Underused and overused magical creatures in fiction.

[SailusGebel]

Example: phoenixes are overused, unicorns are underused. Goblins are overused, nereids are underused. What is your opinion on this topic? Who do you think is underused\overused?

 

[Cipiteca396]

Depends on what you're reading, really. Any story with length will eventually get around to all of the different creatures. Short ones will pick and choose, usually the ones that fit the theme of the story or that the author thinks will draw viewers.

Dragons end up in every story. Phoenix are a close second. Unicorns should be rather common. Trolls/ogres are a good miniboss. Kobolds are sort of overused, but not nearly as much as goblins or elves. Anything the hero can one hit while still making the reader think they might drown in a horde of critters. Ratkin/rats are popular... Demons are overused, mostly because a lot of anime uses different monsters that all get translated to 'demon', so everyone just lumps them together. Angels less so?

Undead are overused because they're more of a template. Sure, you've seen bandits, giant rats, and dragons, but now they're Undead! And you're next!~ And that's scary!

Humans are overused for reasons I won't discuss.

Nereids are rare because nobody likes writing ocean stuff. Water is scary, hard to logic out and what not. So all water creatures are also rare. Slightly more common but still rare are Mermaids, Krakens, and turtles(for some reason?).

Goblins are definitely overused, probably because of Goblin Slayer sexualizing them(not really, but that's why they're popular), but also because of DnD. The same reasons get a lot of beastkin and monster girls. If you have a monster girl, it probably went through the lense of Monster Musume/MGE, DnD, or both.

So in order for a monster to be rare, it has to be obscure enough not to get a DnD incarnation, creepy/inhuman enough not to get lewded, and it needs to have themes that won't apply to stories most often. For example, a monster that only shows up on a certain holiday once a year, ugly as funk, and never made it into DnD or Harry Potter or any other popular* fantasy. One or two movies that nobody watched don't count.

I saw a lonely thread and thought I'd write a novel on it. No need to thank me.~

 

[SailusGebel]

Depends on what you're reading, really. Any story with length will eventually get around to all of the different creatures. Short ones will pick and choose, usually the ones that fit the theme of the story or that the author thinks will draw viewers.

Dragons end up in every story. Phoenix are a close second. Unicorns should be rather common. Trolls/ogres are a good miniboss. Kobolds are sort of overused, but not nearly as much as goblins or elves. Anything the hero can one hit while still making the reader think they might drown in a horde of critters. Ratkin/rats are popular... Demons are overused, mostly because a lot of anime uses different monsters that all get translated to 'demon', so everyone just lumps them together. Angels less so?

Undead are overused because they're more of a template. Sure, you've seen bandits, giant rats, and dragons, but now they're Undead! And you're next!~ And that's scary!

Humans are overused for reasons I won't discuss.

Nereids are rare because nobody likes writing ocean stuff. Water is scary, hard to logic out and what not. So all water creatures are also rare. Slightly more common but still rare are Mermaids, Krakens, and turtles(for some reason?).

Goblins are definitely overused, probably because of Goblin Slayer sexualizing them(not really, but that's why they're popular), but also because of DnD. The same reasons get a lot of beastkin and monster girls. If you have a monster girl, it probably went through the lense of Monster Musume/MGE, DnD, or both.

So in order for a monster to be rare, it has to be obscure enough not to get a DnD incarnation, creepy/inhuman enough not to get lewded, and it needs to have themes that won't apply to stories most often. For example, a monster that only shows up on a certain holiday once a year, ugly as funk, and never made it into DnD or Harry Potter or any other popular* fantasy. One or two movies that nobody watched don't count.

I saw a lonely thread and thought I'd write a novel on it. No need to thank me.~

I asked for examples of overused\underused creatures, but I guess I didn't phrase it well enough. What creatures do you think are underused? Cause you already named a bunch of overused ones.

 

[Cipiteca396]

I asked for examples of overused\underused creatures, but I guess I didn't phrase it well enough. What creatures do you think are underused? Cause you already named a bunch of overused ones.

