Top 10 Mythological Creatures

8.Basilisks - While descriptions vary, most agree that the basilisk is some kind of snakey, lizard-like creature. Depending on what you’re reading, the basilisk may be able to kill you with a stare, it’s breath, it’s touch, or even if it touches something that you’re touching. You certainly wouldn’t know it by looking at one.

7. Kraken - Kraken are enormous, island-sized sea monsters said to roam the waters around Scandinavia. While some accounts talk about the danger of a Kraken attack on small ships, most stories indicate that the greatest danger lies in the suction effect created by a Kraken returning to his home deep below the surface.

6.Harpies - Harpies are creatures with the bodies of birds and heads of human women. They’re generally associated with creepiness and death, though some texts refer to them as “lovely-haired”. We don’t really see it.

5. Centaurs - Centaurs have the body of a horse and the torso and head of a human male. What’s odd is that no one ever seems to mention the existence of female centaurs (or male harpies, for that matter). How did that happen?

4. Grindylows - Grindylows are pale green water monsters who use their long, brittle fingers to grab little children who get too close to the edge of lakes, ponds, and streams. Once obscure, they made a recent appearance in the Harry Potter series of books.

3. Minotaur - The Minotaur is essentially a man with a bull’s head, but there’s a great story behind the species-mixing madness. From the Wikipedia entry:

Before he ascended the throne of Crete, Minos struggled with his brothers for the right to rule. Minos prayed to Poseidon to send him a snow-white bull, as a sign of approval by the gods for his reign. He promised to sacrifice the bull as an offering, and as a symbol of subservience. A beautiful white bull rose from the sea, but when Minos saw it, he coveted it for himself. He assumed that Poseidon would not mind, so he kept it and sacrificed the best specimen from his herd instead.

When Poseidon learned about the deceit, he made Pasipha, Minos' wife, fall madly in love with the bull. She had Daedalus, the famous architect, make a wooden cow for her. Pasipha climbed into the decoy to seduce the white bull. The offspring of their lovemaking was a monster called the Minotaur.

2. Gargoyles - Who doesn’t love gargoyles? Though they were originally created for function (their bodies lead rainwater away from the building), many believe them to have protective abilities.

1. The Griffon - The griffon is one ferocious, flying, flesh-eating machine. The legend comes to us by way of Europe, where someone got the idea to combine the kind of beasts (the lion) with the king of birds (the eagle). As you can see below, this monster has talons, wings, and a flesh-ripping beak…plus the hindquarters of a lion. The image of this stuffed version comes from Stuffed Legends