How to make an Alien species

How to make an Alien species, a guide I hope you may find useful.

This is not a definitive guide; nor are any of these hard-and-fast rules; these steps do not need to be done in any particular order; you can do do them any way you please, or even go back and forth from one to another; this is just a simple guide to one way of making an Alien species, that I hope you may find helpful.



Step 1: A basic idea

Get a basic idea of what you want your species to be like: are they active or indolent; united or divided; expansive or conservative?

Example: have an idea for an alien species called the Kyrzik: the Kyrzik are a greedy, avaricious species, intent on acquisition, which drives their expansion into space; despite their greedy(thieving) nature, or because of it, they live by a strict code of conduct.


Step 2: Environment

This may seem a bit backward, I believe you need to decide what environment your species inhabits before the physical details: remember, your species evolved to fit the environment, not vise-versa.

While you're t it, think about a basic food chain, and how your species fits into nature; it's not absolutely necessary, but it will help flesh out your world.

Example: I want to make an alien species, called the Kyrzik; I have some idea of what I want them to be like, so I consider what sort of environment they would live in.

The Kyrziks' world is a cold, rocky place; where the inhabitants have to be prepared to pounce on any opportunity for gain; the Kyrzik are omnivores, but are near the top of the food chain, and there aren't many species that would try to eat them.


Step 3: Biology

Once you have some idea of what sort of world your species inhabits, you should have a good idea of what would be a good shape for them in their environment.

For this, knock yourself out: silicon-based, sulphur-breathing, living in the vacuum of space; insectile, reptilian, or something altogether different; go crazy with the detail. As long as it makes sense to you, and you have an explanation for it, anything goes.

Things to keep in mind:
1, your species must have a means of gathering energy: photosynthesis, heat sinks, food, whatever; this is not optional; I suggest you check out my article on the subject.
2, the Law of Bilateral Symmetry is important: you can disregard it, but you should keep it in mind.
3, your species must have some means of affecting the universe around them.

Example: I decide that the Kyrzik have four limbs, to travel around their rocky world, they assume a shambling gait like an ape, making great use of their hands; they are covered by short shaggy fur to protect them from the cold; they have long fingers and toes, the better to grab things with, and with large eyes, ears, and long, sharp teeth.

Note: while you're at it, you might want to consider questions like reproduction and growth, gender(minimum of one), disease, and death.



Society: Now, with an idea of what your species is like, and the environment they live in, you should work out exactly how they live. This could mean many things: culture, economy, politics, even the psychology of the species as a whole.

Steps 4-5-6 are all closely connected, and you should not decide one without considering the others.


Step 4: Culture

Your species, what are they like? Are they proud and noble? Sneaky and greedy?

Example: I decide the Kyrzik live in a highly-regimented, almost feudal society based on family groups and clans: the Kyrzik individually are a greedy, competitive species; for their society to survive, they must live under a very strict code, demanding utter faith to family and lord, making it impossible for their society to advance to a higher order.


Step 5: Economy

How do your species survive? what do they do to produce the food, tools, and materials they need to thrive? Are they fantastic engineers, creating things of fantastic beauty? Or are they primitive scavengers, rooting for food amongst the ashes of civilization.

While you're at it, you should consider what currencies(if any) your species use.

Example: I decide the Kyrzik are largely a commercial society; most clans have some specialty, some sort of goods or product they produce and trade to others for what they need.


Step 6: Organization

Are they nomadic? do they dwell in hives, cities, dens? Are they loners? Do they have family groups, clans, tribes, nations? What are their politics? do they have democracy, tyranny, thocracy, a republic or feudal form of government? (you don't have to design an entire political system, but you should have an idea of how they make decisions as species).

Example: The Kyrzik are ruled by a king and queen, who come from the two most powerful clans; each royal clan has a number of noble clans who are vassals to them; each noble clan has a number of vassal-clans, and so on, until you reach the bottom-most clans, who have no vassals whatsoever; each clan maintains it's own clan home, which may be a single building, a small town, or even a city: the more important the clan, the larger the clan home.


Step 7: The exceptions

In every society, there are exceptions: these may be groups, like primitive tribes, criminal organizations, or individuals, like mercenaries, criminals, loners, wanderers; it is from their ranks that rise the brave heroes and dastardly villains who make up the great tales that drive us.

You don't have to make exceptions, but then it would be a boring Alien species, and who wants that?

Example: While the majority of Kyrzik live in landed clans, there are many renegades and criminals who cannot, or will not live in the highly regimented mainstream.


Step 8: Military

Does your species have a military? are they a pacifist species? If they are divided into separate nation-states, do they live in harmony? Or is there conflict?

Example: Each Kyrzik clan maintains a number of warriors, ready to fight to defend their clan's interests. In addition, the Monarchs keep a Royal Army, primarily recruited from the landless renegades(see above).

Note: a species evolved from carnivores is highly unlikely to form a pacifist society.


Step 9: Expansion

How far have your species expanded? Have they spread across the depths of interstellar space to make a star empire, or have they not yet conquered their home world?

Example: the Kyrzik have colonized much of their star system, and have developed an interstellar drive, and begun traveling to other solar systems.


Step 10: Technology

What level of technology is your species at? Do they have starships and matter transmitters, or are they still fighting with wooden spears?

Example: the Kyrzik have a fairy high level of technology, permitting them to spread throughout their solar system, and begin expansion into others.

Note: the 'level' of technology is not a measure of it's sophistication: a mechanical watch can be more complicated, built to more exacting standards than an electron microscope.



Step 11: The universe at large

Do they know of the existence of other stars? Other worlds? Other intelligent species? If they meet aliens, how do they treat them? With fear and hostility? Welcome and and hospitality? How do they feel about the universe at large?

Example: The Kyrzik are have interstellar travel and have encountered



The nitty-gritty: bunch of.

Language: you don't have to develop an entire language, but having a few words and names ready can be very handy.

ESP: is your species psychic? If so, what powers do they have?

Literature: Shakespeare and Homer, or the Three Stooges? what sort of literature is popular? Edgy? Avant-garde?

Environment: you don't have to make an entire environment, but knowing what other species, animal or plant, share the world can be good.

Evolution: it is not at all necessary to know how your species evolved, what they evolved from, what they are evolving into, but again, it can be important detail for any stories you write about them, or games, or whatever.

Religion: What kinds of religion do your species have? Is there just one, or a plurality of them? Is there some religious organization enforcing orthodoxy? What kind of rituals do they follow, and for what reasons?

Illustrations, drawings and pictures: This of course is the really fun part; I suggest that you start with a simple pencil sketch; just a bare outline to start with; if you don't like it, erase and start over: don't start on any detail until you are happy with the basic shape.

I'm not a very good artist, so I also suggest you ask an artist for help and advice.


That's about it: I hope you will find some good from this, and I wish you, and your Aliens well.