Kayspiration

boxofepithets:

Here is a little something I made up which may or may not be helpful to anyone. It’s inspired by Patricia C. Wrede’s worldbuilding checklist, but it’s for creating mythical animals. Very much a work in progress; feedback is appreciated!

-How big is it, on average? How big is it compared to a human?

-What is its basic body plan?

-Is it similar to any earth animals? To any mythical animals? Are they hybrids?

-Could it survive on present-day Earth? If so, where?

-How many limbs does it have? What kinds of limbs are they—segmented arthropod-like limbs? Fins? Cilia? Tentacles? Do they move using something other than limbs?

-What is at the end of their limbs? Are they like hands? Hooves? Paws? 
-What organs does it have? Does it have any organs with unique properties? Where are the heart? The stomach? The mouth?

-What is the surface of the body like? Is it hairy? Scaled? Hard? Soft? Gelatinous? Spiny? Slippery? Coarse?

-What gives its body its structural integrity? Does it have bones? Exoskeletons? Tough cell walls?

-What are its most noticeable features? Why does it have these?

-How complex is its brain? What does it think about? Dream about? How long are their memories, and what kinds of things do they remember?

-What is its evolutionary history?

-How has it adapted to its environment, natural or otherwise?
-How has it changed the environment(s) in which it lives?

-Are they symbiotic?

-What does it need to survive?

-What does it eat? How much does it eat? When does it need to eat? What behaviors are associated with eating? Is it a generalist or a specialist? If it is the latter, what traits does it have to give it the advantage in getting this food supply?

-Does it store food?

-How far can they/will they travel? Do they remain in one territory for life? Do they move a lot?

-On what other species do they depend, directly or indirectly?

-Who preys on it? What does it prey on?

-How does it hunt? How often? How does it kill its prey?

-What are its courtship behaviors?

-What kinds of display behaviors does it demonstrate?

-Are they monogamous? Polygamous? Do they mate for life? Do they mate by lek?

-Can they mate with other species? If so, what would the results be?

-How many genders do they have? What, if any, are the differences between genders? What are the genitals like, and where are they located?

-How are young produced?

-What behaviors are associated with rearing the young? What, if anything, do they teach their offspring? How many offspring do they have? At what age are young independent? What happens to young who are sickly? Approximately how many survive to adulthood?

-At what age is maturity reached?

-What are its social units like? Is it solitary? Does it live in pairs? Family units? Clans? Something else? Do they form multispecies communities, temporarily (like passerine winter flocks) or permanently?

-How do they navigate?

-To what kinds of diseases are they susceptible? Can these be transmitted to humans? Can humans pass disease onto them?

-What is the average body temperature?

-Are there hierarchies of dominance? How are these established?

-How much specialization occurs in the species? Are there, say, workers and queens? Does every member of the species hunt, or only a few?

-How big are their territories?

-What are their shelters like? Do they nest, burrow, build?

-How does it defend itself? Does it use armor, appendages, chemicals, mimicry, fighting?

-What are its fighting behaviors? What provokes it to aggression? How does it fight? Is there murder in their species?

-What is the best way to kill one?

-What is the best way to tame/befriend one?

-What range of behavior exists within this species? What behaviors will cause an individual to be shunned or killed? What behaviors are considered abnormal? Are there individual idiosyncrasies which are encouraged or at least tolerated?

-Does it do anything for fun? What?

-How long does it live?

-What happens when it dies?
-Does it use tools? What kind, and how?

-How does it move? Can it walk? Fly? Hover? Glide? Crawl? Swim? Climb trees? What are the mechanics of this? What do they look like when doing all of these things? Are they graceful? Slow? Lumbering?  

-How much variety exists between members of its species? Are there races? Subspecies?

-Can it communicate with humans? How?

-Are they used for food, clothing, or other purposes by humans? How often do humans kill them, and in what ways?

-Is there any symbolism associated with them by human cultures?

-How often do humans see them Are they aggressive to humans? When did humans first encounter them?

-How extensively have they been studied by humans? What do humans still not know about them?
-What is the popular perception of them among humans? Are they feared? Seen as nuisances? Considered cute? Dohumans find them beautiful? Ugly? Strange? Common?

-Are they endangered? Threatened? Of least concern? Does this not apply?

-How does it communicate with members of its species?

-How do they express emotion? What emotions do they feel?

-What do they fear?

-What senses do they have? What are their sense organs like?

-Does it use vocalizations? If so, what types, and what do they mean?

-What are its vulnerabilities?

-Does it use magic or elements? How conscious is it that it is using magic? Do all of the members of the species possess this ability, or only some?

-Can it shapeshift?

-Can it travel between realities/dimensions/universes? Can it get into dreams? 

-Is it of extraterrestrial origin?