I've run into a problem, guys. I'm writing a story with Mythological Creatures in them (Think Fairies and Satyrs). The problem is that there's not much to build off of, with most of the "Mythological Creatures" mentioned anywhere are all basic stuff everyone knows. I need more stuff like Selkies and Fae. Any suggestions?
Chimeras and gorgons are nice.
I'll keep that in mind, thanks! :)
Peryton, Enfield (one of my favs), Crocotta, Wendigo, and Hippocampus (cuz aside from Percy Jackson, I don't see this one mentioned a lot)
Sphinxes are one of my favorites, along with bakus (nightmare eaters)
Thanks for the suggestions, guys! This really comes in handy :)
My favorites have always been mermaids/sirens ocean types. But right now I'm writing Magmermaids which live in molten rock. Their eyes are solid black and hard and so are the teeth of the young ones. As they grow older, the heat and pressure change their teeth into jagged diamonds! In my world, my kingdom has a truce with them where they give them the dead bodies of citizens and agree not to mine too many precious metals from the Earth in exchange for protection/ not getting killed in a volcano eruption of death.They're pretty angry but they KNOW things. Kinda like seers or oracles. IDK if that helps :)
I like creating miniature forest creatures. The kind that characters can comment on when describing a place or just to keep as pets but don't add any real damage to the plot.
I like to take Greek mythological creatures and put my own spin on them, and then branch out from THOSE creatures and come up with something totally authentic. One of my favorites is an acorn sprite that clings to your shoulder as a ride-along pet. Until it grows in the soil you put it in every night before you go to bed, after a few years of TLC it becomes a Mungo. An enormous tree giant. I'm planning on having the acorn sprite that one of my side characters own to become a Mungo for a future book series and be a big part of the plot then.
I got this massive underwater basilisk that has waterproof wings that it can spread and fly when it feels like it (better at swimming though) idk what to call it, it's just…there
Aqualisk! Bam. You're welcome. Jk, just being silly.
You could do what I do and check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_legendary_creatures_by_type. It has basically all of the mythical creatures ever, I've found it very useful. Some ones that I've liked are kappa, peryton, Akhlut, Wolpertinger and jackalope. It's fun finding out about all the different mythical/magical creatures from different cultures.
I got derguns and wibberns!
My recent favorite for mythology has been Orkney folklore (islands off the tip of Scotland). So I would suggest you look into that melting pot of creatures. Also, they have sea and land beasts and both (like selkies).
okay but jackalopes are my spirit animal xD
I got derguns and wibberns!
What are those?
Dragons and wyverns
What about a Peryton or Enfield?
I love the Manticore. I'm currently using a variation of the Manticore (renamed ofc) to represent my trickster Goddess, as the Manticore is often depicted as having a human face.
also to whoever said jackalopes that's my profile pic!
Hope you get something out of this : )
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bird like-
Peryton - mythological hybrid animal combining the physical features of a stag and a bird.
Harpy- a female monster in the form of a bird with a human face
Huitzilopochtli - Blue human dressed in feathers
Owlman - Large human sized owl with red glowing eyes
Roc - Gigantic bird with a forked tongue
Stymphalian Bird - Large bird with bronze feathers, metal beak & claws
Gryphon- A legendary creature with the body, tail, and back legs of a lion; the head and wings of an eagle; and an eagle's talons as its front feet.
Hippogriffe - A legendary creature which has the front quarters of an eagle and the hindquarters of a horse.
Cockatrice - A flying part-rooster/part-snake that could kill with its stare.
Phoenix - The golden bird who, at the end of its life, burst into flames only to be reborn again.
Kongamato - Large bird with teeth, leathery skin and bat-like wings
Caladrius - Mythical snow-white bird
Thunderbird - A giant bird that creates storms with its wings.
Stymphalian Birds - man-eating birds with beaks of bronze and sharp metallic feathers they could launch at their victims.
.
.
.
.
