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Phenotypes defined in phenotype.2da are an interesting way to define different model parts and animations for more complex models. There are some interesting things Bioware and DLA did for horses, and other ways to use them.

It also makes adding animations both a pain (finding where to do it) and easier (they're not spread out across a gazillion files).

Making a new phenotype can be relatively easy; but see Part-Based Models: Creatures for a overview of adding some bits and understanding naming. This is an additional reference.

Uses

Bioware's main uses were:

Normal and Fat models
Horses, jousting and normal variants

Others have used it for:

Making more body types (it's usual intended purpose)
Making more than 200ish heads appear at PC character generation - each new phenotype can have it's own head range
Making alternative animations to existing models (like the Joust variant of the horses)

Limitations and pain points:

The parts are defined across all phenotypes. If a piece of armour is worn by a certain phenotype it must, in some capacity, have a model to load (unless NPC only or somesuch). This means if it is a new race ID letter then it needs a lot of duplicated models making before changes are done, this is why there are very few if any entire-race overhauls using the phenotype system and custom models (most will instead make duplicates of an existing race in it's entirety).
- However if you are making an alteration to an existing race - eg new animations - there is a way to default a phenotype back to the normal one, saving a lot of models

Some bugs EE has fixed:

Phenotypes can have PLT-specific files, meaning you could have armor looking actually different texture wise (yay!)

Example of Phenotypes Loading Parts Based Models

Phenotypes rely on the parts based system, which itself is quite rigid in it's way. The example below will show what loads when you have a Female, Human of Normal Size phenotype, and a Female, Human of Normal Size Horse phenotype. They are wearing a cloak and a robe for this example (the specific model numbers do not really matter).

The reason for 2 examples is the phenotype.2da file can define a DefaultPhenoType which will load any models not fully defined from that phenotype instead.

The parts of models is mostly kinda defined in capart.2da and noted below for reference since heads, robes and cloaks are not.

