Digital Anatomy

In the realm of video games, developers come up with stories that take place in worlds that don't always exist. And in these worlds are, as one may expect, creatures that do not necessarily exist either. However, no matter how twisted these creatures get, they all bear a semblance to creatures of the Earth we know today. Sometimes, the reference can be blatantly obvious, like in the case of Mammoths and Horkers in Skyrim.

The Mammoths look almost exactly like the mammoths of Earth's ice age and Horkers look like walruses. The only subtle differences are in the tusks. Sometimes, however, the references to Earthly creatures' features are less pronounced. This can be seen in Corpsers and Brumaks in Gears of War.

The Corpser, the first image, looks somewhat like a spider, and the Brumak after it is built much like a gorilla. However, the game designers have altered their anatomy a bit more for extra style points.

Sometimes, to create a new creature, developers simply combine two or more creatures from the real world and blend their characteristics to form a new being. One example of this can be seen in Mass Effect.

This is a Varren. They were created by combining a fish and and a dog. They show aspects of both, but are a completely new animal.

All of these creatures exist only in a digital world and yet still retain the images of Earth's natural inhabitants. Mostly because it is weird to think of any creature with anything but two, four, six, or eight legs, a head, and a similar body structure. Still, the game designers do a good job of inventing things for people to see in video games.