Thalzon's MV Battlers

This week's update includes Anahita, Atargatis, Basajaun, Pakhangba, and Fuzanglong.
Anahita is an ancient Persian goddess of pure waters and fertility. She was originally identified as Sarasvati.
Atargatis is a moon goddess of ancient Assyria and is considered to be the progenitor of all mermaid myths and legend.
Basajaun is yet another hairy humanoid, this one from Basque mythology. They were knowledgeable and peaceful, and taught humans agriculture and farming. Unlike the singular Bigfoot, they are thought to be an entire population.
Pakhangba is a primordial deity from Manipur, depicted in their heraldry as a dragon biting its own tail.
Finally, Fuzanglong is a famous dragon species from China, who live deep underground. They create volcanoes when they burst from the earth to report to the heavens, and serve as the mounts of other deities. They possess a large pearl as their most-prized treasure.
That's all for this week. Enjoy.

This week's update features Vila, Moryana, Bannik, Polevik, and Dvorovoi. A whole smorgasbord of Slavic creatures.
Vila are Slavic nymphs that live in woods, water, or clouds. They are said to be beautiful and blonde.
Moryana is another Slavic goddess, who ruled the winds, but she was also the daughter of the Sea Tsar. Thus I decided sea foam hair was appropriate, though she is typically inhumanly gorgeous in the myths.
Bannik is a bathhouse spirit. His default form is a hairy little man covered in leaves, but he can take the form of any bathhouse item, including coals in the furnace.
Polevik are strange creatures who dwell among hay bales, with hair of grass. They often wear white clothes, and it is said people who sleep on the job are murdered by them.
Dvorovoi are another house spirit, though in this case they reside in barns, cattle sheds, or paddocks. They tend to dislike animals with white fur and can prove dangerous around livestock.
That's all for this week. Enjoy.

This week, we update with Lham Dearg, Ferdiad, Shubin, Zana, and Margot.
First, Lham Dearg, also called Ly Erg, is a ghost that is sometimes seen on roads near water in Scotland. He challenges those he meets to battle.
Ferdiad was Cu Chulainn's battle brother, and trained under Scathach alongside him. Tragically, he was killed by Cu Chulainn, having been goaded into single combat by Queen Medb. Unintentionally humourous, he was killed by being stabbed up the butt.
Shubin are ghosts from Ukrainian folklore that wander mines. A rather divisive figure, he is known to either warn miners of methane leaks or cause all manner of accidents.
Zana is a fairy queen that dwells in rivers and lakes of the mountains of Albania and Kosovo. He is a formidable warrior, it is said, and grants boons to those who seek her protection.
Finally is Margot, which is a term for another kind of fairy. They are a diverse grouping, associated with Morgan le Fay from Arthurian legend, and said to be excellent dancers. They do all manner of fairy things, like tending the house, stealing shinies, kidnapping children and replacing them with changelings... You name it, they do it.
That's all for this week. Enjoy.

These monsters are awesome!

This week's update includes some rather large boys.
First off, we have Hevioso, a deity from West Africa who was, historically, the founder of the kingdom of Oyo. As a deity, he smites evildoers with axes and lightning.
Next we have the mermaid Havsra, who is a little different from regular mermaids. A powerful controller of the waves and wind, she would lure men into her embrace not to drown them, but to have them as lovers. They ended up drowning anyway once she became disinterested in them, but there is a distinction!
After that we have Enlil, Anu, and Enki. These three are the triumvirate of Mesopotamian ruling gods. Enlil rules the wind, Anu the sky, and Enki the sea. Anu was originally the supreme deity, but that role eventually transferred to Enlil.
That's all for this week. Enjoy.

Those look nice.

This week's update includes Marzanna, Silenus, Puck, Yedua, and Bilwis.
Marzanna is a slavic goddess of many names, including Morana, More, Mara, etc. depending on where she was worshipped. She represented death, the end of winter, and rebirth. Her death, symbolized by drowning her in effigy, signalled the beginning of spring.
Silenus is a satyr tutor of the god Dionysus. Though he ruled over daimons and satyrs, he was not necessarily always a satyr himself. Sometimes he was more of your typical Green Man seen more commonly in newer European myth, and sometimes he had horse legs instead of goat legs.
Puck is an English fairy, also sometimes called Goodfellows, Hob, or Robin Goodfellow. Funny how names evolve, huh? Famous for being a prankster, and a domestic helper, he was also depicted as the jester of the fairy court.
Yedua is the Talmudic equivalent of other weird plants that grow into animals like the Vegetable Lamb of Tartarry. Yedua are tethered to the ground by a vine from their navel area, limiting their movement.
Finally, Bilwis is a bogeyman from German folklore. They would rob farmers of their crops, but could be prevented from doing so by harvesting crops from the outer perimeter, spiraling toward the center.

