List of legendary creatures by type

Last updated

This list of legendary creatures from mythology, folklore and fairy tales is sorted by their classification or affiliation. Creatures from modern fantasy fiction and role-playing games are not included.

Contents

Animals, creatures associated with

Arthropods

Insects

Scorpions

Spiders

  • Aiapæc (Moce) – Creator god, often seen as a spider with an anthropomorphic face and jaguar fangs.
  • Anansi (West African) – Trickster spider.
  • Arachne (Greek) – Weaver cursed into a spider.
  • Areop-Enap (Nauru) – Creator god, made the earth and sky from a giant clam shell.
  • Chaffee Spider (American cryptid) – Large cave spider kept as pest control and guard dogs by early settlers in Chaffee, Colorado, before mysteriously vanishing off the face of the earth.
  • Christmas Spider (Ukrainian) – Spider whose webs became the first tinsel on a tree.
  • Djieien (Seneca) – Man-sized spider who survived most attacks because its heart was buried underground.
  • Iktomi (Lakota) – Trickster spider. Also known in parts of the Rockies.
  • Jorōgumo (Japanese) – Spider yokai that can appear as a beautiful woman.
  • Phalanx (Greek) – Brother to Arachne in a variation of the story, also turned into a spider.
  • Spider Grandmother (Native American) – Important figure across many North West Native American Cultures.
  • Tsuchigumo (Japanese) – Shapeshifting giant spider.

Birds

Avian Humanoids

Chickens

Corvids

Eagles

  • Aethon (Greek) – Eagle tormentor of Prometheus.
  • Griffin (Greek) – Guards treasure and priceless possessions.
  • Hippogriff (Italian) – Winged horse with the head and upper body of an eagle.
  • Huracán (Mayan) – Type of thunderbird that lives beneath the Gulf of Mexico. Etymological origin of "hurricane".
  • Hræsvelgr (Norse) – Jötunn who takes the form of an eagle.
  • Poukai (Māori) – Monstrous predatory bird, likely based on an extinct species.
  • Shahbaz (Persian) – Eagle god who helped the Iranian peoples and guided the Faravahar to the Iranian lands.
  • Triple-headed eagle (multi-cultural) –
  • Wuchowsen - (Abenaki) One of the four wind spirits in Abenaki lore. Depicted as a giant eagle who lives atop a mountain.
  • Ziz (Jewish) – Giant griffin.
  • Zu (Mesopotamian) – Divine monster depicted as a lion-headed eagle.

Owls

  • Chickcharney (Bahamas) – Magical owl with powers over fate, sometimes encountered by travellers in pine forests.
  • Nyctimene (Roman) – Princess transformed into an owl by Minerva.
  • Owlman (English) – Owl-like humanoid compared to America's Mothman.
  • Sirin (Slavic) – Birds with women's heads who lured men to their deaths.
  • Strix (Greek) – Owl that ate human flesh.

Fish

Mammals

Aquatic and marine-based

  • Aspidochelone (Greek) – Island sized whale mentioned in bestiaries.
  • Bahamut (Arabic) – Whale monster whose body supports the earth. Word seems far more ancient than Islam and may have the same origin as the word Behemoth in modern Judeo-Christian lore.
  • Bake-kujira (Japanese) – Ghost whale.
  • Cetus (Greek) – A monster with the head of a boar or a greyhound, the body of a whale or dolphin, and a divided, fan-like tail.
  • Devil Whale (English) – Whale capable of swallowing ships.
  • Dobhar-chú (Scottish) – King otter.
  • Encantado (Brazilian) – Shapeshifting trickster dolphins.
  • Glashtyn (Celtic) – Horse goblin from the sea.
  • Gveleshapi (Georgian) - Snake-whale monster associated with lakes, rivers and springs. Said to be causes of floods and other water related disasters.
  • Lavellan (Scottish) – Water shrew or water vole with poisonous abilities, said to be able to injure cattle over a hundred feet away.
  • Makara (Hindu mythology) – Half terrestrial animal in the frontal part (stag, deer, or elephant) and half aquatic animal in the hind part (usually of a fish, a seal, or a snake, though sometimes a peacock or even a floral tail is depicted).
  • Sea goat (Greek) – Half goat, half fish.
  • Selkie (Scottish) – Shapeshifting seal people.
  • Water bull (Scottish) – Nocturnal amphibious bull.
  • Water Horse  – General name for mythical water dwelling horses of many cultures.

