# Favorite Creatures in Fantasy



## Philip Overby

I personally love the cactus people (actually all the creatures) from China Mieville's Bas-Lag world.  And the Weaver, which is described as:

_a multi-dimensional being in the form of a giant spider, who speaks in a never-ending torrent of free-verse poetry_

Wait a minute...what?  Yeah, so I like weird creatures in my fantasy.  Gollum is a particularly unique creature and so is Cthulhu (although he is some sort of elder god, so maybe not exactly a creature?)  What creatures do you like?  Dragons, ettercaps, Jabberwockys, ogres, frost giants, gelatinous cubes, lizardmen?

Share!


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## myrddin173

One of my new favorites is from Catherine Fisher's Relic Master series which I am almost finished with.  There is a race of creatures called the Sekoi who are seven-fingered humanoid felines.  There culture is heavily based on story-telling and listening to one of them telling a story can easily find you trapped in your mind relieving it until it is over.  One of the Sekoi is a member of the main group and I like him for his wry sense of humor.

There are probably more I will check in again later once I remember them.


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## Garren Jacobsen

I love me the Kandra, and the Inquisitors from Mistrborn. The Myrdral from WoT when I imagine them scare my eternal soul. Good times with those people!


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## Wolfen

Brian Scott Allen said:


> I love me the Kandra, and the Inquisitors from Mistrborn. The Myrdral from WoT when I imagine them scare my eternal soul. Good times with those people!



lovelovelovelovelove the kandra


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## Dante Sawyer

Wolfen said:


> lovelovelovelovelove the kandra


I too love the Kandra. TenSoon... classic. But my favorite comes from Firesoul (Map the Dragon's book). It's called a xyntrix (or at least I think that's how you spell it off of the top of my head). It's this small little creature that crafts its body off of its environment. Pretty cool!
I also like the "wolves" from King's Wolves of the Calla. Dr. Doom lookalikes who throw deadly snitches and use lightsabers... yeah, I can get into that.


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## Leuco

I saw a picture of a Myconid in the Monster Manual that I found rather fascinating. I think Toad from Super Mario Bros. is a kind of Myconid too. I don't know what it is about them, but I think they're interesting. I may do some research to find out where this idea of fungus people came from. Maybe they're supposed to be representations of something else.


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## Cheryl

I'm really boring and generic but I really love unicorns and dragons. There was a time in my life that I believed they existed and I wanted a pet dragon.


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## Seth son of Tom

personally i still love the classics elves, dwarves, centaurs, orcs, dragons, phoenixes, etc.


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## DameiThiessen

Lately I've been really into Dragons, Chimeras, and Greek Sphinxes. I have an elder character who is filling as my beasty, and I wanted her to have the general shape of a Sphinx (head and chest of a woman, animal body) but with avian and reptilian body parts.


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## Linqy

I fell absolutely in love with TenSoon, kandra are very high in my list of awesomest creatures ever. Too bad I'll never be able to steal them for a novel of my own XD

But for me the absolute one true love is Vampires. Any way shape or form. I love the mythological air of mystery about them and the infinite possibilities they offer. Ranging from pure evil, to horribly nasty to completely romantic.


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## mythique890

I have always, always been absolutely fascinated with the idea of dragons.  They are the king of the fantasy jungle.

I've never read "Relic Masters," but myrddin's description of the Sekoi sounds really cool.  

Selkies from Celtic mythology are another favorite of mine, and I like how some authors I've read recently expanded on the myth in a way that a 'selkie' was any animal that could shed or take back it's animal skin to become human for a while.  I sort of like a lot of creatures from Celtic mythology, and there are a lot of them! 

I like the idea of centaurs but I'm not quite sure what I'd ever do with them writing-wise, even though I love Foley from _Artemis Fowl._

Mermaids are cool in all versions from Disney to scaries with green skin and seaweed hair, but again, not sure what I'd ever be able to do with them.

Werewolves, unicorns, sea monsters (like Nessie or the leviathan)... I like those too.  I have a lot of favorites!  Reading about obscure mythological/fantasy creatures is really inspiring to me and makes me wonder how to use them in stories.


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## Raven's Quill

Sirens, mermaids, elves - I love the graceful, willowy creatures. Love to be interested to some new ones though!


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## Whitefur

Dragons all the way. It doesn't matter from which book or universe they come from as long as they're not overly human, aka not humans-dressed-in-dragon-suits. 

They're also the reason why I won't play Skyrim. I won't be able to bring myself to kill them, even if they're some pixels bunched together to form the image of a dragon.