Canine like-
Winged Wolf - wolves that are equipped with wings
Chamrosh - body of a dog with the head and wings of a bird.
Kitsune- Fox with many tails.
Cynocephalus - A member of an ancient race of men with the heads of dogs.
Fenrir - Gigantic wolf
Akhlut - An orca spirit that takes the form of a gigantic wolf or a wolf-orca hybrid when on land.
Kludde - Gigantic black dog with a blue flame around it's head
Amarok - Gigantic wolf that hunts alone
Black Dog - An evil spirit dog that stalks city streets at night.
Bray Road Beast - The nickname for a werewolf-like creature seen multiple times in Wisconsin.
Cerberus - The three-headed dog that guards the entrance to Hades.
Orthros - The two-headed monster dog.
Werewolf - Human by day, wolf by night.
.
.
.
.
Feline like-
Winged Lion- A Winged Lion
ball-tailed cat - A cat with similar traits to that of a mountain lion, except with an exceedingly long tail to which there is affixed a solid, bulbous mass for striking its prey
Nekomata - a kind of cat yōkai
Mngwa or Nunda - A gigantic, ferocious, dark gray or black nocturnal feline , said to stalk Tanzania . Described as, "the size of a donkey.
Tatzelwurm - a stubby, lizard-like creature. It takes the appearance of a cat with the hind-end of a serpent with no hind legs.
Manticore - A mythical beast with a lion's body and a human's head.
Nemean Lion - The giant lion with impenetrable hide who becomes the constellation Leo.
Sphinx - The half-human, half-lion that forces those it meets to answer its riddles, or die.
Mngwa - Oversized and out of control, deadly tabby cat
.
.
.
.
.
.
Sea creature like-
Mermaids - Sea creatures with the head and torso of a woman and the tail of a fish.
Sirens - Man-eating beautiful women whose song compels men to them.
Kraken - Gigantic squid or octopus
Mokele-mbembe - Large water creature with a flexible and long neck
Ogopogo - Large sea serpent with horns and flippers
Kappa- Typically depicted as green, human-like beings with webbed hands and feet, with a turtle shell like carapace on its back.
Nian- A large Armored Tiger with horns.
Each-uisge - It usually takes the form of a horse, and is similar to the kelpie but far more vicious.
Kelpie (Water-horse) - It has usually been described as appearing as a horse, but is able to adopt human form. Some accounts state that the kelpie retains its hooves when appearing as a human.
Afanc- Its exact description varies; it is described variously as resembling a crocodile, beaver or dwarf-like creature, and is sometimes said to be a demon.
Abaia- a huge, magical eel in Melanesian mythology.
Aspidochelone - a fabled sea creature, variously described as a large whale or vast sea turtle, and a giant sea monster with huge spines on the ridge of its back.
Cirein Croin- large sea monster in Scottish Gaelic folklore.
Taniwha - At sea, a taniwha often appears as a whale or as quite a large shark;compare the Māori name for the Great white shark: mangō-taniwha. In inland waters, they may still be of whale-like dimensions, but look more like a gecko or a tuatara, having a row of spines along the back.
Reptile like-
Basilisk - a giant snake, an enormous lizard or a reptile with scaly wings and some features of a rooster like feathers, legs and head.
Amphisbaena - Snake with a head at each end
Jormungand - Enormous snake with huge fangs and a flat tail
Nāga- Human with a snake body from the torso down.
Lamia - Female human with a snake body from the torso down.
Cerastes - Large and extremely flexible serpent with horns
Dragon - Giant, flying, fire-breathing lizards who often guard treasure.
Echidna - The snake-woman who became the mother of most Greek monsters.
Hydra - The nine-headed serpent who grew two new heads for every one that was cut off.
Ladon (Python) - The snake that guarded the golden apples in the Garden of the Hesperides.
Loch Ness Monster - The elusive sea-monster from the Loch Ness in Scotland.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Insect/Arachnid like-
Antmen - Four weapon bearing arms, red eyes and a crushing jaw
Mothman - A winged creature in the shape of a man with hypnotic red eyes sighted in West Virginia.