Hmm, aside from all the ocean ones and Krampus...

Space monsters. It's that whole, 'If aliens existed they would have shown up by now' thing. Space should be filled with super powerful monsters, and some of them should be attacking at random every 12 minutes. Sure, maybe they wouldn't survive the trip into atmosphere. But it would really funny to have a constant rain of extra crispy space squid every couple days.

 

[NotaNuffian]

Anything from HP Lovecraft? When do you see a cthulhu making a presense?

Also, I have seen bastardized version of creatures like sleipnir and kobold (the lizard head not dog head), so it really depends on whether the scene fits the underused and why goblins are overused like slimes? Because they are mobs, just like skeletons (Dark Souls definitely disagree)

 

[KoyukiMegumi]

Overused: Dragons, mermaids, chimeras, werewolves, vampires, so many are overused, to be honest.

Underused: Uh, Yetis? Imps, faun, quetzalcoatl, zmuilan, uh can't think of any more lol.

 

[MissPaige36]

Example: phoenixes are overused, unicorns are underused. Goblins are overused, nereids are underused. What is your opinion on this topic? Who do you think is underused\overused?

If you want something underused, use creatures from other countries stories and stuff. I’m sure they have tons of monsters or creatures that are awesome and not touched by many. I’m talking Asia, south America and like Africa. Look around and you’re bound to find something interesting!

 

[SailusGebel]

If you want something underused, use creatures from other countries stories and stuff. I’m sure they have tons of monsters or creatures that are awesome and not touched by many. I’m talking Asia, south America and like Africa. Look around and you’re bound to find something interesting!

I don't need writing advice. I just wanted to hear the opinions of different people.

 

[Biggest-Kusa-Out-There]

Let me give you funny examples.

1.- Trauco. A South American 'monster' of folklore.
Standing at around 80 cm tall, he looks like a scrunched up human, but has a grotesque face and it's legs end up at the ankles since it has no feet.
With A SINGLE GLANCE from this monster the following happens:
-It can impregnate women (I shit you not. This monster was used to excuse pregnancy outside relationships)
-Disfigure men, break their bones, cause infertility, erectile dysfunction, etc.

It has tremendous strength, and has a magical axe than can cut any tree with three strikes no matter its width.

So, an incubus with extra steps.

2.- Pincoya. From the same place.
A young woman of extremely beautiful features, blonde hair and skimpy clothing.
So, this monster looks absolutely human in every way. But she's a white woman. Seen from the indigenous people' POV, she could very well be an alien. She comes out of the ocean to literally dance on the shore, gesturing to where the fishing is going to be plentiful the following day/week/season, then go back to the water.

 

[Cossimeri]

In my opinion fae, in general, are often underused. They may show up for side content, or you may have elves with "fae magic" but as far as pixies, sprites, etc go... they're rarely used in any meaningful way. I'd love to see an evil pixie demon lord.

As for overused... Wyverns. But by the same coin, "typed wyverns" are underused. You rarely see a story go through the effort to go "this is an Ash wyvern, this is a mud wyvern, this is an ice wyvern"

 

[Szaku]

zombies are ridiculously overused, to the point that ive start to glaze over whatever a story or a game or a movie is trying to be whenever they're introduced. oh, i know there are still some interesting variations of them out there - for example, those chinese leaping zombies - that haven't really been explored much, but the entire aspect of zombies in a story really just cant be interesting to me anymore. there's inherently no 'character' to mindless, instinct-driven, lifeless corpse.. things that only have one part to play in the story. and it's somehow even worse is when an author tries to give them sentience just.. just stop.

 

[CupcakeNinja]

Example: phoenixes are overused, unicorns are underused. Goblins are overused, nereids are underused. What is your opinion on this topic? Who do you think is underused\overused?

Most Viking, Gaelic and Welsh creatures are seriously underused. There are so many crazy and interesting creatures to write about that just arent even mentioned anywhere

Have you ever seen the Grimm tv series? Or Lost Girl? Those. We need stories like those that delve into all these more obscure creatures.

