Author's note: I think the title says it all. One of the many factors that sometimes gets me hooked into a franchise, be it a book or movie or a TV show, are the mythological creatures in it. ... Or simply the fact that it has 'Fantasy' as one of its genres, but I'm digressing. It's one of the reasons why I bothered with the Hellboy comics AND its movies (despite the low quality of the second one...just my opinion!), the new I Frankenstein movie (you'll see in this list why I was intrigued from the first trailer) and the old Disney 'Gargoyles' cartoon series (why they canceled that show I'll never know...).
But let me clarify one thing before I continue with this list: Just because I'm making a list of my top nine favorite mythological creatures (in stories and franchises), does not necessarily mean that I believe they exist! So yes, I do not believe in ghosts, Big Foot, the Abominable Snowman or the Loch ness Monster 'cause I think that all that stuff is just a bunch of shirk. ... Except for aliens and parallel universes, that I do believe in but THAT is a tale for another day.
Oh! And another warning: Vampires are. NOT. ON. THIS. LIST!
I cannot BEGIN to describe the ridiculous amount of books in the Young Adults' sections (in every single BLOODY BOOKSTORE IN THE WORLD) that all have the same kind of book cover and genre about those pathetic creatures.
In fact, I think the only decent vampire I remember was Alucard from Hellsing:
Now THAT is a perfect representation of what a vampire SHOULD be like, but I'm digressing again.
Now, without further ado, let's begin with number ten:
But let me clarify one thing before I continue with this list: Just because I'm making a list of my top nine favorite mythological creatures (in stories and franchises), does not necessarily mean that I believe they exist! So yes, I do not believe in ghosts, Big Foot, the Abominable Snowman or the Loch ness Monster 'cause I think that all that stuff is just a bunch of shirk. ... Except for aliens and parallel universes, that I do believe in but THAT is a tale for another day.
Oh! And another warning: Vampires are. NOT. ON. THIS. LIST!
I cannot BEGIN to describe the ridiculous amount of books in the Young Adults' sections (in every single BLOODY BOOKSTORE IN THE WORLD) that all have the same kind of book cover and genre about those pathetic creatures.
In fact, I think the only decent vampire I remember was Alucard from Hellsing:
Now THAT is a perfect representation of what a vampire SHOULD be like, but I'm digressing again.
Now, without further ado, let's begin with number ten:
9. Dwarves
Granted, Elves are also awesome humanoid beings in most franchises, but I can't help but find most Elf characters as just a bunch of Gary and Mary sues! (Excluding Legolas, 'cause he's the only chill dude in the Lord of the Rings franchise ... And no, DON'T YOU DARE MENTION THE SECOND HOBBIT MOVIE!)
Slight info intro (rhyme unintended): Although the origins are not easy to determine, Dwarves are believed to be derived from Germanic and Norse mythology. Yes, they are basically short people and having large beards and excess hair seems to be a common trait among most male characters. Most Dwarves are known to have good skills in craftsmanship and metallurgy, which would also link to the common stereotype of a warrior Dwarf having an ax or a hammer as a weapon.
And WHY are they in my list you may ask?
Well, I am not going to deny it PARTLY has to do with:
And:
(seriously, am I the ONLY one who thought this guy was a chill dude?!)
But one of the many reasons as to why I like Dwarves is because most Dwarf characters are found to have one certain characteristic that I completely love in a character: Stubbornness.
People can go ahead and rant to me about how ANNOYING stubborn characters are in certain franchises, but in my opinion stubborn characters are just the best! They are so much fun to watch in certain situations and stubborn characters are sometimes needed to provide certain points of views in some story lines.
(ahem!)
"Uh, but Jocelyn aren't they also kind of evil in the Hobbit since they have a stupid obsession with jewelery?"
...
So?
Like I previously said, Elves could have replaced Dwarves on this list and with good reasons! They are ALL inevitably good looking (I haven't met a franchise with ugly monster elves and if there is one... please inform me, I am intrigued to see such creatures), they are mostly either pure beings or they are well in tuned with nature, they are also intelligent and in most cases they can live much longer than the average human. Honestly, these creatures seem to be perfect!
...
Yawn.
If I wanted a perfect mary/gary sue character, I would've became a twiheart fan a LONG time ago! While Elves are not ALWAYS the good guys (Hellboy 2: Rise of the Golden Army), it is however a very common situation where they are or they're helping the protagonist against the bad guys. Dwarves do not have the luxury of being as perfect, but that's what makes them all the more better in my opinion! Characters are much more interesting when they have a dark side that sometimes shows and it's always awesome to see those rare angst-y moments where they are confronted with them.
