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What's Your Favorite Monster?
Pickens writes "Mankind has always had a fascination with monsters, and mythologies from around the world include stories of strange and terrifying creatures. Examples include the half-bull, half-human Minotaur of Greek myths, the living clay Golem of Jewish traditions, British elves and Chinese dragons. Live Science has an interesting photo essay on their ten favorite monsters that may have a basis in real life. Their rogue's gallery includes the Ogopogo, a mysterious monster in Canada's Lake Okanagan; the Chupacabra, that Latin Americans believe is the unholy result of secret US government experiments in the jungles of Puerto Rico; and the perennial favorite Bigfoot."
3 headed liger with lazerbeam eyes
I record my sleeptalking
Sure, everyone's for keeping Hitler's brain in a jar, but when you put it into a body of a great white shark, you've gone too far.
God spoke to me.
FEAR Manbearpig!! :)
"Bigfoot's territory is being threatened, if he exists, although if he doesn't, it's not."
Llanowar Elves ;)
Number 1 is Bigfoot (also known as Sasquatch).
Contrary to popular belief, Sasquatchians are NOT fictional. Sasquatch is actually the proper term for those who live in the Canadian providence of Saskatchewan.
For more info see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sasquatch
Is it true that more people vote for the winner of American Idol, than vote for the president? -Ali G.
What a gip of a list!
In this day and age, I think the zeitgeist demands that the #1 monster be the internet troll. You hear people calling other posters trolls, but most of the time it's just a case of bad judgment.
People who disagree with you are not necessarily trolls, idiots.
Cowboy Neil^h^h^h^h^h^h^h^h^h^hOgopogo. He even showed up in a epsode of the Xfiles, but wasnt named or placed. ( the sceanry is recognisable )
Meh, that article was too consensual to be interesting; Big Foot, vampires and werewolves in the top three, no surprise there. Better browse the monster list of international monsters in Wikipedia or Live Science's own Top 10 Beasts and Dragons: How Reality Made Myth.
Where is the cowboy neal entry?
Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn. http://www.macguff.fr/goomi/unspeakable/vault207.html
I cast my vote for the Cookie Monster. They've tried to keep him down in recent years by forcing him to give speeches about vegetables and other such nonsense. But we all know underneath all that blue fur all he wants is more cookies...
let the wookie win!
Monstar L
Microsoft
Is there no other monster to have as a favorite?
Gator/Claria is Spyware.
Ghosts
I've thought long and hard about this, and I think it has to be Eduardo on Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends. (Sorry...I have kids)
I'm not a troll, but I play one on Slashdot.
One thing I've heard on Coast to Coast are the Thunderbirds. Real or not, whats scarier than a giant fucking owl swooping out of the sky to make you his next snack. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderbird_(cryptozoology)
Too easy? ;-)
"Kitty!"
You have to love the "monster" more human than his creator...
He flies.
He has lots of followers.
He will change the monster list with His Noodly Appendage.
And from the name, it's obvious. He's a monster.
http://www.scifi.com/rockmonster/ is sure to be cool.
See also the Fantastic Four and The NeverEnding Story.
Attention zealots and haters: 00100 00100
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6304687408656696643
nuff said
A stray I took in when he was more than a kitten, but no where near full grown.
I just know that one morning I'll walk outside and he'll have Gojira's carcase lying at the base of the porch steps.
and I shared a soi with her. ...
Umm the whole idea of undead humans rising up and attacking humans is dates back to Haitian Folklore and Middle Age Myths. I imagine they have all been in the most horror films as well, truly they are the NO. 1 monster.
Jorge Luis Borges wrote a fine manual on this. (Read This For Monsters!)
Since he clearly demonstrated that even imaginary monsters can cause massive casualties in real life.
Like it or not, I believe "humans" are the worst of all monsters. Unlimited potential for evil, and the will to do so at any time.
Fighting over religion is like seeing whose imaginary friend is best.
Definetely Shabranigdo! And Rezo the red priest, is the second one. Slayers rocks :)
Ever since I got into D&D, I've loved the displacer beast. Commonly a six-legged puma with two squid tentacles coming out of its shoulders, with a constant illusion of seeming to be a few feet away from where it really is.