In my opinion fae, in general, are often underused. They may show up for side content, or you may have elves with "fae magic" but as far as pixies, sprites, etc go... they're rarely used in any meaningful way. I'd love to see an evil pixie demon lord.

As for overused... Wyverns. But by the same coin, "typed wyverns" are underused. You rarely see a story go through the effort to go "this is an Ash wyvern, this is a mud wyvern, this is an ice wyvern"

I've always wanted to use the Shakespearean fae. I think they are from shake at least.

The summer and winter courts, queen Mab and King Oberon. The Iron Fey series made me so interested in the whole thing.

 

[Jemini]

Example: phoenixes are overused, unicorns are underused. Goblins are overused, nereids are underused. What is your opinion on this topic? Who do you think is underused\overused?

I think the mistique and concept of the pheonix is overused, but I have rarely ever seen a pheonix portrayed properly according to the original lore behind them.

About all anyone ever gets right about them is the part where they light themselves on fire and get reborn from their own ashes. Hardly anyone portrays how destructive and vicious the original portrayal of the pheonix was in it's origins.

Egyptian mythology was the one that actually named the bird "Pheonix," but there are actually several other portrayals of fire birds with nearly identical traits in various mythologies, such as Zhu Que/Suzaku in Chinese/Japanese mythology, or the fire bird of Russian folk lore who is simply called "fire bird" without a name.

In the original lore of each of them, they don't just light themselves on fire. Pheonix and Fire bird are destructive forces that burn the entire world, Zhu Que/Suzaku being the only ones with less destructive tendencies but still being used as a guardian, which implies he's very willing to incinerate the enemies of his master.

In Egyptian mythology, the Pheonix is a creature even the gods are weary of and they simply do not mess with him. He is not a proper part of the Egyptian pantheon. Rather, he is viewed as a monstrous threat even the gods cannot do anything to permanently address and can only deter for a time.

The Wagner's Ring cycle also makes homage to the origin behind the fire bird mythology. There is no actual fire bird, but Burnhilda throws herself on a fire and in doing so the fire is empowered to burn down all of heaven and earth so that civilization can be re-set and started again as it rises from the ashes. Although the bird itself does not make an appearance, that's a pretty direct reference toward every single last aspect of the root concepts behind him (including the all-encompassing destruction of the flames that go far beyond just burning itself.)

It would be interesting to see the pheonix actually portrayed as the threat he was in the original lore instead of the toned-down nice version we get today.

 

[SailusGebel]

I think the mistique and concept of the pheonix is overused, but I have rarely ever seen a pheonix portrayed properly according to the original lore behind them.

About all anyone ever gets right about them is the part where they light themselves on fire and get reborn from their own ashes. Hardly anyone portrays how destructive and vicious the original portrayal of the pheonix was in it's origins.

Egyptian mythology was the one that actually named the bird "Pheonix," but there are actually several other portrayals of fire birds with nearly identical traits in various mythologies, such as Zhu Que/Suzaku in Chinese/Japanese mythology, or the fire bird of Russian folk lore who is simply called "fire bird" without a name.

In the original lore of each of them, they don't just light themselves on fire. Pheonix and Fire bird are destructive forces that burn the entire world, Zhu Que/Suzaku being the only ones with less destructive tendencies but still being used as a guardian, which implies he's very willing to incinerate the enemies of his master.

In Egyptian mythology, the Pheonix is a creature even the gods are weary of and they simply do not mess with him. He is not a proper part of the Egyptian pantheon. Rather, he is viewed as a monstrous threat even the gods cannot do anything to permanently address and can only deter for a time.

The Wagner's Ring cycle also makes homage to the origin behind the fire bird mythology. There is no actual fire bird, but Burnhilda throws herself on a fire and in doing so the fire is empowered to burn down all of heaven and earth so that civilization can be re-set and started again as it rises from the ashes. Although the bird itself does not make an appearance, that's a pretty direct reference toward every single last aspect of the root concepts behind him (including the all-encompassing destruction of the flames that go far beyond just burning itself.)

