Favorite Fantasy/Mythological Creature?

[Androxine Vortex]

I wanted to change my avatar for some time now (I have a compulsion to change things. I'm lucky to go a week without changing my phone background or reorganizing my room) I was trying to think of what to change it to and started thinking what I like about fantasy. So I started thinking about what creatures and characters I like the most and if you can't tell form my (current) picture my favorite is the Satyr.

I just love their design and that there's so many different varieties of them. Plus I love the different styles of horns such as ram, gazelle, goat, etc. I have a character in my current work who is a minor god of nature and is a satyr who roams through the woodland realms playing his flute.

What are your favorite creatures or characters? Is it a monstrous dragon or a tiny fairy? Or a monstrous fairy...


(I will make an honorable mention to the Illithids from D&D even though they are a "rip off" of Lovecraftian monsters I still think they are cool and love their design)

 

[Ireth]

I'm a huge fan of vampires, werewolves and Fae. Not sweet, sparkly fairies, but beautiful, dangerous Sidhe and others.

 

[Tom]

I also like the Fae. So much you can do with them! Vampires, merfolk, changelings, selkies, water horses, and pookas are also some of my favorites. Celtic mythological creatures are awesome.

 

[KC Trae Becker]

Trifecta

My favorites are satyr, sidhe and sprite.

I like humanoids, they're informative and thought provoking to read about and write. I like nature, it speaks to my soul. I like wings, they capture my imagination.

Maybe I should say the sprites win because they've got all three, but the other two are more representative of nature. The sidhe, though, can be done so many different ways, some not so naturey.

So I guess really the satyr wins for me too, because they are the purest image of nature. Maybe a winged satyr that doesn't look demonic would fit as my favorite.

Great question! There are so many great mythological creatures it was hard to choose.

 

[Dipti13]

Vampires and sprite are my all time favorite.

 

[Feo Takahari]

I keep coming back to succubi. The entire concept is rooted in fear of sexuality, and my writing leans very sex-positive, so I can create all sorts of culture clash. ("You mean you're not going to suck out my life force?")

 

[Reaver]

I have too many favorites to count. On a separate note, has anyone here ever read any of Christopher Moore's books?

I guess they'd fit into the urban fantasy genre.

If you haven't, I highly recommend them.

 

[Lunaairis]

Got a love for Vampires, Dragons, Mermaids and Huldras (Brook horses being a close second to them, ever since I played Year Walk.)

but really any mythological creature can quickly become a favorite of mine after I've researched it for a bit.

 

[Devor]

I like the classics, and I like my own creations - not that I mean to compare the two.

Dragons. Griffins. Dwarves. Trolls. Gnomes and fairies. Oh, the Nazgul and Harry Potter's house elves. They're all awesome stuff to me. There's a sense of awesome, a sense of wonder and fear, a sense of nostalgia and the anticipation of surprise.

Yeah, a lot of times they're served under a pile of beer-basted horse dung. But a bad sauce can ruin any meal.

Of my own creations, my favorites include the Dreamling Dragons, the "Ancestral Spirits," the Traelu and Gorgit (they share a story), and the Tleptians (although the name and appearance are owned by LS). I'll leave it to your imagination to figure out what all of these are (Thanks for good guesses!).

My avatar also depicts a favorite character of mine - a wizard who used his magic to become one with a phoenix, proceeded to outlive his world, and then took the power of his dying sun to fuel an escape from his dimension. See, I think that's cool.

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

FACT: Tleptian evolved from "two left feet."

 

[buyjupiter]

@Feo: have you thought about having a succubi *give* back life force? Like they're on a campaign to restore their reputation or something? If not....*scribbles notes*

My faves are mostly from Eastern European mythos: river creatures that pull you under the water and drown you (a la the Vodnik--toad like descriptors in most stories--not that I've written a story about one or anything *whistles innocently*), Baba Yaga (love her), etc.

I love golems. They are the robot equivalent in fantasy. And I love robots. I like dybbuks as well. (You can take the girl out of the shetl, but you can't take the...)

And I love djinni. And various other Arabic fantasy creatures. Which is why I can't wait to start reading Saladin Ahmed's Throne of the Crescent Moon. (I'm savoring his short stories right now, mostly because I know he does not write fast and there isn't--so far as I can tell--anything at all similar to him out there in the market right now.)

 

[Jabrosky]

Anything big, fierce, and reptilian is fine with me. But then I'm normally into dinosaurs and other extinct beasts moreso than mythical creatures.

I always did feel sorry for orcs and didn't like how they were always portrayed as the bad guys before the third Warcraft. Maybe it's their pseudo-tribal get-up that reminds me of various indigenous peoples throughout history who got brutalized by imperialism. Elves on the other hand remind me more of those snooty imperialists whom I love to hate on.

 

[Tom]

I think elves are just snooty because we humans are just stoopid tree-killing meat-eaters who have no mystical connection with nature. And plus they are prettier than us.







(Oh God, you can tell I need sleep when I start talking like this...)

 

[Kittie Brandybuck]

My favourites used to be dragons. I think undead creatures are awesome. This is probably why my current favourite is a dracolich from D&D.

 

[Almyrigan Hero]

This is a bit of a general pick, but I tend to really like 'monster warriors' in general. The idea of a creature that possesses a degree of martial prowess, but also a somehow inhuman mindset and an extra bag of tricks, is super engaging to me. Naga/lamia, draconic humanoids, and living skeletons would probably be my three top traditional picks from the category, though you can really just put a weapon in any sort of animal's hand and I'm excited to see what it does.