Rare Monsters

  The odontotyrranus is a giant and fearsome monster that attacked Alexander the Great as he entered India. The beast is described as being larger than an elephant, having a bull like body, and horse like head. Its most notable features were three large horns on its head and a wide mouth full of predatory teeth. The beast was also semi-aquatic and wallows in water like a hippopotamus. It was black in color and its head was darkest. Its name means toothy tyrant. The legend of the odontotyrranus states that Alexander's men made camp by a river after entering India. Two different versions state that the odontotyrranus either came down to the river to drink, or was wallowing in the water and lunged out of the river at them. Alexander's men fought the beast as it rampaged through their camp. It killed 26 men and injured 52. The odontotyrranus was carnivorous and able to swallow a human whole with ease. One of Alexander's commanders, Emendus, Duke of Arcadia finally brought the b...

  The hadhayosh was a giant bull from Persian mythology. It was also known as the sarsaok. The hadhayosh had six horns and a flaming mane. It's body was made of brass. There were multiple hadhayoshes made, each one exactly 52 feet tall and 57 tons in weight. The hadhayosh were created by 'the god of the forge'. While there are various angels or lesser gods in Zoroastrianism, I couldn't find exactly who this god of the forge was. Possibly Khshathra Vairya, the angel of metals, that would be my best guess. The hadhayoshes were primordial beings who were created right after the earth was finished. They were tasked with carrying the newly created humanity across the Voutkasha sea from the land of the gods to the know world. Once they had reached the mortal world the hadhayosh acted like normal cattle, grazing on the ample grasslands. The hadhayosh were slain and prepared like cattle by the newly arrived humans. When the hadhayosh were slain 55 species of grain and 12 spe...

 The grootslang is a monster, or possibly two monsters, from South Africa. The word grootslang literally means 'big snake' in Afrikaans. The first type of grootslang is purely mythical in nature and comes from the creation myths of pre-Christian stories, specifically those of the Zulu people. When the gods finished creating the land of the Earth they started creating the various creatures that would live on it. They made an entire species of grootslangs. These beings were a hybrid of snake an elephant, having the grace and agility of snakes, and the cunning and strength of elephants together in one being. This being their very first creation, the gods were inexperienced and didn't know how powerful they could make a creature before it was dangerous. When they made other animals the grootslangs would hunt them all down and kill them before they could get established. So the gods rounded the grootslangs up and pulled each one apart into two separate animals, a snake and an el...

  Falak is a gigantic snake from Arabian legend. It's larger than the whole world combined. Falak resides in the abyss, the seventh and final level of hell. The other levels of hell are held in its mouth. In Arabian mythology the world is carried on the back of an angel, who stands on the celestial bull Kuyuta, who in turn stands on the whale (not dragon) Bahamut. Bahamut in turn swims in the celestial ocean, which are the surface waters leading to the abyss. Falak desperately wants to reach up out of the abyss and devour all these other beings and the whole world. It's only the fear of God's punishment that stops Falak from doing so. God also gave Falak the other six levels of hell to hold to keep it busy and not focused on destroying the world.  

  Tiangou is a celestial canine from Chinese mythology. He is usually associated with eating the sun or moon during eclipses but has many more roles than this. Tiangou's name means celestial dog. In his best known interpretations Tiangou is a giant black dog surrounded by flame. The most famous story about Tiangou is when he ate the moon in pursuit of Change'E. HouYi the legendary archer hero was given an elixir of immortal for his many great deeds. However his wife Chang'E drank the elixir before he could. For this the gods imprisoned Chang'E on the moon. They did this by making Chang'E so light that she floated up to the moon and couldn't step on the Earth. As Chang'E was floating away HouYi's dog licked up some of the immortal elixir that had been spilled on the ground. The dog grew in size to be larger than the heavenly bodies. It pursued Chang'E, trying to get the rest of the immortality elixir through her. The dog eventually ate the whole moon ...

  To end off the one year anniversary month I'm featuring one of the strangest beast I've ever found in mythology, the khara. Also known as the three legged ass, it's a unicorn found in Zoroastrian mythology, which is like no other. Khara means donkey in Sanskrit, it's name in Persian is xar-i-se-pay. It's one of the oldest written accounts of a unicorn like creature and likely influenced every other unicorn from Europe and western Asia. The idea of unicorns purifying water with their horn certainly originated with the khara. The overall appearance is like a donkey, and the khara was said to be a divine donkey. It was as tall as a mountain. It had three legs that were like tree trunks. The khara had six eyes, two in the normal location, two on top the head, and two on the shoulders. With this arrangement of eyes the khara could see in all directions at once and no threat could sneak up on it. The strangest aspect of the khara is that it is covered in extra mouths...

  The indrik is a gigantic unicorn from Slavic mythology. The Indrik has ancient roots going back to Slavic paganism and predates Christianity bringing legends of western European unicorns to Russia. Its inspiration may lie with the Khara from Persia, a similarly huge unicorn. The indrik was massive, being larger than all other beasts. It was also said to be the 'father' of beasts, being both their originator and an example for them to strive towards. The indrik was associated with strength and might. It was also associated with purity and protection from evil, even before associations with western European unicorns. The indrik was the opponent of serpents, both small and monstrous. The indrik had the head of a bull, the body of a horse and the hooves of a deer. There was a large single horn in the middle of its forehead the color of amber. Although two horned depictions exist as well, usually with the horns one in front of each other, like a rhinoceros. The indrik is best kn...

  Shinchus are good monsters and considered holy. They are protective minor deities and are known as the divine insects. While shinchus look terrifying they only attack demons, especially those which cause disease. Shinchus violently rip these demons apart, leaving a trail of gore and blood. Every day a shinchu will devour six thousand demons, three thousand in the morning and three thousand in the evening. It's said the shinchu's appetite is as big as it is. Shinchus are silk moths the size of elephants or larger. They have bulging eyes, gaping mouths full of sharp teeth and a wasp like stinger. According to the myth, shinchus originated in India in the mythical lands of Jambudvipa. Of the four lands surrounding Mount Meru, Jambudvipa is the only one inhabited by humans and the only one where enlightenment could be achieved in one life time purely through study. Because such things could be achieved only in this one land it was under constant attack from demons who wanted to s...

Mesopotamia is a collection of some of the oldest civilizations on Earth. Written records date back 6000 years. Because of this some of the earliest examples of dragons can be found here. While the dragons of ancient Sumeria, Acadia, Babylon and Assyria may seam strange today, they were the origin of many of the tropes we associate with dragons even until today; things such as dragons being types of snakes, even though they have legs and wings; being venomous to the point of having poison blood, being winged, having seven heads; and having the limb combination of four legs and a set of wings (at least for one dragon). Although Mesopotamia did not distinguish dragons from other monsters, and would have listed them along side less reptilian beasts, such as giant birds and scorpion men. Because the Mesopotamian civilizations are so old very little information remains on each dragon. Compounding this problem is the fact that Mesopotamia was not one one civilizations but a culturally simila...