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## TWErvin2

I've always liked the ur-viles from Stephen R. Donaldson's Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever trilogies.

Dark, creatures of power that form fighting wedges, where however many form up focus their power on the loremaster at the point, enabling him to wield magic able to defeat most magics thrown against them. Individually, they're not slouches either. Dark, roynish creatures, without eyes.  It's difficult to adequately describe them outside the Land--the world Donaldson created.


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## Benjamin Clayborne

The malices from Lois McMaster Bujold's _Sharing Knife_ series. Really terrifying, really hard to kill.


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## Map the Dragon

In no particular order...

Dragons - From just about any work
Draconians - Dragonlance
Nuar - Dreamworld
Koloss - Mistborn
Hobbits - Duh
Shadow-Walkers - Empires of Magic
Minotaur - as per Dragonlance


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## Thalian

I love dragons and the power that they represent, except I don't necessarily like how powerful they are in the Dungeons & Dragons world because they can pretty much do anything that anybody else can do, just better.

I am basically just a sucker for the regular fantasy creatures; orcs, goblins, trolls, dragons, elves, dwarves and the like. There is just something to be said about the simplicity of that type of world.


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## FictionQuest

For a slightly lighthearted answer, I really enjoyed the Luggage in the early Discworld stories.


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## Maid Of Glass

Dragons, Dragons, Dragons and more Dragons so long as they're well written! and I adore Vampires, but none of this sparkly, animal eating nonsense, proper human killing elegant monsters with capes and coffins and a name like Count Dracula x]


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## Steerpike

T'lann Imass from Steven Erikson's _Malazan_ books. Also, the Jaghut, from the same series.

Various creatures from Lovecraft's mythos.

Selkies.

Dragons, if done well.

Pistol wraiths from the Iron Kingdoms d20 setting are kind of cool too.

The Dzur from Steven Brust's works; especially Tazendra, a Dzur warrior and mage.


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## Stranger

Gryphons - for some reason, not a very common race in fantasy novels. 

Creatures from Hayao Miyazaki's films. From the God of Death in Princess Mononoke to Nausicaa's pet squirrel thing. They're all awesome. 

Fairies in Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. (They're not your typical sugary fairies, I promise!)

Dragons. Except Barney-the-dinousaur "let's sing songs and have a picnic!" kind of dragons.

The Firebird - From Russian mythology. It's similar to the Phoenix, but it doesn't get reborn. (What an OP ability, am I right?)

Leshii - also from Russian mythology. Forest tree-like people, similar to Tolkien's Ents.


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## Edgemaker

For me right now. With the little Fantasy that I have read I think there are several. The Griffin I think has always been my favorite from the Start. The WereWolves in Stuart Hill's Trilogy are interesting. But I think the one Fantasy Creature that has always been an interest to read about has been the Fantasy Foundational Staple: The Dragon. From the Dragon Riders of Pern, to Smaug.


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## Edgemaker

Stranger said:


> Creatures from Hayao Miyazaki's films. From the God of Death in Princess Mononoke to Nausicaa's pet squirrel thing. They're all awesome.



That dude has an Imagination that is unlike anyone else in the world. The things he comes up with are amazing in every category.


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## Telcontar

> The Dzur from Steven Brust's works; especially Tazendra, a Dzur warrior and mage.



Strictly speaking she was a Dzurlord, a person of the house named after a creature - she wasn't the creature itself. 

In terms of actual creatures (I'll include Undead as well) my favorite is, like most, Dragons. Dragons all day, every day.

Also love Vampires, but I can't stand the sissyfication of them going on in popular fiction right now. I intend to right that wrong sometime in my own writing...

The Lich (D&D style) is another favorite.

Finally, I really like gryphons as well. No doubt I'm forgetting some favorites, but those are the common ones.


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## Jess A

I adore unique creatures, but I have a soft spot for shape-shifters, certain kinds of dragons and gryphons/griffins. 

I quite enjoyed the Icarii from Sara Douglass' novels (winged magical people), and also Robin Hobb's take on dragons. Katherine Kerr's take on elves. Some of the hexapedal Tsunari beasts from Feist's books. There was a species in Maggie Furey's novels which I loved as a kid - they were dragon-men which absorbed light from the sun and converted it to energy - like photosynthesis.

I quite liked the griffins in Rachel Neumeier's books. They were creatures made of fire. 

Among others.


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## thenavdeepdahiya

There's this image of a proto Shiva from harappan remains which looks really scary.
Kinda like Hades from god of war


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## PlotHolio

Trees.

Don't laugh. Those of you who have read Wise Man's Fear know how scary trees can be when the author really wants them to be.

