Topic: Monster Ideas for Future Castlevania Games

[Pentagram-cracker]

We all know Castlevania has a large amount of monsters, and most are based on creatures of mythology. Anyways what are some mythological creatures you would like to see as monsters? Describe how they would look and attack. Here's some of my ideas:

Deer Lady: A siren-like monster in Native American mythology that has the upper body of a beautiful woman but the legs of a doe. According to legend they lived in the forests and would sneak into villages during dance ceremonies, where they would lure men away with their beauty to follow them into the woods. Then when the two were alone the woman pulls up her dress to reveal her deer legs and murders the man by jumping on his back and breaking his spine, then runs away like a deer. In the game they would look like beautiful native-american women in the woods who dance and kick the main character, but once attacked they throw off their clothes to reveal their deer legs and antlers and will hop around trying to kill the main character by jumping on him or raming him with her horns.

Lamia: A monster from Greek Mythology who is half-snake and half-woman, similar to Medusa only with a more humanoid looking torso and normal hair instead of snake hair. In Greek Mythology Lamia was a mortal woman who Zues had an affair with, and his wife Hera was furious with rage and turned Lamia into a monster, then forced her to eat her own children. As if that weren't bad enough, she also cursed her to where her eyes would always be open so she would be reminded of her children's deaths every time she ate people. Zues feeling pity on her, gave her the ability to remove her own eyeballs whenever she wanted so she could rest occasionally. This monster will wiggle around in the game and do damage when touched, and she can open her mouth to spit eyeballs at the player.

That's the only two ideas I have for now, what do you guys think?

[Kale]

I thought there was already a lamia monster in cv? Or was that Valkyrie profile... hmm...

A Penis is my suggestion... Beware of link.
http://megamitensei.wikia.com/wiki/Mara

[Oralox]

How about a monster that is a vampire and he owns a huge castle that is very dark.
The attacks he would have are to shoot three fireballs and teleport.

Give me that monster/1'

[Pentagram-cracker]

I thought there was already a lamia monster in cv? Or was that Valkyrie profile... hmm...

A Penis is my suggestion... Beware of link.
http://megamitensei.wikia.com/wiki/Mara

I looked up Lamia on the Castlevania Wiki but no results came up, however she has appeared in several other games.

And a monster penis? rofl! Didn't they have one in Silent Hill 3?

[Apolake]

Here's a gallery of monsters from different mythologies: http://www.sherdog.net/forums/f7/mythical-humanoid-creatures-1300661/ This one is my one of favorites-

[DragonSlayr81]

I have some boss ideas:

Charybdis- In an aquatic area(Subterranean Grotto, Devil's Reef, Ship Graveyard), have the boss battle within a giant whirlpool that moves with floating planks you must navigate to avoid projectiles and waves. I imagine it as a water version of the Sarlacc pit monster.

Two-Headed Gargoyle- Fought on the outer wall-type level, a large winged stone gargoyle with two heads springs to life and attacks main character. Halfway during the battle, the gargoyle breaks in half and both sides attack the main character as individual creatures. Taking some damage, it will re-merge into one entity for the remainder of the battle.

Count Yorba- Another vampire made famous through cinema, would appear as an associate of Dracula's, much like Carmilla and Olrox.

The Red-legged Scissor Man- From the childhood tale, he could be the boss of a "Demon's Guest House" type stage, that looks like a child's nursery from hell. Is extremely tall(long legged, of course) and creepy looking.

Rotting Giant(Giant Zombie)- Fought in an underground cemetary or part of a subterranean mausoleum that has been destroyed(and parts of the earth around it has caved in, including pieces of bodies sticking out of the walls). The Rotting Giant is stock part way out of the mound of dirt, springs to life and tries to grab at the hero with it's large, exposed arm. Taking enough damage, the hand rots off, then crawls around as a separate foe while the main character has to avoid the Rotting Giant's  putrid pus puke attack.


As for monsters(some inspired by horror movies, just like some of the other more recent monsters):

Psycho Vampire- Energy draining vampire.

Creature Bride- Bride of Frankenstein's monster.

Man-Fly- Half-man, half-fly created through bizarre experiementations.

Mad Scientist- Tosses mysterious and deadly viles at our hero.

Nuckelavee- Twisted Gaelic monstrosity.

Possessed(Were-Demons)- Human possessed by bloodthirsty demonic spirit(inspired by The Exorcist, Demoni and Night of the Demons).

