# Do you have any subverted creatures?



## Peregrine (Nov 21, 2017)

What animal or humanoid mythical creature or creature of your own imagination have you subverted in:
- appearance
- different powers and weaknesses
- society/culture (if it is not a animal)
- abandoning common clichés and stereotypes (ex. vampires are repelled by garlic)
- non-conformity (ex. unicorns don't always have to be white)
- other subverted things


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## TheCrystallineEntity (Nov 22, 2017)

In my second book, there is mention of a race of dragons that live underground. 
In my fifth book [made of short stories], one of the stories features a reverse werewolf [wolf for 27 days of the month, human for three when the moon is full].


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## DragonOfTheAerie (Nov 22, 2017)

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> In my second book, there is mention of a race of dragons that live underground.
> In my fifth book [made of short stories], one of the stories features a reverse werewolf [wolf for 27 days of the month, human for three when the moon is full].



Haha! Reverse werewolf...I love that.


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## TheCrystallineEntity (Nov 22, 2017)

^He uses the opportunity when in human form to find a hidden village populated by other weird or magical creatures/beings.


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## shangrila (Nov 26, 2017)

I have feathered dragons in one of my WIP. They're also titanic creatures, the size of small mountains.

I also tried (and kind of failed) to come up with my own spin on vampires and werewolves. Both transformed; vampires into reptilian creatures and "werewolves" into something closer to a very large, very hairy gorilla. That was fine, more or less, but I wanted a third type to create a trifecta of sorts that I couldn't get to work. I even had a thread on here about it IIRC and while there were some good ideas (as always) nothing really stuck.


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## DragonOfTheAerie (Nov 26, 2017)

shangrila said:


> I have feathered dragons in one of my WIP. They're also titanic creatures, the size of small mountains.
> 
> I also tried (and kind of failed) to come up with my own spin on vampires and werewolves. Both transformed; vampires into reptilian creatures and "werewolves" into something closer to a very large, very hairy gorilla. That was fine, more or less, but I wanted a third type to create a trifecta of sorts that I couldn't get to work. I even had a thread on here about it IIRC and while there were some good ideas (as always) nothing really stuck.



I have feathery dragons! Mine range from sparrow-sized to a ridable size. The biggest is maybe comparable to the Monstrous nightmare in HTTYD, nothing like Temeraire dragons or those in LOTR.


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## DragonOfTheAerie (Nov 26, 2017)

As for subverting creatures, I did somewhat of a subversion of zombies in my WIP. The condition is caused by addiction to a drug and zombies are mostly sad, placid creatures except for when they're withdrawing. In which case they do grow violent and supernaturally strong. 

I also have were-creatures, which turn into various animals. One important character is a weredog, and not dangerous (but badly behaved) while transformed.


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## Albatross (Dec 16, 2017)

For me, vampires get an infection in their magical essence, which gives them some abilities and disabilities along with turning there skin pale and there eyes a strange, red glowing colour


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## Annoyingkid (Dec 17, 2017)

Rather than being close to nature, the spirit of the Earth is actually gets angry with the elves in my setting for making homes inside trees,  Even though only  one state does that.


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## LWFlouisa (Dec 17, 2017)

I have farefolk like in other fantasy, however their origin is based more on genetic engineering, and are actually humans that split into various sub-species of homo sapiens: by this point only the elves and fairies remained as of the prologue, with fairies winning out ... but having a fate worse than death. They shall live the rest of their days under the shadow of radioactive slime that slowly threatens all life in the fantasy world.

This is a separate world from the waking world, which is like ours but further in the future.

Think something like the Time Machine.


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## D. Gray Warrior (Dec 25, 2017)

Well, gryphons became my alternative to dragons as I find them more practical. I have read somewhere that it would be impossible for dragons to fly unless they have hollow bones and maybe some more bird-like features, so I ended up just using gryphons.


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## DragonOfTheAerie (Dec 25, 2017)

D. Gray Warrior said:


> Well, gryphons became my alternative to dragons as I find them more practical. I have read somewhere that it would be impossible for dragons to fly unless they have hollow bones and maybe some more bird-like features, so I ended up just using gryphons.



My dragons are very bird-like.


