Mythological Human/Animal Hybrid Monsters
Adaro
Origin:
Solomon
Islands
Category:
Shape-Shifter
● A malevolent sea-spirit in the shape of a fish-man, a man with tail fins on
his feet and gills behind his ears. He has a horn like a shark's back fin and
a pike on his head like a swordfish or sawfish.
● They travel to earth on rainbows. They live in waterspouts and they
shoot flying fish, causing unconsciousness and sometimes death.
Ahuizotl
Origin: Aztec
Category:
Demon
Alkonost
Origin: Russia
Category:
Shape-Shifter
Ammut
Origin: Egypt
Category:
Demon
Anthropophagus
Origin: England
Category:
Humanoids
● Half human and half monkey, with a hand coming out of the end of its tail.
● The Ahuizotl is greatly feared as an eater of human flesh, and it
particularly likes eyes, teeth and nails
● Has a monkey/ape-like head with large dark eyes, has bat-like wings, can
fly, has large claws on its hands and a body covered in fur.
● Sometimes it cries and when people come near it to see what is wrong, it
grabs them with it’s tail.
● The Ahuizotl is said to live in the trees of deepest rainforests.
● A creature with the body of a bird but the head and torso of a beautiful
woman.
● It makes sounds that are amazingly beautiful, and those who hear these
sounds forget everything they know and want nothing more ever again.
● A formidable deity that guards the Hall of Ma'at and watches for bad souls.
● Ammut is depicted with the head of a crocodile, and the body of a Human.
● Ma'at was regarded as the personification of the principles of truth and justice. The
hearts of those who failed the test were given to Ammut to devour, and their souls
were not permitted to enter Aaru, having to be restless forever - dying a second time.
● Cannibalistic humanoid creatures with no heads - a mouth in their chest - eyes on
their shoulders - their lack of a nose allows them to eat human flesh without gagging.
● They were made popular by William Shakespeare in Merry Wives of Windsor (1602)
and Othello (1605), but were part of English lore before that.
Ankou
Origin: Brittany
● A combination of a Fairy and the Grim Reaper, he collects the souls of the
dead and aids them on their journey to the next world, pulling them in his
old rickety cart.
Category:
Psychopomp
Argus
Origin: Greece
Category: Giant
Asoon Puksa
Origin: Asia
Category:
Flying Monster
Buraq
Origin: Persia
Category:
Fabled Beast
Bunyip
Origin:
Australia
Category: Sea/
Lake Monster
Cerberus
● Ancient Greek giant with hundred eyes all over his body and even when the others
were closed, two stayed open and were watchful.
● He killed the horrible Echinda in her sleep. Hermes eventually charmed him to sleep
and cut off his head. Hera took his eyes and placed them in the tail of the peacock.
● A bird-based creature which has the upper body of a human and the lower (from torso
down) body of a bird or ostridge.
● Believed to be carnivorous in nature due to its human characteristics, the creature is
able to fly at great great speed and prey on large animals such as deer, horses, and
even humans.
● A creature from Persian iconography that has the head of a man and the body of a winged
horse.
●
In the 7th century, the Buraq carried the Islamic prophet Muhammad from Mecca to
Jerusalem and back during the Isra and Mi'raj or "Night Journey", which is the title of one
of the chapters of the Quran.
● Aboriginal tribes give a visual description of the creature saying it looks like a huge
furry half-human beast with a beak like a bird and a horse-like tail.
● The Aborigine's fear of Bunyip can probably be traced back to a known aquatic mankiller, the saltwater crocodile. The bunyip has a loud bellowing cry terrifies the
aborigines.
Origin: Greece
● The guardian hound of Hades (the Greek Underworld). He was represented as a
grotesque dog who had three heads, all of which snarled at those foolish enough to
attempt to leave the Underworld.
Category:
Psychopomp
● The center head was in the shape of a lion, while the other two were in the shape of a
dog and a wolf, respectively. He also had a dragon's tail and a thick mane of writhing
snakes.
Chiang-shih
● Zombie-like reanimated corpse that hops around, killing living creatures to absorb the
life essence (qì) from their victims.
Origin: China
● They have a hideous green phosphorescent glow, with serrated teeth, long talons and
have very dark circles under their eyes.
Category:
Undead
● The Chiang-Shih were not known to rise from the grave, so their transformation had
to take place prior to burial.
Cuegle
Origin: Spain
Category:
Fabled Beast
Deer Woman
Origin: Native
American
Category:
Shape-Shifter
Encantado
Origin: Brazil
Category:
Shape-Shifter
Fomorian
Origin: Ireland
Category:
Humanoid
● Walking on two legs and roughly humanoid in shape, it has black skin, 4 arms, a single
stubby horn and three eyes in its head: one green, one red, and one blue.
