Fantasy Character Design Ideas (because authors don't have as much fun as they should)

     The beautiful thing about fantasy and sci-fi books is that there are no rules, and the shitty thing about fantasy and sci-fi books is that they’ve been around so long people think that there are. When we’re in the world of make believe, there are endless opportunities to create character designs unlike anything anyone has seen or done before, and we just… Don’t. Part of this is because people usually have an idea in mind when they start writing, and it’s often based on something they’ve seen before, and then part of it is marketability. After all, who will care about our main character if they’re not sexy? If their lips aren’t kissable? The desire to keep characters as humanoid as possible has led to ten million books about people with wings, and there’s so much out there! Fantasy is supposed to be fantastical! Fiction is supposed to be wacky! Not everyone has to look hot for the general public to relate and empathize with their story! Branch out, people!  

I am, admittedly, not much of a fantasy / sci-fi writer, but I am a strong fantasy / sci-fi reader, and I’ve thought of a few ideas that I would love to see used more often, as well as some culture and technical additions. These are free for anyone to use for any reason, so if anything speaks to you, feel free to steal!

Horns

The only type of physical alteration that’s getting its own section, because I love it just that much.

We’re all very familiar with horns, I assume. But I’m talking about more than horns at the top of the head. I made a video about this online where I mentioned face horns, as in horns on the bridge of the nose or over the eyes, and I stand by that. Imagine horns like a bridge nose piercing or eyebrow piercing, or ones curling from in between the eyes. But of course, we can stretch out beyond this into horns on other parts of the body. The first thing I thought of was mini ram horns sprouting from each knuckle on a person’s hand, sort of like natural brass knuckles. Rams and sheep have the strong tendency to headbutt one another, and so whatever race of people have horns on their hands may also have a tendency to fight one another, over partners or political disputes. Dueling could be an important political arrangement, like something royals do to challenge one another to the throne, or it could be ritualistic, like something performers do to honor gods (thus making wrestlers a bit like shaman), or it could be something else entirely. Horns could become a display of a warrior’s prowess, if we create a rule that losers of duels must have their horns shaved down or chopped off. 

Horns really can come from anywhere; imagine horns growing from the sides of a person’s hips. Imagine the cultural wear of that kind of nation, designed specifically to accentuate the hips, with horns carved on either side of their body like rococo dresses, the horns decorated with gold cuffs and chains. Longer horns are impractical, and so they become a symbol of wealth by the elite; the longer they are the less you can do on your own, which implies that you have an entire staff to do those things for you. Horns could grow from the collarbone, and awkwardly hook together when lovers kiss, like braces on pre-teen couples. They could come from the knees for mountain civilizations, to help them climb. The opportunities are endless, Lads.

Environmental Factors

Similar to the knee horns for climbing, fantasy civilizations in different terrains should have different physical traits! This is something that Avatar does really well, actually; look at the difference between the reef and forest Na’vi; the reef Na’vi have skin that’s more turquoise to match the water and webbed fingers to help them swim. Follow that model. People who live near water and rely on it for survival may evolve to have wider ribcages, to account for larger lungs so they can hold their breath longer, or might have a second membrane eyelid like alligators to help them see underwater. People who live in colder climates may have bulkier, more fat-heavy builds to account for the cold or scales over their faces to bring in more heat. One of the theories scientists have as to why human beings evolved to be on two feet was because it meant less of the sun was on their back, so in cold climates, maybe one civilization or another has begun evolving back so they could feel more of the sun, and are now significantly hunched over. I think most fantasy civilizations should go by the rule that, if they were to become real, they would be considered to have an uncanny and unnatural sort of feel to them. Sure, having people with wings or sparkling eyes or the like is beautiful, and I have nothing against them, but in a fantasy world, you expect me to believe that every humanoid individual happens to not only have the same notion about social beauty, but fit perfectly into that notion? It lacks creativity and fun.

Though it’s human thought and not natural evolution that’s making the changes, sci-fi can work the same way. Underwater civilizations can have what looks like raised veins under their skin, which transport oxygen through their bodies when they’re beneath the surface. Civilizations in the sky have to force their lungs to expand and contract through a complex medical device that replaces the skin, so you can physically see their lungs breathing and their heart pumping. Body horror is a really fun thing to play with. 

Even more fun, imagine civilizations halfway through the process of evolution, with notches on their back that could be wings in a few hundred years, or legs where the skin is sewn together, but not quite a tail yet. Not to endorse suffering, but there is so much opportunity for it in the harsh evolutionary reality.