I'm an Evil Tree Hipster. I liked evil trees before it was cool.


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## Jess A

PlotHolio said:


> Trees.
> 
> Don't laugh. Those of you who have read Wise Man's Fear know how scary trees can be when the author really wants them to be.
> 
> I'm an Evil Tree Hipster. I liked evil trees before it was cool.



Mate: I had a dream a few weeks ago about a tree whose roots attacked me. Think it'll go in my book.


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## Ireth

Vampires and Fae are my faves at the moment. (As if nobody could tell from reading my stuff in the Showcase, or my various discussion threads. )


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## PlotHolio

Jess A said:


> Mate: I had a dream a few weeks ago about a tree whose roots attacked me. Think it'll go in my book.



Trees can be terrifying! You just need good imagery, like this:


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## Ophiucha

I am also in the 'weird' camp when it comes to the monsters I love. First thing that came to mind were the Ariekei from Mieville's _Embassytown_, though from his works the golems of _Iron Council_ are a close second. From mythology, my favourites are werewolves and angels. Angels here being the proper, Biblical angels with thousands of eyes that need to warn people not to panic the second they appear before them. And werewolves are interesting from a psychological standpoint - the beast inside and all. The creature from John Carpenter's _The Thing_ gets a special mention. Also, anything from Junji Ito's _Uzumaki_. Medusa lady, the snail people, the... serpents... mmm, I have developed a certain wariness of spirals because of this manga. I dissect cinnabuns before I eat them for personal comfort.

Also, I like dragons. Who the heck doesn't like dragons?


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## Benjamin Clayborne

Also, the myrddraal (fades) from the _Wheel of Time_. Pale, eyeless men, deadly with a sword, and their cloaks aren't stirred by the wind. That last detail makes no sense but is awesome.


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## Zero Angel

I like all sorts of creatures. Always enjoy a good death knight from D&D


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## ThomasCardin

I am afraid it has to be dragons for me. I created my own for dungeons and dragons games...I hated to see them as something that players tried to kill. Oh there were still the regular dragons, tough and deadly. but I also added a race of dragons called Great Dragons, the last survivors of a universe destroyed by undeath.

unfortunately my love for dragons also made me very picky about movie and book reditions of dragons that didn't measure up. Some are just lizards with wings, or humans in dragon suits, or (gasp) pets.


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## Rhizanthella

I personally like the pheonix. I feel common dragons are too big and muscular for my taste. Phoenixes are more slender and graceful. Also I love flying and fire. Bit of a pyro here. But my favorite element of the pheonix are the healing tears. That is just awesome. Plus they're reborn from their ashes. How convenient!


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## Rhizanthella

But, when Dragons and pheonixes are overplayed. I love Momo, Aang's flying lemur from Avatar. Either those or the Kodama from Princess Mononoke.


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## MauEvig

I realize this is an old thread, but I enjoy any type of cat races, be they something like Khajiit from the Elder Scrolls Series, to any types of were cats or anthro felines. I also enjoy talking cats.
I also like dragons.
Elves typically mark "fantasy" for me as well, if done right. I've seen so many different interpretations of both elves and dragons, I don't really have a favorite depiction.
And don't forget unicorns. Phoenixes are also fascinating, and they play a part in the world my OC is from.


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## Maker of Things Not Kings

Ahhh this is a great old thread! Well, of late, I've been sucked into the endless wealth of creatures from world folklore that we don't often here about. Many would fall under more general headers (elf, brownie, fairy etc) but each individual folk/type/tale is so fascinating and the more I dig, the more I come up with: Stromkarls, Näkki, Hobs, Vitta, Lauru,  My main WIP is set in a world that brings a dozen of these lesser known/written about fair folk together in one place.  

But I am also a huge fan of fauns, trolls and any animal familiars or anthropomorphic beings.


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## MauEvig

Oh that's fascinating! I like learning about fantasy creatures I'd never heard about.
Fauns lend themselves to C.S. Lewis's work don't they?
And most definitely familiars and anthropomorphic beings. My stories for the most part (with exceptions) usually involve those in some way, shape or form. 
I almost forgot...I also enjoy Japanese lore and overall Eastern type creatures like the bakeneko and the kitsune. Then you have Native American beliefs in spirit animals.


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## Maker of Things Not Kings

Ohh yes, Kitsune! 

