Posts tagged mythical-creatures
Dragons are a grand classic of fantasy. For this question, let's assume we're talking about the following stereotype: hatches from an ostrich-sized egg and can grow to mountain size if nothing l...
in the story i'm writing there is an island of mostly Monotremes which have diversified into a variety of ecological niches from giant platypus's to megafauna larger than the largest Placental Mamm...
This is a submission for the Anatomically Correct Series Residing in Australia, the Yara Ma Yha Who is a creature of Aboriginal folklore being depicted commonly as: being 3-4 ft tall having re...
I want to know what kind of toilet design for mermaid is, considering they live surrounded by water and they poop through the anus (or whatever the organs name is) that located in the front rather ...
No, this is not not about courtship displays or dominance figths. (even thought I know that that is also part of mating) This is more of "What their genitalia would look like" and how they would "...
Ningens are an old internet legend/creepypasta. Supposedly living in the polar regions of the globe, these creatures are described as having white-skin, a roughly humanoid structure with clear hea...
Around 5 million years ago, a group of primates diverged from early Baboon ancestors migrated into Sicily becoming Triclopes (here's a rough mock up of what a Triclops skull might look like): som...
In Greek and Roman mythology, the Astomi, also known as the Gangines, are an ancient legendary race of people who had no need to eat or drink anything at all. They survived by smelling apples and f...
In a world I'm designing, a group of Homo Habilis or even Australopithecus Afarensis migrated into a northern Scotland environment becoming Trolls. These are not D&D trolls, but something else....
Pegasuses in most works of media are often depicted as hexapods with four legs and two wings: The only problem is (from what I understand) no vertebrates on earth are hexapods, so I've decided ...
This is a submission for the Anatomically Correct Series The orang pendek is a cryptid that reportedly inhabits remote, mountainous forests on the island of Sumatra (likely evolving from orangutan...
This is a submission for the Anatomically Correct Series some characteristics of the Manticore include: having a lion like body having wings are tetrapods having a scorpion like tail being carn...
This is a submission for the Anatomically Correct Series Gargoyles are a staple of Gothic architecture and I've decided to give these creatures the time of day. Gargoyles are closely related to Ny...
Continuing in the theme of bringing creatures from video games into the Anatomically Correct series is the Chocobo of Final Fantasy lore. Put simply, a Chocobo is a large bird. It is unclear whe...
This is a submission for the Anatomically Correct Series How would you evolve a harpy? A harpy is defined by Wikipedia as a flying creature with: Long, human hair Human faces Feathered bodies C...
This is a submission for the Anatomically Correct Series Residing in South Africa, the Grootslang is a creature of African folklore being depicted commonly as: Being 37 to 40 ft long having a co...
Phoenixes are a unique type of wyvern not only due to their colorful feathers (which resemble flames) but also how they reproduce. Phoenixes lay 7 eggs which require a lot of heat to hatch. Unfortu...
In short summary A cockatrice is is essentially a a two legged dragon that has the head and body of a rooster, it also has a serpentine like tail and either has feather like wings or webbed like ...
Contrary to popular belief, Unicorns are not related to horses but instead are descended from the Siberian Unicorn. Over time: their fur became whiter they became slightly smaller they have an...
This famous tapestry shows all the "modernized" traits of a unicorn--basically just a pale-colored horse with a single horn on its head. Of course, single-horned animals do and did exist: ...
It is typical of fantasy stories that there will be a dragon somewhere down the line. They are typically the strongest boss right before or after the main antagonist. Now the question is what colo...
Dragons are very territorial apex predators. They build lairs on mountaintops, roost whenever they aren't hunting, and they hunt from the sky. With their size, wings and firebreath, there is no vir...
In my fantasy setting, slimes are a species of giant (about eight cubic feet), single-celled amoeba. They have the ability to freely change their state and viscocity, being able to "melt" into a sl...
Unless I am mistaken, a Jaculus, also called a javelin snake, is a creature found in Roman myth, described as a snake that hurls itself from trees and impales its prey. Its head is usually describe...
The original, irish lore around banshees has it that they merely foretell the death of someone, but do not cause that death. American pop culture has changed this, so they do bring death and destru...
