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Thread: Creatures | This thread is pages long: 1 2 · NEXT» |
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armageddonic...
Adventuring Hero
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posted October 07, 2004 08:16 PM |
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Creatures
OK, ealier I posted this topic about misplaced creatures, and it started discussion about genies, trolls, dwarves and such. So now, I'll bring them up one by one and give my explanation, hope you can fill me in and tell where I don't know. Maybe this will lead to where they belong.
Edit: I update often, but can't do it all at once)
Peasant: From reality, farmers, fishers and such, there are peasants in all cultures
Archer: Ranged warrior
Crossbowman: Archers using the crossbow
Marksman: Sniper or sharpshooter
Ranger: Forest guard
Squire: Servant of knight
Ballista: War machine from reality
Catapult: Same as ballista
Pikeman: Man with a spear, used in front rowes
Halberdier: Man with a halberd, used in front rowes
Swordsman: Man with a sword
Monk: Exist today, people who use their life praying to their religion (but they don't shoot beems)
Angel: Christian and jewish, Gods servicemen
Cavalry: Aren't they som sort of medieval horse police? Not sure
Champion: Horse duel winners
Paladin: Some sort od holy warrior
Crusader: Person who fought in the crusades. Now here's an issue. Why are they so high-leveled? They were just ordinary people fighting in the crusades!
Sprite: Some sort of water fairy
Pixie: Small mischevious people from England
Leprechaun: Irish luck-bringer, I think
Satyr: The greek god dionysos' henchmen, half goat, half man
White Tiger: Real animal, though they don't speak
Waspwort: No idea
Mantis: Real insect, just smaller, chinese
Elementals: D&D's creativity with the greek elements
Gargantuan: Large monster, don't know where it comes from
Dwarf: Mountain miners from norse mythology, also smiths
Elf: Norse mythology, forest guardians with long ears
Dendroid: From tolkiens ents
Pegasus: Winged horse used by persevs in greek mythology
Druid: Ancient priests of britain
Unicorn: Seems to come from many places, its horn has special powers
Fire Bird: Probably just made up to fill the other place in the phoenix upgrade
Phoenix: I think they are arabian, but I don't know for sure, egyptians had evil phoenixes
Berserker: Don't know, but in age of kings berserk is viking special troops (but berserkers aren't enough clothed to be vikings)
Mermaid: Women of the sea, maybe from a fairy tale by H. C. Andersen, maybe a variant of the greek sirens
Nomad: People who have to move around all the time
Sea Monster: All cultures have their sea monsters
Goblin: Eurpoean trouble makers
Wolf Rider & Raider: A goblin riding a wolf
Orc: "Goblin" in elven language (tolkien), a sea monster other places, also a human with a pigs head
Wolf: Real creatures
Ogre: Man eaters
Behemoth: A large animal from the old Testament, also referred to as a demon
Trolls: From norwegian fairy tales. They are not evil in any way, though they may seem brutal. They are forest guardians, and are not as barbaric as the people of stronghold, and therefore do not belong there. They are usually giant (some are big as mountains), and do NOT belong in the swamp (someone said they belonged in fortress). They are always either in the mountains, or in the beatiful, fairy tale like forest. Not in one single fairy tale are they swamp creatures.
Cyclopses: Greek mythology, have one large eye, the first smiths, children of Gaia and Uranos
Gnoll: Hyena-man, D&D, made from "gnome" and "troll"
Lizard Man: No idea
Serpent & Dragon Fly: No idea, but dragon fly is a real insect
Basilisk: Should be max level, really dangerous large snake which can kill you with watching you in the eyes, doesn't have leg like in h3, probably african, king of snakes, can only be killed by looking in a mirror, lives in the desert, poisonous
Gorgon: Three greek sister with the power of turning people to stone by getting eye contact
Wyvern: Similar to the dragon, just poisonous, and often without firebreath
Centaur: Hlaf horse, half man, followers of the greek god Dionysos, often drunk
Gargoyle: Stone statues used to scare away demons with their ugliness
Beholder: No Idea
Evil Eye: No Idea
Medusa: One of the three gorgons from greek mythology, she had snakes as hair and turned you into stone if you got eye contact with her. She was defeated by persevs, her blood gave birth to pegasus
Manticore: Half lion, half scorpion, eastern mythology
Scorpicore: No idea
Pirate: Thief at sea
Nightmare: Maybe the demon nightmare?