● The cuegle attacks people and is reputed to steal babies from the cradle. It may be
protected against by placing mistletoe or holly oak leaves, which it finds repulsive, in
the cradle.
● A young maiden who is said to have all the features of a normal young woman save for
her legs and feet which are shaped like deer hooves and her eyes which are like brown
deer's eyes.
● Some descriptions assign her a human female upper body and the lower body of a
white-tailed deer.
● The Deer Woman lures to men into her presence and notice too late that she is not a
natural woman and are stomped to death.
● River-dwelling humans with long-beaked freshwater dolphins heads.
● Pale-skinned and graceful, an encantado will always have a bald spot on
the top of its head where its dolphin blowhole remains.
● A humanoid creature described as having a single eye, a rooster-like crest,
and is so frightening that it induces heart attacks.
● They are ill-tempered and very stupid.
Garuda
Origin: India
● A large mythical bird or bird-like creature that appears in both Hindu and Buddhist
mythology. He has a human body of gold, wings, and an eagle's beak.
Category:
Fabled Beast
Harpy
● He is ancient and huge, and can block out the sun. The exact size of the Garuda is
uncertain, but its wings are said to have a span of many miles. Worship of Garuda is
believed to remove the effects of poisons from one's body.
● A dog with great, wide wings, and sometimes with brilliant colored hair, the ha-inu is
the reincarnated spirit of a dog owned by the great samurai Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
Origin: Greek
and Roman
● They steal food from their victims while they are eating and carry evildoers
(especially those who have killed their family) to the Erinyes.
Category:
Fabled Beast
● They seem originally to have been wind spirits.
Kludde
Origin: Belgium
Category:
Shape-Shifter
La Chusa
Origin: Mexico
Category:
Shape-Shifter
Langsuir
Origin:
Malaysia
Category:
Shape-Shifter
Mama Dlo
Origin:
Trinidad &
Tobago
Category:
● Kludde usually appears in the shape of a monstrous black cat with the head of a
horrible black bird like a Raven’s head.
● It is said to hide in the twilight of dawn and sunset and attacks innocent travelers.
Travelers would listened for the only sound which betrays that Kludde is in the
vicinity: the rattling of the chains with which the spirit is covered.
● A winged human female with the wings of an owl that takes people's souls away when
they going to die.
● If you whistle, and La Chusa returns the call, according to the myth death is near. You
would know she was near from the sounds of her huge wings beating on a nearby
window.
● If La Chusa could be captured and see the sun rise she would evolve into a beautiful
young woman.
● A vampire that originates from women who were sick as a result of suffering the death
of their children, and who themselves died afterwards, the Langsuir appears as a
woman with long claws and flying black hair.
● The Langsuir also sucks the blood of living infants with long teeth.
● A hideous half woman/half snake creature, her lower half takes the form of an
anaconda. Old hunters tell stories of hearing a loud, cracking sound which is said to be
the sound made by her tail as she snaps it on the surface of a mountain pool or a still
lagoon.
● Mortal men who commit crimes against the forest, like burning down trees or
indiscriminately putting animals to death or fouling the rivers could find themselves
Shape-Shifter
Manticore
Origin: Persia
Category:
Fabled Beast
Minotaur
Origin:
Greek/Roman
Category:
Water Monster
married to her for life, both this one and the one to follow.
● It has the body of a red lion, the torso, head, face, ears and eyes of a human and a tail
ending in a sting like that of a scorpion.
● It has three rows of razor-sha teeth and poisoned spines along the tail could be shot,
like arrows in any direction.
● The monster stalks through the forest in search of humans. Upon an encounter with a
human, the manticore fires darts at the victim, who dies immediately.
● This unfortunate person is eaten completely, even the bones, clothing, and
possessions.
● A creature with the head of a bull on the body of a man. The Roman poet Ovid
described it as "part man and part bull."
● He lives at the center of the Labyrinth, which was an elaborate maze-like construction
designed by the architect Daedalus and his son Icarus, on the command of King Minos
of Crete.
● The Minotaur was eventually killed by the Athenian hero Theseus.
●
Siren
Sirens are mythological creatures with the head and chest of a beautiful woman and
the body of a bird (usually an owl).
Origin:
Greek/Roman
● According to myth, the Sirens lived in the East near Eden or around the Euphrates
River and sang beautiful songs to the saints, foretelling the joys of heaven.
Category: Fairy
Creature
● These half-women half-birds were dangerous, however. Mortal men who heard them
would forget everything on earth, follow them, and ultimately die.
Sphinx
Origin: Egypt
Category:
Fabled Beast
Tikbalang
● The Sphinx has the haunches of a lion, with the wings of a great bird, and the face of a
human.
● It is treacherous and merciless. Those who cannot answer its riddle are killed and
eaten by this ravenous monster.
