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Fantasy creatures

LRFrancis

Acolyte
Hi, I sort of use other names and butcher them a bit...

So in the case of something I'm working on, I named one creature an Awk, it came from Orc, I pronounce somewhat similar and it seems to work for me!
 

skip.knox

toujours gai, archie
Moderator
How do you?

Seriously, what names have you come up with on your own? Are you unhappy with them? Why? It's also worth asking yourself what you mean by "original" here. Do you mean names that have never been used by anyone in any story ever? Or do you mean names that sound good to your ears?

Knowing the answers to these questions will help you in your search.
 
Mostly I just play around with different sounds in my head until I find a name that sounds good to me. Often I'll borrow an ending or beginning from the name of a similar real animal and come up with a new beginning or ending for it.

I've been posting on lots of threads about naming lately, and I think it deserves mentioning that I have an entire document of just made-up words that I like the sound of. When i'm stuck on a name, it's a good thing to have around, if only to expand my thinking.
 

Tom

Istar
I like to name my creatures the way real-world folkloric creatures are. This is because I've studied a lot of folklore and mythology, and I have an interest in portraying cultures that rely on oral tradition. To create creature names I take one or two of their most notable features and create a name for them that way, often using the constructed language of the culture that first named them. Maybe they had a longer, more elaborate name once, but generations of stories being told and retold have distilled them to their shortest and most essential form.

The Luain, for example, is a vampiric shapeshifter spirit that feeds on its victims and takes their forms to lure their loved ones into its grasp. Its name means "life-taker", because that's what it does on multiple levels. Another is a troll-like monster of rock called the Pekkad, which means "stone that walks".

Keeping it simple creates a more evocative and memorable name. Think of Mothman or Bigfoot, or even the Jersey Devil--these creatures have simple names constructed from their most distinctive traits, and that's what makes them stand out.
 
Hi,

Mostly I just go with a name that seems to describe them best. So I created the "Snap Dragon" which is basically a walking forest shaped sort of like a giant lizard. It wanders around mostly at night, looking for unsuspecting prey,. Then when it finds them, it positions a leg over them (think lots of trees bound together as one limb) and abruptly stamps on them so powerfully that there's a snapping sound. Hence the name.

Sprigs were named for sprigs of trees. Essentially they are woody, twiggy like creatures with multiple limbs like sticks coming out of each shoulder and hip, roughly humanoid in appearance. And they kill by thrusting those limbs through whatever they're battling - they have sharp ends.

Razorback wolves coming out in a new book are named for a collar of vertically pointed fur on their backs like razorback pigs.

Cheers, Greg.
 

Mindfire

Istar
Sometimes I adapt pre-existing creatures. Sometimes I think of random words, fiddle with them until they sound cool, and then try to invent a creature whose traits match the sound and feel of the new word. Like, quant. Quant sounds pretty neat. So what's a quant? What does it do? Where does it live? How does it behave? What does it eat? That's pretty much my process.
 

CupofJoe

Myth Weaver
Sometimes I adapt pre-existing creatures. Sometimes I think of random words, fiddle with them until they sound cool, and then try to invent a creature whose traits match the sound and feel of the new word. Like, quant. Quant sounds pretty neat. So what's a quant? What does it do? Where does it live? How does it behave? What does it eat? That's pretty much my process.
That is pretty much how Tolkien says he started The Hobbit. He wrote the first line "In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit." and then thought to himself... I wonder what Hobbits are like?
 

Ban

Troglodytic Trouvère
Article Team
Sometimes I adapt pre-existing creatures. Sometimes I think of random words, fiddle with them until they sound cool, and then try to invent a creature whose traits match the sound and feel of the new word. Like, quant. Quant sounds pretty neat. So what's a quant? What does it do? Where does it live? How does it behave? What does it eat? That's pretty much my process.

I really like that. My retro-futuristic world does not really require new creatures, but I think I will start doing this just as a fun little exercise.
 

RedAngel

Minstrel
It should also be noted that while he did come up with some new races, Tolkien also stuck to some traditional races like Elves, Dwarves, ant Trolls. But others he created were hybrids of other races like Goblins, Orcs, Half-Elves, And Half Trolls. With the traditional races he made them different by their family or clan names were.
 
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