Phyrexian newt headcanons
Newts are the stage of the Phyrexian life cycle between germs and adults, and in Old Phyrexia they were described as sexless, hairless, and humanoid. Some of them, like Xantcha, were deliberately engineered to look more like young humans (she was definitely an adult, but constantly got clocked as 12-ish, iirc). They're born from vats instead of through standard sexual reproduction, which Phyrexians are incapable of. Germs are said to be made out of repurposed flesh, and newts described to look like heavily genetically engineered humanoids according to the visual guide by Jay Annelli.
Aside from that, we have no information on how young Phyrexians look and act in New Phyrexia, so I had some ideas to fill that gap.
Core-born newts aren't used as sleeper agents on New Phyrexia, unlike in Yawgmoth's time. The likes of Sheoldred prefer to capture and compleat adult humanoids for the purpose, for improved infiltration.
Because they're born to be compleated, newts' internal structures contain scaffolding for future modification--struts in their chests, handles and grooves on their bones, etc.
Newts lack primary or secondary sex characteristics, and generally look like androgynous children with all-black eyes--a distinctive trait of young Phyrexians that distinguishes them from other humanoids before their metal grows out.
As a default, newts loosely resemble humans, but if their parent/primary oil donor is a former member of a different species (i.e. elf), they will take after that species instead.
Newts can access some of the ancestral oil memory that adults do, but in fits and starts. They might dream erratically about historical events or medical facts. The Phyrexian language is innately known to them, which they speak without its metallic accents.
Newts are hairless, but cables, metal plating, or cartilage scaffolding may grow on their heads instead. Particularly for white Phyrexians, cartilage might form in the shape of their future crests.
As they approach compleation age, some unrefined metal plating may begin to grow on their bodies, to be refined and shaped on the operating table.
Newt proportions grow increasingly less humanoid with age, including too-long limbs and unusual posture.
The oil of a newt is not potent enough to infect a healthy humanoid.
Young Phyrexians may continue to grow even after compleation. For example, white Phyrexian crests increase in size as the adult matures, stopping at a natural endpoint.
While germs can be placed in living weapons and adults can be tailored to specific uses, newts are considered the most "useless" stage of the life cycle by most Phyrexian authorities, and so newthood is kept as short as possible. Compleation is scheduled long before an individual attains mental maturity.
This leads to a widespread lack of mental maturation in physically adult Phyrexians, adding to ease of recruitment and indoctrination.
The physical maturation time of a newt can be built into its creation or altered during growth, ranging from a year to decades.
