So, I think the picture above is from a game called ‘Monster Hunter’. Not sure which in the franchise it is, but seeing videos of this and working on Darwin & the Beast Collector got me thinking about monsters. Specifically, I was wondering about how monsters are part of the environment and out in the open. Yet, people don’t always think about this.
Most of the fantasy worlds that I’ve seen have regular animals running around with the occasional monster. I think authors want these creatures to be unique and special, so they become rare and show up only for plot. You might get a few domesticated ones, but the non-Earth fauna really isn’t common. To be fair, the higher the magic of the world, the more common such creatures are in the wild. That must be something to consider, but I still find the whole thing strange.
I look at a fantasy world as a non-Earth environment with different factors, so the evolution of animals shouldn’t be the same. There could still be what we are used to seeing, but also beasts that aren’t from our world. They can easily be magical versions of what we have. I’m not talking about dragons and the other big monsters, but just small things. For example, I have a creature that showed up a bit in Legends of Windemere called a bog hare. It was a bouncy, chubby rabbit that lived in swamps and was a protein source for adventurers. Nothing immense or crazy, but an altered animal that makes sense for Windemere.
Now, this does happen with monsters being secluded and in hard to reach areas, but this doesn’t always make sense. Many times, it’s explained that civilized races pushed them to these places through hunting either for food or protection. Yet, the regular predators like lions and wolves are still around. If these people are so quick to destroy things like griffins and hydras then why wouldn’t they do it for other violent animals? It isn’t like they know which ones are found on Earth and which ones aren’t. If there’s no theory of evolution then they could assume all of them are magical too. That might be a stretch, but I still find it strange that non-Earth creatures are almost always shoved into the shadows. Could I be overthinking it?
Maybe this is why I try hard to add weird flora and fauna when I’m describing the wilds of Windemere. Though, I’m not always successful because I focus more on the actual terrain when writing these scenes. I do think part of the issue is that it’s hard to design a creature when you’re not going to use it for more than window dressing. Many authors would argue against that even though it does drive home the fact that the setting is not Earth, which some readers don’t always remember. Monsters in the open is a way to maintain immersion and . . . I forgot the world for drawing people into a story. Anyway, I have tried to add more critters in my descriptions as I get older. Don’t have a reason for why that is, but it feels right.
What do other people think about stories having non-Earth fauna in the open instead of only in the shadows?