Dream Slasher- Dream demon with razor sharp fingers(inspired by Freddy Krueger).

Wendigo- Cannibalistic frost demon.

Shoggoth- Otherworldly monstrosity that invokes madness.

[Mystic Myotis]

Would love to see that tree creature that was cut from Lords of Shadow.

But as for completely foreign to the series... Something based off of a futakuchi-onna:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futakuchi-onna

Also, these Japanese mythical critters have some cool traits that could be used to generate enemies.  The bold ones are the ones I think woul work best:
   * Akateko - a red hand dangling out of a tree.
    * Ashinagatenaga - a pair of characters, one with long legs and the other with long arms.
   * Harionago - a female monster with deadly barbed hair.
    * Isonade - a fish-like sea monster with a barb-covered tail.
   * Jinmenju - a tree with human-faced fruits.
    * Jubokko - a vampire tree.
    * Kasha - a cat-like demon that descends from the sky and carries away corpses.
    * Kawa-akago - an infant monster that lurks near rivers and drowns people.
   * Keukegen - a creature made of hair.
    * Mokumokuren - a swarm of eyes that appear on a paper sliding door in an old building.
    * Nuribotoke - an animated corpse with blackened flesh and dangling eyeballs.
   * Nurikabe - a ghostly wall that traps a traveler at night.
    * Nyūbachibō - a mortar spirit.
    * Obariyon - a spook that rides piggyback on a human victim and becomes unbearably heavy.
    * Ohaguro-bettari - a female spook lacking all facial features save for a large, black-toothed smile.
    * Oiwa - the ghost of a woman with a distorted face who was murdered by her husband.
    * Ōmukade - a giant human-eating centipede that lives in the mountains.
    * Rokurokubi - a person, usually female, whose neck can stretch indefinitely.
    * Setotaishō - a warrior composed of discarded earthenware.
    * Tenjōname - the ceiling-licking spirit.
   * Tesso - the ghost of the priest Raigō, who transformed into a swarm of rats.




I'll look up some critters from other cultures, too.

Edit:

    * Abaia (Melanesian) - Huge magical eel
    * Acephali (Greek) - Headless humanoids
    * Alphyn (Heraldic) - Lion-like creature, sometimes with dragon or goat forelegs.
    * Amarum (Quechua) - Water boa spirit
    * Amphiptere (Heraldic) - Winged serpent
    * Amphisbaena (Greek) - Serpent with a head at each end.
    * Aqrabuamelu (Akkadian) - Human-scorpion hybrid
    * Blemmyae (Medieval Bestiary) - Headless humanoid with face in torso
    * Bunyip (Australian Aboriginal) - Horse-walrus hybrid lake monster
    * Cambion (Medieval folklore) - Hybrid between a human and an incubus or succubus
    * Cherufe (Mapuche) - Volcano-dwelling monster
    * Criosphinx (Ancient Egypt) - Ram-headed sphinx
    * Glaistig (Scottish) - Human-goat hybrid
    * Hugin and Munin (Norse) - Thought and Memory; a pair of ravens associated with the Norse god Odin
    * La-bar-tu (Assyrian) - Disease demon
    * Lavellan (Scottish) - Gigantic water rat
    * Leviathan (Jewish) - Sea monster, as seen in Job 41
    * Leyak (Balinese) - Anthropophagous flying head with entrails
    * Lou Carcolh (French) - Snake-mollusk hybrid
    * Merlion (Singapore) - Combination of a lion and a fish
    * Mimi (Australian Aboriginal mythology) - Extremely elongated humanoid that has to live in rock crevasses to avoid blowing away
    * Naree Pons (Thai) - Pod people (yes, like peas)
    * Nasnas (Arabian) - Half-human, half-demon creature with half a body
    * Orthrus (Greek) - Two-headed dog
    * Quinotaur (Frankish) - Five-horned bull
    * Scitalis (Medieval Bestiaries) - Snake which mesmerizes its prey
    * Selkie (Faroese, Icelandic, Irish, and Scottish) - Human-seal shapeshifter
    * Skrzak (Slavic) - Flying imp
    * Stymphalian Bird (Greek) - Metallic bird
    * The Swallower (Ancient Egyptian) - Crocodile-leopard-hippopotamus hybrid
    * Tiddy Mun (English) - Bog spirit
    * Wulver (Scottish) - Wolf-headed human
    * Wu Tou Gui (Chinese) - Beheaded ghost
    * Zburator (Romanian) - Wolf-headed dragon
    * Zilant (Tatar) - Flying reptile with chicken legs