Final point about why they are on this list: ... they also have awesome beards. Not to mention how badass they can look with their awesome axes and hammers!
Most people who I have asked this question to gave me this picture:
And I do not blame them for thinking so.
Another info intro: Werewolf basically means 'Manwolf' since the word 'wer' in Saxon means man. Some believe that this creature derived from the Balkan areas, where the Dacians turned their people into wolves during certain rituals. Others say that they came from Greek myth, where Lycaos, a cruel king, offered a child to Zeus. The god was enraged and turned the king into a wolf. A werewolf is basically a man who can transform into a wolf and most of the time it has to be during a full moon.
The reason these dudes are on my list is because among my many awesome qualities, I also happen to be an anthro fan. And no, I do not consider myself a hardcore furry because in most cases, that means I have to embrace the 'dark side' of the anthro world which I will never do even if you paid me a million dollars. My point is that I like the look of the half-wolf and half-man thing because in my opinion, it just makes them look all the more thrillingly terrifying. However, there are cases when the man just completely turns into a wolf, which brings me on to my second point:
Werewolves kick ass. I don't care if you pumped the largest vampire on the planet with the strongest steroids, I'd still bet my entire allowance that the werewolf would kick the vampire's butt any day. They are large humanoid wolves for crying out loud! They are super strong, super fast, they have tough skin and their teeth seems to be able to tear through anything! In addition to the fact that they can stand upright thanks to their humanoid figure seems to give them an advantage in most cases.
Plus, werewolves only turn during a full moon, so werewolf characters are much less annoyingly angst-y than vampires in most situations.
The reason they're not higher up in my list is 'cause they still have those common weaknesses of silver, mercury, wolfsbane and stake to the heart. Along with another creature that I simply could NOT put below the werewolf on this list:
Basic info intro: the common look of a griffin is a creature with half the body of a lion and the other half of an eagle with its wings too. From there, people can make their own alterations. Because the eagle and lion were considered kings of their species, the Griffin was thought to be a very majestic creature. Adrienne Mayor, a historian and folklore expert, suggests that the Griffon came about from the misconception of a fossil finding near some gold veins. The Griffon has roots from India all the way to Europe and has sometimes been seen in some tapestries too:
(ahem!)
"Uh, but Jocelyn aren't they also kind of evil in the Hobbit since they have a stupid obsession with jewelery?"
...
So?
Like I previously said, Elves could have replaced Dwarves on this list and with good reasons! They are ALL inevitably good looking (I haven't met a franchise with ugly monster elves and if there is one... please inform me, I am intrigued to see such creatures), they are mostly either pure beings or they are well in tuned with nature, they are also intelligent and in most cases they can live much longer than the average human. Honestly, these creatures seem to be perfect!
...
Yawn.
If I wanted a perfect mary/gary sue character, I would've became a twiheart fan a LONG time ago! While Elves are not ALWAYS the good guys (Hellboy 2: Rise of the Golden Army), it is however a very common situation where they are or they're helping the protagonist against the bad guys. Dwarves do not have the luxury of being as perfect, but that's what makes them all the more better in my opinion! Characters are much more interesting when they have a dark side that sometimes shows and it's always awesome to see those rare angst-y moments where they are confronted with them.
Final point about why they are on this list: ... they also have awesome beards. Not to mention how badass they can look with their awesome axes and hammers!
8. Werewolves
"Oh my gawd, you picked werewolves over vampires?!"
Yes and let me point out two things: A) DOES NOT MEAN I AM ON TEACH JACOB! B) I have good reasons as to why I picked werewolves over vampires.
Let's start off with the visuals, shall we? If somebody asked you to think of a vampire, what would be the first image to pop into your head?
...
I don't know about you, but I'm probably guessing you either thought of this:
Or this:
...
Or this, depending on if you read the 'Dracula' classic or seen the old film:
But ever since the Twilight books (or maybe something happened before to cause this...), vampires have been reduced to pretty boy/girl characters who are mainly used in franchises simply for fanfiction-like romances or simply for the plain sexual-like gore that comes along with the drama. Go ahead and hate on me if you don't agree, but this is just my opinion since I've yet to see anything else.