Bats

Carnivorans

Bears
  • Bjarndyrakongur (Icelandic) – King of bears. Stems from Polar Bear sightings in Iceland being extremely rare, but not unheard of. Has a shining horn on its head topped with a ball and red patches on cheeks.
  • Bugbear (Celtic) – Child-eating hobgoblin.
  • Callisto (Greek) – A nymph who was turned into a bear by Hera.
  • Stiff-Legged Bear (Native American) – Gigantic, hairless bear monster in tribal folklore, predominantly Iroquoians and Algonquians, possibly inspired by mammoths.
Canines
  • Adlet (Inuit) – Tribe of hybrid dog people birthed from a woman who married her dog. Were banished for preying on humans.
  • Akhlut (Inuit) – Wolf-orca hybrid monster that hunts on both land and sea.
  • Amarok (Inuit) – Giant solitary wolf that hunts at night.
  • Anubis (Egyptian) – Jackal-headed god associated with mummification and the afterlife.
  • Aralez (Armenian) – Winged dogs that descend from heaven and resurrect fallen warriors by licking their wounds.
  • Asena (Altai/Turkish) – She-wolf impregnated by mythical founder of a tribe called the Golturks. They came to Turkey from Altai in Siberia during the empire of Ghengis Khan.
  • Axehandle hound (North American) – Axe-shaped dog that reputedly subsists on axe-handles left unattended.
  • Black dog (British) – Also known as Barghest, Black Shuck, or Grim; associated with the Devil, Hellhound.
  • Beast of Gévaudan (French) – Man-eating wolf, terrorized the province of Gévaudan.
  • Carbuncle (Chilote) – One of its many descriptions is a small, luminescent dog. [2]
  • Cerberus (Greek, Roman) – Multi-headed dog, guards the gates of the Underworld, son/brother of Orthrus.
  • Chupacabra  (Latin American) – Alleged creature reputed to attack and drink the blood of livestock, occasionally described with bat-like features. Sometimes thought to resemble, or mistaken for a hairless coyote.
  • Cu Sith or Cusith (Irish, Scottish, Hebridean) – A hellhound, a highland harbinger of death.
  • Crocotta  – Mythical dog-wolf that can imitate human voices, supposedly found in India or Ethiopia.
  • Cynocephaly  – Humanoids with the head of a dog or jackal.
  • Dogs of Actaeon (Greek) – Hunting dogs that turned on Actaeon after he was turned into a deer.
  • Failinis (Irish) – Legendary hound with a number of abilities.
  • Fenrir (Norse) – Monstrous wolf destined to kill Odin.
  • Gelert (Welsh) – Dog killed out of error by Welsh King, thinking it had murdered his infant child.
  • Hellhound (Worldwide) – Supernatural dogs, bringers of death.
  • Huodou (Chinese) – a large black dog that can emit flames from its mouth.
  • Hvcko Capko (Seminole) – Also Long Ears, Stinky Wolf. A horse sized wolf with extra large, pointed ears, a horse's tail and reeks of rot and death. Prolonged exposure to its stench causes deadly illness.
  • Kludde (Belgium) – demon summoned from the ashes of witches taking the form of a black wolf with bat wings, a birds beak and bear claws. Has glowing eyes, shapeshifting abilities and great speed.
  • Orthrus (Greek) – two headed dog, father/brother of Cerberus.
  • Papa-mel or Papamel – Dog of the Amazonian Curupira.
  • Penghou (Chinese) – tree spirit that appears like a black dog and tastes like dog-meat.
  • Petitcrieu  – Fairy dog in Tristan romance.
  • Psoglav (Bosnia) – Humanoid monster with dog's head, horse's legs, one eye and iron teeth.
  • Salawa  – the "Typhonian Animal," a slender, vaguely canine-animal that is the totemic animal of Set.
  • Sigbin (Philippine) – is a creature in Philippine mythology.