I'm working on a roleplaying game in a medieval fantasy setting with a focus on crafting and I am having trouble visualizing how armor made from scales of creatures would be assembled; both for art...
Here is Carolina Lang's interpretation of one of Britain's heraldic beasts, the enfield: For anyone not familiar with the creature, here's A Book of Creatures' basic description of it: It ha...
If there were people with wings, who didn't want to be naked all the time, what clothing could they wear, without it interfering with their flying? Note: I am assuming arm-wings, like birds, but y...
The Hippocampus is a mythological creature and has typically been depicted as having the upper body of a horse with the lower body of a fish. Considerations Gills or lungs? Would this creatu...
A myrmecoleon is a creature with the upper torso of a lion and the rest of the body is like an ant. While it's not probable for a true insect-mammal hybrid to happen naturally, are there any evolu...
In the mythological stories of the Baku, they eat the nightmares of those who call upon it, but if not satisfied they will eat the hopes and dreams of their summoners. Since the visual portion of ...
Is there a realistic way that a Charybdis-like creature could evolve? Starting with roughly earth-like biology, what is the closest plausible creature to the mythical Charybdis that could exist? ...
I have a (digitigrade) quadrupedal alien creature with one of it's front limbs having a longer metatarsals, I'm trying to visualise how it would walk with this deformity for an animation. I'm havi...
The question is just as simple as it sounds. Would it tuck them under like a bird? make running motions like it does when running on the ground? some other movement that actually aids in fligh...
There exists a polymerization spell that allows distinct animals to combine with each other, creating an entirely new creature. The beasts in question are held in transumutation circles linked by l...
In my setting, centaurs are related to other six-limbed creatures such as dragons and griffins (the "fur" is actually made up of tiny feathers). Assuming they were originally creatures similar to s...
The Guivre is an amphibious dragon from French mythology: Many of its aspects are typical of Western dragons, but there are two which distinguish it from others: Its breath causes disease It c...
Demons have been a staple of multiple religions for thousands of years, just like angels. While some of the points brought up in the Anatomically Correct Angels post (and other posts on flying huma...
In lots of barren, deserted or otherwise destroyed landscapes, there are bones of long dead animals to be found. Sometimes, it's a skull, sometimes, these are rib-cages, or ribs alone. And somet...
In the mythology of the Lambas people of Zambia, there is a creature called the Ichisonga. It is a herbivore, and very rhinoceros-like in appearance. Upon hearing a hippopotamus, it allegedly sne...
What makes an animal suitable for domestication? I know it has something to do with the danger to productivity ratio. But this is not helpful for fantasy animals in the worlds we build. What factor...
This is the latest in a long series of questions I've asked on my fantasy world which contains many mythical and folkloric creatures. I won't link the other questions since at this stage the series...
I have three types of dragons; dragons that primarily fly, dragons that primarily run, and dragons that primarily swim, with all three types being able to do the other two things for a limited amou...
We all know Pikachu, fuzzy, small rodent, with the ability to discharge electrical energy as an attack. But could Pikachu ever evolve in our world, and how would it do so? What's required: Rod...
Assume these homo super-dwarf aka fairy and homo sapiens come from a common ancestor, and somehow they evolved a pair of wings and can do vertical takeoff. The average adult is approximately the ...
My current ongoing project, about which I've asked many questions, is about a world in which evolutionarily plausible legendary and folkloric creatures roam the Earth. One such creature is the sea ...
Medieval bestiaries describe a creature, a type of desert-dwelling ant that digs for gold. It was also said to be the size of a fox, but I'll ignore that in this question. Why would ants unearth p...
Little side project on fantasy story with dragons (or wyverns to be exact, but they're equivalent for the purpose). I have dragons roaming the country side, laying waste and ruin in their wake. As...
I've always loved well-done ghosts. However, I've always hated the afterlife-speculation that they engender if used in a story. So I need a way to get ghosts without the fluffy spiritualistic bits...
This is a magic world question, and we certainly do not have anything on this planet which feeds on emotion. But if we did, I'm wondering how it might work with a look at science for something plau...