Icon from a picrew by grgikau. Call me Tir or Julian. 37. He/They. Queer. Twitter: @tirlaeyn. ao3: tirlaeyn. 18+ Only. Star Trek. Sandman. IwtV. OMFD. Definitionless in this Strict Atmosphere.
If you want an example of how mythology and folklore works in action, think about werewolves. All the stuff you just know about them even though literally every piece of media has a slightly different version of how they work.
But you know what a werewolf is. Explaining what a werewolf is would be stupid. Everyone just knows what werewolves are. Where did they come from? Who cares? They’re werewolves.
If in a thousand years people just aren’t talking about werewolves anymore they might be confused by our modern full moon werewolves. What was that? Where did it come from? What’s the lore? Surely there’s one origin story for them that we all knew about.
Nope! Just werewolves. We all know werewolves.
And so it was in ancient times. Everybody knows the feathered serpent. Everybody knows Hercules. Everybody knows coyote. You know. The thing. We’ve all got a vibe for it. What’s the definitive one true version of it? Lol and also lmao don’t be stupid. It’s the thing! You know, werewolves.
As Tia Dalma says in Pirates of the Caribbean, “Same story, different version: and all are true!”
I’m using these images as inspiration for a campaign I’m running. But you should all check out Rudy Siswanto’s art. It really captures the essence of adventure.
Ok. I’m tired of the typical vampire, werewolf and fairy.I’m also tired of the occidental-centrism in mythology. Hence, this list.
I tried to included as many cultural variants as I could find and think of. (Unfortunately, I was restricted by language. Some Russian creatures looked very interesting but I don’t speak Russian…) Please, add creatures from your culture when reblogging (if not already present). It took me a while to gather all those sites but I know it could be more expansive. I intend on periodically editing this list.
Of note: I did not include specific legendary creatures (Merlin, Pegasus, etc), gods/goddesses/deities and heroes.
(I have stumbled upon web sites that believed some of these mythical creatures exist today… Especially dragons, in fact. I just had to share the love and scepticism.)
Dokkaebi/도깨비 in Korea are common creatures that come up in stories that don’t seem to be on the list of tiny creatures… They may be in the goblin lists though
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For those looking for something(s) outside the ‘standard creatures’ used in literature.