However, if I asked you to think of a WEREWOLF, NOW what would be the first thing to pop into your head? Besides this:
(...okay, seriously, I think we'll end the twilight jokes here. IT'S AUGUST 2 THOUSAND FRIGGIN 14 PEOPLE! LET IT GO~! *frozen joke unintended*)
And I do not blame them for thinking so.
Another info intro: Werewolf basically means 'Manwolf' since the word 'wer' in Saxon means man. Some believe that this creature derived from the Balkan areas, where the Dacians turned their people into wolves during certain rituals. Others say that they came from Greek myth, where Lycaos, a cruel king, offered a child to Zeus. The god was enraged and turned the king into a wolf. A werewolf is basically a man who can transform into a wolf and most of the time it has to be during a full moon.
The reason these dudes are on my list is because among my many awesome qualities, I also happen to be an anthro fan. And no, I do not consider myself a hardcore furry because in most cases, that means I have to embrace the 'dark side' of the anthro world which I will never do even if you paid me a million dollars. My point is that I like the look of the half-wolf and half-man thing because in my opinion, it just makes them look all the more thrillingly terrifying. However, there are cases when the man just completely turns into a wolf, which brings me on to my second point:
Werewolves kick ass. I don't care if you pumped the largest vampire on the planet with the strongest steroids, I'd still bet my entire allowance that the werewolf would kick the vampire's butt any day. They are large humanoid wolves for crying out loud! They are super strong, super fast, they have tough skin and their teeth seems to be able to tear through anything! In addition to the fact that they can stand upright thanks to their humanoid figure seems to give them an advantage in most cases.
Plus, werewolves only turn during a full moon, so werewolf characters are much less annoyingly angst-y than vampires in most situations.
The reason they're not higher up in my list is 'cause they still have those common weaknesses of silver, mercury, wolfsbane and stake to the heart. Along with another creature that I simply could NOT put below the werewolf on this list:
7. Griffons
Basic info intro: the common look of a griffin is a creature with half the body of a lion and the other half of an eagle with its wings too. From there, people can make their own alterations. Because the eagle and lion were considered kings of their species, the Griffin was thought to be a very majestic creature. Adrienne Mayor, a historian and folklore expert, suggests that the Griffon came about from the misconception of a fossil finding near some gold veins. The Griffon has roots from India all the way to Europe and has sometimes been seen in some tapestries too:
Other than the fact that I love flying creatures, I just really love the whole Griffin look. Combining two of my favorite animals and making them the king of the beasts: what could be more awesome?! Moreover they are not considered dumb and wild creatures, but rather wise and wily characters or sometimes portrayed as clever tricksters who like to tease people with riddles.
I could try to write up more paragraphs about why this creature is one of my favorites, but it all comes down to one point: they are awesome.
Seriously, am I the only one who wouldn't mind having a Griffin for a pet?
I could try to write up more paragraphs about why this creature is one of my favorites, but it all comes down to one point: they are awesome.
Seriously, am I the only one who wouldn't mind having a Griffin for a pet?
6. Phoenix
Before I continue about why these creatures are on my list, may I just present a few pictures:
...
Do I REALLY need to rant to you about why this mythical bird is epic?
THEY ARE BIRDS MADE OUT OF FLAMES FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!
Under water or earth (still having an internal battle about this subject), fire is either my third or second favorite element. The fact that sometime during history, somebody created a legend of a bird being made out of this awesome element is just one of the most genius ideas ever! (Right next to peanut butter and chocolate) They just look very regal and majestic... and just plain awesome.
And they are practically immortal!
I'm sure most of you already know this from 'Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets', but when a Phoenix dies, it sets itself on fire and is born again from the ashes! So technically you cannot kill a Phoenix because it would just regenerate, but they're probably not indestructible.
Phoenixes also have been very popular throughout history, having many counterparts such as the 'Ancient Phoenix of Egypt: Benu' which is associated with the desire to become immortal and the Chinese's 'Feng Huang', which is a symbol worn by the empress to represent high virtue and grace.
The reason these badass birds are not higher up is because...let's be honest, compared to the vampires and werewolves and mermaids, Phoenixes are not that popular. Plus when you picture an epic mythical battle (for example...I dunno, picture Narnia) in any story, the author rarely puts in Phoenixes because they would totally burn the enemies down and it would be too easy. And finally, they're not the fantasy creatures that I fangasm the most to compared to the other beings on this list.
(to be continued in Part 2)
No comments:
Post a Comment