The very first Norns were named Ron and Eve. 'Ron' was originally a very smart pre-release Norn, who was named for a person the game was being demonstrated to. The Ron Norns species, originally released in an expansion for the first Creatures game, was named after him.
The Creatures series is heavy with references to Norse mythology; Nornir (or 'Norns') are female beings that rule the destiny of gods and men. Likewise, Grendel (the Norn's dire enemy in the game) are from the Norse epic of 'Beowulf', and jötunn (Or 'Ettin' in late English) are Norse giants of legend. The Shee, while part of Irish mythos rather than Norse, are still connected to the overall 'Norse' theme: tales of the Aes Sídhe speak of the Norse driving Scottish inhabitants underground to live in the hills, which contributed to the Changeling myth of West European folklore.
Trivia Tropes:
Development Hell: The original release date of Creatures Online was April 2013, before a rename and numerous other changes. The date was later changed to "by the end of 2013", but the game was put on hold again, and then the IP was sold to another company, which announced a mobile game for 2017, but all that ever came of it was a mini-game, and the game was confirmed to be cancelled in 2020.
Feelies: The limited edition of Creatures 2 came with a norn plushie.
Keep Circulating the Tapes: Several unique breeds and their related items for Creatures Docking Station were sold as packs in the Creatures Mall, which went defunct in 2008 or so, and weren't officially rehosted anywhere by Gameware (compared to standalone breeds that were rehosted as free downloads). Players were requested not to publicly post download links to these files, but they were allowed to privately distribute them amongst each other. It wasn't until the Steam re-release in 2021 that they were officially available again (this time for free). Fanmade mods are also subject to this if their site of origin goes down and their creators can't be contacted for permission to rehost their mods.
The Merch: The limited edition of Creatures 2 came with real-world norn plushies, and players also came up with their own patterns. A prototype grendel doll was developed but never released.
Promoted Fangirl: Lis Morris used to be a Creatures fan who ended up working for Cyberlife/Creatures Labs, the company behind the games.
Urban Legend of Zelda: The legendary Secret Adventure Mode. The unofficial "Creatures 1 to Docking Station" mod, which reproduced the items, gameworld, and species of the original game in the Creatures 3 / Docking Station engine, made many of the items of the Secret Adventure Mode a reality, albeit a goofy one.
The Secret Adventure Mode actually started out as an inside joke amongst the fandom, which spawned from a post on the alt.games.creatures newsgroup that was a question meant for some obscure graphic adventure game.
Creatures 2 was supposed to have a third "Life Kit" expansion, but it was cancelled.
Creatures 3 was going to have an Ettin breed called the Cookie Ettin, but it didn't make it.
Creatures: Project Loci was a planned console title that would have combined the A-Life aspects of the PC series with elements of an Adventure game - as well as raising your Norns, you would have had to train them to complete set objectives in order to progress through the plot. Sadly, Creature Labs couldn't find the money to develop it, and we haven't had a new game since.
was a planned console title that would have combined the A-Life aspects of the PC series with elements of an Adventure game - as well as raising your Norns, you would have had to train them to complete set objectives in order to progress through the plot. Sadly, Creature Labs couldn't find the money to develop it, and we haven't had a new game since.