Encounter-a-Day

Some links courtesy of Wikipedia.

A damn-near comprehensive list of legendary creatures, sorted alphabetically. Best thing about this list, in my mind, is the brief description given for each of them. You don’t even need to click the link to get a preview of what an unfamiliar monster is!

Of course, such a gargantuan list can be a bit hard to handle if you’re looking for something to fit some criteria. Enter the list of legendary creatures by type, wherein you can find lists of creatures which fit such diverse categories as goats, elves, hybrids (both part-human and entirely non-human get their own sections), and even creatures associated with sexuality and fertility.

The downside is that the second list seems to be missing a significant portion of the entries from the first list, judging by the length of the two pages. Also, most of the monsters in the second list don’t have the handy “previews,” though that necessity is somewhat obviated by the categorization.

On a different tack, we have a list of mythological objects just filled with weapons, armor and other items from our imaginative history.

The list of deities and list of mythologies both serve as “directories” of pantheons and mythologies sorted by geographic area, though the list of deities also provides lists based on more objective types (i.e. sun deities, weather deities, etc).

We’ve also got collections of underworlds, psychopomps*, angels, demons, and cultural heroes.

On a more modern note, we’ve also got the list of species in fantasy fiction and list of aliens in fiction.

What are some of your favorite articles with applications to gaming on Wikipedia? Post ‘em in the comments!

*A psychopomp, if you’re wondering, is a creature like the norse Valkyrie whose function it is to escort people to the afterlife. Learning is fun!