Audrey II
I realized that I’ve talked a lot about designing monsters over the years. Always a focus on the animals though. A plant-based creature might show up at times, but there are still animalistic characteristics. This seems wrong. An environment is composed of fauna AND flora. So, I want to spend a week thinking about plants.
First, I want to make it clear that I’m not only talking about monstrous plants. This can move than that. You have fairly mundane plants in a fictional world that still serve a purpose. Flowers of unique colors, magical medicinal herbs, strange trees, and the like add to a fantasy world. This gives it a special environment and not a carbon copy of Earth, which some readers might find unbelievable. This can be a plot essential item or part of the exposition when introducing a new area, which is why you don’t always have to think ‘monster’.
We really do overlook plants when doing fiction, but I’m realizing how foolish that could be. It doesn’t hurt a story by minimizing their importance, but there is an amazing facet that can be utilized. For example, a non-Earth or alternate Earth will have some type of medical field. Like in our world, many medicines come from plants, especially when you go back in human history. We worked with what we had, so why can’t the same be done in fiction? If magic exists then it’s not unheard of for there to be plants with special powers, which ancient civilizations could stumble onto. Same can be said in regards to eating (fruits and veggies), building material (log cabins), and whatever else we use plant materials for.
Of course, we still like having plants that attack and kill people. Many people go for the toothy carnivores like Audrey II up there. I’ve seen some pretty cool ones that are dangerous without biting though. Vines that constrict and suck a person dry. Flowers that will sprout from the skin and control its host like a parasite. Poisonous fumes or needles are rather popular in fiction. You have the good old mimic and replace a person or animal too. All of these are viable twists on plant life when you want to create a monster that isn’t an animal.
There’s an extra benefit to plant monsters too. Unlike animals, they don’t always have a central brain or heart. This means, they are harder to kill. Hacking away with a sword can still work, but it will take time. Not like there’s a head to chop off. Arrows won’t be very good without a vital spot to hit. Magic and bludgeoning would be the way to go, which makes it a greater challenge for any heroes who lack those options. It makes senses too because the majority of monsters will end up being animal-based. A hero might not prepare for a plant-based one. Not like everyone will have a fireball or stick of dynamite on hand just in case.
This is something that I really want to explore more in Windemere. I’ve used unusual plants a few times, but not enough for me to really delve into this. One of my future ideas was a short story collection involving the caretaker of a hidden garden. This would be a place with unusual plants created by the gods, which can’t exist anywhere else or need to be released under specific conditions. I should revisit that concept and see if I can flush it out more. Possibly a lot of potential there, which I wasn’t paying attention to until now.
So, any thoughts on fictional plants?
Legends of Windemere 
In the stories I’m working on the characters do a lot with plants, because that is what they use for medicine and for magic. I don’t have any invented carnivorous plants. But I do have poisonous ones. 😊 But yes, I have seen movies and TV shows where the plants swallow, kill, or replace people. Poison Ivy seems to create those types of plants on a regular basis. Invasion of the Body Snatchers made that an art form. 😄😄😄
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Poison Ivy definitely runs with the plant idea. Outside of her, seems to usually be a version of Audrey II or the Beauty & the Beast rose.
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I hope you will write that short story collection on the garden. It sounds like it will be fun!
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Me too. These days I’m lucky if I can even edit once a week.
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Clearly we need more of them! The Little Shop of Horrors needs repeating!
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I feel like that type of fictional plant is the default at this point.
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You are right, imagining plants in your worldbuilding is very important! They are what we eat, and what we build our houses with. Having a well thought out herbiary is so helpful.
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I’m not very good at this. I make random plants when I need them. Never remember them though.
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I’ve done some of this. I have a supporting character in The Hat series who has an entire greenhouse, and her familiar is a plant. She also has access to these wonderful nuts that have eyeballs in them. They serve as a kind of security camera system for her.
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The nut eyeballs sound creepy. Also, what are they called? Everything I thought up seemed lewd.
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I don’t think I named them.
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I think you are on the right track in exploring the idea of monster plants. Your short story idea sound terrific. I don’t think enough has beed done with plant monsters.
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I hope I can write it one day. Haven’t even gotten to notebook work.
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It is terrific that you have such a good idea to look forward to doing.
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Interesting. I’ve not used plants much, except as food when the characters are in the wilderness. I should try to use them more as dangers.
I love your idea of the garden for dangerous plants. You should definitely go for it.
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Thanks. It’s on the list of stories I’d love to write if I ever had the time. Maybe in my next life.
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😁 I know what you mean. We could do with an extra life, but not if we had to start all over again with no knowledge.
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