Myth CodexRotA Wiki

All Creatures in the Codex

Monsters, beasts and spirits: the serpents, wolves, dragons and shapeshifters of world mythology.

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Traditions
38 entries

A

AmmitDevourer of the DeadDevourer of the dead — the crocodile-lion-hippopotamus hybrid who crouched beside the scales and swallowed the hearts that failed the weighing.Creature · EgyptianApophis (Apep)The Serpent of ChaosThe great serpent who attacks the sun boat every night — Apophis is Egypt's embodiment of chaos, repelled again each dawn but never finally destroyed.Creature · Egyptian

B

Baba YagaThe Witch of the WoodThe witch of the wood — the iron-toothed old woman in a hut on chicken legs, who eats some visitors and hands the others exactly what they need.Creature · SlavicBansheeHerald of DeathHerald of death — the "woman of the mound," heard rather than seen, whose keening outside a house announces that someone of the family is about to die.Creature · Celtic

C

CamazotzThe Death BatThe death bat — the snatching bat-demon of the K'iche' underworld who takes off a hero's head in the dark, and the long Mesoamerican cult behind him.Creature · MayanCerberusThe Hound of HadesThe many-headed hound who guards the gates of the underworld. He fawns on everyone who enters and devours anyone who tries to leave.Creature · GreekThe CyclopesThe Round-Eyed OnesThe round-eyed ones — three divine smiths who forged Zeus's thunderbolt, a race of lawless one-eyed shepherds, and the builders of walls no man could lift.Creature · Greek

D

Domovoi (Slavic House Spirit)Master of the HouseThe Slavic house spirit who lives behind the stove, guards the family and its livestock, and turns hostile if the household forgets to feed him.Creature · Slavic

F

FenghuangThe Vermilion PhoenixThe radiant bird of Chinese myth — ruler of all birds, marked with the five virtues, whose rare appearance announces a just reign and an age of peace.Creature · ChineseFenrirThe Bound WolfThe Bound Wolf. Loki's son, raised among the gods and chained by a trick that cost Tyr his hand — until Ragnarok, when he devours Odin.Creature · NorseThe Fomorians (Fomoire)The Powers Beneath the SeaIreland's monstrous sea-people — raiders, tribute-takers and kin to the gods they fight, led by Balor of the destroying eye.Creature · Celtic

G

GarudaThe Divine EagleThe golden sun-eagle who carries Vishnu — thief of the gods' nectar, liberator of his enslaved mother, and the eternal enemy of the serpents.Creature · HinduThe Green KnightChallenger of the Beheading GameChallenger of the beheading game: the green giant who rides into Camelot, survives his own execution, and holds Gawain to a bargain.Creature · Arthurian

H

HelQueen of the DeadQueen of the Dead. Half living woman and half corpse, Loki's daughter rules the cold realm where those who die of sickness and age must go.Creature · NorseHuginn and MuninnOdin's RavensThought and Memory. Odin's two ravens fly the whole world each day and report at his ear - and he admits he fears losing Memory more.Creature · Norse

J

JormungandrThe World SerpentThe World Serpent. Loki's monstrous child, cast into the ocean until it grew to ring all Midgard and bite its own tail. Thor's appointed enemy.Creature · Norse

K

KitsuneThe Fox SpiritsJapan's fox spirits — shapeshifters who gain tails and power with age, feared as deceivers and revered as the messengers of the rice kami Inari.Creature · JapaneseKoschei the DeathlessThe DeathlessThe undying sorcerer of Russian folktale who hid his death in a needle, inside an egg, inside a duck, inside a hare, inside a chest, beneath an oak.Creature · Slavic

L

Leshy (Slavic Forest Spirit)Lord of the ForestThe Slavic forest lord who leads travellers in circles, owns the wolves and the game, and can stand taller than the pines or shorter than the grass.Creature · SlavicLong, the Chinese DragonThe Celestial DragonChina's dragon — a benevolent, scaled power of rain, river, and sea, emblem of imperial authority and the only mythical beast in the zodiac.Creature · ChineseLupa, the She-WolfThe She-Wolf of RomeThe she-wolf of Rome — the beast that suckled the abandoned twins Romulus and Remus, and the most durable emblem the city ever gave itself.Creature · Roman

M

MedusaThe GorgonThe Gorgon. The only mortal one of three sisters, whose gaze turned men to stone and whose severed head became the most powerful protective emblem in Greek art.Creature · GreekMinotaurBull of the LabyrinthBull of the labyrinth. The bull-headed son of a Cretan queen, hidden in a maze and fed Athenian children until Theseus followed a thread in.Creature · Greek

N

NagaThe Serpent BeingsSemi-divine serpent beings of the waters and the underworld — hooded and jewel-crowned guardians of treasure, of rain, and of hidden knowledge.Creature · HinduNidhoggrGnawer of RootsGnawer of roots. The dragon chewing the world tree from below, feeding on oath-breakers, and flying up out of the dark in the last stanza of Voluspa.Creature · Norse

O

Oni (Japanese Demons)Horned Demons of JapanHorned, fanged ogres of Japanese folklore: hell's wardens, mountain bandits and village guardians, driven out with beans every February.Creature · Japanese

P

PolyphemusThe CyclopsThe one-eyed Cyclops of Odyssey 9. A cave-dwelling giant and son of Poseidon, blinded by a man who called himself Nobody.Creature · Greek

Q

QilinThe Chinese UnicornThe gentle omen-beast of Chinese myth — scaled, horned, treading on no living thing. It appears when a sage rules, and its capture foretold Confucius' death.Creature · Chinese

R

Rusalka (Slavic Water Spirit)The Drowned MaidenSlavic water spirit of the restless dead: a drowned or unbaptised girl who leaves the river for one week each summer to walk the fields and the woods.Creature · Slavic

S

Scylla and CharybdisThe Strait of No Good ChoiceThe twin sea-terrors of Odyssey 12 — a six-headed cliff monster and an all-swallowing whirlpool, set close enough that avoiding one means meeting the other.Creature · GreekThe SirensSingers of the Deadly SongBird-bodied singers of the Odyssey whose song promises knowledge, not romance. Odysseus heard them lashed to his mast, his crew rowing with waxed ears.Creature · GreekSleipnirOdin's Eight-Legged SteedThe grey eight-legged horse Loki bore as a mare. Best of all steeds, Odin's mount between the worlds, and the only horse to jump the gate of Hel.Creature · NorseSurtrThe Fire GiantThe Black One. The fire-giant who comes from the south at Ragnarok with a sword brighter than the sun, and burns the whole world to the ground behind him.Creature · Norse

T

TenguMountain Goblins of JapanWinged mountain spirits of Japan: crow-beaked tricksters and long-nosed masters of the sword, once Buddhist demons, later guardians of the peaks.Creature · JapaneseTiamatThe Primordial SeaThe primordial salt sea — the first mother of the gods, who turned on her children and whose split body became the sky and the earth above us.Creature · Mesopotamian

V

ValkyriesChoosers of the SlainChoosers of the Slain. Odin's riders who decide who dies in battle and carry the chosen to Valhalla — battlefield spirits before they were shieldmaidens.Creature · Norse

Y

Yamata-no-OrochiEight-Headed SerpentThe eight-headed, eight-tailed serpent of Izumo — devourer of maidens, killed drunk by Susanoo, and the source of the imperial sword Kusanagi.Creature · Japanese

Z

Zmey, the Slavic DragonThe Three-Headed DragonThe many-headed dragon — the fire-breathing serpent of Russian epic song, met at a river crossing, and beaten only by a hero who refuses to stop swinging.Creature · Slavic