The Chinese Zodiac

In Emperor, you start your game by selecting or typing in your name or alias, and your zodiac animal. To help you with the latter choice, here is some information gathered from various websites and the Impressions forum (a big credit goes to Psyche).

See this page for a table in which you can look up which animal your Zodiac animal is.

The Animals

Rat

Positive: Rats can be charming, protective, compassionate, communicative, dynamic, familial, thrifty, skilful, sober upright, attractive, idealistic, prosperous, experimental, calm, sensual, loving, talented, adaptable, open-minded and brilliant entrepreneurs.
Negative: Rats can also be possessive, picky, defensive, excessive, addictive, fickle, stingy, bumptious, bossy, exploitive, anxious, argumentative, opinionated, overbearing and self-obsessed.
Most compatible: Dragon and Monkey
Least compatible: Horse

Ox

Positive: The Ox can be patient, contemplative, skilful, dextrous, eloquent, confident, familiar, authoritative, industrious and sure of foot.
Negative: The Ox can also be prejudice, chauvinistic, proud, tyrannical, petty, critical, eccentric, bigoted, conservative, grumpy and on occasion violent.
Most compatible: Snake and Rooster
Least compatible: Ram

Tiger

Positive: The Tiger can be lovable, alluring, warm-hearted, altruistic, honourable, hard-working, pleasant, independent, engaging, dynamic and idealist sweetie pies.
Negative: The Tiger can also be rash, hot-headed, reckless, infatuated, quarrelsome, caustic, moody, predatory, rebellious, disobedient and irreverent rascals.
Most compatible: Horse and Dog
Least compatible: Monkey

Rabbit

Positive: The Rabbit can be sensitive, tactful. Home loving, refined, prudent, discreet, long-living, ambitious, cultured, well-mannered, artistic, considerate, scholarly, suave, graciously hospitable, modest and unimpeachably virtuous.
Negative: The Rabbit can also be snobbish, secretive, pedantic, complicated, haughtily indifferent, self-indulgent, hypochondriacally, punctilious, judgemental, self-righteous, deceptive, self-centred and terminally condescending.
Most compatible: Ram and Pig
Least compatible: Rooster

Dragon

Positive: The Dragon can be vibrant, magnanimous, charismatic, principled, self-sufficient, discriminating, compelling, sentimental, accomplished, noble-hearted, healthy and prodigiously shrewd.
Negative: The Dragon can also be bombastic, dissatisfied, ruthless, demanding, opinionated, mawkish, egocentric, defensive, power-mad, foolhardy, wilful and pompous.
Most compatible: Rat and Monkey
Least compatible: Dog

Snake

Positive: The Snake can be amiable, compromising, fun-loving, altruistic, honourable, sympathetic, philosophical, charitable, a paragon of fashion, intuitive, discreet, diplomatic, amusing and sexy.
Negative: The Snake can also be self-righteous, imperious, judgemental, conniving, mendacious, grabby, clinging, pessimistic, fickle, haughty, ostentatious and a very sore loser.
Most compatible: Ox and Rooster
Least compatible: Pig

Horse

Positive: The Horse can be productive, enthusiastic, amusing, warm-hearted, talented, agreeable, industrious, generous, sociable, autonomous, strong minded, sexy, curious, persuasive and logical.
Negative: The Horse can also be defiant, condescending, unscrupulous, anxious, moody, excessively pragmatic, opportunistic, hard-nosed, self-serving and so obtuse as to seem to have gone both blind and deaf at once.
Most compatible: Tiger and Dog
Least compatible: Rat

Ram/sheep

Positive: The Ram can be appealing, altruistic, creative, empathetic, intuitive, generous, artless, gentle, romantic, sensitive, compliant, candid and self-effacing darlings.
Negative: The Ram can also be self-pitying, pessimistic, fugitive, parasitic, vengeful, lazy, indecisive, contentious, violent, capricious, irresponsible, tardy, careless, bigoted, nasty little pieces of work.
Most compatible: Rabbit and Pig
Least compatible: Ox

Monkey

Positive: The Monkey can be reasonable, faithful, autonomous, candid, altruistic, successful, inventive, co-operative, loving, intelligent, individualistic and generous entertainers.
Negative: The Monkey can also be hyperemotional, capricious, guileful, self-indulgent, immature, insecure, indifferent, careless, gullible, petty and grabby scene-stealers.
Most compatible: Dragon and Rat
Least compatible: Tiger

