New players to the game have their choice of four races, which, in addition to being male or female, provides 8 basic character models to choose from. These include humans, who are described as friendly and of ordinary capability; Shura, who are cat-people described as aggressive and with great physical prowess; Sylph, spirit-like creatures with high knowledge and wisdom but out of touch with their emotions; and Sprites, who are small and childlike in appearance.[10]
Despite the lengthy descriptions and occupation proficiency given for each race on the official website, they do not significantly, if at all, affect the stats of the player. A Sprite, despite their small size, can be just as competent a Mercenary as a Shura of the same level. This is because the races originally had the implied effects (such as Shura being better at physical attributes and Sylph at mental), but this was phased out before the North American version of the game was released, making the differences mostly cosmetic.[11] It also affects certain dialog with NPCs and determines the village new characters start in.