Definition
A bestiary is a reference document (either in-world or behind-the-scenes) that catalogs the creatures inhabiting your fictional setting. Historically, bestiaries were medieval manuscripts that described real and imaginary animals, often with moral lessons attached. In modern fiction writing, a bestiary is your personal encyclopedia of every creature you've invented or adapted, covering their biology, magical abilities, habitats, and narrative function. Think of it as a field guide to your world's fauna.
Why It Matters
Keeping a bestiary prevents continuity errors and helps you maintain consistent creature behavior across a long manuscript. It also pushes you to think about your creatures as interconnected parts of an ecosystem rather than one-off encounters, which makes your world feel richer and more believable.
Types of Bestiary
Famous Examples
Published as an actual in-world textbook, blurring the line between worldbuilding reference and storytelling.
Geralt's entire profession revolves around encyclopedic creature knowledge, making the bestiary a plot engine.
An illustrated encyclopedia of an imaginary world, including bizarre creatures described in an invented script.
Common Mistakes
Give your entries voice. If it's an in-world document, let the author's personality come through. If it's your personal notes, include story hooks and narrative potential alongside the stats.
Quality over quantity. Every creature in your bestiary should either appear in the narrative or meaningfully influence something that does.
Treat it as a living document. When you change a creature's abilities or behavior in a draft, update your bestiary immediately.
Try It Yourself
Create a mini-bestiary with three creatures for a single fictional region. For each creature, write its name, a two-sentence physical description, its primary food source, and one way it affects the local human population. Then write one sentence connecting all three creatures in a food chain or ecological relationship.
Organize your bestiary entries in the Story Bible so every creature's details are searchable and cross-referenced.
Build Your Bestiary in the Story Bible
Keep every creature's biology, abilities, and story role organized in one place. The Story Bible makes it easy to cross-reference creatures with locations, characters, and plot events.