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## skip.knox (Dec 25, 2017)

I try to make each of my non-humans interesting in one way or another. As for creatures, I have not done much with those; there's such a variety of monster-types, I don't feel as strong a need to shift things around. I do, though, keep an eye out for under-used creature types. So, in one story I have a lindwurm. In my WIP I have a tarrasque.


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## Orc Knight (Dec 25, 2017)

Tarrasque's count as under-used?


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## skip.knox (Dec 26, 2017)

I don't know that I've encountered one in a novel or short story, only in a D&D monster book.


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## Orc Knight (Dec 26, 2017)

I think that's mostly because D&D kind of owns them. Possibly.


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## skip.knox (Dec 26, 2017)

The tarrasque comes from the Pyrenees Mountains. It still forms a part of civic ceremonies in a few places.


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## Saigonnus (Jan 23, 2018)

I have dragons. They are similar in look; though greatly dependant on the environment they live in. Some places they resemble newts or salamanders, other places like iguanas or horned lizards. None possess any sort of breath weapon, or high level of intelligence (most are equivalent to a horse, cow or domestic pet), and few have extraordinary abilities; and those that do have "natural" abilities (like chameleon-like powers, infravision or even poison saliva) They are also considerably smaller than most depictions of dragons, only 10-12 feet long from nose to tail and NONE have wings or the ability to fly. Most have deadly claws and teeth and use them easily when threatened.  

They reside in family units, each with a fairly sizable hunting ground and most make their homes in caves or burrows. Many cutures have attempted to breed them as service animals or mounts, and most found them too unpredictable to be truly useful. The one culture that does use them have a special charm used to tame them, and never share the secret with anyone, giving them a distint advantage.  

I wouldn't say it's a complete corruption, just enough to make them part of the word they live in.


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## ChasingSuns (Jan 26, 2018)

I have a race of people similar to elves in my story. The only real resemblance they have is longer lifespans and fair features. They are not concerned with nature though, and tend to be rather racist to other people and cultures. They are a vast empire ruled by an upper class that is more concerned with wealth than the well-being of their people. Their architecture, clothing, etc, is modeled after a combination of Rome and the Han Dynasty.

I'm also working on a collaborative post-apocalyptic project with a friend of mine where we have lots of interesting spins on fantasy creatures, such as radioactive dragons and fae that are bioengineered guardians of certain research facilities


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## CupofJoe (Jan 26, 2018)

I'm toying with the idea of nice, cooperative Trolls. Not quite as NICE as Terry Pratchett's Sgt Detritus, but definitely far away from D&D/LotR concept. 
For them I'm trying to make a society that isn't human inspired so there may be a group mind along the lines of a Bee or Ant colony. But a group mind can be incredibly powerful, so what limits to give it... 
There may be small Giants too. And the Giants and Trolls don't get along...


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## Feith (Jan 26, 2018)

Well, I'm not sure if this counts "subverted", but in the world I've made for my fantasy series, I have Faeries and Pixies listed to two different beings - though technically, the Pixies are a sub-category of Faeries. I have it so that Faeries are only female, and tend to have lighter, brighter, more cheerful abilities and personalities, while Pixies can be male or female, have shorter hair and sharper features, and tend to have somewhat darker powers. Also, I have two different types of sirens - the mermaid sirens and the bird sirens, modeled after the original Greek sirens. The mermaid sirens are an extremist group of mermaids who hate humans for polluting their waters and use their voices to drown as many as possible. The bird sirens are shifters who can switch between human and bird forms, but don't specifically belong to either species, and use their songs for their own amusement. They are neither good nor bad, but have been known to enchant any human males they find interesting.


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## Insolent Lad (Feb 16, 2018)

For better or worse, I have attempted to provide 'logical' explanations for very unlikely creatures of myth. Griffons, e.g. are a large primitive (closer to the dinosaur roots) bird with a lion-like ruff, but are definitely NOT part lion. I've done similar stuff with the the mantichore and such. Similarly for human-like creatures, I've tried to fit them into our evolutionary family tree. And anything human-ish is going to be like us, neither innately good nor evil, and with similar motivations.


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## Orc Knight (Feb 16, 2018)

Might actually throw in just some of the subverting I've done. Though I will play with most things in Fantasy anyways.

