Pteri you would probably find it pretty insulting to know that, and yet browse through and realise a potato was considered more worthy of a place in the famous Neopedia than any of your childhood Pteri icons.

That's not to say that there aren't any famous Pteris about, just that they aren't talked about as much. The Black Pteri is possibly the most famous of all Pteris due to his skill in the Battledome and ability to give out an avatar. However, he tends to avoid the company of most Pteris, spending his time instead stalking unsuspecting Neopians and challenging them to a duel in the Battledome. And of course, avoiding any Neopians that happen to be looking for him to challenge them; he has a fun sense of humour like that.

So what exactly do we know about him? Very little. I mean we call him a he, but is there actually any evidence to suggest the Black Pteri is male? And as there is no such thing as a black Pteri, is it to be assumed that the Black Pteri is actually a shadow Pteri? Personally if I was this Pteri, I may be a little hurt that people only wanted me for an avatar and gave me a nickname that wasn't even correct. It really is pretty insulting.

So maybe a Pteri that no one actually knows anything about can't really be considered famous. But if that is the case, then it would appear that there are, in fact, no famous Pteris in the whole of Neopia, and something really needs to be done about that.

However, there was one little Pteri who made such a difference to Tyrannia that while he didn't get his own article in the Neopedia, he is part of a story in there. Gif'n was the Pteri who brought the idea of Mini Golf to Tyrannia, and while there were many Symols out there who weren't a huge fan of the game due to their holes being used as part of the game, the other occupants of Tyrannia loved the idea. And while Mini Golf is still a regularly game played in Tyrannia, Gif'n himself left Tyrannia with his riches, supposedly looking for more games to bring back to Tyrannia; however, he hasn't returned for a while and the game scene in Tyrannia is starting to get a bit dull again. There's no knowing if he will ever return to Tyrannia again, but there are still many that hold out hopes for his return with an idea for a new game that could hopefully increase the tourist attraction of the place, because right now it's not exactly the place to be, with most neopets preferring to spend their spare time in the clouds of Faerieland, rather than being surrounded by dung.

There is one Pteri that could be considered famous and that of course is the Golden Pteri. However, due to his insistence on only giving out neopoints in random events to Pteris and no other species in Neopia, it seems that most neopets don't take too kindly to him and this is possibly the reason for his exclusion from the Neopedia.

Though while we're on the subject, how do we know there aren't more articles about Pteris in the Neopedia, such as the one about Gif'n, that just don't appear when you search for Pteri? Because surely that should be filed under the Pteri species and yet it isn't. Now I don't want to start pointing fingers or anything, but I am fairly certain that there are several Grarrls working in the filing section of the Neopedia (along with a very confused Acara), and they could quite easily have uh... forgotten to include a few articles that just happen to be about Pteris.

There is of course another Pteri which is possibly a little too famous, and possibly the reason many Neopians tend to avoid Pteris. And that is the Down For Maintenance Pteri. He really doesn't give Pteris a good name, but is it fair that all Pteris are judged because of him, when in fact most Pteris dislike him just as much as regular Neopians do?

It seems that when it comes to fame, the Pteris have very bad luck. To sum up, we have a Pteri that attacks random strangers, a Pteri that ran off with the profits of Mini Golf promising to return to Tyrannia with a new game but never did, a Pteri that refuses to give his spare NP to other neopets and a Pteri that causes great trauma among many Neopians. Not exactly a fantastic track record now, is it?

Maybe we should move on from the not so famous Pteris and look at some of their more positive aspects.

Hobbies

So besides playing Pterattack, what else do Pteris do in their spare time? Well, there have been many documented cases of these neopets being rather mischievous as they are often spotted in Tyrannia playing tricks on the passers by, especially the Grarrls. However they are intelligent enough to play their tricks from the treetops just in case certain neopets don't find the tricks as hilarious as they do. But really, is it their fault that Grarrls simply lack anything resembling a sense of humour?

Very little else is known about the hobbies of Pteris. Due to their fondness for playing tricks on others, they are often avoided by other Neopians, so there are very few who know what they enjoy doing other than the Pteris themselves.

There is of course a simple solution to this. If more Neopians get out there, start pronouncing Pteri correctly, learn the simple differences that distinguish a Pteri from an Acara, and try not to have any pre-conceived ideas of Pteris based on the more high profiles Pteris out there, we could find an increase in popularity among the Pteris and many of you could be making a fantastic new friend.

And you may even notice that next time you walk through Tyrannia there are fewer Pteris out there playing tricks on you. Or you never know, you may become one of the mischievous pets who are playing the tricks on others.

Final Note

But whatever you decide, I hope you are now more informed about Pteris and understand what a little bad press can do to an entire species. And if you are a Pteri? Maybe think about getting out there and doing something to show Neopia that there are some good Pteris out there and maybe you will get the recognition of being the first entry under the Pteri species in the Neopedia. Assuming my theory about the Grarrl workers is incorrect and there is in fact a chance for Pteris to be granted entrance to the most famous book of knowledge to be ever discovered.