You're like a non-stop awesome battle sprite making machine.

This week's update features Baiame, Ictinike, Eintykara, Erathipa, and Kikimora.
Baiame is the creator and sky god of Australian aboriginal mythology. Very much a masculine figure, he not only created the natural landscape, but also ritual sites where boys were initiated into manhood. Women weren't allowed to say his name or look upon depictions of him.
Ictinike, also called Iktomi, Ikto, Unktome, etc. is a Native American trickster spirit of the Lakota tribe. He is a spider, but can shapeshift into the form of a man. His spider strings are capable of controlling people, and he can brew all manner of magical potions.
Eintykara is the name of mythological stingless bees said to have lived in South America. Their hives are long and tubular, and so the legend goes that a woman wished that their beautiful hive was her husband. Eventually it came to be (or bee?), with the bees taking the form of a pale-skinned youth to wed her.
Erathipa is also from Australian folklore. It is a massive stone, in the shape of a pregnant woman, housing the souls of departed children. The souls could inhabit the bodies of young women.
Lastly, Kikimora is another house spirit from Slavic regions. She reflected the demeanor of the house's owner, and thus could either be diligent and kind or apathetic and cruel. As Christianity gained footing in the region, she was booted out of the houses and into the swamps.
That's all for this week. Enjoy.

It's always a treat to see your new sprites. Suggestion for next monster: A Dogu.

I have made a Dogu (Arahabaki), actually! But it's part of the Japanese set, which is for sale.

This week we have Gaiya, Ghaddar, Tailtiu, Mongfind, and Danu.
Gaiya is a devil dingo from Australian folklore belonging to Eelgin, the grasshopper woman. When he was slain, his spirit turned on his master and bit her on the nose, explaining why grasshoppers have such a bite mark on their face.
Ghaddar is a demon from Islamic folklore. She lives around the Red Sea, where she mutilates men. She is said to be a child of Iblis.
Tailtiu is from Irish mythology. It is said she cleared the lands of Ireland to make them ideal for farming, but died of exhaustion in the process. The festival Aenach Tailteann was held in her honour.
Mongfind is another figure from Irish mythology. She was wife to High King Eochaid, and poisoned her sister's husband in a bid to make her own son king. She poisoned him, and drank the poison in turn, succumbing soon after.
Finally yet another Irish figure, Danu. She is a rather mysterious figure, with scant mention in surviving texts, but is the namesake of the Tuatha de Dannan, making her a sort of progenitor figure of the demigods of Celtic mythology. I'm kind of unhappy with how this one turned out, but it's done, so I'm sharing it.

That's all for this week. Enjoy.

Awesome! Love them dawgs. :p

This week's update features Narcissus, Tammuz, Moccus, Donn, and Abarta.

Narcissus is a well-known figure of Greek mythology and just one in a long line of Greek figures who get transmuted into plants somehow. After rejecting the nymph Echo (or Ameinias, a young man in an earlier telling of the myth), he was cursed by the gods for his vanity. Upon seeing his reflection, he fell so in love with it that he wasted away pining for it, and his namesake flowers grew up where he withered away.
Tammuz is a romanization of the name Dumuzid, and he is a god of agriculture and vegetation. Similar to the Persephone myth, he spends half the year in the Underworld as part of a deal Inanna (or Ishtar) made to stay out of there. The seasons of his death are hot and dry, rather than cold and wet.
Moccus is a Celtic god, representing Mercury and sacred rituals around boar hunting and boar meat. I gave him a Ganon colour because he is a boar man with a spear, hehe.
Donn is also from Irish mythology. A pale man riding a horse, he is the god of the dead and is said to dwell in Teach Duinn, which means "House of Donn", appropriately enough. Said "house" is a small island called Bull Rock off the coast of Ireland.
Abarta is yet another figure of Irish mythology. He tricked Fionn mac Cumhaill's soldiers by gifting them a large grey horse, then riding that horse to the Otherworld. Fionn's best tracker, Foltor, sought a magic ship to get there, and after rescuing the soldiers, punished Abarta by having him dragged back to Ireland, tied to the tail of said horse.
That's all for this week. Enjoy.

