Memorable and Unique: How to Create your own Magical Creatures

Can you imagine fantasy stories and books without magical creatures? Probably not. Magical beings and fantasy creatures are simply a must-have in fantasy books. These stories and dragons, fairies, or mermaids seem to be inseparable. But sometimes we don't want to write about magical creatures that everyone knows about, and there can be different reasons for this:

• Maybe you want something new, something that surprises the reader, something that makes your story seem even more unique

• Maybe the already established magical creatures do not fit your idea, maybe you need them to have specific abilities, so that they will work in your story

In that case we can always create our own magical beings, but that process can be a little overwhelming. What do I have to consider? What question should I answer to create a memorable and fun magical creature? How do you create convincing, yet unique creatures?

I have made a similar post already about creating convincing characters.

This post will help you with these questions! So read through it until the end, save it for later, and share it with someone who might also need it!

Also, before we start, did you know that I have a Patreon account now? Check it out if you want to support this blog!

1. Appearance

We start with appearance. Ask yourself the following questions:

• Are they human-like? If yes, what makes them indistinguishable not human? Can humans even recognize that they aren't human? Is it a uncanny valley situation? Do these creatures appear creepy because of this?

• Are they human-like, but with a special animal trait? (e.g. mermaids)

• Do they resemble some specific animal? But maybe they have a specific magical ability, or a specific additional feature that the “normal“ animal they resemble doesn't have?

• Are they based on the classic mythical creatures, but with a twist?

After you have a rough idea on what they should look like, go into more details:

• Do they have unnatural colored eyes?

• Do they have fur? Scales? Weirdly colored skin? How does it feel if you touch them? Do they have feet? Hooves? Do they have wings?

2.How do they move

When you established what your creature looks like, you can now think about how they move. Consider the following questions:

• Do they walk (do they walk on two legs? Three? More?)? Do they fly? Do they crawl?

• Maybe the can't even move willingly? Do they depend on wind or currents to move them? What consequences could that have for these creatures?

• How fast can they move?

• How long can they walk/ fly/ swim before getting exhausted? How long does it take for them until they have recovered? Maybe the can't move once the temperature is too cold/ too hot? What consequences could this have?

3.Where do they live? What do they eat?

Keep in mind that the location where your creature lives can also influence the way they look (e.g. thick fur in cold mountains), but it can also influence what they eat! It can also influence how they interact with other species (e.g. if your creature normally lives in an isolated area where no one really goes to, but now they are forced to move away, they might react extra shy, or aggressive if they are constantly confronted with others, simply because they aren't used to it). So consider the following questions:

• How does the location they live in influence their appearance?

• How does the location they live in influence their behavior with other species?

• Do they live in groups, or alone? Do they live in villages and cities, or do they not have anything like that?

• How does this location influence what they eat? (e.g. dragons living in the mountains will probably have a harder time finding fish to eat, so if they eat primarily fish, they should be living closer to the sea)

• How often and how much do they have to eat?

• Do they migrate during summer months/ winter months?

4.Magical Abilities

This is probably my favorite thing to think about!

• What magical abilities does your creature have?

• How strong is their magic? Is it so strong it could actively be a threat to other creatures? (Conflict potential!) Or do they have fairly weak magic (e.g. imagine a snail-like creature leaving flowers blooming wherever they go)

• Is their magic useful for other creatures/ for humans?

• Do humans use them for their magic? If yes, what is the relationship between humans and this creature? Is the creature treated badly and more like a slave, or is it considered a pet? Is it considered a pest?

• Can they lose their magical abilities? Can the regain it? Can they experience magical burnout? If yes, what would that look like?

• Can they harm themselves with their magic? Or are they immune to it?

• Is their magic a part of them, or do they have to consume a specific food, for example, to gain it?

5.Behavior

Remember that you want to create a realistic and convincing creature. So do not forget about their own goals. They don't have to be extremely big and complex:

• Do they have any goal? (can also be a simple one like “surviving“)

• Are they following any sinister plan, or are they simply enjoying life? Do people think they are following a sinister plan? Does this have consequences on how they are viewed/ treated?

• Do they interact with your other characters? How?

• Do they interact with other species? How? Do they treat other species differently than they treat humans? Why?

• Do they prefer to keep to themselves? How do they react if someone forces themselves into their lives?

• How do they show emotions?

• What kind of relationships do they form? (e.g. they have others who they would consider best friends, etc.)

There are probably more things you can consider while creating your own creatures, so don't stop with these questions: maybe your creation needs even more details you should think about? Anyway, I hope this post helped you with some interesting questions to consider!

Save this post for later, and share it with someone who might need it as well! Let's create captivating and memorable magical creatures together!

If you are still searching for answers to your world building process, I have a post about how to establish legitimate rulers in your fantasy story, and more!

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