What are some fantasy monsters?

[JDC_OnPaper]

I am writing my novel then I hit a roadblock, I was about to use the most overused dungeon monsters such as goblins and ogres, but then it came to me when I was about to write it: "Wait a minute, they are weak."

The dungeon my MC is currently in is the First Demon King's Tomb or Dungeon of course monsters like them are only on the upper floors but he is currently quite deep under the dungeon floors, now since that happened I did research only to hit another roadblock, since most of the mythical monster's and creatures I researched were actually mostly surface and sea creatures I can't find dungeon creatures or monsters that can be accustomed in living in a dungeon.

So if anybody has a link or list of monsters that I can used I'd really appreciate your help, I may also be a bit selfish but can you also list fantasy monsters and creatures, like a lot, not just limited to dungeon and cave creatures but also aerial and surface and sea monsters, my imagination in creating this monster are highly deformed and I can't descript them like how I imagined it to be.

if you have any links or list thanks you so much! Really appreciate it!

 

[WasatchWind]

One suggestion may be to devise your own monsters - think to yourself, what kind of environment does this creature live in? What does it consider predator or prey? What traits has it developed to protect it or allow it to hunt?
But as for other fantasy monsters, there are many. I bet you can find a ton by looking up monsters in D&D - many monsters have been included there.

You might also simply look up monster on Wikipedia and see where it leads you.

 

[Kenjona]

Get a monster manual from a game company like Dungeons and Dragons or GURPS or Path Finder.

 

[Daitengu]

Damn. I know just how much of a degenerate I am from the first thing to pop in my head being the monstergirlencyclopedia fandom website.

 

[Jemini]

Get a monster manual from a game company like Dungeons and Dragons or GURPS or Path Finder.

Might want to also look up original lore on all the monsters you look up through there. There are some monsters in the D&D monster manual, such as the beholder, that are completely TSR creations and thus the intellectual property is owned by Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast who are really heavy on the enforcement. TSR (the company that created Dungeons & Dragons which was later acquired by Wizards of the Coast) is also responsible for the chromatic dragon Vs. metal dragon dichotomy and several other things you should be conscious of if you go down this route.

Monster manuals are an excellent starting point, but you do need to do your research into original lores. For instance, going on the D&D dragons. For my world, I decided to use Bahamut and Tiamut in their original lore format, Tiamat being a goddess of the ocean who birthed all the gods and Bahamut being a great creature who swims in the sea of the inter-world space and holds the entire world on his back. There is a lot more interesting stuff that you can take from original lore in cases like this.

 

[Daitengu]

Thinking about it, every culture has monsters. It's more a matter of ''can it fit in the story correctly''. Native American Wendigo, skin walker, Qalupalik, owl witch, Uktena. Hell, the Philippines has a huge list of monsters.

 

[LordAstrea]

If you are looking for scary, powerful monsters for dungeon/depths combat then I would definitely recommend looking into the creatures in the Dark Souls universe. The lore for them is deep and may help you create monsters as well.

 

[Localforeigner]

Just look up D&D Monster Manuals, any edition.

 

[yunano34a1]

Actual "monster" girls not monster "girls"

 

[Farok]

If you want fantasy creatures go on 5etools bestiary. There's every 5e D&D bestiary, so you will have quite the choice.

 

[Chaos_Sinner777]

You can do anything from taking inspiration from real world mythology, to making original monsters, to making dangerous special variants of existing monsters. For example, if a goblin isn't threatening enough, how about a Goblin Lich, or a Hobgoblin Giant. Maybe a Crimson Redcap who is so fast that only the main hero can even see it when it moves. As for mythology, there's so many it's craaaazy. Throw some Hecatoncheires in your dungeon and your heroes will never stand a chance. Actually a Hecatoncheir would probably be worse than the Demon King himself. . . As for originals, that's pretty much free game. Combine human traits with animal traits, take a typically good Fantasy Race change some things about the way they look and act and call em monsters, make crabs that disguise themselves as bricks to change the layout of the dungeon any time the heroes aren't looking. Whatever you want. And if you need adaptations for dungeons, give em echolocation or darksight or thermal vison if it's dark, make em small and fast if it has narrow corridors, make em huge if the chambers are big enough. And so on forever.

 

[CadmarLegend]

I Have realized that many people's advice is to go reference D&D...

 

[Macrendil-Ysmir]

Quick list of more powerful monsters: Manticores, Hydra's, Chimera's, Trolls, Basilisk, Griffon/Gryphon, Giant Wolves, Wyverns, various undead like Liches, Dread Knights, Dullahans, Wraiths. The drawback of the more powerfull monsters is that their size also increases, so depending on the size of the dungeon some are more viable than others.

 

[K5Rakitan]

You can just slap two or more animals together and make your own.

I made this half-pony half-monkey monster to please you
But I get the feeling that you don't like it
What's with all the screaming?
You like monkeys, you like ponies
Maybe you don't like monsters so much
Maybe I used too many monkeys
Isn't it enough to know that I ruined a pony making a gift for you?

