Forums » RP Discussion » Collaborative OC: A cute critter!

I'll start off by saying that I love cute critters. I mean, it's not really much of a secret, given my character collection is full of them, but I'm kinda curious what the community can come up with. And I can never have too many cute critters in my collection!

So here are the three criteria I want to start with:

• Small (4ft/122cm tall at the tallest)
• Capable of and comfortable with standing upright (doesn't have to always stand upright though - and doesn't technically need legs)
• Genderless

I'm more likely to pick things that I find cute, naturally, though things that are also interesting and alien have a good shot of getting including if they fit with the vision of whatever other things I select from the suggestions.

Heck, if there's enough here to go off of, I might even use this creation as the basis of an open species.

Ooh! Maybe some kinda wee little forest sprite or mushroom critter, maybe bioluminescent? They could carry a staff with a magic lantern on it--not a flame, but a cage full of glowing insects or crystals or mushrooms or something.

For some reason my first thought was a creature with ocean/beach vibes. Likes playing in the sand and collecting shells and pebbles, maybe has elemental water powers, that kind of thing. Might like swimming and have features of a fish or a dolphin or seal or something, or might be more of a land-dwelling, sand-digging creature— maybe a burrower. Could potentially be a blend of both of those things, too, I guess.
Maybe they're very playful, and love interacting and playing games with children of other species (my first thought was humans but could be anything), but much more skittish and reclusive around adults, to the point where many believe the creature isn't real and is just something their kids make up.

I'm imagining a teensy critter that hovers, but remains upright when doing so. Maybe they have wings or they use technology to get around sometimes? Maybe they can be capable of walking, but use a wheelchair/hoverchair sometimes because it's easier for their anatomy. If they're an underwater critter, maybe that's why?

I thinking of something piscine, like TheLorekeeper suggested. Cute sea critters I can think of are pufferfish, dorid nudibranchs, sea urchins, and octopuses. Maybe your critter even has multiple arms!

Or instead of something that lives underwater, what about something that lives in lava? Like a sea creature, but related to fire and earth! Could be based off of a mole, some sort of 60 cm tall critter that burrows under volcanoes. Possibly insectoid?

Those are some of my ideas!

I'm getting some good thoughts for combinations already... Though I will add, given sea stuff has been brought up, that whilst the creature needs to be able to stand upright, it doesn't necessarily need to be able to locomote that way. For instance as an example, it could have a fish-like tail with the flexibility and muscles to support itself with it without necessarily being able to propel itself on land with it.

My immediate thought was an octopus or cuttlefish that can move in such a way as to orient itself into normal human clothing and walk around, albeit rather clumsily, on land. What if they also only wore long sleeves and pants to help them not kinda fall apart while on land?

Alright, so I was just informed that I have described Octodad in a very basic essence. My apologies, please ignore my comment 🤣🤣🤣

I'm a huge sucker for feline creatures so my first thought was some kind of vaguely cat shaped ball of fluff that can stand confidently on it's back legs to see above things bigger than it's little tiny self! I also had the mental image of wings and horns for some reason?

That's my contribution haha!

I've pretty much managed to find features from everyone that I can work together (even KingDragon, though perhaps to a more subtle extent).

There's still a few days left, but at this point I may as well outline what my process is going to be...

I'm going to start with the artwork before I actually work on the profile, because I find it easier to work with something there's am image of first rather than building said image later in the process. There will be a species that will come out of this - which will be contained on the OC's profile, the details of which are the lowest priority, so might not be finished until after the profile deadline. If I ever move the species to another profile, a link will definitely be provided on the OC's, so don't worry about that.

For any last minute ideas that might benefit from a little more structure: I've decided to lean into the aquatic theme that has been provided. I'm not going to include any above-water levitation abilities. I'm going to try to incorporate some aspect of mushroom or forest sprite into it, but no guarantees there. There will be feline features, though. And unless an idea comes up that supersedes it in cuteness, I'm probably going to use a nudibranch as basis for the aquatic qualities. There are a lot of other details I've chosen to include that have been mentioned of course, but they're less relevant to this.

There's always kelp forests, and coral reefs (vaguely forest-adjacent in my mind.) Could be like a forest sprite but in one of those habitats instead.

There are also seagrass beds and coastal wetlands/swamps! The Everglades is one place I can think of for inspiration.

With the time now expired, this is the list I've compiled of stuff I'm taking onboard:

Subject to minor changes.

I'll probably make a start on designing the character via artwork after dinner tonight - might take a day or two to finalise, depending on my pace. After which, I'll get a move on with the profile.

I'm probably going to take inspirations from merfolk (humanoidish upper body with aquatic lower body), but the upper half would still be fairly aquatic and take more from felines than actual humans (perhaps even with some feyish qualities thrown in).

I'm not sure yet on the size of the creature... debating between around 3ft and 1ft tall.

I'll probably make the species capable of surviving in both salt and fresh water, because that would make for better RP opportunities.

Line art is done!


A note that the 'nose' is just a stripe. It instead smells through the rhinophores (horns) on its head. The ears are covered in a layer of fine hair that is barely visible (mostly to incorporate a 'fur' aspect). As for unseen anatomy: it has cerata on its back for breathing.

It might not be obvious, but the lantern on the staff is modelled on a mushroom.

Aaaaaand.... art complete!

Behold!

Aww, I love them! You definitely succeeded in making a cute critter.

Glad you like them!

I've finished working on the species info now, though it might need some cleaning up at a later date. It was a lot of stuff to write down in the space of time in which I completed it, so it's probably pretty messy.

I wanna thank everyone for their input - I've had a lot of fun working on this character and species!

I'm glad you had fun making them! They turned out adorable!