Fantastical Creature Stereotypes

[Azure_Fog]

The other day (aka 4am pst today) I was thinking about how fantasy creatures are portrayed. I’ll use demons as an example. In Dungeons & Dragons, demons are creatures that are all over the place. They can be a giant freaking monkey or humanoid dragon-like creature with lobster claws. Now, look at the anime Demon Slayer. Demons there are basically just humans that can’t go into the sun and have some magic powers and super regeneration.

So, do you all have any perspectives on fantastical creatures (or races) that differ from a common/mythological view of them?

(I was going to write about vampires but that’s Envy‘s thing… maybe later…)

 

[Lorelliad]

I've got elves who are just humans with pointy ears. They eat meat like the rest of mankind, enjoy heated toilet seats, and even smash humans too. That's what the ears are for.

 

[TheEldritchGod]

So You got your demons, your devils, and your daemons. You are conflating Demons with devils. Demons are all over the place, but devils have hierarchies and recurring patterns. Daemons are Greek and fuck those guys. They're just creepy.

 

[RepresentingEnvy]

Vampire - The first thing I always think of is a style of clothes, gothic/Victorian. I think of a mature elegance (unlike what Japan usually does to my beloved). Fangs are a requirement of course and devilish charm.

Probably explaining everything will just make me seem horny.

 

[Corty]

I had dwarfs who were people forced underground, and they adapted to living like that. Pale skin, white hair, child-like height.

Oh, and they started going full-on magic-tech fanatics and replacing their bodies with machinery and building mech suits, aka golems, to fight.

 

[Rhaps]

Fairies, they are diverse in every aspect, from the cutest creature in fantasy to eldritch horrors. For my dnd games, there must always be a Feywild, but each one is different with some sort of twist.

One of my favorite one was a twist I made to the Unseelie court, instead of the usual Queen of Air and Darkness, I made the Blood King.

His appearance is unknown, as everyone who see him is guaranteed to die by his sword.

 

[Azure_Fog]

I had dwarfs who were people forced underground, and they adapted to living like that. Pale skin, white hair, child-like height.

Oh, and they started going full-on magic-tech fanatics and replacing their bodies with machinery and building mech suits, aka golems, to fight.

That sounds really fun.

Vampire - The first thing I always think of is a style of clothes, gothic/Victorian. I think of a mature elegance (unlike what Japan usually does to my beloved). Fangs are a requirement of course and devilish charm.

Probably explaining everything will just make me seem horny.

IEnteresting.

Well anyways, here’s my take on vampires: Clothes don’t really matter as long as they don’t have stupid dracula collars. Typically red eyes, maybe some pinks and purples, with silver or black hair (and then I go make one with blue hair…). They’re masters of magic, all kinds, including light, even if it burns them. Also, they can bend blood and expand its volume at will. Only high level vampires get wings though. There is no bat or mist form, don’t need a stake to kill them, and they can enter your house without permission. Getting your blood sucked by one also doesn’t magically make you a vampire (unfortunately). Also, fangs are good, but not massive ones, maybe like 2/3 of a centimeter hanging below the teeth. And they still burn in sunlight, but not like getting Thanos snapped into dust, more like you got lit on fire but the fire’s way hotter than normal and invisible.

 

[Kureous]

You know how angels are usually depicted as shining people with wings, right? Apparently, the Bible had other ideas:

So, if my story has angels in it, I'd like to have both...

 

[georgelee5786]

Technically all my views differ from the mythological versions of creatures. Modern times have changed old myths alot. Vampires, for example, have changed a lot. From hideous creatures of the common dead or Royal dead to handsome nobility(thanks to John Polidori, rather than Brom Stoker). That's the most surface change, I think they have changed in many more ways.

 

[Corty]

By the way, do sentient orangutans who have increased brain capacity -think of walking computers- count? Not to mention, they are 24/7 stoned and high AF, having group meditations and hallucinating flashes of future events while high as a kite, just so they could function and not go crazy because of their brains.

 

[Azure_Fog]

You know how angels are usually depicted as shining people with wings, right? Apparently, the Bible had other ideas:

Biblically accurate angles are funny. Personally, I prefer the eldritch horror look.

By the way, do sentient orangutans who have increased brain capacity -think of walking computers- count? Not to mention, they are 24/7 stoned and high AF, having group meditations and hallucinating flashes of future events while high as a kite, just so they could function and not go crazy because of their brains.

I think that’s just a crazy variation of beast kin…

 

[RepresentingEnvy]

That sounds really fun.


IEnteresting.

Well anyways, here’s my take on vampires: Clothes don’t really matter as long as they don’t have stupid dracula collars. Typically red eyes, maybe some pinks and purples, with silver or black hair (and then I go make one with blue hair…). They’re masters of magic, all kinds, including light, even if it burns them. Also, they can bend blood and expand its volume at will. Only high level vampires get wings though. There is no bat or mist form, don’t need a stake to kill them, and they can enter your house without permission. Getting your blood sucked by one also doesn’t magically make you a vampire (unfortunately). Also, fangs are good, but not massive ones, maybe like 2/3 of a centimeter hanging below the teeth. And they still burn in sunlight, but not like getting Thanos snapped into dust, more like you got lit on fire but the fire’s way hotter than normal and invisible.

We have pretty different views on ideal vampy.

 

[Azure_Fog]

We have pretty different views on ideal vampy.

Both interpretations are good.

 

[LilRora]

There's one topic that's always been interesting for me, and it's basically what are giants, titans, colossi, and perhaps other similar creatures.

My take on this matter is that a giant is a huge individual of a race. It's not resticted to humans, and the size difference can be varied, but it's a scaled up creature, perhaps with some smaller or larger changes, for example to musculature. Important thing to note is that it's a category, not a race, so for example a 5 meter tall humanoid and an 8 meters tall bear can both be called giants, although depending on the setting it may be unnecessary. If that huge bear is the only size of a bear in the world, then the giant would be skipped in favor of a different, more descriptive name.

Then, colossi are not just huge, they are gargantuan. It's basically the same thing as a giant, but once you go past certain size, for example a humanoid that has 80 meters in height, it becomes a colossus because of the sheer size difference. What's important though is that it largely depends on the setting. If a setting has dragons that are a hundred meters tall, they don't automatically become colossi; it's the proportion that matters.

Then, finally, titans. This is not a category of races, but of individuals, that are inconcievably huge and powerful, often with unique powers and abilities exclusive to them. They are often written as Titans starting with a capital letter, because they are individual worldbuilding elements by themselves and are powerful enough they can be called forces of nature as well.

With that, I'd like to add that all three of those categories are subjective and heavily depend on the world they are placed in.

PS: I did write about categories of races. If you want a race specifically, just apply the above to humans.

 

[SailusGebel]

I believe @Hans.Trondheim and his isekai story has fantasy races that differ from common portrayal.

 

[Kalliel]

My cat people have their traditional dance as pop dance and moonwalk. Michael Jackson stuff.

 

[ElliePorter]

Goblins can be good too, it just depends on the elder or chieftain.

 

[TotallyHuman]

Me on the way to writing racist stereotypes onto fantasy creatures:

 

[Lloyd]

You know how angels are usually depicted as shining people with wings, right? Apparently, the Bible had other ideas:
View attachment 23463

So, if my story has angels in it, I'd like to have both...

Angels don't have physical forms, but when they appear to people, they usually appear as a man.

 

[APieceOfRock]

My Goblins are called Gawblins and that's that. Oh, and they're more scavengers than predators. They use anything they can get their hands on.