... are my favourite monster.
Is the one in my pants...
My credit card.
There are no loopholes. It's either legal or it's not.
To Quote Simpsons: "The only monster here is the gambling monster that has enslaved your mother! I call him Gamblor, and it's time to snatch your mother from his neon claws!"
If ever there was an Aussie Icon on the monster scene the Number 1! would be the beloved Bunyip! [Razorback would be runner-up though...]
Reavers beat Bigfoot any day...any monster that makes Adam Baldwin whimper has to be good
Between the falling angel and the rising ape
Daleks of course !
I don't know if this is the best, but it certainly is scariest.
Just callin' it like I see it.
I have some kind of dark desire for Zombie type gals. :)
Yeah sure they're a bit slow and have difficulty walking, maybe even bad breath, but I know they want me!
Don't be apathetic. Procrastinate!
I read somewhere about the idea that the trolls of Scandinavian folklore had their roots in human interactions with the remnants of the Neanderthals. I quite liked that idea, even if it's almost certainly not true. The troll under the bridge was one of the scariest stories I was told when I was wee. I hated crossing bridges over burns for a long time after that.
There was an interesting fictional documentary programme on a couple of years ago about an archaeologist who was uncovering evidence that dragons had lived alongside the dinosaurs, and survived up until relatively recently. I wish I could remember the name of it.
My favorite monster with some basis in reality is the Bush Administration.
... there goes Tokyo.
Go go Godzilla!
"I may be synthetic, but I'm not stupid." -- Bishop 341-B
Most Europeans have no clue who bigfoot is, yet he's #1 on that list. There was a monster movie called bigfoot a couple of years ago, but it was forgotten quickly. Actually more famous are the pair of short skis with the same name: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skiboarding
Also, what about the Yeti?: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yeti
--
Why is my comment box on the preview page only ~30 characters wide?
is the one inside my head.
Took me by surprise when I heard a busker crooning that the other day; I'd not thought about that old song in many years. Brought a tear to my eye. -That part about, "Dragons live forever, but not so little boys."
-FL
Please at least fix the freaking layout (it's horrible! this comment box is about a tenth of the page wide for some retarded reason - just use the default theme until you can work this one out).
Oh, and UPDATE THE PROFILE OPTIONS. Seriously, at least let *us* decide if we want to have 'idle' on the front page.
Is whatever the otherkin haven't pretended to be yet. So far John Prescott is in the lead.
If you haven't made a developer cry, you've wasted a day.
Easy: The Rabbit of Caerbannog.
Runners up: Monsters, and Scary Monsters.
You know, the little guy with his one eye?
Without a doubt the best monster is Godzilla. I've seen the documentaries starting way back in the 50's so I know he's real. He's also an environmentalist way before his time.
BTW: No Yeti in the top ten?
"I'm a slave of Karma, Spin the Wheel and I'm a king reborn."
Scariest? Reevers.
"Win treats sysadmins better than users. Mac treats users better than sysadmins. Linux treats everyone like sysadmins."
Sharks with frickin' laser beams on their heads.
How about tanuki ?
Post a subject like this, and the adolescents come out of the woodwork.
Thanks for the heads-up, mods. Duly identified.
Ligers and tiggers and fears... (sigh)
When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro. ~~ Hunter S. Thompson
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grue_(monster)
~men are from earth. women are from earth. deal with it.~
"Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you...The Five-Assed Monkey!"
One of the best single lines ever. That along with "He has only one ass! He is of no use to me. I must burn the room!
The brains of a chicken, coupled with the claws of two eagles, may well hatch the eggs of our destruction.
I like the one with the blue label... it's low-carb
The "hero", a person who will sacrifice themself for their community, who typically travels roundtrip between West and East to commit some dangerous act, learns something mysterious that is used to complete the task, and changes spirtually before they return, is my favorite monster.
The Greek-style hero is the most well known in America (and perhaps globally), but it's common to every human culture.
--
make install -not war
The giangantic block of blue hideousness on this webpage is uglier and scarier than most monsters on that list.