I love the stories that include them. I have a world, not yet ready for storytelling, where there are nine varieties of fox (kit fox, fennec fox, swift fox etc) who guard wooded groves on an island continent. I'm seeing it as more of a graphic novel/comic so I have been making the nine figurines of the foxes for an artist to work from for me. In the end, it may be an alternate origin story of what we know as Kitsune though I won't use the term in the story itself, just the nine tails and foxfire.  I also love the stories of_ Kawauso,_ the shape shifting and very mischievous river otter.  

Japanese lore and Russian lore in particular are both so rich. Native American, of course, is very strong in animal lore as well. I can see your draw to it.


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## MauEvig

Wow! Sounds like you have an exciting take on the kitsune lore. I'd like to check it out!
A shapeshifting otter, that does sound interesting!
I absolutely agree! 
Sky Kingdom does have a weird creature who is across between a kitsune and a cat called the nekune, who is also referred to as the dream walker spirit, and can access the world of the afterlife. The nekune is also something of a spirit guide for the main character.


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## Maker of Things Not Kings

Nekune sounds like it's/he's/she's right up my alley! Are you currently working on Sky Kingdom?


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## MauEvig

Yes I am! Although the Nekune I'll admit does play a rather small part to the story, I still feel the creature is important to pointing the main character in the right direction and offers a bit of spiritualism/philosophical musings to the story and how it handles things like death and the afterlife.


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## MrNybble

I like to read about some sentient  non-humanoid creatures. Seeing how humans or other similar shape creatures interact with say Centaurs. Creatures with tails, wings, extra limbs, or even aquatic present interesting challenges to read about.


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## Devor

I didn't realize this was a necro thread.  I always find it fun to scroll through and see old faces in a conversation. 

I've got to say my favorite creatures are the household spirits in folklore, although some of that answer is because I'm writing about them currently and been looking into it a lot, so it's fun because it's current for me. Another part of that answer is from seeing the Domovoi in Quest for Glory IV, and how cool and different it was to see that kind of creature compared to most stories where we only see action/adventure creatures.  And then there's the mischief maker part of it.  I think a lot of writers overlook how much fun it can be to play with that.  It's like having a tiny fantasy creature based on Fred and George Weasley.  Why are writers passing that up?


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## MauEvig

Are the household spirits similar to fairies, sprites, pixies or spriggans by any chance? That's actually not a bad idea, assuming I go deeper into what living in Magicordia's world is like.


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## Insolent Lad

I included a bogart in my beginners' chapter book (The Contrary Fairy, written a few years ago) that lived unseen in a human home and generally helped out with the chores of house and farm. Someday, maybe a sequel...


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## Hir i-Chorvath

Not overly organized:
Dragons
Elves (Tolkien version are the BEST)
Dragonborns
Kandra
Shapeshifters
Certain Vampires (JinYeong by Gingell)
Mindflayers (D&D)
Spren
Fearie Dragons...

That's all I can think of at the moment but I'm sure I've got more.


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## D. Gray Warrior

I like gryphons because lions and eagles are already cool, and a hybrid of two makes it cooler.

I also like centaurs, but I find their anatomy to be impractical, but you might could say the same about gryphons.

I don't really like elves except for the standard drow/dark elf and the Bosmer from the Elder Scrolls.


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## Zander Willmore

I really love Goblins.  my favorite Goblins being the Night Goblins that ride Squigs and eat drug like mushrooms from the Warhammer universe.  Squigs also are great.  I imagine that Squigs taste like burnt marshmallows if eaten.


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## Cu Mara

Maker of Things Not Kings said:


> Ohh yes, Kitsune!
> 
> I love the stories that include them. I have a world, not yet ready for storytelling, where there are nine varieties of fox (kit fox, fennec fox, swift fox etc) who guard wooded groves on an island continent. I'm seeing it as more of a graphic novel/comic so I have been making the nine figurines of the foxes for an artist to work from for me. In the end, it may be an alternate origin story of what we know as Kitsune though I won't use the term in the story itself, just the nine tails and foxfire.  I also love the stories of_ Kawauso,_ the shape shifting and very mischievous river otter.
> 
> Japanese lore and Russian lore in particular are both so rich. Native American, of course, is very strong in animal lore as well. I can see your draw to it.



Oh I love the kitsune! My current work has a kitsune as a minor character. I was wondering which resources you all found most useful for getting a general idea on crafting your kitsune characters? 

I am also intrigued by which type of creatures you were referring to when you mentioned Russian lore?


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## MrNybble

I do like to use kitsune. So many ways to represent them. They are main characters in a four book series I have been working on. Not really based on any set lore but barrowed ideas from many others.


