Under-used supernatural creatures

I'd like to see more modern stories using Fearsome Critters of American Folklore, though, given their goofy names and descriptions, few of them would work all that well outside comedic works. Still, Snow Snakes and Joint Snakes have some potential as horror themed monsters, and that goes triple for Hide-Behinds and Whirling Whimpuses.

Just take a look at Fearsome Creatures of the Lumber Woods (with a Few Desert and Mountain Beasts) and tell me those things can't hold their own in the freaky department.

edited 24th Mar '12 8:57:55 PM by RavenWilder

Re: the turtle-dragon: I know Genbu/Gembu is sometimes portrayed as one o' thems. Although I don't know the proper name for the mythological group that contains the Black Turtle, the Red Phoenix, the White Tiger, and the Blue Dragon.

the turtle i would be interested in seeing, things like tigers, dragons and phoenixes seem to be a bit too common for me

the only thing i have seen of a turtle is that one thing in digimon

and that new wow expansion

edited 24th Mar '12 9:58:12 PM by Ralanr

Sorry if the intent wasn't clear, but I was satirizing the You Sexy Beast trope. Vampires, werewolves, witches and god-knows-what-else were originally evil monsters, and are now viewed as pop-culture heroes, even though the attributes that made them so feared by medieval peasants have been retained.

Back then, they had problems with basic survival and any sort of marauder would make it even harder; hence anything dangerous to humans would be considered evil. Nowadays, we have problems mostly with boredom, and things that are dangerous to humans can invoke positive feelings by turning on parts of our brains that modern people rarely get to exercise.

You don't see the Bai Ze (Hakutaku in Japanese) very often. Only example that springs to mine is Keine Kamishirasawa.

It's probably just me, but I don't see the Grim Reaper in much as a primary character. Sure there was the Grim Adventures Of Billy And Mandy, but other than that the list is blank.

Discworld has Death as an important (and very sympathetic) character. He is the protagonist of his own books, but he has a cameo appearance in almost every other Discworld novel.

Also, The Book Thief. Death was the narrator.

Why did I possibly forget about it? I'm reading that book!

edited 25th Mar '12 7:50:01 PM by Nightwire

Castlevania also has Death consistently portrayed as Dracula's right-hand man. And the upcoming Darksiders sequel has Death as the main character.

Axehandle Hound, the most awesome underused creature around.

Why does that strike me as a typical D&D monster?

Why at all, good sir? It should strike you as a D&D weapon.

" My paladin enters battle wielding the Axehandle Hound!"

DM: Wat.

Hm. Nucklavees.

Like others have said, Nuckelavee, which are terrible frightening, even from the wikipedia definition.

How about the Philippine mythical creatures if you prefer Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot types?

edited 27th Mar '12 1:13:53 AM by judasmartel

This is kind of a shameless plug, but they’re is an easy way to do this:

1. Pick up the Pathfinder Bestiary 2 or 3. 2. Open to a random magical beast or undead. 3. Look it up.

If it has a wikipedia entry, it probably counts.

Some I will note include the Akhluts (Half-wolf half-killer whale,) Hekatonkheires (The hundred-handed ones), The Baku (Like a dream-eater pre-pokemon) the Nue (Sanke-tailed monkey-tigers that transform into smoke) Tupilaqs (Whalebone Terminators, basically) and my favorite, the Tzitzimitl (Star-eating skeletal women with flint-blade tongue and literal [[Squick Trouser-snakes]])

Going with the original interpretations of a critter (Particularly angels) practically counts as making a monster different nowadays, so consider that.

Drop-bears are uncommon.

Also, Revelation has some goodies. Conquest is always the most ignored horseman, and those fire-breath snake-tailed lion-horses and their riders are pretty awesome.

Also, Moar Hindu and Taoist myth! Gorgons are SO stale right now.

edited 27th Mar '12 1:44:03 AM by doorhandle

Oh, I love the Nuckelavee. He definitely should be used in more stories. (I believe one actually had a cameo appearance in Eva Ibbotson's The Secret Of Platform 13, but he didn't really do anything.)

Personally, I like rusalkas and such Eastern European spirits, but they've already been used in quite a few stories, especially when Cute Monster Girls are needed. (And Harry Potter had veelas.)

I'm also a fan of fauns and satyrs, and it strikes me that they haven't been massively common in modern fiction. (The Chronicles Of Narnia and Pans Labyrinth notwithstanding.)

edited 27th Mar '12 1:42:04 AM by DoktorvonEurotrash

I know Genbu/Gembu is sometimes portrayed as one o' thems. Although I don't know the proper name for the mythological group that contains the Black Turtle, the Red Phoenix, the White Tiger, and the Blue Dragon.

Refer here.

Satyrs were used in the Lord of the Isles series... as horrid beast men with ragingly huge erect penises that pulp their foes to death with clubs. Interestingly, they were also very handsome, if completely incapable of anything we would consider emotion. Very different, very awesome. Oddly, there was no report that they raped anything; it was more of a Full-Frontal Assault type effect than it was anything else.

African stuff isn't used enough. The Inkanyamba is terrifying, being basically a hydra whose Super Weight is 4 or 5, with weather control powers. Very awesome.

Youkai from things that aren't from Japan, especially if you make them something that's always been in the west. (i.e. Japan/culture who don't use often enough got mythology right, we didn't.)

Also African folklore has a ton of good supernatural creatures. Like a creature that's a mix between ghost and vampire but only goes after evil people-who wronged it.

edited 28th Mar '12 1:56:35 AM by Vyctorian

The erect penises are pretty true to ancient depictions of satyrs.

Same was often said of Tanuki and their gigantic balls.

I though they used those to hit people?