#high gravity

But what bodyplant do I think would be most adequate for a high gravity planet? From what existing life would I draw inspiration from? Allow me to introduce you to:

You are always horizontal, you are always lying down, you are never gonna fall down and break a bone, your body is a cylinder entirely made of cushion.

And it's not like you're gonna be building staircases, that sounds like a horrible idea in a high gravity environment regardless of bodyplant. Ramps everywhere, no accessibility issues. And how do you go downhill? I am so glad you asked.

This is probably my last piece of concept art for this story idea (a demon lord taking revenge against aliens that destroyed his world). Since the Demon lord and his surviving hoard is venturing into space in pursuit of aliens, he would be bound to encounter other inhabited worlds to conquer. Despite being in set in fantasy, I still try to have the these aliens make some sense.

I just gave them nicknames at the moment a quick rundown of each of them starting at the top left

Shegoran: Hyper advanced, dangerous, and bluring the lines between biology and technology, this is the species responsible for destroying the Demon Lord's world for reasons still unknown. They constantly change form depending on the need with the form shown most commonly seen.

Fungel crab: A colonial species with attributes of arthropods and fungi, the form hive minds rather than thinking individually. They inhabit a low gravity world with their spindly bodies lifted by hydrogen bladders that surrounds their heads.

Webarms: The arboreal mammalians shoot out silk from their back pair of arms used for locomotion, ensnaring prey, and crafting useful objects.

Steel Tail: They are a predatory species that incorporates various metals into it's own biology. Remarkably fast, strong, and durable, they attack primarily with their pincer tipped tails and have the unique ability to absorb/channel energy through them including magic, making them of particular interest to the Demon Lord.

Sea Claw: Squid=like creatures with radial symmetry, they inhabit an ice-shell world and were mostly ignorant of anything above the ice before the Demon Lord's arrival.

Puppet Shell: Hailing from a high gravity world, they maintain a less compressed anatomy due to their diminutive size. The thicker atmosphere of their world enables them to fly while their exoskeletons protect them from any fall damage they may incur. Of their world they can't fly as well but are exceptionally strong for their size.

TOP:  Tableau cobbled together from recent Deathworld-themed sketches, mainly a placeholder image for my collection of references regarding same:

www.facebook.com/thomas.duffy.332/posts/2775260179374630

MIDDLE:  Wiry high-g junkie single-arming what I’m assuming under “normal” circumstances would be an implausibly heavy mech-portable squad weapon (“POWERED LIFT ONLY”). Or some sort of musical instrument. ‘cuz you know, drugs is the way those high-g rockers roll.

BOTTOM:  No cohesive concept or image here, just warming up and I kinda liked the forms that emerged as signal from the noise so to speak. (The phrase “never bring a tank to a gun fight” did occur to me at one point, though. : p )

Might be getting a bit ahead of myself but after seeing Dune in theaters (really enjoyed that movie) I thought about the humans in my story concept Centauri and how they would evolve/be altered after 20,000 years of colonizing different planets.  These are all conceptual so they’re subject to change.

The top one is a Skyman, descendants of the Spaceman that can spend their entire lives airborne and thus capable of colonizing habitable gas giants and Hycean worlds (the latter I’m working on a landscape piece of).  As pictured in the middle left, the Skymans have both mouth bristles for filter feeding and and extendable proboscis to drain nutrients from floating organisms (both natural and engineered).  

Right below the Skyman is another Spaceman descendant, the Spider-welder.  Though still preferring more low gravity worlds, they can tolerate a higher level of gravity thanks to their eight extra limbs which have been modified from the fingers of their drastically reduced wings.  They are largely used for construction, even using the jets on their now freed hind legs to weld objects together.

The bottom left is a Tall folk.  Descendants of martians, they inhabit planets with gravity up to 50% that of Earth’s.  There bodies grew even taller (up to 2.75m) as a result of thousands of years living on such worlds but they retained the robust skeletons of their Martian ancestors so their bones don’t break as easily.

Next to the Tall Folk is a Titan.  I have my character Tauri pictured her because in my story she’s the first and only surviving representative of her group.  The Titans are so named for the increased bone strength and muscle mass for withstanding high gravity environments.  The bones specifically were modified to prevent a significant reduction in stature that the gravity would normally cause.  Fun fact is that In Tauri’s case spending most of her life on all fours and being arboreal helped retain her hight as well.

Next is the Submariners.  These amphibious descendants of earth humans are a result of both genetic modification and natural selection.  Their hands and feet are webbed for fast swimming with the fingers and toes ending in claws for clinging onto slippery surfaces.  Their hair became mats of scales that form a crest that runs from the forehead to the mid back.  Possessing both gills and lungs as well as eyes that can see in and out of water, the Submariners are well suited for ocean worlds while retaining the ability for land life.

Finally is the Desert Folk.  They are actually genetic hybrids of Martians and Earth humans who evolved additional adaptations for surviving on desert worlds.  Their ears are large for radiating heat and hairy to block out sand as well as movable so they can fold down during sandstorms.  They have two rows of thick eyelashes and nostrils that can close shut to keep sand out.  Their feet are also more padded and broad to prevent themselves from sinking in the sand.

This is just a general rundown and I may or may not flesh these ideas out further.  Though honest, I should probably focus of the current future humans and aliens of Centauri.

Deathworld-inspired human inhabitants of hostile high-gravity worlds, both "tech-y" galactic types and post-colonial-collapse "barbarians."  Please see

www.deviantart.com/thomastapir/art/Tankhead-847870429 www.deviantart.com/thomastapir/art/Pyrrans-n-Pals-846834427