[dragonking555]

There has been a lot of complaint about reusing dragons, unicorns, and other mythological creatures over again. So here is a question, what are some of your very best mythological creatures that you have created.

One of mine is a giant majestic white bird named Forlorn who can emit sonic screeches strong enough to splinter wood.

Another is the Shadow. Evil in its pure form. It moves in the form of a simple shadow but when it takes a physical form it is a fierce and deadly monster.

So how about it? What's yours?

This post has been edited by dragonking555: 27 September 2009 - 01:04 PM

[Anton the Scholar]

This is an interesting topic. I had a problem with this once. I was writing a story called the desert prince, and I had to find a replacement for goblins. Something that was nasty and evil, but could stand up to harsh desert climates. I came up with something called a Gred. The Greds wer about 5 feet tall, and had thick brownish hyde. Their skin was mostly dry, but there was a film-like layer of oil that coated them. They were slightly hunched over, had long, san papery padded feet, and small tusks.

-Anton

[Day Star]

I haven't had to make up very many mythological creatures, but one stands out. It was called Lure, (for reasons that would take too long to explain) and it had the look of an angel, with white whings, etc. However, it sucks the essence of peace out of people and makes them want to wage war on others. It also had the ability to control minor demons and it can suck blood with teeth, although only from reacently dead people. (Very recently) Thus the wars and stuff.

It isn't THE best idea ever, but like I said, there have not been very many mythological creatures made by me.

[Go for Gin]

I don't make up my own mythological creatures. Instead, I take mythological creatures and make sure I make them accurate to myth while still making them unique.

Because really, people are going to look at your creature and say "Oh, that Smeerp reminds me of a rabbit!" Sometimes it can be pulled off. But if you're going to go with creating new mythology, only introduce one or two species in the book. If you need more, use something the reader would recognize. I know that people say "be original!" but entertainment is a line between the unfamiliar and the familiar. People don't want to be bored, but they also don't want to be alienated.

So I generally don't create new races, though there are exceptions. I usually work on making highly believable races that appear in myth.

[Hresvelgr]

I made a topic like not long ago, but I didn't get very many replies. Here are a few monsters I've made: (most of them are adapted from Algonquin mythology, the names are the same especially but I've added my own details and stuff)

Akkonluis: Swan-like monsters. Looks like an ordinary swan, but is a bit larger, and black-rimmed eyes like all other swans but with an additional blue rim below the black, fangs in its bill, and an incredibly foul temper. The akkonluis lures prey in by acting like an ordinary swan and striking when they get close. But they do not ordinarily attack adult people unless particularly angry. They are typically found in mountain lakes/rivers in warmer climes.

Wanagame: Aquatic creatures with leathery, dark-blue skin, long fingers, and very narrow faces. They're four feet tall, with frog-like limbs and sunken black eyes. They delight in turning canoes over and drowning its occupants. The most common way of killing wanagames is to trap them between fishing weirs and drag them out with spears. They can sense danger and some kindly ones warn people of coming enemies or bad weather.

Miksse: Tiny creatures who vary in size from an inch to a foot tall, but never taller than that. They are humanoids covered in bristly red hair, with large spherical heads and a wide grinning mouth full of sharp little teeth. They like to throw rocks at dangerously fast speeds at passing travellers, but on their own they are just weak, bothersome spirits. But each Miksse's power grows the more Miksse are nearby. Large groups can even kill people, which is rare for they are just mischevious pranksters. Magicians often collect Miksse in Medicine Bags to become more powerful themselves.

Chepichcalm: Named for Cheepichealm, first of their kind, it is a fearful serpent with yellow horns and a white mane, and malevolent magicians such as Baom often assume that form to resist an enemy. Their serpentine bodies are as smoothly scaled as a snake's and colored in either the pattern of a coral snake or a garden snake. Chepichcalm make their abodes most often in lost rivers or below forest snake dens. They can grow in excess of 100 yards, their horns are often used by Chenoo as weapons, looking into their eyes can cause drowsiness, hypnosis, or psychotic breakdowns/paranoia, and even after death the Chepichcalm's heart (which is so cold it must be handled with gloves) can telepathically communicate with its killer, usually trying to persuade the killer to eat its poisonous flesh, stay long enough to be killed by its young, or not to eat the heart. Eating the heart gives great strength, especially magical strength.

