Whether you want to create fantasy characters or worlds, Midjourney can be of great help to you. While it would normally take you a long time to design an image set in a fantasy world, you can leverage text-to-image models to create an image in less than 30 seconds.
What's even more amazing is that you can create outstanding images without having design skills. The only thing you need to learn is how to properly interact with the AI model.
People often downplay the process of writing Midjourney prompts. It's true that even if you write a word or two, the AI model will probably generate a great image. But if you want your images to stand out, you'll need to dedicate a lot more time and effort into writing prompts.
Today, I'm going to share some tips on how to generate good fantasy images in Midjourney. Half of the prompts I wrote for this article are solely for fantasy characters, while the other half is all about fantasy worlds.
Before I start sharing my Midjourney prompts for fantasy images, I want to take a few minutes to explain what you should focus on in your writing process.
How to Write Midjourney Prompts for Fantasy Images
Writing good prompts for fantasy images has a lot to do with using the right words. You need to describe to the text-to-image model exactly what you want to see. This may sound easy, but it can be quite challenging.
Unless you're an avid fantasy reader or writer, I suggest that you take some time to read up on some of the most popular words used in fantasy literature. Here's a great list of fantasy genre vocabulary that you can use to make your prompts better.
It's up to you to figure out which combination of words you'll use to generate good fantasy images.
Apart from using the right vocabulary, you should also use the latest iteration of Midjourney to get the best results. At the time of writing this article, the latest iteration is Midjourney v5.
Another thing you should pay attention to is which aspect ratio you want to use in each image. When I'm creating fantasy characters, I want to use an aspect ratio of either 2:3 or 3:4. On the other hand, an aspect ratio of 16:9 is perfect for fantasy worlds.
20 Midjourney Prompts for Fantasy Images
This is the part of the article where the fun begins. I'll show you examples of what I consider good Midjourney prompts for fantasy images, as well as the generated outputs. Of course, I encourage you to be better than I am. Take the time to figure out how to get the best results by experimenting with different techniques.
I am merely trying to inspire you so that you can come up with good prompt ideas and create better images than me. If I help you with my examples, it will mean the world to me.
10 Midjourney Prompts for Fantasy Characters
Let's start with some cool Midjourney prompts for fantasy characters. I will try to keep my prompt examples here different from one another so that you can see how Midjourney can provide you with awesome results regardless of what you're creating.
Without further ado, here are some of my Midjourney prompts for fantasy characters.
/imagine fantasy character, stoic dwarven blacksmith with a long, braided beard and muscular build, hammering tirelessly on a mighty forge, crafting legendary weapons imbued with otherworldly strength --ar 2:3 --v 5
I want to make sure that I specify what I want to create at the beginning of my prompt. That's why each Midjourney prompt for fantasy characters will start with the keyword 'fantasy character'. I included the whole set of four generated images here so that you can see the variety of designs Midjourney can produce.
/imagine fantasy character, ancient blue dragon, with scales glistening in shades of amethyst and sapphire --ar 3:4 --v 5
I personally like the second dragon design the most, but all four are good. This is a relatively simple prompt, so I'm quite impressed with what Midjourney generated from it.
/imagine fantasy character, mysterious sorceress, cloaked in flowing robes adorned with constellations, harnessing the power of the cosmos to cast spells, bright blue aura surrounding the sorceress --ar 3:4 --v 5
I feel like this could easily be a video game character. Each of these four designs is simply amazing. There are some obvious flaws in the second image, which you can see if you look at the hands. In case you don't know why Midjourney struggles with generating hands, there is a great YouTube video from Vox on this very topic.
/imagine fantasy character, jovial and charismatic bard with a musical instrument in hand, playing music that uplifts the world, joyful --ar 2:3 --v 5
This is also a simple prompt that didn't take a lot of thought to write. If you've watched any fantasy movies or TV shows set in a medieval time, chances are there was a charismatic bard singing tunes in one of the scenes.
/imagine fantasy character, scary necromancer draped in a dark robe and surrounded by flickering spectral forms, walks the thin line between life and death, manipulating the forces of the afterlife --ar 3:4 --v 5
I love the images Midjourney produces when I include the keyword 'scary'. The dark robe here is beautiful. I'm not quite sure what my favorite image here is, but it would have to be either the second or the fourth one.
/imagine fantasy character, whimsical and playful fairy with delicate wings and a mischievous giggle, spreads joy and magic wherever it goes --ar 3:4 --v 5
This fairy looks like something from a Pixar movie. This result stood out from the set of four images Midjourney produced, which is why I decided to only include this character in the article instead of the whole set.
/imagine fantasy character, fierce and battle-hardened orc warrior, with green-tinted skin and towering strength, wielding a massive greataxe and wearing a heavy armor, Unreal Engine 5 --ar 3:4 --v 5
I included the keyword 'Unreal Engine 5' here to give the AI model the instruction that the design should look like it's a video game character. This is a cool trick that you can use if you want to draft designs for video game characters in Midjourney.
/imagine fantasy character, graceful and ethereal elven archer, with flowing silver hair and a keen eye, expertly shoots arrows infused with magic, defending the woodland realm --ar 2:3 --v 5
I love the variety of styles displayed here. The first image reminds me of character images in an old RPG video game I used to play called Icewind Dale. There is obviously something weird going on with the bow in the fourth image, but I decided to include the whole set due to differences in design styles.
/imagine fantasy character, mischievous goblin rogue, with beady eyes and nimble fingers, sneaks through shadowy alleyways, using stealth and trickery to outwit enemies and secure valuable treasures --ar 3:4 --v 5
Goblins are always funny. I can even imagine what type of voice these goblins would have in a fantasy movie, game, or TV show. The second image here stands out, in my opinion.
