CCSF 2016 Blog Carnival: Day 6
The CCSF 2016 Blog Carnival is nearing its end, but it’s not over yet! Today’s prompt is focused on the mythology and backstory behind Creatures. One of the biggest draws about Creatures 1 was that simple story and the fact that an entire species was in my hands. Yet there is a lot more to discover, particularly in the first two games! For me, Creatures 3 had some beautiful visuals but lacked all of the small details in the background. There was no connection to the mysterious Shee, and I think this plays a part in why I don’t prefer the later games. That covers the very basics of my answer for the day, but now it’s onot my usual not-so-short response that includes more details than anyone actually needs!
What Do You Think of the Mythology and Backstory of Creatures?
As I quickly mentioned, I think Creatures 1 shines the brightest in terms of its mythology. There is a whole story about how the strange Shee abandoned the Norns and Grendels, and the world is still littered with many of their creations. I particularly loved the fact that the number of eggs was (theoretically) extremely limited when I first played. I constantly found myself looking at everything around the world and wondering why the Shee created it. Was it for them? Were they experimenting? Or were they actually trying to make life better for the Norns? Nowadays, I might classify the backstory as rather vague and not developed. However, this actually worked in favor of the games: We have so many stories that try to make sense of the Shee and the origins of our Creatures! A vague backstory is often a detriment to building up a game, yet I’m a firm believer that the Creatures story acts as a starting point for anyone who wants to write the “real” story.
Do You Have Any Favorite Background Details in the World?
Goodness, where to start?! Arch Dragon wrote an interesting post several years ago that really made me start looking at the background of Creatures 1. There are so many little things that one may never notice. I also had a chance to examine even more of the background when I compared the real model to the game model! The Albia in C1 is littered with all sorts of interesting details if one takes the time to take a look. I don’t have a favorite aspect, unless someone wants to read through an exhaustive list… And I don’t think anyone would want that! However, I do encourage everyone to take a moment to look at the background of the world, whichever game it’s in. Creatures 2 has a plethora of goodies to find, although I’ve found that C3/DS is missing out on a lot of these subtleties. Then again, third-party metarooms often have their own mythology and can have their own special things to enjoy. Keep your eyes open! When your Norns start to get really annoying, ignore them and you might just uncover something interesting hiding in plain sight.
Any Pet Theories or Thoughts, or Questions You Would Like Answered?
I’m not sure if it’s a common theory or not, but I remember stumbling across the idea that the Shee are actually humans. I completely disagree with this theory, although it certainly makes for some interesting stories! That’s one thing I should make very clear again: The whole Creatures universe is completely up for individual interpretation. And that’s what makes it so awesome. I just don’t see how the Shee could be humans… Although I can see the similarities! Personally, I like the mystery. No one really knows what happened to the Shee. When I’m not muddling through CAOS and genomes, I don’t really think about it. Yet there are times when I want to write a huge story about what might have happened to the Shee. Were they really so arrogant to leave behind their creations? Or was there a hidden reason they wanted to keep a secret? The possibilities are endless, just as they should be.
Naturally, I’m very biased in favor of the way the Creatures backstory was presented. I was a young kid who loved to use her imagination, and the way the Shee were presented intrigued me to no end! Were they ultimately good or bad, or maybe even a bit of both? Oh dear. Now I wonder if I should add a writing project on top of my giant pile of things to complete. Ha! I hope the mythology makes many players use their imaginations to think about what might exist beyond what we see in the games. I’ve always said that there are many complex layers within Creatures, but the backstory is one that may get lost. Never forget those vague Shee who might be sinister or just plain silly!
If it helps fuel your imagination, here are the beings I had in mind when I called them Side or Sidhe (pronounced roughly Shee but with a very soft “d”, which is the letter eth in some languages).
Grendel, of course, was a great monster or giant in Beowulf, and I think Ettin was also a personal name, rather than a kind of being (although there are Ettins in Narnia!) Oh, and the Nornir (Norns) were the three wise women who sat around the great World Tree, Yggdrasl (the three witches in Macbeth are derived from these). So I had the Scandinavian myths pretty much covered and decided to go for something Celtic and ethereal to add to them. I used to love the Irish myths and have always found Ireland deeply magical, so I picked the nature spirits who live under the Bronze Age burial mounds – The Sidhe. If I remember right, these may be a folk memory of the Neolithic people who lived in Ireland but I can’t remember the details any more, partly because living in America makes me feel very distant from the ancient world. Anyway, that might give you some things to get started with. Nice post!
– Steve
Oh wow, thank you so much for this insight. I think I vaguely recall hearing norns were based on some sort of myth but this clarification is wonderful. Thank you!
I wish I had the document or reference that went into more detail about this to share with you… Something tells me some of it is in the official strategy guides, but I’m sure I’ll think of it when I least expect it. At least this provides a whole lot of information, though! Always great to have Steve stop by to share some wisdom!
Thanks, Steve! I completely forgot to mention the real mythology behind Creatures, although I do remember reading about this at some point and thinking it was awesome. That’s also where I came up with the naming scheme for one of the early generations of my C1 world. It’s awesome to hear even more about your original thinking! Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing these interesting tidbits!
I believe ettin is another word for jotun, the godly beings that opposed the aesir in Norse mythology.
Speaking of the aesir, I’m a little surprised they were never mentioned in Creatures, maybe it’s something the fandom can pick up on.
Very interesting thoughts! I’m hoping that there will be some more stories or creations that branch out into more of the mythology behind Creatures. It certainly would be interesting to merge the Norse mythology with some of the Shee mythology. Definitely a lot to think about!