So, I stumbled upon this really easy way of creating made-up creatures (because often I have a ton of trouble creating original, alien creatures).
My thought process was something along the lines of:
"Damn. I'm bored. I hate creating species. Species are so hard to make original. I wonder how many easy ways there are to make something original... you can slap on horns... wings... hold on, lemme get a list going *starts writing down things* Hmmm... you know, lets just write down anything at all... any variables... *rereads list* hmmm... that wouldn't be very useful to write about... but if you were drawing... *starts making a color chart*. Pink is what you'll most likely need to figure out to write, and blue is for drawing... HOMAYGAWD EUREKA! *runs off to make version on computer and share this amazing invention with the world*"
Soooo.... without further ado, the easy way to create original species (for lazy people!)
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NOTE: I created this only thinking about large mammal-like or lizard-like creatures, but I think it could be adapted for creating sea creatures, marine mammals, and birds, etc..
Step one: The body. Does your creature have a long slender body like a ferret, or big, strong shoulders like a bear, or a big, barrel-like chest, or droopy belly skin, like some cats? Pick a basic body-type, then move on to the next step.
Step two: The head. What shape head does your creature have? Are it's eyes wide apart like that of a prey animal, or is it a carnivore with eyes set forwards. Flat face, fat chin, curved forehead, or long snout? You can also figure out what type of ears, how many eyes, what shape pupils, what type of nose, and if your species is a carnivore, with long sharp teeth for cutting meat, or an herbivore, with flat, dull molars for grinding down grain and grass.
Step three: The legs. Does your animal have paws, hooves, hands? What sort of legs -- Plantigrade or Digitigrade? How many sets of legs?
Step four: The tail(s?). What sort of tail? Long and snake-like, scaly and rat-like, fuzzy and cat-like, short and rabbit-like, long-haired and horse-like... the possibilities are endless. Dose your species have a tail at all?
Step five: The skin. Does your species have fur? Feathers? Leathery skin like a frog? Scales? Nothing but a few hairs, like us humans? This is a pretty important thing to figure out!
Step six: Extras. Does your creature have wings? What type? Does it have horns? Ram horns or long, slender Oryx horns? What about manes or tufts of fur on, say, the elbows? Is your species covered in viscous spikes, with long, curling tusks or fangs like daggers jetting from it's mouth? You decide.
Step seven: Additional details. These are the small things, the not-so-important-seeming-but-still-necessary things. Does your creature have a forked tongue? A big sloppy one like a dog? Does it have long fur, or short, or any at all? What does it eat? Where does it live? Who does it live with? Who does it hunt? Who is it hunted by? Answer these final questions, and your species is pretty much complete! A touch-up here, a little tweaking and fine-tuning... and your finsihed! :D
Hello! Any tips for the name (so hard to not sound cheesy)?
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