Lit Here be Monsters: Mythological Creatures in Star Wars

"Mythological creatures come in any shape and size, their appearance only limited by the boundaries of the human imagination. Earth’s history is full of mythological creatures and fabled monsters, some of which have found their way to the Star Wars universe, either in form or in name. "

http://starwarsblog.starwars.com/20...n-mythological-creatures-in-star-wars-part-1/
http://starwarsblog.starwars.com/20...n-mythological-creatures-in-star-wars-part-2/

 

Is there any kind of mythological creatures people would like to see. Personaly I would like to see more monsters from Asia, Araby and Africa.

 

If you're talking about genuine monsters, as in horrific, vicious creatures that will devour you:

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Zillo_Beast
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Eppon
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Gorog_(creature)

To name a few.

 

Such as what?

 

Djinn; Garuda; Gandaberunda; Sharabha; Impundulu; Emela-ntouka; Timingila; Rakshasa; Komainu; Chemosit; etc. etc
Part of the reason I want to see them is that I want to see how they would be adapted.

When it comes to the chemosit Pachycrocuta have made my inner picture look like this

 

I am probably alone in this but is there any other that think that the tuk'ata, as drawn by Dario Carrasco, Jr., look a bit like the sha a.k.a. Set animal?

 

Considering the Classical Egyptian vibes given to the Sith in TotJ, it may very well be intentional.

 

Beside the Anzat have we seen any vampires?

 

There was that one energy vampire from the CWA comics, Rajine.

 

We need some ships with names like Long, Vakyria, Skoll, Jörmungandr, Nue, Tengu, Tengil, etc., etc.

 

Apparently some of the alien species in the gffa have their own mythology.​

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Taken from Wookieepedia​

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Skeel (Mythological creature)​

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"Skeel was a famous hero from Cerean mythology.​

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His fame made his name common among male Cereans." ​

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Via The Galactic Campaign Guide​

 

Have we seen anything like werewolves?

 

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Wyrwulf

 

As for Valkyries, they're a minor motif in the Black Fleet Trilogy with that one ambassador who was duped by the Yevetha. He sacced his ship Mother's Valkyrie for one of Spaar's plans, and was going to be compensated with a thrustship called Queen of the Valkyrie's, but Spaar reneged and left him stranded on Coruscant.

 

I'd really rather we didn't. We don't need to start dragging every single mythology in the history of Earth into what is - supposedly - an unrelated entirely fictional universe existing long before any of them were conceived. Let's at least try to find some originality left in us.

 

It's so weird what words, animals, etc get let in and what doesn't. Even more amusing are things like; "There are no cows in Star Wars", which was a note on a manuscript a certain SW author received. Except that it was clear from context (something like "Dooku couldn't cow Anakin into submission", not actual sentence but you get the idea) that it wasn't referring to the bovine but to the verb of the word descended from the old Norse "kuga". It took faxing in a photocopy of the OED entry to get the copyeditor to understand it wasn't a reference to a cow, which sadly says a lot about the state of copyediting that they didn't know that usage or etymology of that word.

And yet mythological creatures, things like hot chocolate, dogs....all sorts of "earth things" get into canon all the time. I really wonder if it's just completely random or what, because there doesn't seem to be any hard guidelines.

I honestly don't care because...you know...it's fiction, but it is weird to have rules about earth animals and phrases and not remotely apply it evenly.

 

Considering all we know now thanks to the PT and TCW I think the first mythological "creature" we see in SW (1977) is The Force. A sentient spiritual continuum with a "will" of its own. In many mythologies Fate and Destiny were personified as gods or spirits, something that can be seen in SW, according to GL, "larger hands at work".

 

And yet I distinctly recall the phrase being used in Courtship of Princess Leia. A Nightsister (may have been Gethzerion, but don't recall for sure) saying "my presence will cow the rabble" (with the way she was described, her face would cow people, but I digress). So there's already precedent on top of the etymology.

 

So what do you suggest they did?
Personally I would like religions/mythology that use a grand mixture or earth beliefs. Let me see stories of tengu and valkyries being sent out by the queen of loa to battle the grand Sharabha and her djinn army riding on byakhee!

Any other?
Also should not Wyrwulf be a part of the Codru-Ji page instead of having its own?

 

And that is how you end up with terrible D&D-esque cultural mashups, usually handled without an ounce of tact or actual understanding of the beliefs being referenced. Want to reference deities? Make up your own.

 

I think Pomojema was one of the first SW gods named - in Splinter of the Mind's Eye.

Before that, Vader yells "By the immortal gods of the Sith!" instead of "What!?" in the comic version of the first SW movie, when Han attacks his TIE fighters in the Death Star trench.

 

Fhtagn! Now that's how you do it.

 

A bit later than SoTME - there was Devilworlds. In The Pandora Effect:

"Yes, my astute young friend, we are indeed a religious order. We worship the Left-Handed God. The Soulworm. The Lady with the Locust Heart. We worship evil, my handsome child."