Shyen from my quest, Riarda Legends, posing with herself and a Behemoth from a description of Monster-kins in the Riarda setting.

text dumping the stuff from that discussion:

The Monster-kin were one of the Lord of Creation's later works. According to legend, during the War of Creation, the Lord of Destruction, lacking any means to create an army of his own, discovered a way to develop his army while, at the same time, adding insult to injury, as it were, to his rival. By using his power and corrupting the Lord of Creation's creatures he would force his rival to battle against his own children. Many animals were easy to corrupt with their simple minds, even the mighty Spirit Dragon Zurkan fell to his corruption, resulting in the Dragon of Destruction. But these twisted and monstrous abominations that the Lord of Destruction released into the world spread quickly. Their new forms and power allowing them to gain an edge over the native creatures.

Some of the animals fled, retreating to the Lord of Creation, pleading for his help. They were not able to contend with the monsters Destruction had released. Saddened by this turn of events, the Lord of Creation made a decision. He selected species of beast from each region and granted them new forms, forms that may grant them an edge over the new minions of Destruction.

From the sand swept deserts, he selected the Desert Runners. From the thick forests, he chose the mighty Behemoths. From the mountains, came the resourceful Tunnelers. From the windy plains, the cunning Trackers. The Jungles, the wily Amarans. Patrolling the night skies, the vigilant Tangle Moths. Keeping watch over the day lit skies, the swift Rocs.

The form he bestowed upon them was reminiscent of his previous creations the humans. They now walked upright on two legs, their front claws vaguely resembling hands. Though in many cases, these "hands" were not capable of much more than bludgeoning or slashing. They still resembled the forelimbs of their bestial cousins. For this reason, they were also given an additional ability. The ability to transform. Monster-kin posses an innate ability to reshape their bodies into an even more humanoid form. Their claws retracting, forming more digits on their fingers, and gaining opposable thumbs, their legs reshaping into plantigrade forms. This transformation is most commonly accompanied by the sounds bones snapping and reshaping in a fairly grotesque audible display, causing severe discomfort for observers within ear shot.

The Monster-kin were tasked with the protection of the Lord of Creation's creatures during the War of Creation. Some still cling to the old ways, dedicating themselves to the protection of the wild life and their home wilderness. They tend to band together into tribes of their own breed. Behemoth Monster-kin stay with behemoth monster-kin, Trackers with Trackers, etc. Their animal nature and appearance often times is the cause of forms of prejudice from other races. Some don't expect certain breeds of Monster-kin to be particularly capable of rational "human" thought, or even capable of anything other than standard bestial instincts.

Monster-kin are capable of interbreeding with one another, but in most cases, it only results in the offspring taking after one of its parents. In very rare occasions a hybrid may be born, displaying traits from both parent species.