Rooster

Positive: The Rooster can be forthright, brave, enthusiastic, loyal, hardworking, tenacious, resilient, adventurous, meticulous, prompt, astute, well-dressed, proficient, down-to-earth, gregarious, communicative, sensible, generous, charming, ebullient and terminally witty.
Negative: The Rooster can also be cranky, fussy, vain, self-involved, blindly egotistical, over-zealous, pretentious, materialistic, grabby, high-handed, cynical, mercurial, self-absorbed and quixotic as hell.
Most compatible: Ox and Snake
Least compatible: Rabbit

Dog

Positive: The Dog can be attentive, well meaning, helpful, warm-hearted, altruistic, modest, devoted, philosophical, dutiful, discreet, intelligent and enthusiastic.
Negative: The Dog can also be nasty, mean-spirited, disagreeable, bad-tempered, self-righteous, judgemental, quarrelsome, accusing, nervous, anxious and impossible to live with.
Most compatible: Horse and Tiger
Least compatible: Dragon

Pig

Positive: The Pig can be sensible, sensual and sensitive, sweetly naive, caring, self-sacrificing, erudite, talented, open-handed, candid, outgoing, amusing, charitable, obliging, graciously hospitable and virtuous.
Negative: The Pig can also be hot-tempered, pessimistic, outrageously epicurean, earthy to a fault, sardonic, snobbish, snide, authoritarian, competitive, know-it-all, stingy, victimized and sometimes downright criminally mad at the world.
Most compatible: Rabbit and Ram
Least compatible: Snake

The Elements

Metal: the west, useful, strong and dependable

Gender: Feminine (extracted from the feminine earth, but less feminine than earth or water)
Season: Autumn, the time of harvest (with a metal scythe), completion, and the beginning of rest
Earthly branches and months: Monkey (August), Phoenix (September), Dog (October)
Direction: West
Planet: Venus
Climate: Dry
Animal: White Tiger.
Colour: White (Yang) and Silver (Yin)
Symbol: Weapon (Yang) and Kettle (Yin)
Feng-Shui ba-gua: Children and Creativity
Qualities: Strength, Independence, Focus, Intensity, Righteousness and Fluency in speech
Personality: Very determined and Powerful
Succession: by being less opinionated, accepting change, and gracefully releasing the past
Challenge: learn how to express grief and find healing
Emotion: Grief, Insecurity, Inability to achieve parental or spousal expectations, and Lack of confidence
Body organs (in traditional Chinese medicine): Lungs and Large intestines (and Colon)

Water: the north, good communication, sensitivity and intuition

Gender: Most feminine of the five elements and very yin
Season: Winter, the time of darkness (with a metal scythe), completion, and the beginning of rest
Earthly branches and months: Boar (November), Rat (December), and Ox (January).
Direction: North
Planet: Mercury
Climate: Dry
Animal: Dark Tortoise
Colour: Black (Yang) and Grey (Yin)
Symbol: Wave (Yang) and Brook (Yin)
Feng-Shui ba-gua: Career and the Lifepath
Qualities: Creativity, sensitivity, reflection, persuasion, effectiveness, and desire for life and sex
Personality: Values family and social contacts and possess the ability to attract
Succession: by not allowing fear to block the fullest expression of creativity
Challenge: overcome their fears and become active participants in life
Emotion: Fear, indecisiveness, vacillation, and uncertainty
Body organs (in traditional Chinese medicine): Kidneys and Bladder

Wood: the east, nurturing, creativity an growth

Gender: Masculine and considered less yang than fire
Season: Spring, the time of planting seeds, beginnings, and new growth
Earthly branches and months: Tiger (February), Rabbit/Hare/Cat (March), and Dragon (April)
Direction: East
Planet: Jupiter
Climate: Windy
Animal: Azure Dragon
Colour: Green (Yang) and Blue (Yin)
Symbol: Pine tree (Yang) and Bamboo (Yin)
Feng-Shui ba-gua: Family relationships
Qualities: Bold actions, planning, initiating new projects, idealism, imagination, compassion, and competition
Personality: Possess decision-making skills and the ability to create change
Succession: Go-getter, do-or-die, pioneering spirit
Challenge: learn to control anger and channel it into positive work that benefits all people
Emotion: Anger, tension, criticism, discouragement, regret, excitement, dislike of self and others, negative judgment, and repressed anger related to thwarted affection
Body organs (in traditional Chinese medicine): Liver and Gallbladder

