Mythical Creature Help

[Azu]

Hi, everyone!

So, I'm writing a story about mythical creatures, and for the most part I have the main creatures down. But I thought it would be cool to add more, especially lesser known creatures, in case I wanted to keep it going beyond just for the Writer's Camp. Can you guys give me ideas for some mythological creatures i can research and add in?

I already have: Dragons, Witches, Fairies, Changlings, Mermaids, Harpies, Sirens, Orcs, and Revenants.

Thanks again!

The Many Misconceptions about Mythical Creatures | Tapas

Feel free to promote your fantasy stories (comics or novels welcome!) if you have any! I'd love to see artwork and get a feel for how people view different creatures.

[DiegoPalacios]

how about djinns, kappas and doppelgangers?

[Penni]

Vampire cats, Lausks, and Centaurs

[Azu]

@DiegoPalacios Oooh, djinns sound like a good idea! I like that one.

@Peni I've never heard of Lausks before. I'll go check it out!

Thanks

[zigmenthotep]

Youkai, the traditional folklore creature of Japan. They range from living sandals, to a giant hunger skeleton, to sentient walls, to a faceless humanoid with an eye in place of it's anus.
I guess the point I'm trying o make is, they're a little odd.

[shazzbaa]

In general digging into the larger mythos of anything can yield some interesting inspirations! Like, you have faeries in general up there already, but the fae include a lot of other, more specific, and sometimes lesser-known creatures (barghest, trow, pooka, kelpie, etc)

[SilverLugia456]

I guess it depends on what kind of creatures you are going to use under the mythological name.

Some specific names: Basilisk, Thunderbird, Cerberus, Wyvern, Bigfoot, Loch Ness Monster (these are usually under the category of Cryptids)

Others: Unicorns, Pegasus, Phoenix, Griffon, Hippogriff, Quetzalcoatl, Bicorn, Orthrus and Fenrir.

I have more lists of mythological creatures but for now I think this might do as well. Let me know if you would like more.

[Lady_DarkStar]

Check this sight for inspirations
http://www.mythicalcreaturesguide.com/

[Azu]

Oh, those are some pretty great ones. I was trying to do a sort of blanket overview before narrowing it down. I have a bit of a science theme going on, so I may do something like Aviators, then talk about all the different myth birds. I touched upon it breifly with harpies...hmm....

Someone brought up Japanese folklore. I might include those too but I wonder if I should stick with European first, since
mythology in just one part of the world is extensive. This is really helping a lot. Thank you everyone!

[Azu]

Thank you! This will help me with research too.

[Lady_DarkStar]

Your welcome, I love perusing that sight to get my imagination going.

[spenserw0042]

For really outside-the-box monsters, I bookmarked this post off of Tumblr a while ago. It's loosely categorized, but very helpful for crazy critters.

In Which Diversity Isn't a Myth

[Swamp]

I think there's some things to be careful of in here. I know at least Thunderbird and Quetzalcoatl belong to existing religions (and Quetzacoatl are singular) It's important not to lump important part of people's religions in with bigfoot and unicorns. Can you imagine how Christian readers would feel if you had a magic race of creatures called 'Jesus' who turned water into wine with their magical thorn hair? And it wasn't satire. You weren't even aware Christians existed. Add to this the extra sting that a lot of these religions were intentionally repressed.

I don't mean to put anyone down. A lot of these are regularly used without realizing their origins, but personally, I try and learn about the roots of a legend. Like Vampires! Original belief in them came from lack of understanding about disease and decomposition. In fiction, they often symbolized "dangerous outsiders" to the Christian community, disease, and concerns about lust. They were also used as a metaphor for predatory wealthy elites. I think using that information to comment on those concepts (how should we treat outsiders, modern fears of disease, comments on wealth)

I have a list of about 30 I made for a project that are nonspecific entities that aren't tied to any specific mythologies. I don't wanna post it here because it's long and sorta spoilers, but PM me if you're interested.

[punkarsenic]

changelings! theyre so interesting

[xanedis]

Homunculi, elves(both kinds), faeries and giant(Jormungandr level) serpents.

[mariusthered]

check out the book fantastic beasts and where to find them. (ISBN 978-1-4088-9694-5)
it's not the movie, it's a creature guide with lots of the creatures mentioned in the harry potter books. very interesting stuff.

[HollowEve]

Some of my favourites are banshees and koropokkuru.

[SilverLugia456]

I do agree with you on that. When writing you should be aware of the audience that will be reading your story. Especially if it is geared towards being realistic in a sense. At the same time if there is a disclaimer posted about what is involved in the story I think that would also help. It gives a heads up of what kind of creatures will be in the story and an idea on their ties to anything specific. I guess it depends on how you want to approach it.

[droidmonkey1]

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