I'm having some second thoughts about the animals/creatures that appear in my high fantasy novel. This may get a little confusing, so bear with me. There are four gods in the story, and each one has their own spirit animal. Life has deer. Death has snakes. But I'm torn on Time's animal, which affects Spirit's animal as well. These animals play a very important role in my story, interacting often with my main character, so I need them to be believable (meaning, I can't just have an elephant walk up to my MC on the daily). Before the story takes place, the Goddess of Time Inara dies. I originally wanted her spirit animal to be the crow, and after her death, it dedicates itself to Inara's husband Veiro (the God of Spirit) in honor of her. If it can't be with her then it can be with the next best thing -- her mate. But I later made some changes and made Inara not only the Goddess of Time, but also of fire. So then her spirit animal became the lion and the crow became Veiro's. After her death, however, her spirit animal, feeling lost, sad, and alone, disappears without a trace. And since I didn't want all lions to disappear from the world and become something of myth, I decided to make it a more mythological creature, changing it instead to the winged lion (image seen here). I love this idea, because Inara is very much like the lion -- strong, proud, and fierce. But I still very much love the idea of the crow moving to her husband in an act of love. To make things more complicated, about mid-way through the story, my MC Seren meets a mythological creature. I had a very clear image of what I needed, so I chose the griffon (image seen here and here). He has wings, which is important, and I'm going to make him breath fire (he needs some kind of aerial, long-distance attack). The problem I've run into, though, is that the griffon was also a creature of myth. People spoke about it existing long ago, but no one actually believed the stories. So it's a big deal when it appears to Seren. However, it feels cheap to have a mysterious griffon and winged lion in the same story... So I'm stuck. Let me lay out the options for you to see if it gets less confusing. Option 1 -- Seren meets a griffon halfway through the story. Inara's spirit animal is the crow, which transfers over to Veiro after her death. Option 2 -- Seren meets a griffon, and Inara's spirit animal is the winged lion, which disappears after her death, never to return. Option 3 -- Seren meets a winged lion, the spirit animal of Inara, that had disappeared after her death. Option 4 -- Your suggestion I'm so attached to all these ideas, it's becoming impossible for me to make a decision. I love the griffons -- they have great personalities and I can see their faces so clearly in my mind. I really don't want to lose Femi and Ife and Jojo. And if I change them to winged lions, I'll have to change everything. Lions don't have the same personality that birds do (at least in my brain). But I really love the idea of Inara fighting next to a proud winged lion. But then I really love the idea of the crow too... I'm so confused!!! Help me. ETA: Secret Option 5 -- Seren meets a griffon, the spirit animal of Inara, that had disappeared after her death? Could that work maybe?
Wow, this story sounds good, all the options too. I can't decide and I can only imagine how hard it is to you. I could take option 1 or 5. Oh, in my brain, too, different species of animals have different kind of personalities
Seeing how you want to go with a bird for her spirit animal and that Inara is also the goddess of time and fire it makes sense, to me at least, to make her spirit animal a phoenix: The Phoenix is the mythological bird of fire that when it dies comes back which in a way makes it a timeless bird. And seeing how you want a bird to be the animal (from what it seems) it just makes sense to me. Hope it helps.
You stole my post ! The Phoenix is a great creature for Time. It represents birth, rebirth, and death. It's really just a good example of the cycle of life. Time Ideas: 1. I know it's not an animal but the black widow spider could be an option (it has a red hourglass on it). On the topic of insects/arachnids, there is a lot of variety. For instance the caterpillar and its life cycle. The centipede and millipede, like a snake, have that long body that reminds me of a timeline. 2. A tortoise (they can live for over 100 years). 3. An owl, though this could be cliché? 4. A Jellyfish (lol but really), they can turn back time to a younger stage of life. Apparently they are almost immortal. If you haven't already, go to Google and do a search for animals or mythological creatures that represent time or that live for a long time.
Thanks guys, but that doesn't really help my problem. I thought of the phoenix once too, but then the issue becomes... That's another mythological creature. And I feel like having the griffon and another creature (like a winged lion or phoenix) is too many. Won't the reader expect both to make an appearance? If not, I'm happy to use two mythological creatures. But I don't have a place in my story for both of them. All the animal suggestions are great, but the crow is very important to my story. Either Inara gets the crow and it goes to Veiro after her death, or Veiro gets the crow and Inara gets a mythological creature, which then disappears after her death. And having all owls or spiders or turtles disappear from the world just wouldn't work. Does that make sense?
This should certainly keep you up all night. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lists_of_legendary_creatures
I love the Phoenix idea but honestly if this spirit animal is the embodiment of the Goddess then perhaps a Sphinx may be a good option...
What if after Inara dies, the wings fall off of the lion becoming a crow and leave to join her husband? Now there are no more winged lions and you still get the crow to join the husband.
Well that's interesting.... I think I decided against the crow going to her husband, as I have another character that the crow can go to, but I'll definitely do that for the lion! Makes it much more fantasy. Thank you!
What about a Manticore? Never mind that is basically a winged lion with a scorpion tail... What about a Tikbalang (Werehorse)? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tikbalang It is a flightless animal, and it can be tamed.