Culloo: Also called thunderbirds. A strange tribe of giant birds with red, yellow, orange, violet, and black feathers. Their sharp beaks are large and curved. Their talons are razor sharp and can lift a man, and some can lift buffalo. And some even have horns and the power to shoot lightning. When the pull their upper beak back over their head like a mask they turn into their huiman form, wearing their thunderbird mask and feather blanket. They have a long lifespan, but long ago their tribe was divided. One Culloo group thought it was best to let people be. The other relished in attacking all intruders to their territory. So they went their seperate ways, hardly ever fighting but hardly ever speaking to eachother too.

Chenoo: A mounstrous race, the main enemy of the People of the First Light. They are cannibal giants ranging from 8 to 12 feet tall and very lanky, hunching over greatly and with long arms and long, clawed fingers. Their skin is a flaky mottled dark brown. They also have long noses and large ears, and so they are very adept at smelling and hearing. Their wolfish orange eyes have nightvision, but daylight pains their eyes. Nevertheless, they do not fear hunting at day. Nor do they fear anything at all really. The chenoo vary widely with some having orange hair, black hair, fungal growths, and even multiple heads. But all have tails, and cannot stand heat. Their only fear is fire. Some in the mountains are great smiths and all are greater warriors. They are also adept at swimming and tree-swinging. To camoflauge themselves, they often cover themselves in a sticky substance such as sap and rolling around to be covered with moss.

Tsinoo: Stealers of souls, a strange race also known as Wizards. Though physically weaker than mankind they possess great magical strength and are known for their practice of the darkest arts of witchcraft and necromancy. They are slim and shorter than humans by a bit, and they adorn their bodies in all manner of tattoos and paints of every hue. Their eyes are typically deep purple and they can see well in the dark. Their ears are long and have so many points it looks like they have been bitten. Their teeth are filed to points and inlaid with jade and obsidian, and their hair spiked upwards and back. They inherited great smithing skills from secretive chenoo smiths in forgotten mountain kingdoms. The Tsinoo warriors are also skilled in predicting an opponent's move by observing subtle actions like breathing patterns. They live in the forsaken lands north of Vanaheim. Most are hateful of all non-Wizards and will die by the thousands for their strange philosophers and sorceror-kings.

[Syreni]

I've made of several mythological creatures on my own but here is my favorite:

Latharians. There is an accent over the I. They stand about eight, to eight and a half feet high. They look like big massive, yet lean wolves. Have large wings, about a twenty foot wingspan; batlike wings. Very long ears, sort of like a jackal. Lean muzzles. Humanoid paws (they do have thumbs, or the equivalent of thumbs) and they have fairly long tails. Typically about four feet in length. They are covered in fur(it is short fur though) the shades can vary but the main shade is white. Occasionally you have black, but that is a rarity.

Mainly a warrior race and they are pretty good at killing a few other races I created, though the one race they really suck at fighting are the Nytares.

I'm not a fantasy writer though, not typically. Shock writer for me but I had fun creating them. Even have some artwork done of them.

[Malus Rune]

Slightly weird topic, but okay. A few of mine.

The Vemathah- the original inspiration for the Vampire myth. They don't age so long as they have a healthy supply of food, and, through a mixture of remarkable biology and even more remarkable technology, can change shape. They were bred to be dependent on human blood by their creator, a being called Amo, who designed them as foot soldiers for his servants, the Mehruak. Because he wanted to create the Vemthah to be imaginative, he knew that there was the possibility that they would rebel, so he made the Vemthah addicts to human blood, so that if the Mehruak faced a revolution, they could threaten the Vemthah by threatening to wipe out the far easier to kill humans. When the Mehruak went into hiding, the Vemthah began to control humanity from behind the scenes, "farming" them on the sly, from hidden positions of political power, as they do today.

The Azer- creatures similar to Vemthah, the Azer were engineered by one of the Mehruak who intended them to rebel; he removed their need to feed on humans, removed their weakness to sunlight and made them faster and stronger, although with more limited shape changing abilities.

The Mehruak- Archangelish creatures of the original being Amo, the seven Mehruak ruled over the original earth and abandoned it to their servants, the Vemthah and the Nehayar (early humans) when the threat that had chased Amo to Earth began to fall from the skies.

The Telaki- Large, jellyfish like creatures that are extremely intelligent but completely incapable of sensing the outside world. They live in a perpetual dreamscape in which they perform bizarre astral journeys through the Haloh, the web of energy that Amo weaved around Earth on arrival to give him complete mastery over all of the forces that affect it. Telaki continually release spores into the water; if you drink enough of these spores, you can see what they have seen for a temporary period, and can enter their dreamscape and communicate with them, sharing their visions of the past, the present and the future. If large enough numbers of Telaki congregate, they can even alter the future. The Dreamscape, preserved in the Telaki, is the only way of reaching the tomb of Amo at the centre of the Earth, and the creatures are, in themselves, a very bizarre form of "combination lock"; a huge puzzle, where, if you can manage to bring them all together, at the right time, in the Dreamscape, can unlock Amo's tomb.