  • Shug Monkey  – dog/monkey creature found in Cambridgeshire (Britain).
  • Tanuki (Japanese) – Japanese raccoon dog, legends claim is a shapeshifting trickster.
  • Vǎrkolak, or "Vukodlak" (Slavic) – Undead vampire werewolf.
  • Werewolf  – human, shapeshifts to a wolf because of an affliction, lycanthrope (Worldwide).
Foxes
  • Aguara (Chané) – Trickster fox associate with the constellation Scorpius.
  • Amaterasu (Japanese) – Sun goddess who sometimes takes the form of a dragon-fox.
  • Tulikettu (Finnish) – Fox with flaming fur, whose skin is said to be a safer alternative for lighting than fire. Catching on in a hunt will guarantee riches. Gives name to the northern lights.
  • Huli jing (Chinese) – Fox spirits, like Fairies.
  • Kitsune (Japanese) – Fox spirits, like Fairies.
  • Kumiho (Korean) – Fox spirits, like Fairies.
  • Sky Fox (mythology) (Chinese) – Celestial nine-tailed Fox Spirit that is 1,000 years old and has golden fur.
Felines
  • Bael (Demonology) – First king of Hell with three heads: a man, a toad, and a cat.
  • Ball-tailed cat (North American) – a feline similar to a mountain lion, except with a long tail with a bulbous end used for striking its prey.
  • Cactus cat (North American) – a feline of the American Southwest with hair-like thorns that intoxicates itself by the consumption of cactus water.
  • Canaima (Mexico) – Term for a sort of were-jaguar. May be related to skinwalkers.
  • Cat-sìth (Celtic mythology) – Spectral cat that haunts the Scottish Highlands.
  • Cath Palug (Welsh) – Monstrous cat said to have killed 180 warriors.
  • Carbuncle (Chilote) – One of its many descriptions is a cat with a luminescent chin. [3]
  • Demon Cat (North American) – a ghost cat who is purported to haunt the government buildings of Washington, D.C.
  • Kaibyō (Japanese) – Various forms of cat Yōkai.
  • Nue (Japanese) – Hybrid of monkey, tiger, tanuki and snake. Considered a yokai.
  • Panther (Greek) – Wildcat with multicolored hide. Attracts prey with sweet smelling breath and is often ridden by and associated with the god, Dionysus.
  • Pard (Greek) – Early Greek understanding of a leopard. It was also surmised that cheetahs were a hybrid of a lion and a pard, hence calling those leopards instead of what we now call leopards.
  • Phantom cat, Alien Big Cat (Modern, Worldwide) – Wildcat that seems to appear far beyond its native range by unknown circumstance.
  • Glawackus (American) – Hybrid bear-panther-lion monster that sounds like a hyena and can erase the memory of those who look into its eyes.
  • Tyger (English) – Heraldic being that looked like a cross between a lion, horse and wolf, said to be red and speckled.
  • Underwater panther (Native American) – Shapeshifting being known by many names among tribes in Eastern US.
  • Vapula (European, Christian, Demonology) – A demon with insight into mechanics and science which takes a winged lion form.
  • Vassoko (Africa, Chad) – Cat the size of a horse with long fangs and burning eyes. Always accompanied by an entourage of butterflies.
  • Wampus cat (American) – Cat with six legs and a long tail; originally a man who was transformed into the creature by a curse .
  • White Tiger (Chinese) – a Guardian Of The West cardinal point.
  • Winged cat  – Archaeological designation for depictions of any mythological creature that can fit that description.
Lions
Hyenas
Musteloids and non-hyena herpestoids
Procyonids
  • Azeban  – trickster raccoon spirit in Abenaki mythology