/imagine fantasy character, fearsome demon warlord, with ebony horns and a cloak of darkness, commands legions of infernal creatures, seeking dominion over realms --ar 3:4 --v 5
Talk about saving the best for last. These images are completely out of this world. The third image takes the cake as far as I'm concerned. But the level of detail in each of these four images is incredibly impressive.
10 Midjourney Prompts for Fantasy Worlds
Those were some amazing characters that we just created. You can make changes to my prompts however you see fit to find out how small tweaks can impact the generated output.
Now that we're finished with making characters, it's time to start creating fantasy worlds. Here are 10 Midjourney prompts for fantasy worlds.
/imagine scene set in a fantasy world, hidden realm nestled within ancient forests, where mystical beings dwell, protected by powerful enchantments, and where time seems to stand still --ar 16:9 --v 5
In the previous section of the article, I talked about how important it was to specify exactly what you want to create at the beginning of each prompt. While the prompts in the previous section all started with the keyword 'fantasy character', I've decided to begin each prompt in this section with the key phrase 'scene set in a fantasy world'. Doing this enables you to get better results.
This is what I would imagine a magical, ancient forest would look like in a fantasy world setting. Sometimes, there's nothing I would like more than to embark on an unforgettable journey to explore a forest like this. Only if we could somehow transport ourselves to a fantasy realm.
/imagine scene set in a fantasy world, frozen tundra stretching as far as the eye can see, where icy mountains and frozen lakes dominate the landscape, and ancient ice spirits whisper tales of forgotten kingdoms --ar 16:9 --v 5
It's pretty incredible what Midjourney can produce if you just give it a few lines of text. The mountains, the frozen lake, the forgotten kingdoms. Everything I described in this prompt is featured in the image, which isn't always the case when you're writing prompts in Midjourney.
/imagine scene set in a fantasy world, primordial jungle untouched by time, with towering trees that reach for the heavens, home to fierce beasts and forgotten ruins --ar 16:9 --v 5
This is an image that could use some upscaling to look better. I purposely don't want to upscale any Midjourney images in my articles even though they would look better because I want you to see exactly what you can expect from this text-to-image model.
Nevertheless, you can read up on how to upscale Midjourney images with Upscayl in one of my articles. If you're unfamiliar, Upscayl is a free and open-source program that can take the quality of your Midjourney images to a whole new level.
/imagine scene set in a fantasy world, desert realm where shifting sands form intricate patterns and ancient ruins hold forgotten wisdom --ar 16:9 --v 5
I'm speechless. The ancient ruins in this desert realm feature an insane level of detail. If this structure existed in our world, I would book a flight today to explore it in person.
/imagine scene set in a fantasy world, living forest, where sentient trees and mystical creatures coexist, their roots intertwining to form vast networks of communication --ar 16:9 --v 5
This image looks more real than almost any other image featured in this article. The trees are dense in this forest, which is exactly what you would expect to see if their roots intertwine.
/imagine scene set in a fantasy world, realm of eternal winter, with snow-covered landscapes stretching as far as the eye can see, majestic ice castles --ar 16:9 --v 5
This is even better than the image with the frozen tundra landscape, in my opinion. This is what I imagine a landscape would look like in a place where there is only winter. If this were a landscape in a video game, I bet that it wouldn't be easy to clear this region from the monsters that inhabit it.
/imagine scene set in a fantasy world, surreal floating archipelago, with clusters of islands suspended in mid-air, connected by delicate bridges woven from magical vines, --ar 16:9 --v 5
I've definitely read about or seen floating archipelagos in some fantasy literature or fantasy video games, but I can't exactly remember which ones. I do know that an image like this floated in my mind as I was writing this article, so I had to write a prompt about it. I'm happy with the result.
/imagine scene set in a fantasy world, vast underwater realm, where vibrant coral reefs teem with exotic marine life, and ancient sunken ruins hold secrets of lost civilizations, illuminated by ethereal beams of sunlight --ar 16:9 --v 5
Will we ever find Atlantis? Nobody knows. But if you're like me and you daydream about what ancient ruins deep beneath the ocean surface could look like, you can write some cool prompts in Midjourney and see what they might be like.
/imagine scene set in a fantasy world, mystical portal nestled in a forgotten forest, where ancient ruins merge with natural wonders, and the boundary between realms is blurred --ar 16:9 --v 5
I feel like this image could be a loading screen for a cool RPG video game. In the game, there would definitely need to be a quest that involves activating this mystical portal so that you can travel to a different realm.
/imagine scene set in a fantasy world, hidden valley shrouded in mist, where ancient stone arches stand as gateways to other realms, and luminous flora blooms with magical properties --ar 16:9 --v 5
This is where you would take a peaceful stroll in a fantasy world. This image stood out from the others Midjourney produced with this prompt, so I had to include it in the article. I expected more from the luminous flora (emphasis on the luminous) but I’ll take what I can get.
Final Thoughts
If there is one thing I want to highlight in this article again, it's the importance of brushing up on your fantasy genre vocabulary. This is the best way to ensure you're properly describing a character or a landscape.
I encourage you to keep your prompts detailed but also somewhat concise. You don't need more than 60 words to describe a character in a fantasy world.
When you're writing a prompt for a fantasy character, try to ask yourself a few basic questions, such as:
- What type of creature is the character?
- What clothes or armor is the character wearing?
- Does the character have an item that it's carrying?
- Is there anything surrounding the character, like a magical aura?
- What's the facial expression of the character?
Answering questions like these and then combining the answers into a single prompt can help you produce great images.
You can use a similar method to come up with good prompts for fantasy landscapes as well. You likely won't get it right on the first try, but you will learn quickly through experimentation. Since any small changes can heavily impact the generated output, you'll enhance your intuitive skills through your interactions with Midjourney.
