What is a Chia Mite?

...But what are they? Scary looking, that's for sure. But are they really Chias? Or something else?

During the past few days I have been trying to solve this mystery, and here are the answers I have found to be most plausible.

Mechanical Devices?

I know that if I was always hopping around, jumping up to around three times my height, I would eventually get pretty tired! And have you ever seen a Chia Mite sleeping? Or even lying down, for that matter? I thought not. (And no, if it's on all fours to chew on the bottom of the jar, that does not count.)

You see, if they were actually little machines, then they would never tire, and their apparent non-stop movement would make a bit more sense!

However, there are still the batteries to think about. One would think they would run out of power at some point, yes?

To this I say: But maybe their creator was the most skillful machine-maker to ever exist, and so he made them so that their power will last for years and years and years and years and years (or maybe just forever)!

You might not think that makes much sense - but why not? Why couldn't there be everlasting batteries?!

The machine theory also provides an explanation for their poor performance in the Battledome. At just a feeble five icons, it'd probably be more effective to simply chuck the jar the mites are kept in your opponent's way instead.

It seems to me that maybe the creator of these machines just forgot to program them to do anything but jump around. If that's the case... then, yeah, they look frightening and dangerous... a good choice for the Battledome - until you open the jar, and they just stand there, jumping up and down uselessly while your opponent stands on the other side of the room, still quite unscathed.

If they were living, breathing creatures, wouldn't they be a little more effective? Creepy crawlies can be extremely good fighters, especially in groups.

Seriously - have you ever tried to fight off a swarm of angry Moquots?! Near impossible, I'd say!

They're too small to hit away properly, as they just come flying right back. And so you are left with only two options - run away as fast as possible, or try to squish them one by one. The latter suggestion would take an exceedingly long time, though; you might as well just stand there doing nothing. I'd definitely run if I were you.

So, in theory, if Chia Mites were living, even if your opponent didn't run away screaming, they would still be distracted enough for you to get a couple good moves in. Doesn't that sound like it should be more than five icons? Like the mechanical device theory is making more sense by the minute?

But then again, perhaps they are just a bit more peaceful than the average insect-like-creature. Or maybe they used up all of their energy hopping around in the jar, for whatever reason, so that when you go to release them, they fall on the floor in a heap and promptly fall asleep. They could also just be so used to living in that jar, that when they are set free, they are stunned into stillness by the overwhelming not-jar-ness of the outside world.

Petpetpets?

Due to their insect-like appearance and the word 'Mite' in the item name, this may be the first conclusion that many jump to. But then, they think that if they were really petpetpets, wouldn't they be sold separately to be attached to petpets? And wouldn't they look a little bit less like Chias?

Well, I have an answer of sorts for these puzzling questions.

Only the most harmless of petpetpets are available for purchase by the average Neopian. It is likely that Chia Mites are simply too dangerous to allow Neopians to attach them to their petpets. Yes, I know - as discussed before, they have a poor Battledome rating. But that doesn't really mean much when you're not in the Battledome, does it? Their humdrum attack could just be due to some prideful thing, really. They could be unhappy at being used by neopets as weapons, and are therefore weak on purpose out of pure spite.

It is also possible that only a few pets are aware of the Chia Mites' existence, and where they live, and never tell anyone where they can be found so that they don't have to share the profits. If everyone knew how to find a Chia Mite, they wouldn't be so rare and valuable, would they?

And as for the question about their striking resemblance to the Chia... well, for that I have a quite simple answer.

Have you seen a Baby Blu next to a Blumaroo? Their faces are identical! Yet it is common knowledge that the Blumaroo is a neopet and the Baby Blu is a petpet, and not in fact a mutated or infant Blumaroo. It is just a coincidence.

So you see, it is probably the same case here. They most likely look amazingly like Chias only by coincidence, and the only reason that they are called 'Chia Mites' is because someone slightly uncreative noticed that resemblance and took advantage of it.

Enchanted Chias?

My final theory is the one I personally find to be most ridiculous, but as things don't always make sense, I have decided to keep it just in case.

Because of their Chia-like appearance, I thought it possible that they may actually be Chias - only cursed. They may have irked some malicious faerie or witch, and are now suffering the consequences. If this is true, it seems that she causes them to shrink and grow antennae, and then sells them off.

However, unless the Yellow Chia is an extremely annoying pet, and no one ever told me, then I think this is highly unlikely. Because wouldn't there be other kinds of neopets in the jars, too? Or, at the very least, other kinds of neopet mites sold separately? The spell-caster could just have something against all Yellow Chias... but I don't know... That's just weird.

Or she could have a gigantic stash of Yellow Chia Morphing Potions that she uses on all of her victims before shrinking them.

Either way, I think someone would eventually notice all of the pets disappearing around her home, and all the Chia Mites coming out, and put a stop to it. Just my two cents.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this article trying to explain the existence of the Chia Mite. I am still unsure as to what Chia Mites may be, as I am sure you have deduced, but at least now I have a few good, likely hypotheses to go on.

Please be careful when purchasing Chia Mites for research, as they can be quite dangerous when poked and prodded, despite their aforementioned pathetic performance in the Battledome. Thank you for reading, and have a nice day.