Bandit: Thief
Griffin: In greek mythology the god Zeus used them for his tasks, but they were known in Egypt long before that, they were usually lions with forpart of a bird
Minotaur: From the greek half-god minotauros, who lived in a labyrint under kreta, a very dangerous guy, son of minos' wife and a bull
Troglodyte: Cave men
Harpy: Deadly creatures from greek mythology with body of a bird and breasts and face of a human woman, they followed Zeus, flew fast as the lightning and stole what they could get
Hydra: There are hydras in many places, Heracles killed one, there was one in the Bible, there were water hydras in african myths, and Jason killed one. They had many (usually nine) heads, and sometimes their heads grew back after being cut off.
Rogue: Some sort of hire-bandit, I think
Dragon: Almost each culture have their dragon, we norse people had nidhogg, for example, and the chinese had that long red thingy, dragons are usually large, fire-breathing dinosaur like creatures, often flying
Halfling: From tolkiens hobbits
Gremlin: Said to be responsible for air accidents
Genie: Something with this djinn-dao-marid-efreet thing (I know little about this), also used in the story of aladdin, where the genie gave three wishes to the one who found its lamp
Efreet: Most people say they are fire genies
Naga: Indian snake people, living in palaces underground
Boar: Real creature, related to pig
Golem: Jewish, does tasks for and protects its master
Roc: Large birds from arabian mythology, can take away elephants and eat them
Thunderbird: Native american
Mage: Most mythologies have their mages
Giant: Children of the godess gaia and the god uranos, they were tall as mountains and unbeatable in strength (note: the expression "giant" used on big people comes from these giants), there were also giants in other cultures, but I think the ones in heroes are the greek because they're related to the titans
Titan: Other children of the godess gaia and the god uranos
Skeleton: Remains of a dead person, in phantasy often used by dark lords as army
Zombie: From woodoo culture, people who have turned into undead brain eaters, also real people being drugged down, seeming dead and "coming back to life"
White, or how ever it was written: No idea
Wraith: Ghost of a living person
Death Knight, dread knight and dark champion: Dungeons and Dragons
Mummy: Egyptian kings and rich people were mummified when they died, also used in other countries
Vampire: Blood-sucking creatures who turn people into vampires by sucking their blood, can only be killed by hitting something through it's heart, come from the story of the terrible vlad tepes
Lich: Same as mummy, but they were greek kings, and they weren't mummified when they died, just put in a mausoleum
Imp: Evil fairy, I think
Familiar: A demon
Gog: In the Bible, would appear at the end of the world
Magog: Same as gog
Hell Hound: Probably made up by 3do
Cerberus: The dog keeping the dead souls of the underworld in greek mythology from escaping, it's giant and it has three heads, can be lulled to sleep with a lyre
Demon: Really means spirit, the christians wanted to prove god and made them known as evil spirits of hell
Pit Fiend & Lord: No idea
Devil: Very evil creature from the Bible
Ghost: Dead person's spirit still wandering
Venom Spawn: No idea
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mitzah
Promising
Supreme Hero
of the Horadrim
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posted October 07, 2004 08:44 PM |
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Edited By: mitzah on 7 Oct 2004
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Kallen
Known Hero
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posted October 07, 2004 09:31 PM |
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Quote:
Crossbowman: Archers using the crossbow
Maybe Shooter using a crossbow??
Quote: Marksman: No idea
Shooter
Quote: Squire: Foot soldier
Not soldier but servant of Knight
Quote:
Paladin: Som sort of mighty warrior
Paladins are knights of King Karol the Great.
Quote: Sprite: Some sort of fairy, I guess, only heard of them in heroes
Sprites are NWC creatures
Quote: Pixie: Same as sprite
No, they aren't.
Quote: Elf: No idea where they come from, wooden creatures with long ears
You are Norwegian, and do You dont't know???
Quote: Manticore: Half lion, half scorpion, greek mythology
No, Indian mythology.
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From the beginnin' to end Losers lose, winners win This is real, we ain't got to pretend The cold world that we in Is full of pressure and pain I thought it would chane
But its stayin' the same
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greek_god_su...
Famous Hero
Bringer Of Light
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posted October 07, 2004 09:43 PM |
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Quote: Ranger: Same as archer, I think
In my dictionary it says: Forest guard. Don´t know what it has to do with archery...
Quote: Marksman: No idea
It´s kinda same as sharpshooter (or sniper).