(BTW, the real answer is Godzilla. He's so badass he literally fought *smog*! And kicked its ass.)
Comment of the year
My favorite monster was the woman I've been drinking with all weekend.
My head hurts.
mcgrew's razor: Never attribute to stupidity that which can be explained by greedy self-interest
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4618775.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7299642.stm
-1 not first post
The Judean People Front!!!
Sorry. Watched Brian's life again last night.
What a kerfuffle.
Otherwise, it would have to be the Gelatinous Cube from D&D.
Gentoo Linux - another day, another USE flag.
Cookie Monster is the only creature I know that binges and purges at the same time. Clearly this is some new, more vile form of eating disorder that must be studied.
Even those who arrange and design shrubberies are under considerable economic stress at this period in history.
this was just too easy.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
Kasa-obake from the monster type, Tsukumogami, based on the principal that certain inanimate objects turn into monsters when they reach 100 years old.
"MIT betrayed all of its basic principles."
One of the greatest monsters of all time is the ID monster from The Forbidden Planet.
Yell & scream & rant & rave... it's no use... you need a shaaaave ~ Bugs Bunny
Being a native of Montana, I'd have to say that my favorite monster would be the one in Flathead Lake. I mean, who wants to argue about a monster who has their own line of soda? Giant sturgeon? plesiosaurus? Who cares. Just shut up, sit back, take a sip and enjoy the lake.
I have to place my vote with El Chupanibre. Cute, eats animals whole, craps dark matter...and has a smooth, persuasive voice. It's only weakness is belly rubs!
I try to keep my job, but as my bad luck would have it, Monster.com is probably my favorite monster right now.
I don't know about favorite, but scariest? No question: my ex. Dracula would run screaming in terror, and that Cloverdale critter would be heading back out to sea faster than an Olympic sprinter on crystal meth.
I've calculated my velocity with such exquisite precision that I have no idea where I am.
My favorite monster would be an entity that has the disposition to act against the social norm, and violate the intrinsic social contract established within any given community.
Initially, I thought of zombies. The idea of the dead mulling around like at they're at work, eating the "living", and converting them into the "dead" tends to strike a nerve.
After much more thought on the matter, I've decided to go with "Big Oil" companies. Zombies are only a metaphor.
"Does this wine taste funny to you?" -- Socrates
There couldnt be a more appropriate listing for CowboyNeal ;)
Cthulhu
My favourite is the Cheese Monster from a Pup Named Scooby Doo.
Levon Barker
Half-pony, half-monkey. For best results, reduce the number of monkeys in the recipe.
this one.
the ducati monster 696
no i have not shot my gun in the air and gone 'Ahh!'
He's big and blue and scary, but friendly monster too. My pet monster, pet monster I love you.
How could they leave out zombies? After all, they are considered monsters and, if we accept the claims* of a powerful "zombie drug" in Haitian Voodoo, they actually exist.
*I say "claims" since I believe there is evidence, but no one has a conclusive, repeatable formula that has been demonstrated in the lab.
Reading code is like reading the dictionary - you have to read half of it before you can go back and understand it.
Yes, definitely Clowns. Clowns really creep me out. I wish they would leave me alone and go away.
Everything I know about the chupacabra I learned from Scooby-Doo.
Known in German as the Friendly Monster.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monster_group
The short one with the bad hairpiece, and the tall one with the dark, flinty eyes.
And of course the awesome theme music...I'm trusting the translation..please forgive me if its wrong or obscene. =)
"Title: GAMERA MARCH
1. Gamera, Gamera
(Gamera, Gamera)
Ikasuzo, Gamera! Ikasuzo, Gamera! Ikasuzo, Gamera!
(So cool, Gamera! So cool, Gamera! So cool, Gamera!)
Nichi, Getsu, Ka, Sui, Nichi, Getsu, Ka, Sui
(Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday)
Nikkoh saegiru, Akuma no niji da
(Shadow the Sun, Evil's Rainbow)
Reitoh Kaiju, Kurunara koi!
(Frozen monster, Dare to march!)
