 Fantasy: December 03, 2025 Issue [#13469] |
This week: Life Beginnings Edited by: Jinglette Bellette  
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| "The beginning is the most important part of the work." ~ Plato |
Life Beginnings
Where does life come from? How does any species reproduce?
Mammals are born. Fish, birds, and reptiles come from eggs.
In Fantasy fiction, most creatures follow the above pattern. Dragons come from eggs, unicorns are horses and therefore mammals.
Horror fantasy characters are usually made from humans. Like vampires have to be bitten. Werewolves have to be bitten or scratched. Zombies have to be bitten or scratched. The Hulk was irradiated. All of these started out as basic human mammals, so we don't have to go that far into their past to find out how they came into the world.
When I was new to this site in 2008, I remember wondering a lot about the way that my fantasy creatures were put into the world (in their world.) So I paid attention to it, but I only found one writer here who had a defined idea. I forgot their name and they may no longer be on the site. I still remember that this writer's elves came to life as fully formed adults.
I couldn't find any more fantasy writing that dealt with the biology of the creatures within that would have been actually fantastical until I read John Carter of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs. He created some strange concoctions like plant-person hybrids and huge apes that stayed connected to their birth tree by a long root or flexible branch.
As fantasy writers, we should challenge ourselves to come up with some alternative ways of giving life to our fantasy creatures. The whole idea of fantasy is that it's not science. It doesn't have to be possible. It should actually be not possible at all and should not be something that can eventually be created through technology.
When you set your next life form free in a story. Ask yourself: where does it come from? You don't have to explain it in the story, but you should know.
Most life forms are born or hatched, but what about fantasy creatures?
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| | | Dearie (ASR)
A young witch discovers spellcasting is not her cup of tea.
#2305807 by Cubby  |
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Have an opinion on what you've read here today? Then send the Editor feedback! Find an item that you think would be perfect for showcasing here? Submit it for consideration in the newsletter!
https://www.Writing.Com/go/nl_form
Reply to my last Fantasy newsletter "Transportation"
Winter's spud❄️  wrote: This is probably silly, one day I was on an airplane. I thought to myself "why have the plane taxi down a runway? It's such a waste of space. It'd be so much cooler if they could spin around in circles and take off vertically! " Later I realized that's basically helicopters only the whole vehicle instead of just the blades.
We'd also get very dizzy. |
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