Creature Creativity

Despite the tendency for fantasy media to look to the past for inspiration, the nature of fantasy bestiary has evolved over the years.  There's a big difference between kobolds in Dungeons and Dragons versus the original fairytale ones.  Another good example would be Santa Claus' elves as opposed to J.R.R. Tolkien's elves.  In fact, Gary Gygax (co-creator of Dungeons and Dragons) came up with several of the IPs more iconic monsters based on some cheap plastic figurines he bought.  Three of the most notable examples are owlbears, rust monsters and bullets.  In fantasy video games too, it's possible to see original creations.

The first Bard's Tale (released way back in 1985) is one of the earliest examples I can recall with regards to seeing an entirely new kind of fantasy creature.  For the most part, the game simply uses bog-standard fantasy monsters.  However, there is one standout exception, the ghostly "lurkers"/"maze dwellers."  Of course, the original Legend of Zelda came out for the NES the following year...and that game introduced a whole slew of new creatures ranging from Moblins to Octoroks.

More recently, with Witcher franchise has introduced some new kinds of beasts into the fantasy lexicon.  There are the Arachas, which appear to be the result of combining a flowering plant with a giant hermit crab.  Another example is the Nekkers, a race of burrowing humanoids that feel like a compromise between a ghoul and a goblin (not to be confused with the video games Ghosts and Goblins or Ghouls and Ghosts).  One other standout monster in Witcher II is the Draug.  At first, I thought this was what would happen if Treebeard the Ent decided to take up a great sword and set himself aflame.  In actuality, though, it's a kind of malevolent spirit that appears on old battlefields in the form of a golem made of shields, armor and weapons....that also happen to be on fire.

Possibly the longest list of original fantasy bestiary (in a game trying to emulate a high fantasy setting) is Dwarf Fortress.  I think this is in large part due to the game not needing 3D models or animation for its creatures.  The amount of variety is also impressive, ranging from the goofy and harmless (flesh balls and floating guts) to nightmare inducing (green devourers and pond grabbers).  Unlike more recent editions of the Monster Manual for Dungeons and Dragons, Dwarf Fortress isn't afraid to have creatures that are more than just something that's out to ruin your day.  A wide variety of real-world animals are in the game, as well as not-so-real-world anthropomorphic versions of most in-game animals.  Some are not especially interesting, such as osprey men and rat men.  One I do rather like though is the utterly worthless slug man.  Basically, it's a child-sized slug with a pair of arms and hands which it uses to drag itself across the ground.  Even so, its slow.  It doesn't fight well, and can't be butchered for anything of use.  The slug man is just some random creature one might happen upon in the shade by a riverbank...perhaps munching on some local vegetation...

Aberrations aside, above ground flora is about what you would expect (not counting the specially designated evil zones).  Underground, on the other hand, has an entire original ecosystem built on caverns filled with forests of oversized mushrooms and fungi.  Fantastical subterranean creatures exist as well.  There is a species of primate (called Drunians), large herbivores (called Draltha) and even Molmarians (basically a naked mole rat configured like a centaur).  Some creature are not hostile, but can cause problems.  Crundles and Golaks often frighten dwarfs because of horns and claws, in the case of the former, or big tusks in the case of the latter.  Jabbers are giant dodo birds that can be domesticated and even taught how to fight.  The same is true for the somewhat misnamed beak dogs (in truth they look like Final Fantasy Chocobos with parrot coloration).  Werebeasts are another feature of Dwarf Fortress.  It is possible to come across a generic lycanthrope, but just as likely to encounter something more exotic like a werehorse or weretapier.

One last tidbit I wanted to mention is...well...what the website TV Tropes likes to call "our dragons are different."  Contrary to the norm, dragons in Dwarf Fortress can't fly (some do have vestigial wings though...).  Carp started off a bit counter to expectation, too, in that they were incredibly strong and aggressive - able to rip the arm of an unsuspecting fisherdwarf in one go.  Whether this was a coding error or a joke is hard to say (perhaps the former became the latter?).  Regardless, more recent version of the game have humbled the mighty carp by turning it back into something that resembles the real thing.