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Posted By: stereobandito Mar 14, 2005 - 08:59 am

Don't get me wrong, I love fantasy of all kinds, but I really do prefer those authors who tend to create their own races or at least put a clever twist on existing ones without using the trademark ones that are already "at your fingertips" as such.

If you don't know what I mean, I'll give you a very simple "Mickey Mousey" example. Personally, I would always prefer to use a race of my own design as the enemies for my protagonist(s), rather than simply using orcs or goblins. I feel that this is a slight cliche, but I'm not saying that those ideas are bad, but perhaps over done... Does anyone agree?

Anyway, my main idea is not fantasy, but Science Fiction. In my epic, I'm finding that making a unique race is not all that easy. I'm talking about Martians.

Martians feature in many stories, and, although I was well aware of this I liked the idea of taking up an entirely new challenge and designing a fairly unique Martian race. I know it's not exactly definite that I will come up with something entirely new, I know that I won't. What I really want is a Martian race a reader will be interested in, hence keeping them interested in the storyline. True, you won't be told much about the Martian race at the beginning of the novel, but as it progresses, I hope to include them much, much more.

Whatever happens, I don't want them to be more advanced or even close to how advanced the human race of 200 years time is. The idea is that they were supressed by the human forces. I did have a few ideas, and I had them written down, but I don't know which one to persue, or even indeed which one is the most interesting.

Are there any tips or tricks you guys use to make a race of yours (fantasy or Sci-Fi) as interesting and unique as possible?

Thanks, any help is welcome

StereoBandito

Posted By: Magus Mar 14, 2005 - 02:41 pm

Well, Tolkien himself created "Orcs"/"Goblins", which technically he made synonomous, as well as "Hobbits"/"Halflings", again, the same thing. Now they're cliche because they're overused.

When making a race, consider the world/culture that they're in. Think of every physical/mental aspect of them, that are both similer and dissimilar to humans. Make them as real as you can. That's the best advice I can give on the subject.

Posted By: stereobandito Mar 15, 2005 - 08:28 am

I suppose what I really need to do is sit down with a piece/pad of paper, and design them from scratch. I suppose one advantage of this is that I can cover all aspects required, complete with diagrams and concept sketches to help me gain an idea... I always find it useful.

Thanks for the help Magus.

Posted By: Magus Mar 15, 2005 - 01:32 pm

My pleasure.

Posted By: thegreentick Mar 18, 2005 - 03:34 pm

I personally like taking an existing name and reworking it with only slight similarities. It offers something familiar as well as something new.