Haneta-zo, Tonda-zo. Go! Go! Go!
(Jumped, Flew. Go! Go! Go!)
Kaen Funsha de Yattsukero
(Destroy with Jet Flame. Here goes Gamera!)
Ikasuzo, Gamera! Ikasuzo, Gamera! Ikasuzo, Gamera!
(So cool, Gamera! So cool, Gamera! So cool, Gamera!)
2. Gamera, Gamera
(Gamera, Gamera)
Ganbare, Gamera! Ganbare, Gamera! Ganbare, Gamera!
(Hold out, Gamera! Hold out, Gamera! Hold out, Gamera!)
Getsu, Ka, Sui, Moku, Getsu, Ka, Sui, Moku
(Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday)
Gekkoh yaburu, Satsujin onpa
(Overcome the moonlight, Super Sonic)
Mach Kaiju, Itsudemo koi!
(Monster Mach, Come Anytime!)
Hikatta, Yoketa-zo. Go! Go! Go!
(Burning Bright. Go! Go! Go!)
Kuwaete hanasuna, Fukitobase.
(Bite hard and blown away).
Ganbare, Gamera! Ganbare, Gamera! Ganbare, Gamera!
(Hold out, Gamera! Hold out, Gamera! Hold out, Gamera!)
3. Gamera Gamera
(Gamera, Gamera)
Tsuyoi-zo, Gamera! Tsuyoi-zo, Gamera! Tsuyoi-zo, Gamera!
(So strong, Gamera! So strong, Gamera! So strong, Gamera!)
Ka, Sui, Moku, Kin, Ka, Sui, Moku, Kin
(Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday)
Kasei ka, Kinsei, dokokano hoshino
(Mars, Venus, any other Stars)
Uchu Kaiju, Nandemo koi!
(Come Monsters from the Universe!)
Kitta-zo, Tsuita-zo. Go! Go! Go!
(Stabbed, Shoved. Go! Go! Go!)
Kaiten Jet de, Taiatari
(Tackled with circling jet)
Tsuyoi-zo, Gamera! Tsuyoi-zo, Gamera! Tsuyoi-zo, Gamera!
(So strong, Gamera! So strong, Gamera! So strong, Gamera!)"
from link
Angelina Jolie, of course! She can scare me into intimate relations with that body any time.
"It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
No Yeti?
RogerWilco the Adventurous Janitor
I'm torn between Vampires and Dragons as my two favorites.
And before anyone suggest, "Vampire (Undead) Dragons" - well, thats just silly.
I'm pretty sure that the legend of Dragons originated with people coming across Dinosaur bones in ye olde times, and not understanding what they really were, though it would be awesome if there once was some species that could be called "Dragons". All skeletons we've found are dinosaur though, so here's a thought: what if Dragons were like sharks in that their skeletal system was all cartilage (Except the teeth). All the skeletons would've decayed by now, leaving only teeth - smaller and harder to find.
I don't know about the weight ratios of bone to cartilage but maybe that would also "enable" Dragons to be light enough to fly too..?
I love when rationalizing and fantasizing mix! lol
Look back up at my post, now look back down, you're on the Internet. Now look back up. I'm a signature.
Igopogo!
The Fischer Griess Monster. It's really big, and it's existence has been verified.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monster_group
No Argentinian gnomes? Lame!
Sure, but in turn two I can play Ashnod's Altar; then you play drugies, and in turn three I play Fecundity, sac my elves, play saproling cluster, get unbounded mana as I cycle through my deck (which is pseudo-infinite due to my Serra Avatar), and mill you with my whetstone.
You lose!
I always liked Griffons. They look quite imposing, and aren't as well-defined as other fictional monsters.
Sometimes they're intelligent, sometimes they're savage, sometimes tame, sometimes noble. Even the spelling of their name is uncertain. Gryphon, griffon? Plus, they actually have some authenticity, being from real mythology.
i'd hit it so hard, if you pulled me out you'd be the king of britain [bash.org]
Grover and Cookie Monster.
Surely trolls should be on the list.
The paradoxidor. If you believe in him, he doesn't exist, if you don't believe in him, he does exist!