Animal Attributes

Gills. Spines. Claws. Literally what can’t you do with animal attributes. Imagine two different groups of people always being irritated because everybody gets them confused based on their spots (cheetahs and jaguars) or races with split tongues having their own very specific brand of cultural food (snakes) or their torso being made of a hollow SHELL (I should not have to tell you what animal I’m referencing here). There are thousands of years of animal behavior studies, amongst themselves and amongst other species, why wouldn’t you play with the practical effects of it? Fangs give people a lisp. Realistically, split tongues would too. People with wings, if you do choose to go that route, probably have back pain. Let’s say you base a civilization off of penguins, with webbed feet, slicked down feathers across the sides of their face and down the sides of their arms (just for shits and giggles), with their backs much darker in color than their stomachs. For the hell of it, they also have beaks. They court one another with ancestral jewelry and precious stones, and they refuse to share these stones with other kingdoms, which naturally springs some hatred between communities. Let’s say you base your civilization off of butterflies, brightly colored and shimmering skin, long antennae, curling tongues. They live somewhere tropical, so their coloring reflects that, although a common myth about the group states that they’re toxic; the air they breathe out is deadly gas, their blood kills plants if it falls on them, and if any part of their body is consumed, it kills you instantly. Turns out they’re just a culture of poisoners, who constantly consume poison for religious reasons and have built an immunity that other people and animals have not. 

It is also your choice to decide whether these attributes are created by evolution, like we talked about earlier, or cultural beauty standards, which we will talk about now. 

Cultural Changes

Culture and societal beauty standards have a massive effect on the way people look. There’s the ones we tend to know about, like small feet and long necks and the like, but this is fiction we’re talking about, so we can go a little crazier. Head to toe tattoos to make you an entirely different color. For fun, let’s say that it’s custom to tattoo your entire body the color of your aura, and the rest of the community makes large assumptions about your character and values off of it that aren't great, but it also holds a complex, tender sort of love for your community and your beliefs. Let’s say that you have to stitch on some attributes of the animal on your family’s crest, like lark wings on your back or badger claws on your fingers. Or a tail. I'm picturing something a tad crude and useless; the animal body parts are not enlarged to be the proper scale or genuinely connected to the body. Imagine what a pacifist daughter, or a character afraid of lizards, would do if they were told they must staple a salamander tail to their backside as soon as they turn eighteen.

        Let’s say it’s custom to have really long legs, so they break and extend your legs over and over again, to your own personal detriment, or women are supposed to have incredibly long nails, to the point where their hands become almost unusable, to show wealth and how well their spouse takes care of them. 

To be clear, I have no real dislike for cultural beauty standards and regulations, even though everything I’ve said thus far has been kind of against them. I just think struggle is more interesting to write about, but let me give you a few others that are more positive! 

Since we’ve mentioned tattoos, let’s say that every child is tattooed with the constellations across the night sky on the day / night of their birth, to display the unity between the child and the universe and to show that they are eternally connected to one another. Or on a person’s wedding day, each family member gifts the bride and groom a feather, and they have to then wear all of those feathers in their hair from that day onward, unless the couple breaks up; the more feathers shows a larger family, and the more worn-down the feathers are, the longer the couple has been in love and together. 

        The belief that every physical attribute or special addition has to be plot-relevant is what got us in this wings-only mess in the first place. Not everything has to be useful, it can sometimes just work to extend the world and add context to a character’s belief and personality, even if it’s in the smallest way. And it’s fun! I might do more installments of this, I’ve got so many ideas. Again, you are free to use any of these if they strike your fancy, as well as build off of or extract whatever you like. I hope you found this at least somewhat interesting! Happy Writing! 

Checkhov’s Gun; What is it and How is it Used?

Someone on Tiktok posted about how she discovered Chekhov's Gun and how useful it was in the writing process, and of course all of the comments are either people asking what Chekhov's Gun is or agreeing that it is useful, but not exactly stating what it is. 

So I’ll do it! 

Chekhov's Gun is a narrative phenomenon where a seemingly insignificant detail or object is introduced into the story, and only much later proves to be incredibly relevant to the plot. Anton Chekhov, the playwright who created this concept, had a pretty decent way of summing it all up; if you introduce a gun in the first act, it must be fired by the third. He believed that pretty much anything a reader brings to the audience's attention in a story has to amount to something useful in order to further plot or character development. If a character mentions a peanut allergy at the beginning of the movie, maybe have him fall into a giant peanut factory at the end of the story, a la 102 Dalmations (2000). An extreme example, but an example nevertheless. 

In the name of honesty, I’ve been sitting in front of my computer trying to think of other examples I’ve seen in books for a good twenty minutes now, and I’m coming up completely empty. I’ve suddenly forgotten the plot of every book I’ve ever read except for a singular MHA fanfiction I read in high school that is, unfortunately, a perfect example, so that’s the one I’m going to go with. 

(I’m acting like I’m ashamed but if I could go back I would do it all over again. This fanfiction was batshit and I loved every second of it.)

So in this fanfiction, we start the story with Character A and Character B (I WILL NOT specify what ship I was reading fanfiction about) as professional superheroes, discussing their plans for after work. They talk about what they’re going to eat for dinner. Character A kicks a rock on the sidewalk. Character B complains about the underwire in her bra being uncomfortable, and Character A tells her to keep that shit to herself. Then we move on.

