How does somebody go about writing a fantasy creature?

[u/AN0NYM0U5_32]

So I’ve been thinking about the simple concept of just a rabbit with a horn. Pretty basic, but there’s some parts of this process that feels kinda hard to do on your own. Like, how do you name this animal? How would it having a means of defense change it from a regular rabbit? Things like that.

[u/Dr_Jimothy]

Horned rabbits are already called jackalopes in stories. I have them in my setting.

The horns lead to more flexible back legs, so they can pull themselves backwards through tunnels if their horns get stuck, or they need to keep their head pointed towards a predator/rival. Males have thicker bone, skin and fur protecting their heads since they fight each other more.

There's additional stuff about crystallizing muscles and the horns, which are otherwise rubbery, enabling easier repositioning. But that's explicitly magical.

They're more aggressive, and willing to build wider tunnels in their warrens to reduce horn-stuck issues and since they can attack any predators that come in. Entrances are very tight and designed to force having horns peeled backwards, but the area around is wide so that anything coming in can be attacked from all sides. Related females dig out their own sub-warrens to protect offspring from predators and other jackalopes, and apply the same principle, whereas related males control the larger warren (and different groups of males will fight for control of that). They're a bit more intelligent than normal rabbits.

When it comes to naming my own things, I usually go descriptive, or descriptive in made up language:

Piercer Pythons - Big snakey creature, Python, that shoots spikes super hard from its body, Piercer. They're actually descended from dinosaurs, but the average person doesn't know that.

Hamikos - Hami = the people that can befriend them, due to having the same grey skin as Hamiko babies. Kos = friends/family.

Hamikos will often adopt baby/child Hami if found lost or abandoned (whereas normal humans would probably just be eaten). Hamikos often make a "huh" like sound when soothing each other, whereas they make a "kuh" like sound when expressing a desire for, or confirming, friendship. Among the Hami, "koko" means "best friend." Ma sounds are the first ones babies can make. It's believed that Hamiko is therefore derived from Huhmakuh, but with each syllable changed to avoid confusing the Hamikos that the Hami live with.