Oh yeah, and I got a friend to sing that at my wedding

 

[Muddy]

The classic big hitters: cave dragons, drakes, wyverns, hydras, manticores, etc. DnD monster manuals are always a good fallback as well, but I'm going to go beyond that for a minute and broaden the scope.

power is not just a matter of what hits hardest or can take the most hits. It's about what can take the MC at a disadvantage. Know your MC's weak points and use creatures that are good in those areas. Here are some ideas:

• elementals: can't be physically damaged
• lichs: mages that can summon other undead
• creatures with psychic, mind control, dream infiltration abilities
• creatures that can teleport
• creatures that can mimic (can the MC fight something that looks like their loved ones)

Nightmare fuel is always a good staple. What they lack in power they make up in potential to terrify the MC:

• giant insectoids, driders, maybe even an insect hivemind, swarms
• otherworldly creatures (think Cthulhu mythos for example)

Terrain can work to your MC's disadvantage:

• a dungeon is often an underground cave system. Some parts of these might be underwater, thus placing your hero out of their element. Combine with powerful water monsters for great effect
• underground cave system with glowing stuff, tentacle vines, fungi. Suddenly poison, spores, etc become a danger for your hero
• no one ever thinks about the lighting. What if a part of the dungeon doesn't have any, plunging your hero in the dark
• creatures with powerful ranged abilities at the other end of a chasm the hero needs to cross
• creatures with ranged abilities that cling to high ceilings the hero can't easily reach

Play with the rules. We have preconceived notions of how dungeons are supposed to work: rooms, floors, floor-bosses, clearing floors, etc. Break them to really mess with your hero.

• creatures attacking the hero from behind, coming from a previously cleared floor
• multiple floor-bosses from different floors working together
• the creatures caving in the entrance, trapping the hero

It's about the war, not the battle:

• create an army of weaker creatures with human-like intelligence. Have them practice true strategy and tactics. The hero is alone, and this can be used against him.
• the dungeon creatures can afford to deliberately lose battles, they only need to win the war. The hero can't lose, not even once
• defeat is not the only loss condition for the hero. He can run out of mana, he can lose his weapons or armor (Oooh, monsters with corrosive abilities), he can run out of supplies (food, water, healing potions, ...). Or just have the creatures plague the hero day and night, and have him lose from lack of sleep.

Now that I've outlined all of these you have all of the tools you need to go a step beyond copy-pasting known monsters. Simply mix-and-match to create your own super-strong fantasy monsters. Here's an example:

MC enters a creepy cave full of glowy mushrooms. They hear skittering. Suddenly all the glowy mushrooms go out, plunging the MC into near-total darkness. The skittering intensifies and MC starts hearing all kinds of other eery noises, some of them they think might be only in their head. Out of the darkness something storms straight at the MC, it lunges, and then all of a sudden it's behind them, almost as if this thing can teleport. The MC draws his blade and takes a stance, readying themself for an intense and terrifying fight. One of their legs sinks knee-deep into murky water that the MC could swear wasn't there a minute ago. Is this place flooding? The MC has no time to think about it. A mighty roar fills the cavern, one the MC recognizes. It's the previous floor-boss. What is it doing here? It should be dead.

And boom: absolutely epic fight, even though the reader still doesn't know what the monster even looks like.

 

[Deleted member 45782]

Not sure what kind of monsters you're looking for. Like monsters from specific cultures and lore? Monsters from sci-fi? Or just monsters we made up?

 

[Yamemai]

Need more information on world/area setting, but I take it that it's some sort of underground setting? Fantasy, what with the demons.

Maybe some stuff with no eyes/uses some other senses (echolocation, mana-locator, 'heat' sensors, tremor senses etc)? -- Something like HoMM troglytes. Maybe giant worms? Some sort of growth? Like moss creepers?

 

[TheTrinary]

Include a penanggalan. Indian mythology has some great stuff.

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[Deleted member 45782]

List of legendary creatures from Japan - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Category:Chinese legendary creatures - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Category:Korean legendary creatures - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Just some quick finds since idk what kind of monsters you want; though you can probably find several sites about these creatures.

Mythical Creatures A-Z

A list of captivating mythical creatures that either roam the land, lurk deep in the seas or fly in the skies above. Mystic beasts from around the world are collected here and so much more

www.mythical-creatures-and-beasts.com

The List of Mythical Creatures - A Gods and Monsters Exclusive

From ancient legends to modern mysteries, our List of Mythical Creatures covers them all.

www.gods-and-monsters.com

 

[Kenjona]

I Have realized that many people's advice is to go reference D&D...

That is because they stole.... well "repurposed" everyone else's mythological monsters and a few earlier fantasy stories mythologies. Tolkien's Lord of the Ring series and the Elric of Melnibone series by Moorcock for instance. Vorpal bunnies were from Monty Python and the Holy Grail.