Quote: Pikeman: Only heard of them in heroes and age of empires
Halberdier: Only heard of them in heroes
Swordsman: Same as above
These I think are very logical. Pikeman is person who carries a pike (spear), the other one carries halberd and last sword. I just wonder why only the humans have their troops sorted by the weapon they wear, shouldn´t there be, for example, orc archers, orc swordsmen, orc axemen and orc pikemen for barbarians too... Looks like only humans have the knowledge of using different kinds of weapons...
Quote: Elf: No idea where they come from, wooden creatures with long ears
Wooden?
Quote: Crusader: Person who fought in the crusades. Now here's an issue. Why are they so high-leveled? They were just ordinary people fighting in the crusades!
I kinda agree here, what have crusaders to do in a world where there isn´t christianity. For what are they "crusading".. Same goes for monks and champions, why would peaceful monks ever join in war or how could hero maintain a big army of horse duel winners..
Quote: Giant: Children of the godess gaia and the god uranos
This is just my opinion, but I think anything amazingly huge can be called giant.
Quote: Ogre: No idea where they come from
Ogres are man-eaters, according to my dictionary.
Quote: Fire Bird: Probably just made up to fill the other place in the phoenix upgrade
Phoenix: I think they are arabian, but I don't know for sure
Ain´t firebird and phoenix the same?
Quote: Wraith: No idea
Wraith, I think, is pretty much like ghost.
Quote: Gog: No idea
Magog: No idea
Gog and Magog are mentioned somewhere in the bible.
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After all, marriage and murder are not too different - one ends your life and the other is a crime
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mitzah
Promising
Supreme Hero
of the Horadrim
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posted October 07, 2004 09:46 PM |
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apricane
Hired Hero
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posted October 08, 2004 01:13 AM |
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Ill try to share some knowledge I'll put two * in front of creatures i write about. Now lets see...
Peasant: From reality, farmers, fishers and such, there are peasants in all cultures
** Archer: Ranged warrior (Archers use bows)
Crossbowman: Archers using the crossbow
Marksman: No idea
** Ranger: Same as archer, I think (Protectors of the forest. Tolkien made it standard for rangers to be skilled with the bow, but they don't necessarily use them)
** Squire: Foot soldier (Servant of a knight)
Ballista: War machine from reality
Catapult: Same as ballista
Pikeman: Only heard of them in heroes and age of empires
Halberdier: Only heard of them in heroes
Swordsman: Same as above
Monk: Exist today, people who use their life praying to their religion (but they don't shoot beems)
Angel: Christian and jewish people of god
Cavalry: Aren't they som sort of medieval horse polive? Not sure
Champion: Horse duel winners
** Paladin: Som sort of mighty warrior (Holy warriors protected by divine powers)
Crusader: Person who fought in the crusades. Now here's an issue. Why are they so high-leveled? They were just ordinary people fighting in the crusades!
Sprite: Some sort of fairy, I guess, only heard of them in heroes
Pixie: Same as sprite
Leprechaun: Irish luck-bringer, I think
Satyr: The greek god dionysos' henchmen, half goat, half man
White Tiger: Real animal
Waspwort: No idea
Mantis: Real insect, just smaller
** Elementals: Probably 3do's creativity with the greek elements (Not necessarily 3dos creativity More like D&D creativity i think)
Gargantuan: Large monster, don't know where it comes from
Dwarf: Mountain miners from norse mythology
** Elf: No idea where they come from, wooden creatures with long ears (Also creatures from scandinavian mythology. Elves are protectors of the forests)
** Dendroid: No idea (Living trees. Similar to ents from tolkiens universe)
Pegasus: Winged horse used by persevs in greek mythology
Druid: Ancient priests of britain
** Unicorn: No idea where they come from (Unicorns are symbols of purity and virginity. According to many myths and tales, only a virgin woman can tame a unicorn. I think they are from greek mythology as well, though im not sure)
Fire Bird: Probably just made up to fill the other place in the phoenix upgrade
** Phoenix: I think they are arabian, but I don't know for sure (These fiery birds were symbols of purity and re birth. There are actually evil kinds of phoenixes in the egyptian mythology. These phoenixes would visit people at night, and they werent friendly at all)
** Berserker: Don't know, but in age of kings berserk is viking special troops (but berserkers aren't enough clothed to be vikings) (I think berserkers were vikings, who were able to enter a terrible rage in battle)
** Mermaid: Women of the sea, don't know were they originally come from (Im almost 100% certain that they are from the fairy tale of the danish writer, H.C. Andersen. Its possibly that he stole the creature from some other mythology. Mermaids are rumoured to lure men of the sea into their deaths by drowning them. They act much like Sirens from greek mythology)
Nomad: People who have to move around all the time
Sea Monster: All cultures have their sea monsters
Goblin: No idea
** Wolf Rider & Raider: A goblin riding a wolf (My guess is tolkien)
Orc: I think they were invented by tolkien
Wolf: Real creatures
Ogre: No idea where they come from
Behemoth: In a demon site, it said behemoth was demon of animal strength
Trolls: From norwegian fairy tales. They are not evil in any way, though they may seem brutal. They are forest guardians, and are not as barbaric as the people of stronghold, and therefore do not belong there. They are usually giant (some are big as mountains), and do NOT belong in the swamp (someone said they belonged in fortress). They are always either in the mountains, or in the beatiful, fairy tale like forest. Not in one single fairy tale are they swamp creatures.
