Ok. So im writing this bit where one of my main characters get taken in the middle of the night by some creature. Now most of the creatures and people's in this world are from certain mythos. So im trying to use a mythological creature in this bit. Problem is its in the desert. And their seem to be no good creatures desert wise in mythology as far as I can tell. So im wondering if Im missing anything in my research. The creature doesn't have to be completely accurate to the myth, I just need a baseline that I can actually work from. Something intimidating and large.
LOL... sand-worms. Here's a link. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_legendary_creatures_by_type#Desert EDIT: Perhaps think of what creatures naturally occur in the desert and elaborate. Found this. It looks decidedly creepy. Illustration by Larkin Art (DeviantArt) The Aqrabuamelu or the Scorpion Men are mentioned in many myths written in the Akkadian language, with the most famous descriptions being in the Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh. They were said to be guardians of the sun god Shamash and were found around his abode at the Mashu mountains.
Many mythological desert creatures are immaterial beings. If you dig that area, you might find a lot of interesting things. If you want to read examples, you can find several from Terry Pratchett. Immaterial desert being, immaterial underground beings, materialised immaterial beings...
Well why not look into some of these Arabian mythical creatures. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Arabian_legendary_creatures Native Americans have some interesting and strange mythical creatures. https://www.ranker.com/list/creepy-native-american-creatures/t-l-perez Also check out what Africa has to offer. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:African_legendary_creatures Should be a good amount to sift through and find something you could find useful.
Well, you need to look at the common attributes, Most higher creatures have two eyes and two ears. There are desert creatures and many bury themselves in the sand to avoid heat and strike fast with venom to kill prey quickly. That is an interesting creature to me.
Here’s a list from ancient Egyptian for inspiration: https://www.thoughtco.com/egyptian-monsters-4145424
Thank you all. This is super helpful. Got a lot to sift through now. But thank you, everyone, again. if you still have something tell me. Everything is helpful.
Does it necessarily have to be a monster-type creature? Many mythological creatures, monster or no, could conceivably exist in a desert setting, such as the lamia/naga (their lower body is like twenty feet of snake). Hell, you could have a variation of the arachne that's scorpion instead of spider. (What is it with the Greeks and slapping a woman's torso on everything? Lamias, arachne, sirens, harpies, they'd probably put tits on a tree! Oh, wait, nymphs...)
Yes and no. Like I said I'm not keeping a hundred percent accuracy with the myths. Like I use minotaurs in my story but they are more like apes that mind their own business as long as you don't get to close. I make the original minotaur legend my own in imagining it was captured, abused, and starved for executions via the labyrinth which isn't to far from the actual myth I suppose. So say the naga idea, something that completely slipped my mind by the way, would work great. But also because of the scene, it would have to act completely animal. And maybe that's how the whole species will work in my story, I don't know. And this is a rough draft so all of this may change.
I think you should find this useful, at least as a starting point: https://abookofcreatures.com/category/desert-and-cave/
I actually found this site in my research. Although it didn't seem to help much and led me down a very weird and obscure rabbit hole. Not necessarily a bad thing I suppose. Just none of the creatures were that terrifying and/or workable.
Djinn is the most obvious. They can appear in various forms - often associated with serpents, so you could create some lizard/snake-like beast. If you just want some non-intelligent monster then a manticore might suit your purpose better? Note: I’d be creative. Make up your own monsters so you can relate them to the narrative directly. After all all these mythological creatures were created that way in the first place (they are highly symbolic of the times and how the people regarded the world/nature).
They mentioned doing mostly known mythologies though, but with creative license. Perhaps something between invented and derived? Like based on a real thing but a bit more loose?
If above are not imposing enough, let's turn to Lovercraft sand creatures CHTHONIAN Nyarlathotep Azathoth, more of a space great old one, but could work in a desert setting
For spectral beings: Djinn, Ifrit, Marid For corporeal beings: Ghouls If you're looking for a non-sinister creature, there's 'al-Buraq'. It's a Pegasus/Centaur that can fly.
Take a look at "The Monsters know what they're doing" via Google. Or "Xanathur's Guide to Everything" from D & D. I find role playing games and guidebooks to have an incredible rich variety of information to mine for ideas.
Role playing game source books are a treasure trove of obscure lore. I think you should take a look at Pathfinder: People of the Sands published by Paizo. It's mostly about people who live in the sandy areas but there are reference (vague, sigh) to the dangers they face. The one monster on the cover is apparently a hieracosphinx. It has wings and appears to be diving on a party of adventurers. I know Pathfinder has a list of monsters as does Dungeons and Dragons but I can't remember the titles.