It would be interesting to see the pheonix actually portrayed as the threat he was in the original lore instead of the toned-down nice version we get today.

Not sure if this is what you want, but manhua Feng Shen Ji had a badass phoenix power. However, I've read it long ago and can be wrong. Also, the Russian "fire bird" is the mildest as it is basically a part, or the object of the hero's quest in fairy tales. Russian "fire bird" can be for example, caught with hands.

 

[Armored99]

I've actually been trying to diversify my monster portfolio. So I decided maybe there's some African ones that would be cool since most fantasy is based on European monsters. Unfortunately most African monsters seem to be creatures with really big mouths, giant snakes, chimeras and some ones that are suspiciously similar to dinosaurs.
The one mold breaker though, is definitely the Bulgu,

 

[DarkeReises]

Depends on what you're reading, really. Any story with length will eventually get around to all of the different creatures. Short ones will pick and choose, usually the ones that fit the theme of the story or that the author thinks will draw viewers.

Dragons end up in every story. Phoenix are a close second. Unicorns should be rather common. Trolls/ogres are a good miniboss. Kobolds are sort of overused, but not nearly as much as goblins or elves. Anything the hero can one hit while still making the reader think they might drown in a horde of critters. Ratkin/rats are popular... Demons are overused, mostly because a lot of anime uses different monsters that all get translated to 'demon', so everyone just lumps them together. Angels less so?

Undead are overused because they're more of a template. Sure, you've seen bandits, giant rats, and dragons, but now they're Undead! And you're next!~ And that's scary!

Humans are overused for reasons I won't discuss.

Nereids are rare because nobody likes writing ocean stuff. Water is scary, hard to logic out and what not. So all water creatures are also rare. Slightly more common but still rare are Mermaids, Krakens, and turtles(for some reason?).

Goblins are definitely overused, probably because of Goblin Slayer sexualizing them(not really, but that's why they're popular), but also because of DnD. The same reasons get a lot of beastkin and monster girls. If you have a monster girl, it probably went through the lense of Monster Musume/MGE, DnD, or both.

So in order for a monster to be rare, it has to be obscure enough not to get a DnD incarnation, creepy/inhuman enough not to get lewded, and it needs to have themes that won't apply to stories most often. For example, a monster that only shows up on a certain holiday once a year, ugly as funk, and never made it into DnD or Harry Potter or any other popular* fantasy. One or two movies that nobody watched don't count.

I saw a lonely thread and thought I'd write a novel on it. No need to thank me.~

Sure DnD has lots of common monsters, but there's also a bunch that I don't really see. I mean, even Beholders aren't seen that often to me, though they are much more popular compared to other creatures. I never see anyone have Githyanki or Githzerai as races either, or Gerasi. Aasimars, anyone? How about a Behir(big ol' lightning cave lizard, theyre so cute)? Illithids/Mind Flayers may come up more often, but still not so much. At least I haven't seen them much.
How about any of DnD's crazy-ass undead? There's a lot of super creepy shit.

Most Viking, Gaelic and Welsh creatures are seriously underused. There are so many crazy and interesting creatures to write about that just arent even mentioned anywhere

Have you ever seen the Grimm tv series? Or Lost Girl? Those. We need stories like those that delve into all these more obscure creatures.

I've always wanted to use the Shakespearean fae. I think they are from shake at least.

The summer and winter courts, queen Mab and King Oberon. The Iron Fey series made me so interested in the whole thing.

Grimm was a pretty interesting series, I haven't watched it in years tho

Anything from HP Lovecraft? When do you see a cthulhu making a presense?