Name	Model Base Name	Model Node Name	Related 2da Files	Naming Convention	Notes and Description	Example: Female, Human, Normal Size	Example: Female, Human, Normal Size Horse Bolded if different to pfh0
Base Nodes and Animations	pXYZ.mdl	n/a	phenotype.2da	pXYZ.mdl X - m for male, f for female Y - "RACE" ID in appearance.2da, eg: H for Human/Half-Elf Z - Number line ID from phenotype.2da	This defines the placement of model parts (where the arms go for instance) and start the top level of animations specific to this model. 99% of the time this is purely the node locations, and a similarly named file is the animation file, which then links to other animation-only files, eg: Normal: pfh0.mdl → a_fa.mdl (contains some specific animations) → a_ba.mdl (most generic animations) → a_ba_non_combat.mdl (non-combat animations) Fat: pfh2.mdl → a_fa2.mdl (contains some specific animations) → a_ba2.mdl (most generic animations) → a_ba.mdl → a_ba_non_combat.mdl (these two same as above) This means the Fat phenotype can have some better animations for certain ones, but anything generic can be left in a_ba.mdl and be found by it eventually in the hierarchy. If you edit a_ba.mdl and add a new model animation, eg to the custom slots, you can tie that into all models using it. Mind you certain things like horses may go a bit weird when it's called with them being mounted and all.	pfh0.mdl	pfh3.mdl
Non-Animation Models				pXYZ_basename000.mdl basename = "Model base name" column 000 = Part ID. 000 is invalid ("nothing") but 001 and upwards work
Head	head	head_g	none	pXYZ_head000.mdl	These models are "just a model" - no animations - which if are base naked versions are overriden by armor versions (or helmets for the head) when equipped. The point of these though is to be appropriately set to the right node in the base model, which then is referenced in the base model animations. Head models are special in so far as there is no 2da file defining them. Chargen uses a break in models to stop the progression into NPC only heads.	pfh0_head001.mdl	pfh0_head001.mdl
Foot, Right	footr	rfoot_g	parts_foot.2da	pXYZ_footr000.mdl		pfh0_footr001.mdl	pfh0_footr001.mdl
Foot, Left	footl	lfoot_g	parts_foot.2da	pXYZ_footl000.mdl		pfh0_footl001.mdl	pfh0_footl001.mdl
Shin, Right	shinr	rshin_g	parts_shin.2da	pXYZ_shinr000.mdl		pfh0_shinr001.mdl	pfh0_shinr001.mdl
Shin, Left	shinl	lshin_g	parts_shin.2da	pXYZ_shinl000.mdl		pfh0_shinl001.mdl	pfh0_shinl001.mdl
Leg, Leg	legl	lthigh_g	parts_leg.2da	pXYZ_legl000.mdl		pfh0_legl001.mdl	pfh0_legl001.mdl
Leg, Right	legr	rthigh_g	parts_leg.2da	pXYZ_legr000.mdl		pfh0_legr001.mdl	pfh0_legr001.mdl
Pelvis	pelvis	pelvis_g	parts_pevlis.2da	pXYZ_pelvis000.mdl		pfh0_pelvis001.mdl	pfh0_pelvis001.mdl
Chest	chest	torso_g	parts_chest.2da	pXYZ_chest000.mdl		pfh0_chest001.mdl	pfh0_chest001.mdl
Belt	belt	belt_g	parts_belt.2da	pXYZ_belt000.mdl		pfh0_belt001.mdl	pfh0_belt001.mdl
Neck	neck	neck_g	parts_necks.2da	pXYZ_neck000.mdl		pfh0_neck001.mdl	pfh0_neck001.mdl
Forearm, Right	forer	rforearm_g	parts_forearm.2da	pXYZ_forer000.mdl		pfh0_forer001.mdl	pfh0_forer001.mdl
Forearm, Left	forel	lforearm_g	parts_forearm.2da	pXYZ_forel000.mdl		pfh0_forel001.mdl	pfh0_forel001.mdl
Bicep, Right	bicepr	rbicep_g	parts_bicep.2da	pXYZ_bicepr000.mdl		pfh0_bicepr001.mdl	pfh0_bicepr001.mdl
Bicep, Left	bicepl	lbicep_g	parts_bicep.2da	pXYZ_bicepl000.mdl		pfh0_bicepl001.mdl	pfh0_bicepl001.mdl
Shoulder, Right	shor	rshoulder_g	parts_shoulder.2da	pXYZ_shor000.mdl		pfh0_shor001.mdl	pfh0_shor001.mdl
Shoulder, Left	shol	lshoulder_g	parts_shoulder.2da	pXYZ_shol000.mdl		pfh0_shol001.mdl	pfh0_shol001.mdl
Hand, Right	handr	rhand_g	parts_hand.2da	pXYZ_handr000.mdl		pfh0_handr001.mdl	pfh0_handr001.mdl
Hand, Left	handl	lhand_g	parts_hand.2da	pXYZ_handl000.mdl		pfh0_handl001.mdl	pfh0_handl001.mdl
Robe	robe	root	parts_robe.2da	pXYZ_robe000.mdl	Robes can be defined manually again (instead of inherited from another phenotype) on horses so they are laid out correctly. Robes can hide essentially all the body parts, although amusingly doesn't mention wings or tails unlike cloaks for some reason. The full list of what can be hidden is: HIDEFOOTR HIDEFOOTL HIDESHINR HIDESHINL HIDELEGR HIDELEGL HIDEPELVIS HIDECHEST HIDEBELT HIDENECK HIDEFORER HIDEFOREL HIDEBICEPR HIDEBICEPL HIDESHOR HIDESHOL HIDEHANDR HIDEHANDL HIDEHEAD	pfh0_robe003.mdl	pfh3_robe003.mdl
Cloak	cloak	cloak_g	cloakmodel.2da	Special; defined in cloakmodel.2da which model to load, but the names are styled still with an additional underscore: pXYZ_cloak_000.mdl	Cloaks can be defined manually again (instead of inherited from another phenotype) on horses so they are animated correctly. In Bioware's case they just made them all empty so they don't show up! Nowadays you can just manually hide the objects using nwscript commands. Cloaks also can hide the wings, tail, shoulders left and right as part of the cloakmodel.2da file. Note: for horse compatibility it appears HIDETAIL is always set to 0 (else the horse would disappear when wearing certain cloaks). A pain but oh well! You could alter these columns to 1 if you don't run horses.	pfh0_cloak_001.mdl	pfh3_cloak_001.mdl
Wings	n/a	wings	wingmodel.2da	Arbitrary, eg; c_wingsdm.mdl is "Demon" wings	Wings are (thankfully) just used as wings by Bioware.	c_wingbat.mdl	c_wingbat.mdl
Tail	n/a	tail	tailmodel.2da	Arbitrary, eg; c_horse1.mdl is "Horse, Walnut"	Tails are used to load, well tails. It can also load other simple single models (which become fully animated too!) - and their primary use in the example is for horses. Other uses Bioware added were for scaling models up and down more easily without hundreds more appearance.2da lines.	c_tailbone.mdl	You'd set a horse model, eg c_horse1.mdl to override this (and set it back when dismounted)