Fire: the south, passion, intelligence and movement

Gender: Most masculine of the five elements and very yang
Season: Summer, the time of heat, growth, warmth, and increased light
Earthly branches and months: Snake (May), Horse (June) and Sheep (July)
Direction: South
Planet: Mars
Climate: Hot
Animal: Red Phoenix
Colour: Red (Yang) and Purple (Yin)
Symbol: Burning wood (Yang) and Flame of a lamp (Yin)
Feng-Shui ba-gua: Fame and Recognition
Qualities: takes leadership, are decisive and sure of themselves
Personality: Love, passion, leadership, spirituality, insight, dynamism, aggression, intuition, reason, and expressiveness, direct right out front
Succession: by becoming warm- hearted and generous
Challenge: share joy and laughter without thought of reward
Emotion: Happiness, joy, vanity, jealousy, frustration, regret, grief from loss of love, and disappointment in relationships
Body organs (in traditional Chinese medicine): Heart and Small intestines

Earth: the centre, balance, reliability and foundation

Gender: Feminine
Season: Eighteen days of each of the four seasons, the time of seasonal transition
Earthly branches and months: all
Direction: Centre
Planet: Saturn
Climate: Damp
Sign: Black and white yin & yang
Colour: Yellow (Yang) and Gold (Yin)
Symbol: Hill (Yang) and Valley (Yin)
Feng-Shui ba-gua: Marriages and relationships (balance)
Qualities: values friendship, do well to meditate and nourish themselves physically, emotionally, and spiritually
Personality: Stable, practical, reliable, industrious, empathetic, honest, kind, prudent
Succession: by developping clear boundaries and take care of themselves
Challenge: honour their sympathetic nature and show great kindness to others
Emotion: Sympathy, pensiveness, thoughtfulness, and reflection
Body organs (in traditional Chinese medicine): Stomach and Spleen (and Pancreas)

The Ten Heavenly Stems and Yin & Yang

Metal Yang (+): Geng (rough metal)
Metal Yin (-): Xin (refined metal)
Water Yang (+): Ren (sea water)
Water Yin: (-): Gui (rain water)
Wood Yang (+): Jia (hard Wood)
Wood Yin (-): Yi (soft wood)
Fire Yang (+): Bing (sun fire)
Fire Yin (-): Ding (kitchen fire)
Earth Yang (+): Wu (mountain earth)
Earth Yin (-): Ji (sand earth)

Yang (+)

Odd, Male, Assertive, Active, Sky, Space, Tension, White, Red, Light, Hot, Positive, Dry, Sun, Fire, Movement, Hard, Expansion, Rising, Immaterial, Change, Individual, Life, Effort, Expending energy, External, Formed, Exclusive, Supported, Bursting, Dry, Electron, Aggressive, Centrifugal, Grains, Root vegetable, Back, Outside of limbs, Surface, Exterior, Upper body, Extrovert, More physical, Left side, Acute, Mind, Head, Conceptualisation, Father, Parent, Heaven, Technology, Up, Branches, Future, Scientific, Analysis, Resistance, Focus, Knife, Day, Spring/Summer, South, Incipience, Function, Storage organs, Superficial pain, Intermittent pain, Pain moves around, Sympathetic

Yin (-)

Even, Female, Receptive, Passive, Earth, Form, Relaxation, Black, Green, Dark, Cold, Negative, Damp, Moon, Water, Rest, Soft, Contraction, Sinking, Material, Tradition, Mass, Death, Inertia, Gathering energy, Internal, Amorphous, Inclusive, Supporting, Containing, Wet, Proton, Responsive, Centripetal, Fruits, Leafy vegetable, Front, Inside of limbs, Deep, Interior, Lower body, Introvert, More intellectual, Right side, Chronic, Body, Stomach, Sensation, Mother, Child, Hell, Nature, Down, Roots, Past, Artistic, Synthesis, Yielding, Diffusion, Spoon, Night, Autumn / Winter, North, Completion, Structure, Transporting organs, Deep pain, Constant pain, Pain does not move, Parasympathetic

(Male and Female doesn't mean that all men are Yang and all women are Yin. Maybe it could be that when you have Yin as a man, you have a slight feminine side and when you have Yang as a woman, you have a slight masculine side)