All the Fea and Greenskin sorts are descended from nature spirits like dryads and nymphs and sylvan, though played with by the gods a little.
Griffons are the above's natural predators and humanity actually uses them (insomuch as one can use them, they'll eat their riders too if they get the chance) for their air force and some knightly classes. They are also sapient and realize what's going on, but stick with the humans for the most part.
I did a whole post on how my drow are different and my wood elves are extremely predatory and start most the wars. The ones the drow didn't start.
Dragons and humans came about at around the same time, making Eld's dragons one of the less powerful forces of the lands and likely to be pressed into slavery or service to the likes of elves or even humans. Their counter is Dragon Cults to gain power. Or at least a fair few of them. It's that or service or food, the latter of which the Cult dragons often end up as.
Orc's would prefer farming, but will fight for their lands and homes. Trolls have some of the best libraries and architecture about. Goblins run the gamut and are usually found in service to the above. Ogre's are some of the best cooks around and it's not usually human flesh they're cooking. Also polite and semi-nomadic.


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## Yora (Feb 28, 2018)

I'd say what I am doing with goblins would count. They are some kind of mishmash combined with gnomes and halflings and turned into a kind of stoic fey race. They are reservedly polite and very averse of confrontations, but will come back later at night with a lot of friends to take back whatever they have been pressured to give up or promise by bigger people.
They are not normally hostile but you never want to piss them off and they have absolutely no hint of any inclination to fight fair with anyone bigger and stronger than themselves.


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## Ruru (Mar 1, 2018)

I only have a couple that feature prominently. The much younger version of my story included flying horses. Over time practicality has caught up, and what I've ended up with is a meat eating creature with clawed feet and a membranous wing with large feathers at the outer tip for glide control. I guess dragon meets horse? They are no bigger than a small horse, and compact to allow for aerial acrobatic territory displays.

The other is a shape shifter,  which is actually a throw back lineage from my main race: instead of using their Earthen energy source as a healing/regenerative tool, it is employed in shape altering. But there are fairly sever rules: they cant go from big to small and vice versa, all that matter has to go some where, or come from somewhere. And the young ones have to learn how to shift: as in how to get the feel of having all the tendons and muscles in the right places so as not to end up as a heap on the floor.


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## Yora (Mar 1, 2018)

I am also quite happy with my trolls. Though they are really not original in any way. They are basically Japanese Oni with the personality of Elcor from Mass Effect.
They are big, strong, tough, have some minor magic powers, and they are not really getting agitated by anything. They are mostly nonagressive and humbly polite, but will absolutely smash anyone who is looking for a fight into the ground.


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## Horus (Mar 2, 2018)

I've done a few, but only to account for ethnic/gene/culture diversity amongst a very large population. Even humans in my setting aren't always entirely "human" as it were.

I have a particular ethnic group of dwarves that aren't small at all. They're still stocky and muscular, but can range in height from 9 to 12 feet tall. In the same setting, there are species of dragon that will never be bigger than a dog, but there are canine species that can be as big as houses. Orcs are very intelligent and one of the only races to have invented the blast furnace in the First Age, giving them a large advantage in the fields of metallurgy. Yet, they don't destroy their environment for industrialization because they hold nature to be sacred.

In contrast, Elves (with the exception of one ethnic group) aren't close to nature at all, and find this stereotype to be very insulting. They build around the nature of their homeland, but only because they don't wish to disturb the environment in a way that can cause an ecological shift/damage. Humans misinterpreted this, and other cultural practices, to mean that Elves revered nature. They traditionally strive for technological/magical pursuits over spiritual ones, .


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## raygungoth (Mar 13, 2018)

Since I filled my world up with dinosaurs, I made "unicorns" be/resemble light-bodied Dryomorphid Iguanodontians.

It's not technically "subversion," but multiple cultures in my works use the word spirit, demon, faerie, god, and witch interchangeably.

For my urban fantasy work, my vampires originated in Africa. The first vampire was a woman who killed and drank the blood of her husband to prevent herself and her baby from dying. The sun, seeing this as it was beginning to set, cursed her and her progeny to forever drink only blood. She made a bargain with the rising moon that she and her children have an escape in the form of consuming guilt and hatred.


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## Orc Knight (Mar 14, 2018)

raygungoth said:


> Since I filled my world up with dinosaurs, I made "unicorns" be/resemble light-bodied Dryomorphid Iguanodontians.



Oooh, another dinosaur lover eh? I actually have a setting with them too and the feathered variants are often called birds or dragons. Or the usual 'saurian' in my current fantasy setting.


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