Myrmekes - big size ants that can range in size from small dogs to giant bears which guarded a hill that had rich deposits of gold.
Myrmidons- ants which transformed into humans.
Tsuchigumo - .a race of spider-like yōkai.
Horse/bull/goat like-
Uchchaihshravas - a seven-headed flying horse
longma - a fabled winged horse with dragon scales.
Hippocampus - typically been depicted as having the upper body of a horse with the lower body of a fish.
Alicorn - The name for a winged unicorn.
Kelpie - Deadly shape-shifting water horse
Unicorn - A magical horse with a single horn on its forehead.
Satyr - Half-men, half-goats who were wild and lustful. The god Pan was one of these.
Centaur - Half-man, half-horse creatures that ran wild and unruly.
Minotaur - The creature with the head and legs of a bull and the torso of a man, who guarded the exit to The Labyrinth.
New Jersey Devil - A flying creature with a high-pitched scream and a horse-like head native to the New Jersey Pine Barrens.
Pegasus - Technically the proper name of Bellerophon's winged horse, which became the general name for winged horses.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Human like-
Vampire - Legend's most charming bloodsucker gets a whole section of this website all to itself.
Werewolf - a human being that uncontrollably transforms into a wolf during a full moon.
Aigamuxa - Human-like mythical creatures with eyes on their feet
Brownies - Small humanoid creatures wearing all brown clothing who sneak into homes at night to help with household chores.
Sasquatch - Large, hairy, man-like beasts that live in the woods.
Dwarf - A short, stalky humanoid who live in underground mining communities.
Elf - A race of pointy-eared humanoids who excel in magic and archery.
Gnome - A small, humanoid creature who lives and moves beneath the earth.
Imp - Small, mischievous creatures who liked to play pranks on people.
Hobgoblin - A type of Brownie who is inherently less helpful and more mischievous, even to the point of causing harm if antagonized.
Mutants - A term describing abnormal creatures created by genetic or environmental mutations.
.
.
.
.
.
..
Fairy/Spirit like-
Grim Reaper - The embodiment of death itself, the Grim Reaper comes to take your soul to the afterlife.
Fairy - A small, flying humanoid with magical abilities.
Pixie - A small humanoid creature with pointy ears who likes to cause mischief.
Sylph - An invisible, fairy-like being dedicated to the element of air.
Nymph - Divine female nature spirits who inhabit certain natural sites.
Sprite - A category of elemental, fairy-like spirits, invisible to humans (a Sylph is one of these).
Will-o'-the-wisp - Strange flame-like lights that seem to beckon travelers to follow.
Valkyries - Mythical Norse female divinities who choose heroes to die in battle and carry them to the great Valhalla.
.
.
.
.
Mammal like-
Chupacabra - Small bear-like, hairless beast with spikes
Erymanthian Boar - Huge wild boar with sharp teeth
Jackalope - A Hare with deer or antelope antlers and sometimes with wings.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Monster like-
Zombie - The living dead who feed on human flesh.
Gorgon - The snake-haired and snake-bodied humanoid that was created in its mother's image. Its stare could turn a person to stone. Medusa became one of these creatures in a later myth.
Golem - Magically animated human-shaped creatures typically made of solid stone
Banshee - A spirit appearing as a frenzied old woman whose high pitched shriek prophesied a death soon to come.
Camazotz - A giant, evil vampire bat demon
Bigfoot - A type of Sasquatch native to North American forests.
Abominable Snowman - Giant human-like body, white shaggy fur, big feet
Cyclops - The one-eyed giant who captured and ate people.
Ogre - An ugly, oversized humanoid creature with great physical strength and little intelligence.
Chimera - Part-lion, part-goat, part-snake - all monster.
Sea-Goat - The half-goat, half-fish who are the children of Pricus, who becomes the constellation Capricorn.