Marsupials

Primates

  • Agropelter  – a beast that amuses itself by hurling twigs and tree branches at passersby (United States & Canada).
  • Bigfoot or Sasquatch – Cryptid, animal of the Northwest (North America).
  • Hibagon or Hinagon – ape-like, similar to Bigfoot, or the Yeti (Japan).
  • Jué yuán  – blue-furred man-sized rhesus monkey that abducts human women (China & Japan).
  • Satori  – mind-reading magical ape or monkey (Japan).
  • Shōjō  – anthropomorphic spirit, depicted as furred, somewhat confounded with orangutan (Japan).
  • Shug Monkey  – dog/monkey (Britain).
  • Sun Wukong (proper name) – powerful warrior-magician in the form of a monkey who hatched from a stone egg (China).
  • Vanara  – humanoid apes or monkeys (India, Hindu).
  • Yeren  – man-monkey, cryptid hominid, resides in remote mountainous (China).
  • Yeti  – Abominable Snowman, ape-like cryptid similar to Bigfoot, that inhabits the Himalayas (Nepal, Tibet).
  • Yowie  – hominid said to live in the Australian wilderness, a cryptid similar to the Himalayan Yeti (Australia).

Rabbits and hares

  • Al-Mi'raj  – rabbit with unicorn horn (Arabia).
  • Jackalope  – (North America).
  • Moon rabbit  – a rabbit living on the moon (Chinese).
  • Skvader
  • Wisakedjak - (Native American) aka Whiskeyjack. One of several names for rabbit trickster spirit of the eastern woodlands and Great Plains.
  • Wolpertinger

Rodents

  • Afanc
  • Lavellan (Scottish) – Water shrew or water vole with poisonous abilities, said to be able to injure cattle over a hundred feet away.
  • Ratatoskr
  • Rat king; phenomenon in which a number of rats become intertwined at their tails (Germany, France).
  • Wolpertinger

Ungulates

Antelopes and deer
  • Actaeon (Greek) – a hunter turned into a deer and torn apart by his dogs.
  • Ceryneian Hind (Greek) – Artemis' large, sacred golden hind.
  • Deer Woman (Native American) – female human above the waist, deer below. Male version is Elk Man.
  • Eikþyrnir (Norse mythology) – stag which stands upon Valhalla.
  • Goldhorn (Slavic) – white golden-horned antelope.
  • Jackalope (North American) – jackrabbit with antelope horns.
  • Keresh (Jewish) – giant deer of the forest of Bei Ilai.
  • Peryton (Argentina) – Stag that is part bird.
  • Qilin (Chinese) – East Asian chimerical good-luck symbol.
  • Tarand (European) also Parandrus. Antelope or deerlike creature said to be found in Ethiopia that can change the color of its fur at will to camouflage itself.
  • White stag (worldwide) – magic white deer.
  • Xeglun (Tungusic mythology) – celestial elk.
Bovines
  • Auðumbla
  • Bai Ze
  • Kujata (Arabic) – Cosmic bull that bears the angel who holds the earth. Kujata, in turn, stands on Bahamhut.
  • Bicorn and Chichevache
  • Bonnacon
  • Hodag (American) – monster born of the cremated remains of an abused bull
  • Minotaur  – monster with the head of a bull and the body of a man (Greek)
  • Nandi
  • Sarangay  – a bull with a huge muscular body and a jewel attached to its ears (Philippines)
  • Shedu
  • Tē-gû – a giant buffalo living underground which causes earthquakes (Taiwan)
  • Ushi-oni  – (Japan)
Camelids
Caprids
Equines
  • Anggitay  – is a creature with the upper body of a female human and the lower body of a horse from waist down (Philippines)
  • Arion  – Talking immortal horse (Greek)
  • Balius and Xanthus (Greek) – immortal offspring of harpies
  • Buraq  – Al-Burāq, steed from the heavens that transported the prophets (Islam)
  • Centaur  – head, arms, and torso of a human, the body and legs of a horse (Greek)
  • Cheval Gauvin  – horse which tries to kill its rider (French/Swiss)
  • Cheval Mallet; horse that tempts and kidnaps weary travelers (French)
  • Chiron  – centaur believed to be exceptional among his brethren (Greek)
  • Chollima  – a winged horse too swift to be mounted by any mortal (Chinese)
  • Drapé - (France) Ghostly horse who spirits away children wandering at night to an unknown location, never to be seen again.
  • Gytrash (English) – shapeshifting spirit usually taking the form of a horse, mule or other animal that appears to the lost and leads them to their destination
  • Haizum  – horse of the archangel Gabriel (Islam)
  • Hippogriff  – winged horse with the head and upper body of an eagle (French, English)
  • Ipotane  – half-horse, half-humans, original centaurs (Greek)
  • Karkadann  – monstrous, highly aggressive unicorn (India, Persia)
  • Kotobuki (Japanese) – Yokai with traits of all members of the Chinese zodiac
  • Longma  – fabled winged horse with dragon scales (China)
  • Mankayia (Kiowa) – tornado spirit in the form of a horse
  • Onocentaur  – part human, part donkey (Greek)
  • Pegasus  – winged white stallion (Greek)
  • Pooka  – spirits or fairies who lived near ancient stones; could be good or bad (Ireland)
  • Sleipnir  – Odin's eight-legged horse, which he rode to Hel (Norse)
  • Simurgh  – like the Hippogriff with the head of a human (Persian)
  • Sihuanaba  – shapeshifting spirit that typically appears as a beautiful, long-haired woman when seen from behind, before revealing her face to be that of a horse
  • Tikbalang  – creature with the body of a man and the head and hooves of a horse that lurks in the mountains and forests (Philippines)
  • Uchchaihshravas  – seven-headed flying white horse (Hindu)
  • Unicorn  – horse-like creature with a single horn, often symbolizing purity (worldwide)
  • Water Horse  – general name for mythical water dwelling horses of many cultures
  • White horse
Pachyderms
  • Abath
  • Baku
  • Behemoth
  • Quugaarpak - (Inuit) Explanation for Mammoths & other Ice Age remains washing out of riversides. Underworld monsters who dig their way up to the human world, but die upon breathing our air.
  • Taweret
Pigs and boars