Keep up the good work.

Ah, I love the Moccus battlers! They look awesome!

This week, we have Henwen, Okpe, Ilomba, Snawfus, Calopus, Akhekh, and Khalkotaurus.
Henwen is a legendary white sow (her name means "Old White") who gave birth to, among other oddities, the monstrous cat that came to be known as Cath Palug. She also gave birth to a wolf and an eagle, but THOSE babies didn't grow up to kill King Arthur.
Okpe is an ogre from Argentinian and Chilean folklore, who would kidnap and eat people. His armour was hefty and rendered him immune to all damage, but he's actually something of a big crybaby. He was made to slip and fall on freshly-butchered mare's skin, and cried so hard he caused a flood up to his own eyes.
Ilomba are snakes from Zambia. Said to be servants of evil sorcerers, they help them to carry out their magic and tempt them to further evil.
Snawfus is a mystical deer found in the Ozarks. Said to be able to leap from the ground to the branches of tall trees in a single bound, and balance on them, light as a feather.
Calopus is an English heraldic symbol, and a strange amalgamation of creatures. Wolf, deer, bear, lizard, you name it, it has a little part of it. But its defining feature are its unusual, serrated horns.
Akhekh is from Egyptian mythology, and was a creature associated with the god of evil, Set(h), to the point it may have been an incarnation of him. He wears a crown of three serpents.
Khalkotaurus is one of a pair of bulls from the Greek myth of Jason and the Golden Fleece. With bronze mouths and horns, these wild bulls were a gift from Hephaestus to King Aeetes, but proved wild and dangerous. Jason was tasked with yoking the beasts and ploughing a field, which he was able to accomplish with the help of the king's daughter, Medea.

That's all for this week. Thanks, and enjoy.

This week, we have Mushika, Aeolus, Menoetius, Bheki, and Arquetu.
Mushika is the celestial mount of Ganesha. Kind of funny to imagine the multi-armed elephant god riding a mouse, eh?
Aeolus is from the Odyssey, son of Hippotes. He controlled the wind, and gave Odysseus a bag of wind to help him get home. However, Odysseus's crew opened the bag and caused the ship to be blown back the wind lord's way. He refused to help them again after that.
Menoetius is a titan from Greek mythology, and like most titans, meets his end at Zeus's hand. He's struck by lightning for being a prat and cast off to Hades. Funny enough, there is a second Menoetius who tends Hades's cattle, and challenges Heracles to a wrestling match. While it sounds like they could be the same figure, they are apparently distinct.
Bheki is the golden frog that represents the sun in Sanskrit myth. She was originally a beautiful woman who married a king, but vanished below the horizon, as the sun does, when she touched a drop of water.
Arquetu is a moneylender figure from Cantabrian myth. He would graciously lend money to those who spent it all, but if they did it again, he would curse them with eternal poverty.
That's all for this week. Enjoy.

Menoetius reminds me of a character from a Junji Ito novel.

I really like the Arquetus battlers. Incredible work as always my friend.

Happy Halloween, game makers. Nothing particularly on-theme this week, as we are still within the bowels of monsters tangentially related to living in fields and grasslands. I hope you find them interesting all the same.
First we have Glaistig, a ghost from Scotland. She is similar to a satyr; half-goat, half-woman. She often acts as a protector of farm herds, or of children while their mothers tend to cows and goats. However, she is also said to lead men astray, luring them with song or dance, to drink their blood.
Next we have the Mourioche, a prankster spirit from France. His favourite pranks are those that leave his victims exhausted, paranoid, or lost, to further draw out their suffering.
Next we have Torikabuto, which are yokai that are born from Japanese headgear turning into a bird. They only desire to dance.
Maggey Moulach is also from Scottish folklore. She is said to be a type of Brownie, or house fairy, with a wild, impressive head of hair, hairy beast-like arms, and the power to turn into a grasshopper.
Finally we have Eelgin, the second half of the grasshopper's nose folklore from Australia. As mentioned with her pet Gaiya a few entries ago, she would use Gaiya to attack passers-by. When Gaiya was fed up with her, he bit her nose, giving it its distinct markings. Incidentally, if you search "Eelgin mythology" on Google, this thread is the second link, after Wikipedia. Go figure.
That's all for this week. Enjoy, and have a safe and fun Halloween.