Amo- the original "God", Amo is a refugee from the stars and came to the barren Earth to hide from a powerful, life devouring force. Amo in his true form is large enough to fit a galaxy into the palm of his hand; however, the form he projected to Earth is significantly smaller. Amo arrived on the Earth atop a four-peaked mountain in what is now Africa. This mountain was destroyed when the force that had sent Amo to Earth arrived; the combined forces of the Mehruak and Amo were able to temporarily repel the forces it sent.

The Beshai- a type of Nehayar that evolved in a different strain to the ones that became humans, Beshai are recognisably human but have four arms, clawed fingers, wings, stinging tails, and are smaller then an ant. Trillions of them exist on Earth today, but they are intelligent and keep their nests well hidden from humans. They are quite a "trivial" society and exist in a similar come-and-go nature to Humans, although on a vastly smaller scale. The Beshai are bioluminescent and the sight of them, flying through the air in various shapes that come with the rites of funerals and weddings were the original inspiration for "fairies". They can also breathe underwater, and are therefore extremely versatile in where they can live.

The Ariathah- creatures that live on Earth at the same time as humans, the Araithah are impossible to kill in combat- literally, impossible. They were designed as an experiment by Shenagh, one of the Mehruak, and, when he realised how dangerous they could be, he imprisoned them in a tomb under the Earth's crust. They escaped and exist now as roving bands of mercenaries, not great enough in numbers to ever take on the humans or Vemthah that surround them. Araithah are humanoid to all apperances, but they do not breathe.

The Asaino- intelligent, shark like creatures with vaguely human faces, the Asaino are fast, powerful carnivores. They are have extremely fast reactions and completely 360 degree vision, so they are extremely difficult to capture. The Asaino do not have arms, but can manipulate objects around them by sending out small electrical impulses through the water that can effectively "reprogram" the instincts of the fish around them, making the fish bring them things.

The Kamah- vast creatures, almost forty metres long, that live in the deep ocean, the Kamah are vaguely squid like but far larger, and with a far more serpentine head that spirals through the water as they move. They have six eyes and eighteen tentacles, and are extremely powerful predators, although being unintelligent. Because there is little food down there to support a creature of that size, they are quite lethargic, hiding their extremely long but slender bodies amid fields of tube worms, grabbing prey as it comes near. The Kamah occasionally find their way into shallower waters, where they will sink ships.

The Goloheth- intelligent, mobile plant-like creatures, the Goloheth walk on eight long roots, and have four tendril-arms that wave out from the corners of their faces. They have a tree-like structure on their back, which contains further tendrils, as well as an extra pair of eyes. They spend most of their days sleeping, under the soil, with only the trunks on their backs visible.

[Go for Gin]

What, no response to my opinion against creating your own creatures? I thought it would create stimulating discussions. As it is, it's just paragraphs of made up creatures that nobody's going to read anyway.

[dragonking555]

What, no response to my opinion against creating your own creatures? I thought it would create stimulating discussions. As it is, it's just paragraphs of made up creatures that nobody's going to read anyway.

For the most part I think you are right about familiarity. People like to see things that they know, but it is also important (in my eyes at least) to put in a little creativity and originality. Creating your own monster, race, or mythological creature allows the reader to have fun with their imagination.

The important thing is to have the right amount of originality and familiarity. There were dozens of topics popping up about cliches and how much people were getting tired of them. I put up this topic so that people could share a piece of their own creations.

[Syreni]

Slightly weird topic, but okay. A few of mine.

The Vemathah- the original inspiration for the Vampire myth. They don't age so long as they have a healthy supply of food, and, through a mixture of remarkable biology and even more remarkable technology, can change shape. They were bred to be dependent on human blood by their creator, a being called Amo, who designed them as foot soldiers for his servants, the Mehruak. Because he wanted to create the Vemthah to be imaginative, he knew that there was the possibility that they would rebel, so he made the Vemthah addicts to human blood, so that if the Mehruak faced a revolution, they could threaten the Vemthah by threatening to wipe out the far easier to kill humans. When the Mehruak went into hiding, the Vemthah began to control humanity from behind the scenes, "farming" them on the sly, from hidden positions of political power, as they do today.

The Azer- creatures similar to Vemthah, the Azer were engineered by one of the Mehruak who intended them to rebel; he removed their need to feed on humans, removed their weakness to sunlight and made them faster and stronger, although with more limited shape changing abilities.