Xenarthrans

Molluscs

Reptiles

Limbed

Serpents and worms

Megafauna

Giants

Artificial creatures

This listing includes creatures that are man-made, mechanical or of alchemical origins.

Body parts, creatures associated with

Blood

Bone

Eye

One-eyed

Face

Hair

Limbs

  • Asura (Indian)
  • Deva / Devi (Indian)
  • Hekatonkheires
  • Hinkypunk - (English) variation on Will o the wisp. A single, incorporeal leg hopping around bogs with a lantern.
  • Kui
  • O'nya:ten (Iroquoian) aka Dry Fingers. Mummified hand. Appears and leaps out at people after certain transgressions, such as speaking ill of the dead, or butting into other people's personal business.
  • Sleipnir
  • Three-legged bird

Mouth

Skin

Tail

Neck

Torso

Abdomen

Concepts, creatures associated with

Battle, Vengeance, Violence, and War

Birth and Rebirth

Death and Immortality

Dream, the Mind, and Sleep

Evil Eye and Sight

Fertility and Human Sexuality

Fortune, Luck, and Wealth

Light

Love and Romance

Sound

Speech

Time and Technology

Wisdom

Demons

Elements, creatures associated with

Aether

Air and wind

Darkness

Earth and subterranean

Fire

Light and rainbow

Metal and gold

Thunder and lightning

Water

Habitats, creatures associated with

Cave and underground

Celestial and heaven

Desert

Temperate forest and woodland

Tropical forest and jungle

Temperate grassland and garden

Savanna

Lake and river

Mountain and hill

Sea

Swamp and marsh

Volcano and lava

Polar, ice, and winter

Urban and house

Underworld and hell

Cerberus KTH Kerberos.jpg
Cerberus

Humanoids

See Mythic humanoids

Hybrids

Astronomical objects, creatures associated with

Sun

Moon

Constellation

World

Creatures associated with plants

Shapeshifters

Creatures associated with times

Day and diurnal

Night and nocturnal

Undead

Corporeal

Miscellaneous

References

  1. 1 2 Montecino Aguirre, Sonia (2015). "Alicanto". Mitos de Chile: Enciclopedia de seres, apariciones y encantos (in Spanish). Catalonia. pp. 47–48. ISBN   978-956-324-375-8.
  2. 1 2 Quintana Mansilla, Bernardo. "El Carbunco". Chiloé mitológico (in Spanish).
  3. 1 2 3 4 Montecino Aguirre, Sonia (2015). "Carbunclo". Mitos de Chile: Enciclopedia de seres, apariciones y encantos (in Spanish). Catalonia. p. 130. ISBN   978-956-324-375-8.
  4. 1 2 3 Montecino Aguirre, Sonia (2015). "Llamas". Mitos de Chile: Enciclopedia de seres, apariciones y encantos (in Spanish). Catalonia. p. 415. ISBN   978-956-324-375-8.
  5. ↑ "Geryon". Theoi. Retrieved 10 February 2017. a three-bodied, four-winged giant
  6. ↑ Platt, Rutherford (1926). The Lost Books of the Bible and the Forgotten Books of Eden . Entry: The Book of the Secrets of Enoch chapter XII
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