● A creature said to lurk in the mountains and forests, it has the head of a human and
the feet of a horse.
Origin:
Philippines
Category:
Shape-Shifter
Zhulong
Origin: China
Category: Cryptid
● It can transform itself into human form. It may assume the form of someone a victim
may be acquainted with, such as a close relative, and imitate their exact voice and
mannerisms. At this point, the tikbalang is said to ask the victim to follow it into the
woods. The traveler, believing the creature to be someone he knows, will do so
willingly and end up getting even more lost, sometimes never to be seen again.
● It has a human's face and snake's body.
● It creates day and night by opening and closing its eyes, and created seasonal winds by
breathing.
Mythological Hybrid Creatures (Non-Human)
Bai Ze
Origin: China
Category:
Fabled Beast
Cadborosaurus
Origin:
Western
Canada
Category:
Water Monster
Chemosit or
Nandi Bear
● A fantastic beast which is said to advise only virtuous kings, Bai Ze is like a massive
lion, and can be distinguished by the presence of single or double horns.
● It is usually considered to be quite intelligent and well-read. According to the legend,
Bai Ze was encountered by the Yellow Emperor while he was on patrol in the East.
● The creature sometimes wore a crown, could talk, and only visited the greatest and
most auspicious of rulers.
● A sea serpent reported to be living on the Pacific Coast of North America. It has
vertical coils or humps in tandem behind the horse-like head and long neck, with a
pair of small front flippers, and a pair of large webbed hind flippers fused to form a
large fan-like tail region that provides powerful forward propulsion.
● The creature is similar in behavior to the Loch Ness monster.
● She takes form as a whirlpool - swallows huge amounts of water twice a day and
causes the ocean tides.
● The body of a bear with the chest, arms, and head of a great ape.
● It has long reddish or yellow hair, short broad tail, sometimes going on four legs,
sometimes on two. The claws and teeth are supposed to be very sharp.
Origin:Kenya
Category:
Cryptid
Griffin
Origin: Greece
Category:
Fabled Beast
Kraken
Origin: Norway
Category:
Water Monster
Makara
Origin: India
Category: Sea/
Lake Monster
Mushussu
Origin:
Babylonia
Category:
Cryptid
Pegasus
Origin: Greek
● It is a nocturnal animal and is said to attack humans only on dark moonless nights. It
has been said to prey upon the children and natives from the villages.
● It is said to be as comfortable on the tree tops as it is on the ground.
● A legendary creature with the head, beak and wings of an eagle, the body of a lion and
occasionally the tail of a serpent. Griffins lived in groups ranging from 5 to 25 or 30
members. The group lived in a hierarchy very similar to modern day lions.
● An enormous sea monster which would sometimes attack ships and feed upon the
sailors. It was said to be capable of dragging down the largest ships and when
submerging could suck down a vessel by the whirlpool it created.
● It is described as part octopus and part crab, occasionally as a giant squid or cuttlefish.
This huge, many armed, creature looked like an island when motionless and could
reach as high as the top of a sailing ship's main mast with its arms deployed.
● A fabulous beast in Hindu mythology with the body of a horse and the
head of an elephant or crocodile. It also has the scales of a fish.
● In astrology, the Makara corresponds to the western astrological sign of
Capricorn.
● A dragon that guards the Ishtar Gate, Muhussu is a scaly dragon with legs like an
eagle's talons or a clawed bird.
● Its tail ends with a poisonous sting. It also has a long neck and tail, a horned head, a
snake like tongue and a crest.
● A winged stallion usually depicted as pure white in color.
● Pegasus allows his owner Bellerophon to ride him to battle, however, falls
off his back trying to reach Mount Olympus.
● Zeus transformed the creature into the constellation Pegasus and placed
Category:
Fabled Monster
Winged Lion
Origin: Biblical
Category:
Fabled Monster
Wyvern
Origin: England
Category:
Fabled Monster
Yali
Origin: India
Category:
Fabled Monster
him up in the sky.
● A winged Lion appears in many cultures.
● The “first beast” in the vision of the Prophet Daniel resembled a winged
lion.
● A legendary winged creature with a dragon's head (which breathes fire and possess a
venomous bite) and wings; a reptilian body; two legs (sometimes none); and a barbed
tail. A sea-dwelling variant, dubbed the sea-wyvern, has a fish tail in place of a barbed
dragon's tail.
● The wyvern in its various forms is important to heraldry, frequently appears as a
mascot of schools and athletic teams (chiefly in the United States and United
Kingdom), and occasionally appears in medieval and modern European and British
literature.
● The Yali has a catlike graceful body, but the head of a lion with tusks of an
elephant and tail of a serpent.
● Images or icons have been found on the entrance walls of the temples,
and the graceful mythical lion is believed to protect and guard the
temples and ways leading to the temple.