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## Maker of Things Not Kings

Cu Mara said:


> Oh I love the kitsune! My current work has a kitsune as a minor character. I was wondering which resources you all found most useful for getting a general idea on crafting your kitsune characters?
> 
> I am also intrigued by which type of creatures you were referring to when you mentioned Russian lore?



Russian spirits I am drawn to are mostly the household and natural world based. Leshy, Rusalka, Olevoi and Domovoi.  

As for animals, to my understanding, some Slavic deities were linked with Animal spirits like the wolf being linked with Veles. 

There is Simargi, the doomsday hound. Raróg is a fiery Falcon spirit/demon. Sirins had the head of a woman and the body of birds. The Goldhorn is mythic white Ibex (I think that one is Slovenian)  and you'll find foxes in tales as tricksters and witty foils in Russian/Slavik stories too.  

For the Kitsune, I cannot cite a specific text. I've collected so many bits and bobs of information over the years, mostly from various entries in Japanese folklore books and online.


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## Cu Mara

Maker of Things Not Kings said:


> Russian spirits I am drawn to are mostly the household and natural world based. Leshy, Rusalka, Olevoi and Domovoi.
> 
> As for animals, to my understanding, some Slavic deities were linked with Animal spirits like the wolf being linked with Veles.
> 
> There is Simargi, the doomsday hound. Raróg is a fiery Falcon spirit/demon. Sirins had the head of a woman and the body of birds. The Goldhorn is mythic white Ibex (I think that one is Slovenian)  and you'll find foxes in tales as tricksters and witty foils in Russian/Slavik stories too.
> 
> For the Kitsune, I cannot cite a specific text. I've collected so many bits and bobs of information over the years, mostly from various entries in Japanese folklore books and online.



Wow, there really is a lot. The only one you’ve mentioned that I’d heard of before is a Leshy. So that’s awesome  Now I have a ton of new leads to go track down.


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## Rogue

I'm about to show just how basic I am. Above all others, I love dragons.

I think it started with the Nordic hero Siegfried and his battle with the dragon Fafnir. As a boy, when I first heard the story, I was a little let down that this nigh-invincible creature was defeated by a mere mortal but I learned their true power when Siegfried bathed in Fafnir's blood and it made him invulnerable while also granting him knowledge otherwise unattainable by mortals. It was through this story that I learned that cunning was more important than strength when dealing with a dragon.

An anvil-cutting sword and battle tips from Odin help, too.

I remember artist Larry Elmore's cover of _*Dragons of Autumn Twilight *_introduced me to the dragons of Krynn well before I had even heard of Dungeons & Dragons. I can still perfectly picture the red dragon lurking behind a tree, stalking three of the Heroes of the Lance. If I read that book for the first time today, I probably wouldn't have a very high opinion of it but the _*Dragonlance Chronicles *_are to me what _*The Lord of the Rings*_ are to so many others; my introduction to modern fantasy. 

And that's just touching on Western dragons! Dragons in one form or another seem to connect all of the mythologies of the world and I can never get bored of them. 

Aside from dragons, I have a soft spot for orcs, goblins, and werewolves. My love for orcs started with R.A. Salvatore's _*The Hunter's Blades*_, even if I was disappointed with the trilogy as a whole. It introduced one of my favorite orc characters and made me want to read other stories where orcs are more than just monster fodder thrown at adventuring heroes. While I don't know a whole lot about the lore, *Magic the Gathering *has some of the most memorable goblins in fiction, just from their art alone. 

And I think I'll always be fascinated by the duality of werewolves in all their forms, from the popular bi-pedal beastie to the legendary rougarou. Not too long ago, I read _*Fool Moon*_, a book about Jim Butcher's popular Harry Dresden character and while I can't say that I enjoyed the story, I love how Butcher managed to fit in so many different types of werewolves from so many different folklores and mythologies.


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## SolLilja

My favorite creature, at the moment, is the Ogier in the Wheel of Time series. Maybe it's because I can relate to their love of forests, knowledge and peaceful ways. I don't know, reading about them just makes me smile a little


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## S.T. Ockenner

Whitefur said:


> Dragons all the way. It doesn't matter from which book or universe they come from as long as they're not overly human, aka not humans-dressed-in-dragon-suits.
> 
> They're also the reason why I won't play Skyrim. I won't be able to bring myself to kill them, even if they're some pixels bunched together to form the image of a dragon.


You only have to kill dragons if you do the main quest or 



Spoiler: Skyrim Spoiler



if you get to the end of Winterhold's quest there is a skeleton dragon


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## S.T. Ockenner

I've  never read Duh before. Who wrote it? 


Map the Dragon said:


> Hobbits - Duh


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