Cyclopses: I think they are from greek mythology, but I heard something about a gaelic cyclops.
** Gnoll: No idea (Gnolls are monsters with animal heads. I dont know what that bloody animal is called in english, but its the one who sounds as if its laughing all the time )
Lizard Man: No idea
Serpent & Dragon Fly: No idea, but dragon fly is a real insect
** Basilisk: Should be max level, really dangerous large snake which can kill you with watching you in the eyes, doesn't have leg like in h3 (greek mythology)
Gorgon: Three greek sister with the power of turning people to stone by getting eye contact
Wyvern: I think it's some kind of dragon
Centaur: Think they are forest guardians from greek mythology
Gargoyle: Stone statues used to scare away demons with their ugliness
** Beholder: No Idea (Im not sure, but i think these creatures belonged to D&D first)
Evil Eye: No Idea
** Medusa: One of the three gorgons from greek mythology, she had snakes as hair and turned you into stone if you got eye contact with her. She was defeated by persevs, her blood gave birth to pegasus (And her head was placed on a shield that athena used)
Manticore: Half lion, half scorpion, greek mythology
Scorpicore: No idea
Pirate: Thief at sea
Nightmare: Maybe the demon nightmare?
Bandit: Thief
Griffin: I think the god zeus used them for his tasks, they had a birds fore-body, a lions back-body and somethimes a scorpions tail
Minotaur: From the greek half-god minotauros, who lived in a labyrint under kreta, a very dangerous guy
Troglodyte: No idea
Harpy: Deadly creatures from greek mythology with body of a bird and breasts and face of a human woman
** Hydra: I think defeating the hydra was one of heracles's tasks, it was a dangerous many-headed snake whitch could barely move (Also, everytime heracles cut of one head, two new ones would appear)
Rouge: Some sort of hire-bandit, I think
** Dragon: Almost each culture have their dragon, we norse people had nidhogg, for example, and the chinese had that long red thingy, dragons are usually large, fire-breathing dinosaur like creatures (important to remember is that not all dragons were evil creatures. Chinese dragons were usually good aligned, and had no wings)
** Halfling: No idea (Definately D&D. Halflings is really hobbits. So originally, these small humanoids is from tolkiens universe)
Gremlin: No idea
Genie: Something with this djinn-dao-marid-efreet thing (I know little about this), also used in the story of aladdin, where the genie gave three wishes to the one who found its lamp
Efreet: Most people say they are fire genies
Naga: I think they are from india, but I have no idea
Boar: Real creature, related to pig
** Golem: No idea (Golems are jewish i think)
Roc: Large birds from arabian mythology
Thunderbird: No idea, maybe 3do made them up
Mage: Most mythologies have their mages
** Giant: Children of the godess gaia and the god uranos (Scandinavian mythology also had giants)
Titan: Other children of the godess gaia and the god uranos
Skeleton: You probably know
** Zombie: I think they come from woodoo culture, people who have turned into undead brain eaters (The scary thing is that zombies are actually not all fantasy. Wodoo shamans were able to give something, i think it was herbs or drugs, to a person, and then the person would appear dead, but would wake up after a couple of days, and behave much like the zombies we know from homm)
** White, or how ever it was written: No idea (Wights. Eats dead people)
** Wraith: No idea (Tolkien)
** Death Knight, dread knight and dark champion: probably made up by 3do (Dungeons and Dragons)
** Mummy: Egyptian kings and rich people were mummified when they died (not necessarily egyptian. Many cultures did this)
Vampire: Blood-sucking creatures who turn people into vampires by sucking their blood, can only be killed by hitting something through it's heart, come from the story of the terrible vlad tepes
Lich: Same as mummy, but they were greek kings, and they weren't mummified when they died, just put in a mausoleum
Imp: No idea
Familiar: A demon
Gog: No idea
Magog: No idea
** Hell Hound: Probably made up by 3do (Definately not made up by 3do)
Cerberus: The dog keeping the dead souls of the underworld in greek mythology from escaping, it's giant and it has three heads
Demon: I think you know
Pit Fiend & Lord: No idea
** Devil: The worst of the demons, also called lucifer and satan (NO. Lucifer and satan are both names for the lord of the devils and evi. Also, Devils and demons are NOT the same)
Ghost: Dead person's spirit still wandering
Venom Spawn: No idea
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Marelt_Ekiran
Promising
Famous Hero
Watcher of All
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posted October 08, 2004 01:40 AM |
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Imp: In D&D, the imp is a low level devilish creature, meaning that it's lawful evil. I believe that the imp was commonly known as a small devil, bend on mischief, since it is usually being depicted as to small and weak for serious harm.