The Mehruak- Archangelish creatures of the original being Amo, the seven Mehruak ruled over the original earth and abandoned it to their servants, the Vemthah and the Nehayar (early humans) when the threat that had chased Amo to Earth began to fall from the skies.

The Telaki- Large, jellyfish like creatures that are extremely intelligent but completely incapable of sensing the outside world. They live in a perpetual dreamscape in which they perform bizarre astral journeys through the Haloh, the web of energy that Amo weaved around Earth on arrival to give him complete mastery over all of the forces that affect it. Telaki continually release spores into the water; if you drink enough of these spores, you can see what they have seen for a temporary period, and can enter their dreamscape and communicate with them, sharing their visions of the past, the present and the future. If large enough numbers of Telaki congregate, they can even alter the future. The Dreamscape, preserved in the Telaki, is the only way of reaching the tomb of Amo at the centre of the Earth, and the creatures are, in themselves, a very bizarre form of "combination lock"; a huge puzzle, where, if you can manage to bring them all together, at the right time, in the Dreamscape, can unlock Amo's tomb.

Amo- the original "God", Amo is a refugee from the stars and came to the barren Earth to hide from a powerful, life devouring force. Amo in his true form is large enough to fit a galaxy into the palm of his hand; however, the form he projected to Earth is significantly smaller. Amo arrived on the Earth atop a four-peaked mountain in what is now Africa. This mountain was destroyed when the force that had sent Amo to Earth arrived; the combined forces of the Mehruak and Amo were able to temporarily repel the forces it sent.

The Beshai- a type of Nehayar that evolved in a different strain to the ones that became humans, Beshai are recognisably human but have four arms, clawed fingers, wings, stinging tails, and are smaller then an ant. Trillions of them exist on Earth today, but they are intelligent and keep their nests well hidden from humans. They are quite a "trivial" society and exist in a similar come-and-go nature to Humans, although on a vastly smaller scale. The Beshai are bioluminescent and the sight of them, flying through the air in various shapes that come with the rites of funerals and weddings were the original inspiration for "fairies". They can also breathe underwater, and are therefore extremely versatile in where they can live.

The Ariathah- creatures that live on Earth at the same time as humans, the Araithah are impossible to kill in combat- literally, impossible. They were designed as an experiment by Shenagh, one of the Mehruak, and, when he realised how dangerous they could be, he imprisoned them in a tomb under the Earth's crust. They escaped and exist now as roving bands of mercenaries, not great enough in numbers to ever take on the humans or Vemthah that surround them. Araithah are humanoid to all apperances, but they do not breathe.

The Asaino- intelligent, shark like creatures with vaguely human faces, the Asaino are fast, powerful carnivores. They are have extremely fast reactions and completely 360 degree vision, so they are extremely difficult to capture. The Asaino do not have arms, but can manipulate objects around them by sending out small electrical impulses through the water that can effectively "reprogram" the instincts of the fish around them, making the fish bring them things.

The Kamah- vast creatures, almost forty metres long, that live in the deep ocean, the Kamah are vaguely squid like but far larger, and with a far more serpentine head that spirals through the water as they move. They have six eyes and eighteen tentacles, and are extremely powerful predators, although being unintelligent. Because there is little food down there to support a creature of that size, they are quite lethargic, hiding their extremely long but slender bodies amid fields of tube worms, grabbing prey as it comes near. The Kamah occasionally find their way into shallower waters, where they will sink ships.

The Goloheth- intelligent, mobile plant-like creatures, the Goloheth walk on eight long roots, and have four tendril-arms that wave out from the corners of their faces. They have a tree-like structure on their back, which contains further tendrils, as well as an extra pair of eyes. They spend most of their days sleeping, under the soil, with only the trunks on their backs visible.

Hm. I hope you become a published author because I love your creations.

[Go for Gin]

Was it really necessary to add the whole page worth of text in the quote just for a bit of praise? *facepalm*

[Malus Rune]

I dunno, I quite liked it, Dwarvesrule

Syreni: Actually that mythos in question is doubtful to ever see the light of publication, no matter how much I write It's sort of a JRR Tolkein type universe, by which I mean it's sorta designed for my own pleasure Besides, chances are, when I get to publication age, I'll have left it all behind.

Dwarvesrule: It depends what you're trying to achieve with your writing. Sometimes confronting you with something utterly bizarre can really help achieve a sense of "majesty", like you're really brushing the corners of something greater then yourself. In genres like Low Fantasy, which is what I write most of, this is ideal.

