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Replacement for Humanity

Discussion in 'World Building' started by Queshire, Feb 27, 2012.

  1. Feb 27, 2012 #1
    Queshire

    Queshire Auror

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    So, I'm thinking of starting a second project, the basic premise is that a mysterious event called the Singularity basically broke the world, messing up time and becoming someplace that makes Wonderland sane. The main character sleeps through the Singularity and now has to deal with a world gone weird. (Fun Fact: This was partially inspired by Adventure Time, though more mature) Humanity as he knows it is gone, extinct, spoken of only in legends as the First Race. However the classic fantasy races exist, elves, dwarves, gnomes, halflings, witchs, etc.

    Now, my question is, do I just leave the Humanity's niche empty, with their purpose filled by the other races, or do I make a race that's human in all but name and one dramatic feature, like Humanity was to Neanderthals.

    Also, if I do make a humanity analouge, what dramatic feature should I have them have to mark them as different then humans and conversely marking the MC as different from them? I'm thinking of either animal or cat like ears or prehenstile tails, though not neccesary coming from their bottom, maybe out of their shoulders or out of their head so they'd be more like furry tentacles or antenna then tails.

    I know the first option would probably be better, but it also sounds harder to do and I already came up with a great name for the human replacements; Wyman. (get it? get it? Instead of Humans, WHO-mans, they're WYman ^^)
     
    S.T. Ockenner likes this.
  2. Feb 27, 2012 #2
    Graham Irwin

    Graham Irwin Sage

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    What would you change about them other than physical aspects? Maybe they have lost something that made them "human". Empathy, compassion, etc. I think that if the only difference were physical that you would be ignoring great literary potential.
     
  3. Feb 27, 2012 #3
    Queshire

    Queshire Auror

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    Huh... I never even considered that... Hm... but no, I don't think that would work with my story. The various races might look wildly different and have similiarly different cultures, but underneath the surface they're pretty much the same.
     
  4. Feb 27, 2012 #4
    Caged Maiden

    Caged Maiden Staff Article Team

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    one thing to consider is that whatever the "human" new race would be, they'd have to be able to hang with the others. If they're too weak, undeveloped culturally, or whatever, they will not be competitive enough to survive.
     
  5. Feb 27, 2012 #5
    Graham Irwin

    Graham Irwin Sage

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    Something to consider is that culture stems from many things other than physical characteristics.
     
  6. Feb 27, 2012 #6
    Corvus

    Corvus Scribe

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    Hmm! I don't exactly understand haw the "apocalypse" works but maybe you could think along the lines of haw humans could evolve as a species in millions of years. Haw they would haw adapted to the changed environment in order to survive...

    Kind of like how we got from humanoid apes to what we are now but take it past a cataclysmic event, all the while keeping in mind what physical as well as philological characteristic they would need to survive both the environment itself as well as anything ells alive.

    Hope it helps! :)
     
  7. Feb 28, 2012 #7
    Jess A

    Jess A Archmage

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    Dolphins evolved into the top species.

    C'mon. Think about it. :)

    Anne McCaffrey has a book series with bipedal, talking, civilised cats. Then there is Planet of the Apes.

    I'd hesitate to simply make them human with an animal feature. What did they evolve from, or were they already an established race which came down from another planet, or rose up from a small, confined niche when the humans died out? Were they already a subspecies of human and humans didn't know about them?

    If dinosaurs had never died out, then humans probably wouldn't be here. Dinosaurs ruled the land. Mammals were able to occupy the dinosaurs' traditional niches once the dinos were gone. I think birds took over first, and then mammals.

    Perhaps the species were in the same situation as the mammals. Hidden away, perhaps in small groups. Wary of humans.

    Or did they evolve directly from humans? Perhaps when the human race was alive, there were certain genetic 'mutations' which made some people different to the rest. They had an ability (mental or physical or both) which allowed them to survive your 'event'. The rest of the human race died out, and those with the 'mutation' changed more as time went by and adapted to the new world.

    Whilst you don't need to info dump and give a biology lesson to your readers, it's always interesting to think about it as a writer. After all, it -is- fantasy.
     
    Last edited: Feb 28, 2012
  8. Feb 28, 2012 #8
    pmkava

    pmkava Dreamer

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    I'd suggest leaving the Human niche empty and just focus on the other races. I don't think it would be to hard to do at all.
     
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