Gog and Magog: A king and his country, which are mentioned in the Revelations, at the end of the Bible. I don't remember what was said about them, only that they were part of the "bad side" in armageddon.
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Perception is everything.
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armageddonic...
Adventuring Hero
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posted October 08, 2004 10:15 AM |
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I just remembered that imps were used by rowling in harry potter, and I'm quite sure she doesn't take stuff from D&D
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apricane
Hired Hero
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posted October 08, 2004 11:49 AM |
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Dont be so sure- Rowling has creatures from many places in the world. There would be problems with copyrights however.
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gerdash
Responsible
Famous Hero
from the Animated Peace
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posted October 09, 2004 11:46 AM |
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sorry, didn't read all of the creature list, maybe some other day. just became a little worried about the frenzy of putting all demons in inferno (as it sounds to me).
behemoth:
(from Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary)
Quote: Etymology: Middle English, from Late Latin, from Hebrew behEmOth
1 often capitalized : a mighty animal described in Job 40:15-24 as an example of the power of God
2 : something of monstrous size or power
(from monstrous.com)
Quote: Element/sin : demon of lust and gluttony
Shape : elephant or hippopotamus, a cat
Rank : a headwaiter, or the caretaker of wine cellars of Hell
Origin : Egyptian deity Taueret.
Myths : One of the first monster created by God to guard the Earth
Magic : "his strength is in his loins, and his force is in the navel of his belly"
Association : Leviathan
Source : Book of Job, Enoch, Apocalypse, Jean Wier’s Pseudomonarchia Daemonum, Boulgakov, Blake
Quote :
"Behold now behemoth, which I made with thee; he eateth grass as an ox. Lo now, his strength is in his loins, and his force is in the navel of his belly. He moveth his tail like a cedar: the sinews of his stones are wrapped together. His bones are as strong pieces of brass; his bones are like bars of iron. He is the chief of the ways of God: he that made him can make his sword to approach unto him. Surely the mountains bring him forth food, where all the beasts of the field play. He lieth under the shady trees, in the covert of the reed, and fens. The shady trees cover him with their shadow; the willows of the brook compass him about. Behold, he drinketh up a river, and hasteth not; he trusteth that he can draw up Jordan into his mouth. He taketh it with his eyes; his nose pierceth through snares." Job 40:15-24
“And that day will two monsters be parted, one monster, a female named Leviathan in order to dwell in the abyss of the ocean over the fountains of water; and (the other), a male called Behemoth, which holds his chest in an invisible desert whose name is Dundayin, east of the garden of Eden.” 1 Enoch 60:7-8
“Behold Behemoth,
which I made as I made you;
he eats grass like an ox.
Behold, his strength is in his loins,
and his power in the muscles of his belly.
He makes his tail stiff like a cedar;
the sinews of his thighs are knit together.
His bones are tubes of bronze,
his limbs like bars of iron.
He is the first of the works of God;
let him who made him bring near his sword!
For the mountains yield food for him
where all the wild beast play.
Under the lotus plant he lies,
in the covert of the reeds and in the marsh.
For his shade the lotus tree covers him
the willows of the brook surround him.
Behold, if the river is turbulent he is not frightened;
he is confident though Jordan rushes against his mough.
