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Hello! For my first deviations, I'd like to show the design process I went through to design this alien here. My intent was to make it convergent with fish, yet not much like a fish visually.

Here it is consuming a distant relative, likely hunted down at speed, not unlike a swordfish. However, the similarities don't go far, for this creature hunts with four limbs folded underneath the head, not jaws. Its body also flexes up-and-down, like a whale, not side-to-side. Those two odd "nostrils" lead to the respiratory organs, which expel water out of the slit at the back. Finally, it has a large eye on each side of its head, with two small eyes atop its head. All these odd features are a direct consequence of its ancestry and evolution, which I will show in the coming submissions.

Designing a single lineage of aliens to inhabit a world is a bit misleading, even if the planet is assumed to be essentially Earthlike, like here. The truth is that evolution depends very closely on competition between lineages of organisms, so creating them in a vacuum is by nature unrealistic. So while it can be fun to create a history for a line of strange yet possible aliens, I wouldn't recommend it if it can be avoided. Instead, taking the progression of the biosphere as a whole is the much better option.

As always, any feedback is well appreciated!

Description

Hello! For my first deviations, I'd like to show the design process I went through to design this alien here. My intent was to make it convergent with fish, yet not much like a fish visually.

Here it is consuming a distant relative, likely hunted down at speed, not unlike a swordfish. However, the similarities don't go far, for this creature hunts with four limbs folded underneath the head, not jaws. Its body also flexes up-and-down, like a whale, not side-to-side. Those two odd "nostrils" lead to the respiratory organs, which expel water out of the slit at the back. Finally, it has a large eye on each side of its head, with two small eyes atop its head. All these odd features are a direct consequence of its ancestry and evolution, which I will show in the coming submissions.

Designing a single lineage of aliens to inhabit a world is a bit misleading, even if the planet is assumed to be essentially Earthlike, like here. The truth is that evolution depends very closely on competition between lineages of organisms, so creating them in a vacuum is by nature unrealistic. So while it can be fun to create a history for a line of strange yet possible aliens, I wouldn't recommend it if it can be avoided. Instead, taking the progression of the biosphere as a whole is the much better option.

As always, any feedback is well appreciated!