Monster

This article is about monsters as a kind of hostile legendary creature. For monster as a pejorative name for a deformed person, see teratology. For other uses, see Monster (disambiguation).

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Monster is a term for any number of legendary creatures that frequently appear in mythology, legend, and horror fiction. They are also a mainstay of Dungeons & Dragons and similar role-playing games. "Monster" usually, but not always, implies that these creatures are larger than human size. It almost always implies that the creatures are powerful and hostile to the hero, and must be overcome to succeed in the quest.

Some well known monsters are:

• Bigfoot
• Cthulhu
• Frankenstein's monster.
• Godzilla (see Toho Studios; kaiju)
  • Gamera
  • Mothra
  • Rodan
• Gorgon
  • Medusa
• Grendel
• Hydra
• Jabberwock
• King Kong
• Loch Ness monster
• Roc
• Scylla & Charybdis
• Sphinx
• Tarasque

Famous stories involving monsters:

• The myth of Bellerophon
• Beowulf
• The Call of Cthulhu
• Dracula
• Frankenstein
• Saint George
• The labors of Hercules
• The Hobbit
• Jabberwocky, in Through the Looking Glass
• Jack and the beanstalk
• The Lord of the Rings
• Saint Martha and the Tarasque
• The Odyssey
• The myth of Perseus
• Theseus and the minotaur

See also: cryptozoology; legendary creature; fantasy bestiary; sea monster; lake monster