I'm writing in a setting where basically every mythical humanoid species either exists or used to before going extinct, and lives in secret among the human race. One thing that became pretty clear to me about my setting is that vampires and werewolves would be among the most dominant species of "immortals" on the planet due to their ability to turn humans into more of themselves, which would be an insane survival advantage when recovering from losses or bolstering numbers in emergencies. Indeed, any species with this ability would be at a huge advantage and would probably be very successful. Which is why I want to make sure I'm not missing any lesser-known ones, because generally the big three of "vampires, werewolves and zombies" are the only ones who come to mind with regards to that ability. Any mythical creature with this ability, even if they aren't that well-known in real life, would probably have a significant presence in my setting. Does anyone know of any lesser-known mythical creatures with this ability?
I can't think of any, but the main reason I'm posting is sort of a semantic one—I wouldn't call vampires and werewolves mythical creatures. They really emerge from folk tales I think. Of course that's quibbling, you can paint with a broad brush and consider folk tales, fairy tales, fables and etc all mythology depending on what you mean by it. In the most technical sense myths are religious stories. But of course the term gets used much more loosely these days. And it's possible vampires and werewolves existed in some religion I'm not aware of.
You might find the 'Book of Imaginary Beings' by Borges useful to the piece you're writing. However I have checked and it doesn't provide an answer to the question you have posed. So still just the 'big three'. Also, if you get the time, make sure to throw in a little Herodotus. It would be a shame to leave out the Indian gold-snuffling ants, "smaller than dogs, bigger than foxes".
I was thinking of the same thing. There are also stories where the fairies switched the children with changlings, who are fairy children. It's very similar.
Make up your own...or take a few, mix and mash their abilities, give them a name and make them yours...
This isn't an "I need more of these to fill a quota" thing, to be clear. I plan to have plenty of my own original immortal species in the setting. This is an "I need to know if more already exist because if they do they'd be a big part of the world based on the premise I set up".
Ah yes. I should have mentioned that one too, but that's more of an edge case where it depends heavily on the folklore. But yes in my story they will in fact be able to do that, along with the Taxti Wau (given the stories of the original bringing dead women back to life as more of her).
Fair point, though the question comes up of what a better catch-all term would be that would encompass angels, demons, vampires, elves, goblins, wendigo, and sasquatch.
I think you're alright using mythical. It doesn't sound as technical as mythological would, and such terms are used pretty loosely now anyway. My point was pretty pedantic really.
Or maybe legendary creatures. Creatures of legend. Creatures of myth and legend. I'm just spitballin' here.