After work, Character B is kidnapped and transported to a windowless, underground room (I think, it’s been a while since I’ve read this fanfiction and I cannot for the life of me find it online, so this is all coming straight from my memory). For days, Character A rallies to find her and Character B suffers, alone in this room, captive to a nasty villain who has some ability that produces a dog-whistle style tone that, once heard, forces a person to stay awake. Character B spends three, maybe four days in this underground prison, unable to sleep and slightly losing her mind because of it, before she thinks of a plan. 

You see where this is going? I certainly didn’t, I can tell you that fucking much. 

Remember that pesky underwire in Character B's bra? She pulls it out and proceeds to stab it into her ears, damaging her eardrums and deafening herself. She then can no longer hear the dog-whistle, and finally sleeps. Now, I’m not going to tell you that I know for certain whether or not this is logistically possible. What I am going to tell you is that it was cool as shit. I read this fanfiction a minimum of five years ago and I still think about it. That should tell you how cool it was. 

Boom; Chekhov's Gun. 

If the name Chekhov's Gun sounds familiar but the concept doesn’t, you may be thinking of Schrodinger’s Gun. In the words of Joe Vasicek, Schrodinger’s Gun is “what happens when Schrödinger’s cat gets hold of Chekhov’s gun.” Schrodinger’s Gun says that the audience only knows as much as the author chooses to tell them, and that backstory and worldbuilding can be changed as the story goes on. This tool is best used for choose-your-own-adventure type storytelling, like DnD or other RPGs, or authors of webcomics or Wattpad fanfictions which release every week and can be altered depending on what choices an audience favors. For non-RPG examples, think of the movie Clue (1985), which had three separate endings and audiences in theaters were randomly shown one of the three. Think of the many, many writers nowadays who throw time travel into the third season of a show without mentioning time travel as a possibility in the first two seasons. 

Phenomena wise there’s also the somewhat similar Macguffin, which is an object or scene that works as a trigger, plowing the plot onwards. A Macguffin lacks the secrecy and surprise that Chekhov's Gun does, and the payoff is almost immediate. The comm chips in Four Dead Queens by Astrid Scholte is a Macguffin, which sets the main plot, trying to save the queens from their inevitable murder, into action. The locket in Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan is a Chekhov’s Gun, appearing at the beginning of the story and then returning at the very end to add depth and meaning to our main character. The maps the goonies find in the attic leading to treasure? Macguffin. The little boy at the beginning of The Incredibles (2004) turning out to be the villain at the end? Chekhov’s Gunman. It’s the same concept, only with a human being instead of an object. 

Do you have to use it? No. There’s another very common narrative phenomenon authors love to use called the Red Herring, which is an intentional misdirect where the author brings the audience's attention to an object specifically for them to assume it’s important, only for it to end up being completely useless. 

In A Spark in the Cinders by Jenny Elder Moke, Aralyn is told that there are three things that must be brought together to save her kingdom, and in the same breath, she is told that the “Protectors Blade” had been split into three pieces and hidden across the land, and she had to go find them. Naturally, Aralyn and the audience both assume the three pieces of the blade are the things that must be brought together, but the story ends with us all realizing that it hadn’t been the blade at all; it had been Aralyn, her step sister Ellarose, and her hot lesbian knight lover Vee coming together that would save the kingdom. It just so happens that what brings them together is the search for a sword that also coincidentally is in three pieces. 

Red Herrings can be extremely useful and incredibly interesting, but even if you aren’t using one, you still don’t have to take Chekhov’s Gun into account. There is no one way to tell a story, first of all. If you want to mention objects or details that don’t amount to anything, that’s your prerogative. God knows I dragged myself through two full pages of what a hobbit hole isn’t, so I say do whatever you want if you like it. My rule is typically if it fleshes out something, a character, a scene, a setting, feel free to add it in! There’s a line here, of course, but I’m not going to try and tell you where that line is. It’s all subjective. 

Chekhov’s Gun is intended for reader satisfaction. Readers love to find symbolism and metaphorical meaning in everything, so if you tell them that the curtains are blue, they’re going to wonder why the curtains are blue, who decided they were blue, and could that person be the Blue-Faced Killer? You get the idea. It’s good advice, but it’s worth noting that Chekhov wrote plays and short stories predominantly, and that is what he focuses his advice towards. It can be used for anything, sure, but it doesn’t have to be. When you're pressed for time, I imagine it makes much more sense to skip the curtains being blue. If it makes you feel better, Ernest Hemingway strongly disagreed with Chekhov’s Gun and loved putting insignificant details in his stories. 

Again, it’s all subjective. Take it into consideration or don’t, I hope I’ve given you at least a better idea of what Chekhov’s Gun is, how it works, and how it can be utilized in your own writing. Good luck, and happy writing!