Can one take him with hooks,
or pierce his nose with a snare?” Job 40:15-24
“The Earth obey'd and straight
Op'ning her fertile womb teem'd at birth
Innumerous living creatures, perfect forms,
Limb'd and full-grown
The grassy clods now calv'd; now half appeared
The tawny lion, pawing to get free
His hinder parts, then spring as broke from bonds,
And rampant shakes his brindled mane; the ounce,
The libbard and the tiger, as the mole
Rising, the crumbl'd earth above them threw
In hillocks; the swift stag from under ground
Bore up his branching head; scarce from his mould
Behemoth biggest born of earth upheav'd
His vastness; flecc't the flocks and bleating rose
As plants; ambiguous between sea and land
The river-horse and scaly crocodile.” Milton
Picture
another behemoth.
and there is a web page wich seems to say that this is also behemoth, in that case it is probably ridden by antichrist? no idea how trustworthy the site is, though, maybe the guy who called it a behemoth just liked the antichrist's steed?
should we put all demons in inferno? most creatures have been called demons in one place or another, dependidng on how much they are viewed from point of view of christianism. i think we should differenciate between pagan creatures and the true christian infernal creatures.
should we differenciate between demons that live in hell and demons that walk on earth?
the bible quote in the dictionary might be taken out of context, but it doesn't say much about behemoth being a demon. maybe behemoth is like centaur: in one context centaur is demonic, in another it's holy.
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Armageddonic...
Adventuring Hero
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posted October 09, 2004 09:43 PM |
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Wow, great find, I had no idea about this. But nothing from the quote made behemoth fit into stronghold, in my opinion
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gerdash
Responsible
Famous Hero
from the Animated Peace
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posted October 10, 2004 06:06 PM |
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Quote: Wow, great find, I had no idea about this. But nothing from the quote made behemoth fit into stronghold, in my opinion
hmm.. if we take a phrase out of a quoteQuote: ....a mighty animal described in Job 40:15-24 as an example of the power....
don't you think the barbarians might respect something like that?
on the other hand, the barbarian god might be something like odin or thor (not really competent here, but i think that at least odin should be ok). btw 'skin of odin' ringmail might be a nice artifact.
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apricane
Hired Hero
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posted October 10, 2004 06:10 PM |
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Odin or Thor wont work in heroes since they are deities from our planet But if you view vikings as barbarians they would work. Any nordic deities would work actually
I dint think its a good idea to create artifacts such as skin of odin, or buildings such as hall of valhalla, since they refer to another world.
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KingofMinota...
Known Hero
Ruling the minotaurs below
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posted October 11, 2004 10:31 PM |
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Elf: Norse mythology, forest guardians with long ears
* These are from Celtic legend I believe not norse
Dendroid: From tolkiens ents
* Walking trees that speak
Lizard Man: No idea
* A half-man, half-lizard
Basilisk: Should be max level, really dangerous large snake which can kill you with watching you in the eyes, doesn't have leg like in h3, greek mythology
* Actually I believe basilisks glare merely turns you to stone, not kills you... (not basing this on H3 ability)
Centaur: Think they are forest guardians from greek mythology
* Half-man, half-horse
Beholder: No Idea
* A creature with the ability to shoot beams out of its eyes. Each eye stalk is believed to carry a different spell which could do numerous things.
Evil Eye: No Idea
* A move used to psyche out your oppenent in wrestling
Minotaur: From the greek half-god minotauros, who lived in a labyrint under kreta, a very dangerous guy
* Not guy totally, half-man, half-bull
Hydra: I think defeating the hydra was one of heracles's tasks, it was a dangerous many-headed snake whitch could barely move, when heracles cut one head of, two new grew from the neck
* Known for having 9 heads
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Be who you will be who you are but i'm the King of the Minotaur.
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gerdash
Responsible
Famous Hero
from the Animated Peace
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posted October 12, 2004 11:20 AM |
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Quote: Dendroid: From tolkiens ents
* Walking trees that speak
better call it a walking tree and forget about tolkien's droids.
Quote: Basilisk: Should be max level, really dangerous large snake which can kill you with watching you in the eyes, doesn't have leg like in h3, greek mythology
* Actually I believe basilisks glare merely turns you to stone, not kills you... (not basing this on H3 ability)
there's some confusion about basilisk. maybe we should remember that mythology wasn't a systematic science.