Also, I have seen bastardized version of creatures like sleipnir and kobold (the lizard head not dog head), so it really depends on whether the scene fits the underused and why goblins are overused like slimes? Because they are mobs, just like skeletons (Dark Souls definitely disagree)

HP Lovecraft also has its own fair share of creatures that could be used more. Nightgaunts? How about a personal favorite of mine, Mi-Gos? Intergalactic Travel Agency by Space Insects, anyone?
Also, it kinda bothers me seeing Cthulhu being used as a race. He isn't. It's one entity lol. I mean authors can do whatever, and im sure Cthulhu has been turned into a race in a fiction somewhere, but still.
On another note, I did see a story use a Lovecraft race recently, the Yith.

 

[Cipiteca396]

Hardly anyone portrays how destructive and vicious the original portrayal of the pheonix was in it's origins

Do you have a source for that? Every single reference to the phoenix I've seen was relatively benign. Even the Fire Bird and Vermillion Bird you mentioned. Which seems odd to me. Chinese myths do have a penchant for rampant destruction. The closest I could find was X-Men.

Beholders

Okay, okay. I'll adjust to say any DnD monster that doesn't hold a copyright. Of all the ones you mentioned, only the behir, genasi and aasimar(plane-touched) are free to use. Surprisingly, the displacer beast is also copyrighted, even though it's based on the Coeurl. (Crap, I forgot to mention. A lot of those you wanted to see are in the Neverwinter Nights games.)

Cthulhu has been turned into a race in a fiction somewhere, ... the Yith

Ironically, I'm fairly sure the fiction you are looking for is... DnD. The Illithid and the Gith, though both are only tangentially related to their sources. There's rather a lot of Lovecraft mixed into DnD... And it's all mixed together to make things less obvious.

 

[DarkeReises]

Do you have a source for that? Every single reference to the phoenix I've seen was relatively benign. Even the Fire Bird and Vermillion Bird you mentioned. Which seems odd to me. Chinese myths do have a penchant for rampant destruction.

Okay, okay. I'll adjust to say any DnD monster that doesn't hold a copyright. Of all the ones you mentioned, only the behir, genasi and aasimar(plane-touched) are free to use. Surprisingly, the displacer beast is also copyrighted, even though it's based on the Coeurl. (Crap, I forgot to mention. A lot of those you wanted to see are in the Neverwinter Nights games.)

Ironically, I'm fairly sure the fiction you are looking for is... DnD. The Illithid and the Gith, though both are only tangentially related to their sources. There's rather a lot of Lovecraft mixed into DnD... And it's all mixed together to make things less obvious.

Well, Great Old Ones are thing in DnD too so yeah. But i mean in a fiction there being a race itself called "Cthulhu"s
on a mostly unrelated note, if i could get a plushie of a behir I'd buy it in a heartbeat

 

[Deleted member 45782]

Types of mythology and folklore - greek, norse - viking, european
Overused - elves, dragons. mermaids. demigods. zombies...vampires. werewolves (there's more than just one shapeshifter you ya books...)
Also overused - wizards, mages, demons, gods...
seems like a bit fox demon characters out there (thu probably more centered on kitsune than the other two types)

Not so much overused? Stuff hard to search up for cause its been lost/forgotten over time and not much stuff can be found on that myth or language barrier. Also, stuff that I don't come across often in stories I read; its how I learned new creatures/myths/etc. (cause many stories stick to mostly elves, fairies, dragons, dwarfs, wizards, etc. - maybe some have slight variation of these combos, but often incorporates one or more of those).

So example of things I come across more in stories than stuff that don't see as often in stories (back when read stories more)
probably heard more of the kelpie than the each-usige
probably heard more of the gnomes than red caps

 

[owotrucked]

<insert your fat mom being underused joke>

My opinion on topic: underused species are great opportunities. But if a story simply brush those subjects without it being relevant in some way to the plot, it will hurt the story (parasitic design).
Unless it's the point, like in Dungeon Meshi.

Some underused animal hybrid species:
Kinda aquatic: Frog pepes, Reverse mermaid (upper torso of fish)
Moth waifu
Kobold dog-lizard-rat?
Dob-bird Simurgh

Overused: fox, dog, cat, centaurs, minotaur

Underused magical:
Gargoyle
Gremlins
Sphinx
Cyclops
Treant/ent
Nephele