Help fight spam
Of course that is my mother-in-law
Am I eval()? - http://www.monst3r.com.br
In Southeast Asia, there are legends of supernatural monster women whose heads can detach from their bodies. During the day they seem like normal women, but at night, their heads can detach (with heart, lungs, and guts coming along with the head, and the rest of the body left behind). These heads then fly around looking for victims.
My favorite part: after they feed, their guts are a bit swollen, so once they get back to their lair they soak their guts in vinegar to shrink them down, so they will fit back into the body.
In different countries this legendary monster has different names. In Thailand, this is a "krasue" (pronounced something like "gra-suer"). In Malaysia it is "penanggalan".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penanggalan
steveha
lf(1): it's like ls(1) but sorts filenames by extension, tersely
Thats new to me.
I'd have to say it's that vague buggy from monty pythons flying circus, it's hunting me every day!!! Even on the webzz AAAGH here it comes!!!!
I'd have to say Jesus. He's a zombie, he turns his followers into brainwashed cannibals, and if you stare at him you go blind.
Mike Wazowski, of course!
"People are stupid; given proper motivation, almost anyone will believe almost anything."
I think that extremists intent on pushing their conceptual frameworks into the lives of others, have to rank near the top. People like Islamic radicals, Christian fundamentalists, neocon politicians and socialist extremists.
Any kind of monster that isn't a human being isn't really scary at all. Just ask Stephen King what scares him -- odds are, it's other people.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEZcE1jixh4
Or whoever just changed the /. interface AGAIN to some weird layout that looks even worse than the last one.
Go ahead! Rate me troll!
What, is that all you've got? Are you nuts? Come at me!
Richard Steven Hack - This sig is TOO GODDAMN SHORT TO DO ANYTHING USEFUL WITH! MORONS!
I have always been mystified by the concept of dragons. Such a cool idea. But how come the notion is practically universal? I can imagine how someone might mythologise a crocodile etc, but why make it breathe fire? And the supernatural abilities, such as able to mesmerise men. The legend is as interesting as the idea.
Bitter and proud of it.
Blue fur, wiggly eyes and speaks broken English this is my type monster.
I'm doing my igNobel experiment on how many cookies I have to eat before I get to that state.
Current status: Two boxes of cookies per week and all I'm getting is pot belly. No blue fur, wiggly eyes and or broken English (unless beer with those cookies).
Does Jesus count? One might argue he is a man, and therefore not a mythological creature, but he is also categorized (in the Catholic faith at least) as "fully man and fully divine". Therefore, assuming your listing things such as the Lung dragons and other divine beings as "monsters", Jesus is "fully man and fully monster".
And yet, I don't see him on the list.
Ginga no Rekshiya Mata Each page.
Hillary?
"Monster of ambition" is the actual quote, supposedly from Shakespeare, but I couldn't find it specifically.
Am I the only one here with a 14 year old daughter? Help me, please, save me.
When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law he tore his robes.2Kings22:11
Gamera was great, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamera. :)
Get off my virtual lawn, you damned virtual kids!
Wrong! Number 8 is missing the biggest verified squid by an entire species, and just about an order of magnitude in size! The largest verified, caught specimen is actually a *mesonychoteuthis* hamiltoni. NOT architeuthis.
The chupacabras was just a story the media made up so people would be distracted from the shit the government was trying (and succeeding) to pull at the time. And people knew it.
It's funny how the media reports what the media says latin american people think, instead of actually making an effort to finding out directly from the source, that is, the actual people.
Don't believe everything the media says. We don't.
It's all about the tarrasque - a D&D monster created solely for the purpoe of killing high-level adventurers. Really. There's only one, and it has no other purpose in the world, but to wander around the world, eating epic-leveled adventurers. Plus, if you do manage to kill it, you have to go through some pointlessly complicated (and expensive!) ritual, or it'll just come right back to life!
Really terrible.
Especially in Soviet Russia, where your processed forks you into the background and renices you.
Colorless green Cthulhu waits dreaming furiously.
It is dark and you are likely to be eaten by a grue.
Using the Freedom of Speech while I still have it.