Quote: Centaur: Think they are forest guardians from greek mythology
* Half-man, half-horse
in greek mythology they were barbaric in addition to the half-horse thing, but some of them were wise and polite. in medieval times they became a symbol of satan or sin in one context (i am absolutely NOT saying that they should be in inferno) and something positive (which i don't remember) in another context (i am NOT saying they should be in human town).
Quote: Beholder: No Idea
* A creature with the ability to shoot beams out of its eyes. Each eye stalk is believed to carry a different spell which could do numerous things.
should be d&d. btw there was a greek myth giant with many eyes, but it is unlikely that it was the direct inspiration for the beholder. the d&d beholder should be just a piece of invented freak ****.
Quote: Evil Eye: No Idea
* A move used to psyche out your oppenent in wrestling
in our myth there's protecting your homes from evil eyes which are actually normal human eyes of an evil witch or an envious person or something like that. otherways the evil eyes might get a curse on your cattle, etc.
Quote: Minotaur: From the greek half-god minotauros, who lived in a labyrint under kreta, a very dangerous guy
* Not guy totally, half-man, half-bull
first, bull was a sacred animal in kreta. king minos's wife had sexual intercourse with a bull and gave birth to the bull of minos. i don't think he was a half-god.
Quote: Hydra: I think defeating the hydra was one of heracles's tasks, it was a dangerous many-headed snake whitch could barely move, when heracles cut one head of, two new grew from the neck
* Known for having 9 heads
are you sure it wasn't usually 7? it might of course be like with the cerberus: sometimes it had 2, sometimes 3, sometimes 5 heads. but nowadays people generally agree that cerberus had 3. isn't the similar agreement about hydra 7?
and a nice example from d&d logic:
gnoll: got it's name by mixing 'gnome' and 'troll'. after a while it became popular. i don't remember what it's original shape was, but at some point the creature changed it's appearance to what we know now: head of a hyena and a ball-on-chain as the most common weapon.
as far as i know, on the other hand there already existed dog-headed men as real myth creatures. so, if you wanted to include those creatures in homm, everybody would think it weird if we didn't call them gnolls and that they have a head of a dog instead of a head of a hyena.
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Kallen
Known Hero
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posted October 12, 2004 05:03 PM |
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Hydra was 8 headed-monster
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From the beginnin' to end Losers lose, winners win This is real, we ain't got to pretend The cold world that we in Is full of pressure and pain I thought it would chane
But its stayin' the same
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KingofMinota...
Known Hero
Ruling the minotaurs below
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posted October 12, 2004 10:22 PM |
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Quote: Hydra was 8 headed-monster
OK. well I thought it had 9... but people seem to "discuss" how many heads a hydra has. I have heard from different people that a hydra has 3,4,6,7,8, and/or 9 heads. I always just thought of a hydra having 9 I guess. Maybe because it's cooler. If you have seen the Oddyssey (About a 4-5 hr. movie) or even read the book, there is the mention of a hydra that strikes Oddiseus's group. I *THINK* that one had 5 heads, so basically it's whatever you want to believe.
A wyvern IS a dragon type creature. It has the body and head of a dragon with a barbed-snake tail and supposedly breathes fire, but I doubt it IMO.
I think venom spawn are [(un)dead] type creatures that resemble spiders or bugs, but spew poison. Like instead of breathing fire like dragons, they breathe poison.
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Be who you will be who you are but i'm the King of the Minotaur.
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Lord_Woock
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
Daddy Cool with a $90 smile
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posted October 12, 2004 10:25 PM |
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Or maybe the venom spawn is just an ugly crawling bogey that only got into the game because the developers drank way too much on that one night.
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Yolk and God bless.
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My buddy's doing a webcomic and would certainly appreciate it if you checked it out!
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ThE_HyDrA
Admirable
Famous Hero
The Leader of all Hydras
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posted October 13, 2004 10:01 AM |
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Creature Analysis
This is an interesting idea to give a background on all the creatures in the Heroes series that allows the viewer to assess the criteria and then place them in a town they feel would be most suited to this creature. This is good because it allkows for the freedom of deliberation among where the creature should fit.
As Mitzah has pointed out, he has also created a thread that is similar to this one in many respects, but does not deal with the entire population of creatures in the game. If there are any queries relating to the ‘correct’ mythology of monsters in the game (or not in the game) I suggest that you go there unless the same discussion is active in this thread.