[dragonking555]

I created and designed my own version of elves once and put a spin on the idea.

They took place in a world that where everything is built on the founding powers of Niseuse. Everything has this power in it elves are unique because they have the ability to tap into these powers around them (different from the wizards who tap into the Niseuse within) Thus creating elven magic which also sustains them, giving them very long lives.

There are multiple types of elves

Wood Elves: strong in magic. They are not as strong physically as humans but far faster and more agile. They live in city-states deep within various forests, preferring to stay hidden and not interact with other races. they tend to be thin and tall. They are the only ones with pointed ears.

Plain Elves: Weak in magic, very strong physically far more than other races but slow and not agile at all. They are almost all enslaved by humans in my story line due to that little thing we call racism. They used to rule over the plains. They tend to be tall and hulking

Winter Elves: Very, very strong in magic, they have agility and strength about the same as humans. They live in the frozen wastelands. Cold does not affect them. They tend to vary in size and shape (similar to humans)

Sea Elves: Creature capable of staying underwater indefinitely. They are very strong, fast, and magical in the water but defenseless on land. They look nothing like a human. They have greenish-grey skin, webbed hands and feet, six eyes, and hair like seaweed.

Dark Elves: Typically wood elves infected with evil spirits (people striped from there bodies by the Ber'Iodeth swords). They wield very destructive powers. They tend to look like wood elves but wear dark clothing and have black eyes.


Another being from this same story line is the Medallion Wizards. Being who are able to tap into Niseuse deep within them using ancient medallions of power. They are considered “The great wanderers” and are almost gone.

[Lwyllae]

The Wingers - Like humans, only smaller and very light. They are short, adults are only about five to six feel tall and they have wings which they can fly with. There are many races of them:
-nightwingers are average in magic, very skilled in air combat, archery and flying. Bit stronger than human, wings vary in many colours.
-eastwingers are a peaceful race, they like to sail as they live mainly by the sea. They don't like to fight as they are not skilled in war techniques (sp?). Wings are mostly in green and yellow in colour.
-southwingers are very hot-blooded, they like to argue and have fun. Wing tones are mostly brown and orange.
-northwingers are complete opposite to southwingers. They have very cold personalities and keep themselves to themselves. Wing colours are white and blue
-greywingers are an anomaly. They are as tall as humans, strong in magic and they don't fly much but are good archers.
-redwingers are evil enemies. That says all.
-humanwingers are failure. Their wings are usually weak and not suitable for flying and they are weak in mind and magic.
-westwingers or silverwingers are the strongest in magic and fighting and fairest of the wingers. Exept no-one haven't seen them for millenias.

This post has been edited by Lwyllae: 26 October 2009 - 05:01 AM

[talt]

The sci-fi series I'm working doesn't have mythological creatures as such... but their several modified of humans, created during the Climatic Struggle (a cold war between Europe and America, which results in a nuclear war between the two sides in 2078) and before the Great Dark Ages (after the nuclear war). They resemble many mythological creatures

Avians
They are similar to birds and can fly moderately well. Of all of humanity's various 'mods' they are the ones that have adapted to normal humans the best, unlike the Goliaths or Merms. They are very intelligent and extremely quick, but lack the ability to think ahead very often. Unlike normal humans, they lay eggs and it considered the ultimate crime to destroy or eat an egg, they prefer to sleep away from the ground.

Merms
An aquatic version of humanity, that was widespread in the Caribbean and Mediterranean during the Great Dark Ages, leading to two distinct subspecies developing. They are like the mermaids of mythology and behave in many ways like small ways, they need to breath air and give birth to live young at sea. Their ships are totally aquatic, with only a small section for land animals to live in.

Goliaths
Goliaths are the largest of the human mods, they stand up to four metres tall and can weight five hundred kilograms. They are extremely strong, but are frequently exploited because of this, they live in tribes, which are easy to breakup and slow to adapt new technology. A few Goliath space kingdoms, have developed.

Fehumans
A cat like species of human, they are naturally aggressive and not considered entirely human by the other clades. Their society is based on brute strength and cunning and they have never developed beyond the clan/tribe level of civilization.

Lemans
Apart from the Merms, these are the most highly changed of humanity's clades, Lemans are similar to lemurs. They rarely grow more than 75 cm long and live in the trees. They are highly intelligent and very good with tools. They consider living on the ground to debased, which has frequently heightened tensions between them and other groups of humans.

----

Sorry for using really stupid names, I can't think up any better ones and I'm not sure if the people who made them in the story's back story would be too bothered either. PLease say if they're really cliched.