1. caters

    caters Active Member

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    Humanoid species in my story

    Discussion in 'Character Development' started by caters, Dec 21, 2015.

    I am writing a story called Life on Kepler Bb(B flat, like in music). I have 2 adult humanoids, 1 male and 1 female and a young female humanoid. I will give you a summary of the story and character profiles.

    I first describe the planet and its moons. Then I get into the real story.

    The male humanoid starts building a shelter. That evening the adult female humanoid hunts down a big male deer without scaring him. The next morning she makes a fruit salad for breakfast. As they settle into a semi hunter-gatherer lifestyle(Not nomadic but do go far out to hunt and forage) they discover new superpowers. They have a baby and after 5 years they know that the child is female.

    Character profiles:

    Robin(currently my only male character):

    Superpowers he knows he has: Ability to crunch bone like a hyena, micro vision, x ray vision, producing positively charged static electricity, knowing when rain is coming from atmospheric changes

    Description: A human like creature with superhuman powers. He is able to climb through twists and turns underground like a ferret and up trees like a leopard. He knows how to make ginger ale and how to build a complex home from a basic shelter.

    Lisa(my adult female character of the same species):

    Superpowers she knows he has: Ability to crunch bone like a hyena, IR vision, x ray vision, knowing when rain is coming from atmospheric changes

    Description: A human like creature with superhuman powers. She is able to climb through twists and turns underground like a ferret and up trees like a leopard. She knows how to hunt deer and other large animals. She also knows which fruits are poisonous and which ones are safe. She can tell if she is pregnant or just gaining weight by bending her head down and looking at her belly with X ray vision.

    Alma(my young female character):

    Superpowers she knows she has: None(But she probably has some that she just hasn't discovered)

    Description: A human like creature with superhuman powers. She is able to climb through twists and turns underground like a ferret and up trees like a leopard but not as well as her parents.

    General species description(Applies to all 3 characters):

    A human like creature with superhuman powers. Excellent climbing power is a built in superpower and to the species, isn't a superpower. Others are discovered with age and learning. A baby is gender neutral until 5 years of age(so genetically gender is already determined but gender is still unknown until it is 5 years old). Then external genitalia start to develop as do gender-specific characteristics. So a pregnant woman won't know the gender of her child until she has taken care of it for 5 years. Immortality is a genetic trait and is recessive. So 2 mortal creatures can have an immortal child. Even with immortality death is guaranteed at some point due to disease or other natural and unnatural causes.

    Female characteristics:

    They tend to be shorter although some can grow taller than their male counterparts. They tend to be very smart in child care and housework and don't need to be taught although teaching does help considerably.

    Male characteristics:

    They tend to be taller but some are shorter than the females. They tend to be very smart in building and medical care and again, don't need to be taught these things although teaching does help.

    So I am wondering what I should call this species since different individuals of this species have unique superpowers. Some might be able to fly for instance while others might be able to hibernate like a bear or grow fur in cold climates. Some might even be able to evolve into a reptilian morph and this reptilian morph can have different superpowers depending on the type of reptile.
     
  2. GingerCoffee

    GingerCoffee Web Surfer Girl Contributor

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    I can't give you the answers because I'm name-the-character challenged. But I can tell you how I solved the problem. I just started writing and anywhere I couldn't choose a name I just put a letter. It helps to highlight it so you can go back and find it later. I even had letters for the character's qualities so, there was MG for mean girl, T1 an T2 for the twins and so on.

    The key here is, don't let the little things hold you back. You have a story idea, start writing.
     
  3. caters

    caters Active Member

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    I know and I have already started writing but I want to know at some point what I should call this species of humanoid because if I just say humanoid I could be referring to any species, in my story or not.
     
  4. Wolfmaster1234

    Wolfmaster1234 Member

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    Sometimes when I'm stuck trying to think of a name for a species I use parts of latin words. singulus means individual, potentia means power, mutationis means change. so maybe you call them singorians, poterians or mutatorians. Or maybe due to their abilities they are causal referred to as morphs. Try looking up words in different languages depending on the cultural basis of setting and use them to form a name.
     
  5. oTTo

    oTTo Member

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    Someone said to me recently, in a post in fact, a very inspirational little bit. It is easier to just write it as it is known information.
    I had asked how to describe a horse that is a horse, but genetically altered to be able TO LIVE ON A WORLD NOT Earth. It is better to write them as already accepted by the characters, terms are whatever they are. If the reader has to turn a few pages to figure out what a sqwelknank is because the character accepts its existence, maybe rewrite. Point is... we know they aren't human.
     
  6. oTTo

    oTTo Member

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    Oh, at. The atmospheric changes thing. It isn't a super power. We have that ability as humans. Your sinus cavity can sense barometric changes, humidity changes, and your skin can sense temperature. Our ears can hear sound, and our eyes visuals. Cloud motion, light, and wind are clear signs of changes.
     
  7. caters

    caters Active Member

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    But those are not very accurate in humans. In these humanoids however their sensory power is so accurate that they know when a storm is coming within a few hours. We, humans only think that there is going to be a storm in x hours or x days and often it isn't true because the storm dissipates as it passes. Thunderstorms and tornadoes(which come from thunderstorms) are the most inaccurately predicted storms for humans(unnecessary tornado warnings when there aren't even any yellow clouds, signs of a thunderstorm like strong winds and dark clouds when there isn't any rain within 24 hours).
     
  8. Jack Asher

    Jack Asher Banned Contributor

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    http://www.seventhsanctum.com/generate.php?Genname=darkelfnamer
     

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