[Pentagram-cracker]

Gaawa-chan those are some good choices, I agree some more Japanese monsters would be cool. They do add some I think? Like the mermen are based on Ningyo (Japanese mermaids who either kill you or make you immortal when you eat their meat and are said to bring bad luck when caught), there's that Crow Demon, and Baba Yaga from Lords of Shadow seems to be a baba as evidence of her name. A Baba is a Japanese hag who loves to eat people and has magical powers.

Another monster I would like to see is an Onryo. They're evil spirits of women who were abused or mistreated by their loved ones and go around killing anyone who disturbs their resting place. They wear white kimonos or dresses and have long messy black hair that usually covers their face, and their skin is ghastly white and decayed. Some well-known Onryo are Sadoka/Samara from The Ring and Kayoko from Ju-On/The Grudge.

[thernz]

It's funny that you mention Jinmenju because it appeared in NiTM in the underground garden.

[Mystic Myotis]

Another monster I would like to see is an Onryo. They're evil spirits of women who were abused or mistreated by their loved ones and go around killing anyone who disturbs their resting place. They wear white kimonos or dresses and have long messy black hair that usually covers their face, and their skin is ghastly white and decayed. Some well-known Onryo are Sadoka/Samara from The Ring and Kayoko from Ju-On/The Grudge.

I swear the Japanese have some of the best ghost myths...

[Wallachia]

Holy shit, alot of these are amazing! I hope Cox reads this thread. I thought the Dracolich was genuis. Lich's are cool.

I think they should do a bald greek spartan, that's really pale, and has big red tattoos, and an anger problem..

[Valtiel]

What I'd really like to see is them upping the ante with the consistency of monsters and areas.

For the next IGA/2D game I would want to see each area feature a unique subset of monster with stronger consistency. Like, werewolves and witches and demonic bears in the woods surrounding the castle, mechanical monsters in the clock tower, skeleton ghouls and all variatons of corporeal undeads in the catacombs, gremlins and gollum-things and elementals in the mine, armors and ghosts in the marble gallery and so on.

Some CV games do this already to a point, but in general monster distribution is quite random; I think the Metroidvania CV games could benefit from making each "wing" of the castle a little bigger and a little more thematically focused. I'd put it on top of the to-do list if they ever give up on reusing assets.

In fact, one thing CV could really borrow from Metroid is that if you're clearing a wing to get an upgrade that will allow you to explore further, maybe that upgrade could be meaningful in facing the monsters in that wing. In fact, integrating "traversal" upgrades in combat is something SotN and CotM did pretty well and the next games should improve on that.

[Munchy]

The Maria fangame Opera of the Red Moon is in Serbia or something so I suggested Slavic folklore for it.

Among those there's Kastchei the Immortal, a lecherous and ancient lich (ghost wizard) who features in Stravinsky's Firebird. Baba Yaga was in Lords of Shadow; chicken leg hut, eats children, etc etc.

It'd be cool if they drew inspiration from newer movies and books. Someone mentioned the Wendigo which is in Stephen King's Pet Semetary and is Native American folklore; supposedly its touch would turn people into cannibals. Also in The Stand is Randall Flagg, a majorly fucked up guy who is the Antichrist/ maybe Legion/ maybe a Djinn? I think someone based on him would be great for one of the post Demon Castle Wars games, as I could imagine someone like Flagg heading the "We Want a new Dracula" cult.

[Alutwon]

I like Valtiel's idea, however:
Headless horseman
Scarecrows (I like the idea in LoS)
Pumpkin heads (an evil pumpkin with a body)

[Pentagram-cracker]

How about Anemoi? In Greek Mythology the Anemoi were the 4 Gods of the Winds that had wings. There was Baurus the God of the North Wind, Zephyrus the God of the West Wind (I know he was ine one of the games, but that was more a monster then a Greek God), Notus the God of the South Wind, and Eurus the God of the East Wind. Anemoi were known for their destructive wind powers and could bring bad weather to hurt mortals.

In the game they could appear as men with bird wings who fly around and blow huge gusts of wind at the player which knocks him back and even summon lightening from storms.