A reliable site to source your information from (as Gerdash has done in his post) is monstrous.com. Perhaps you are aware of this site or not, but it has an extensive database on the common and not so common creatures of mythology and a trustworthy opinion as to their origin. As this site is not affiliated with heroes and since some of the creatures in heroes were concocted by NWC, you won’t find all creatures in Heroes at monstrous.com.
Apricane has already provided an in-depth analysis of all the creatures brought into question by Armageddonicidiotm I think me doing the same would be superfluous but I will provide my own opinions on some of the creatures, as others have also done.
Marksman: I don’t think it is a good idea as describing it as a ‘sharpshooter’ since this creature already existed in Heroes III. A sniper is effective, as is ‘a more skilful archer’.
Catapult: Same as ballista!? To my recollection, a ballista is smaller than a catapult and fires large arrows, while a catapult hurls boulders. Also, the mechanisms are different. The ballista is an enlarged bow, while a catapult uses more of a slingshot method.
It seems logical to put all of the ‘holy humans’ in one town as has been done in the previous games. It will also centralise the humans in one town instead of spreading them out into other towns. E.g. bandits and chaos, etc.
Gargantuan: Gargantuan by definition does mean huge or big, but it is an NWC creature for the Gathering Storm Expansion.
Pegasus/Druid: Going by your definitions, it would seem strange that they both appear in the same town that they both have nothing in common with. A greek horse and an English clergyman in an elf/forest town. It all seems out of place.
Wight: The spelling is Wight, but I don’t know where the originate from. I have heard of Wraiths, but perhaps Wights are endemic to the Heroes universe.
Gorgon: The fact that you said ‘berserkers aren’t clothed enough to be vikings’ contradicts what you say about the gorgon. You say the gorgons are three sisters (which is true) but in Heroes III it is represented as a bull. It is a simple case of misrepresentation. While you don’t allow for slightly more clothing for berserkers, you allow for the entire belief being warped in the case of gorgons. This could suggest that NWC got it wrong and berserkers are from viking beliefs.
Thunderbird: I believe the Thunderbird originates from American-Indian mythology. I think it was used on their totems. I have heard someone else say this, too.
Titan: They are merely represented as huge men that throw lightning bolts in Heroes. But your definition is the correct mythologic one.
Pit Fiend and Pit Lord: They seem rather generic and are probably creations of NWC.
Other NWC creations as far as I know:
Evil Sorceress
Goblin Knight
Enchanter
Megadragon
Venom Spawn
Frenzied Gnasher
Please correct me if you think you’ve seen them elsewhere.
It seems as though they just ran out of mythological creatures for the Heroes IV expansions, or thought they should try their hand at creating ones from scratch. The last one is curious, but I think it could have been given a better name.
Concerning Hydras
They are said to have both 7 and 9 heads. NWC portrays them with 5 probably because 7 or 9 would become too tedious to draw. Seeing as it is just mythology, no one would know for sure whether it would be 7 or 9, but I have seen it drawn with 9 more often than 7. It has been my belief that they have 9, but they also have 7.
Kallen: The 8 headed monster you are thinking of is a Scylla. They are more oceanic dwellers than Hydras, even though the name Hydra means water snake.
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"Dragons may breathe fire, but Hydras have many heads." - The Creed of Hydras
"As the Dragon drew its breath, the Hydra pounced, swiftly but powerfully, and the Dragon was defeated.”
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apricane
Hired Hero
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posted October 13, 2004 02:27 PM |
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Ok, Im not sure what NWC means (embarrasing), but I know for sure that Wights arent 3do creatures- They appear in the monster manual of D&D, making me guess that neither D&D or 3do has copyright on them. They must be creatures from myth.
The D&D version of the wight are nothing like the wight we know from homm:
"In ages past, the term "wight" meeant simply "man" (this could be in a faerun language though). As the years went by however, the term came to be associated with these dark undead.
A wights appearance is a weird and twisted reflection of what form it had in life. Wild frantic eyes burn with malevolence. The leathery, dessicted flesh is drawn tight across its bones, and the teeth have grown into sharp, pointed needles.
Wights lurk in barrow-mounds, catacombs, and other places thick with the aura of death, where they nurture their hatred. They seek to destroy all life, filling graveyards with their victims and populating the world with their horrid progeny."
Sweeties all of them
There is a drawing of a wight in the book, where it appears much like a more intimidating zombie, and nothing like the ghost like wight we know from homm. Im not saying this is the true version of the wight though, but its evidence that wights are creatures of myth, and not 3dos inventions
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