Hmmm.

Opinions on Legacy of Kain minis by zdimensia on 2014-05-29 00:26:00 UTC Reply

I know this won't go official yet, but I want to think about it.

The species in the Legacy of Kain series are: humans, hylden, vampires, and demons.

Demons and hylden don't have proper names. (One hylden is called The Sarafan Lord ((not sure about proper spelling)) and another is called The Seer.)

I'm wondering if the minis should just follow the species that their namesakes come from, (risking the creation of a mini suit of armor named Malik,) or if I should go with mini-demons. (The demons would have been funny, except that the mini-fire-demons wouldn't quite be mistaken for mini-Balrogs.) I'm leaning towards having the minis actually resemble who they are supposed to be, resulting in a one-foot-tall version of Janos named Yanos.

I've decided that Moebius would have a doppelganger named Mobius that acts completely normal except that he is helpful when confronted by Sue-hunters like the PPC. Probably the same with any other character who only appeared in Blood Omen because many fans have only experienced that one secondhand through unofficial walkthroughs.

Being the person who discovers the Minis by Hieronymus Graubart on 2014-05-30 11:06:00 UTC Reply

of an unexplored canon is a great honor that should not be taken lightly.

Unfortunately I don’t know anything about The Legacy of Kain, so I can’t help you with the details. But there are some general rules that can be derived from watching Minis in other canons.

There may be some exceptions for word worlds which I don’t know well, but generally the Minis are based on one species, thus "just follow the species that their namesakes come from" doesn’t sound like a good idea. Keeping Minis consistent would be preferable over creating another exception. Also, a well-written Mini keeps the personality of the character it is supposed to be, but, with minor variations, the physical features of the species it is based on.

Often, the Minis are based on something that occurred only briefly in canon, not one of the main (antagonist) forces. This may disqualify demons, vampires, hylden and humans. Are there any minor monsters or machines that qualify as "creepy if their Mini versions weren’t so cute in the agents’ eyes"? (Machines? Yes, among others we have mini-telescreens from 1984).

Since the misspellings that spawn Minis shouldn’t exist in good writing, looking for something that "shouldn’t be there" may also help to find the Mini species. The reason why it "shouldn’t be there" may vary. In many canons, it involves "created by an evil being for malevolent purposes", like Balrogs, or it may just canonically be encountered in a place where it canonically shouldn’t live, like Aragog in Hogwart’s Forbidden Forrest (Acromantulas are supposed to be a tropical species). More examples may be found in this discussion of the Pokemon Minis.

Lacking knowledge, I cannot comment on this doppelganger business.

HG, trying to be helpful.

Hmmm. by zdimensia on 2014-05-30 14:41:00 UTC Reply

Demons are not supposed to be there, signaling that something is wrong with the world. However, they are almost omni-present because canonically there is something wrong with the world at all times. Hylden were banished, except that barely-canonical game where they got unbanished, and some stories are about before this happened.

There are Blood Omen specific entities that only happen in a small space, but they are not cute. The animated toys from the Dollmaker's, and the eyeless wretches.

Sluagh are widespread creatures that only exist in the spectral realm. Having them exist in the physical world would indicate a mini, or something that needs attention anyway. (I have seen some physical sluagh, but I would be surprised to find one in a sporkable fic.) And they have huge eyes, which should help in their cute factor.

What about... by Neshomeh on 2014-05-30 14:52:00 UTC Reply

The Elder God? As I recall, he's not actually a god, just an opportunistic invader from another dimension (or something like that). If he's a member of a species rather than a totally unique entity, that might work. In mini-form, he'd basically be an octopus with too many eyes, right?

Otherwise, Sluagh sounds most promising to me.

~Neshomeh

thought about elder god and the mass by zdimensia on 2014-05-31 04:09:00 UTC Reply

Mini eldritch abomination? Mini squid?

Maybe for misspelled organizations?

I think they might move like starfish if they are mobile at all? Thing is that Samantha wouldn't tolerate any of them, much less an aquarium full (or an aquarium.) Though having that many chatty mollusks might be cute in psychfic's waiting room. It isn't acceptable to stomp on minis, is it?

I'll keep thinking about it. Another candidate might be mini empty armor.