Gygaxian Monsters

[Huw]

Lammasu

Sumerian mythology, along with the shedu and Tiamat (in name if not form).

Leucrotta

African mythology. Basically a hyena.

Remorhaz

Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter. I found this interesting site. Here's the relevant blurb:

It is unclear if Remora is another Ice Worm, older and deceased, or if it is the same Ice Worm, they seemed slightly different.
On the cover, the Ice Worm is painted as breathing fire. In the issue nothing let think that the Worm could do this, I suppose it is an error, and that the Worm emitted only extreme cold, not warm or fire. In the original novel by Carter and De Camp, the Ice Worm is described: "Its boneless form was covered with the silken nap of thick white fur. Its mouth was merely a jawless, circular opening, now puckered and closed. Above the mouth, the two luminous orbs gleamed out of a smooth, rounded, featureless eel-like head.".

Stirge

Greek mythology, but in a very different form. The Greek ones were a lot bigger.

Possibly Gygaxian:
Chimera (winged version)
Dragons (colour coded)
Manticore (winged version)

 

[demiurge1138]

Displacer beasts were inspired by the coeurl in Voyage of the Space Beagle, by A. E. Van Vogt.

Mind flayers were inspired by the cover illustraton of The Burrowers Beneath, by Brian Lumley.

Kuo-toa were inspired by the Deep Ones of H.P. Lovecraft. Likewise, ghasts appear in Lovecraft's The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath as degenerate human-like monsters that war sporadically with the ghouls.

Lord Dunsany wrote of "gnoles", which had little to do physically with the modern gnoll, but is almost certainly where the name came from.

Demiurge out.

 

[pawsplay]

Bugbear (the pumpkin-headed one) - Hm, is this the origin of of jack-o-bears or vice versa?

Pseudo-Dragon - seriously? Pick a fantasy poster of your choice

Quasit - a renamed Quisling, from a word derived from an infamous name

 

[The Green Adam]

Bugbear (the pumpkin-headed one)

Bugbear was a general term for a goblin or bogie in various parts of England. At one point it was used to describe big, hairy goblins not unlike the germanic Trolls.

Displacer Beast

This one is very curious. While it definitely has SF roots, Asian mythology, specifically Chinese and Japanese, does depict a Creature that looks remarkably similar to the original MM drawing of the Displacer Beast. One the cover of the first Dirty Pair novel, the Sci-Fi/Spy adventure duo's pet Mughi appears to be a Displacer Beast, unlike his TV incarnation are a dark purple, cat-like bear. Whether this is a nod to folklore or Von Vogt I couldn't say.

Dragonne

Fan of Asian mythology that I am I must assume the Dragonne was inspired by the 'Foo Dogs' or 'Foo Lions', gargoyle-like statues that guarded palaces and temples throughout Asia. The creature shown often resembled a combination of a dragon, a lion and a dog.

Gnoll

As mentioned the Gnoll probably came from the Gnole or a variation of troll described in Norweigan and Finish mythology as 'wolf-like'.

Just a few off the top of my head. Need rest or coffee for more.

AD

 

[Tonguez]

Ankheg
Beholder
Black Pudding
Bllink Dog
Bugbear (the pumpkin-headed one)
Bulette
Displacer Beast
Dragonne
Drow
Gelatinous Cube
Ghast
Gnoll
Gray Ooze
Green Slime
Kuo-Toa
Lammasu
Leucrotta
Lurker Above
Mimic
Mind Flayer
Neo-Otyugh
Ochre Jelly
Ogre Mage
Otyugh
Owlbear
Pseudo-Dragon
Purple Worm
Quasit
Remorhaz
Roper
Rust Monster
Sahuagin
Shambling Mound
Shrieker
Stirge
Trapper
Troglodyte
Troll [Gygax version]
Umber Hulk
Xorn
Yellow Mold

 

[Thurbane]

Using this criteria, rust monsters are in (inspired by a cheap plastic toy) but the gorgon is out (the bull form appears in a late Medieval bestiary).

The toy in question

 

[Arcturion]

Dragonne

Fan of Asian mythology that I am I must assume the Dragonne was inspired by the 'Foo Dogs' or 'Foo Lions', gargoyle-like statues that guarded palaces and temples throughout Asia. The creature shown often resembled a combination of a dragon, a lion and a dog.

Shi shi lion dogs, to be exact. They're all over the place here on Okinawa, and almost always encountered in pairs (one male, one female). A peculiar combination of lion, dragon, and dog, which is strange considering that lions are not native to Japan nor Okinawa. Definitely an influence of Chinese and Korean mythologies mixing with Japanese as Okinawa/Ryukyu Island(s) was an independent sovereign up until fairly recently, and served as a focal point of trade between all three countries and more besides (Thailand, etc.).

I actually haven't thought of shi shi as being dragonne before but now that I think more about it, it does make some sense (minus the wings and adding in a more dog-like tail). For some reason the desert climates favored by dragonne brought to mind some sort of Arabian or ancient Babylonian/Mesopotamian/Sumerian vibe to me. Must be a subconscious thing as I selected a dragonne as a cohort/mount for a DMPC, heh.

 

[Griffith Dragonlake]

Fan of Asian mythology that I am I must assume the Dragonne was inspired by the 'Foo Dogs' or 'Foo Lions', gargoyle-like statues that guarded palaces and temples throughout Asia. The creature shown often resembled a combination of a dragon, a lion and a dog.

Except that Foo Creatures appear in the Monster Manual II.

 

[Griffith Dragonlake]

Drow = Svartalfar

Except that Snorri Sturlasson's description had nothing about Svartalfr having some characteristics of black widow spiders, e.g. females larger and more powerful than males and worshipping a black widow spider-goddess. Or shooting hand crossbows for that matter. In addition, many scholars maintain that Svartalfr were just another name for the Dvergr.

 

[Griffith Dragonlake]

Black Pudding -- invented by Dave Arneson (inspired by The Blob)
Sahuagin -- invented by Steve Marsh

Source?