The QQQE Creature Compendium Volume I: The Undead

Being the first part in a new series, this post might require an introduction.

Assuming the truth of that statement, I'll explain what I intend to do. I know a lot of us write Fantasy, Sci-Fi, or Paranormal books. Even if we don't, there are genres like Horror, and others, that still require a well full of monsters to be called upon.

What I'd like to do today, and all week, for that matter, is make a list of every monster I've ever come across in all my readings of fiction, history, legend, mythology, and role-playing-game manuals. Are you with me?

I'll start with the undead, because they're just so fascinating. They've also been featured a lot in literature, film, and TV lately, but I bet you haven't heard of some of these:

Lich: By most basic definition, a Lich is much like any any other corporeal animated corpse. What sets the Lich apart is that the person who supplied the body before it died was a king, great warrior, or wizard of unheard of power. Basically a Lich might have been but a Zombie, if he hadn't been so high-born in life. The key here is that the consciousness, wisdom, and awareness that were earned in life, are remembered after death, for whatever reason. So watch out, because undead as he may be, a Lich may have powerful spells, or a magic sword.

Skeleton: Skeletons are generally considered to be death personified. The Skeleton is the most wasted manifestation of the human form. They are obviously, by definition, little more than bone and connective tissue. But in Fantasy and role-playing games, the Skeleton can play a much larger role. Creatures of pure bone are rarely a threat in most stories of might and magic, but they can occasionally come into play if a powerful necromancer is in the vicinity, and has the ability to raise the dead, even from within the depths of the earth.

Vampire: The Vampire, or Vampyr, is probably the most famous undead creature in any legend. It might seem that Stephanie Meyer's Twilight, and even Anne Rice's Interview With a Vampire (and subsequent books) gave the Vampyl it's modern fame, but if you truly research this history of the legend, you will see that Vlad the Impaler and Bram Stoker were only the beginning. There are literally hundreds of variations on the Vampire, and they have been portrayed as everything from wild beasts to refined intellectuals, but the bottom line is that they have to at least prey on live victims for their blood, and they do not die of age or disease.

Zombie: If you thought the concept of a Vampire was widespread, wait until you read about Zombies. Originally, and in cultures that consider the Zombie a real entity, a Zombie was a corpse that was reanimated by witchcraft, or like in The Serpent and the Rainbow, by chemistry. More recently, Zombies have taken a role in literature where they are animated (or diseased) by some form of virus. The bottom line though, is that Zombies are generally mindless, ravenous hordes of shambling dead, on the hunt for brains. Some adaptations give them abilities like running and leaping, but we all know that Zombies are actually really slow, right?

Ghost: A Ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person that refuses to leave the world of the living for whatever reason. They can range from rather benign up to a annoying forms like poltergeists or even to dangerous spirits that can do physical harm to the living, like a Wraith.

Wight: A Wight is a living corpse somewhat similar to a Lich or Zombie, but it is said to still have lingering aspects of its living soul connected to it. Wights are often associated with extreme cold, such as Tolkien's Barrow-Wights, or Martin's Wights from Beyond-the-Wall. They would be considered more conscious and more dangerous than a Zombie, but not as powerful as a Lich.

Ghoul: In Dungeons and Dragons, a Ghoul is said to be the reanimated corpse of a person who in life was a cannibal. Much like a Zombie, a Ghoul is a creature who in undeath feasts on the flesh of the living, perhaps without a preference for brain over muscle or other tissue. In the Fallout universe, a Feral Ghoul is a human who is technically still alive, but whose mind is so damaged by radiation, that they no longer know themselves, and have been reduced to cannibalism.

Banshee: In Celtic legend, a Banshee is said to be the spirit of a female faerie who wails as someone of import is about to die. In Ireland she was known as the bean-sidhe, in Scotland as the bean-nighe. There are many legends and stories of these spirits, but in role-playing games they are often considered little more than a more powerful type of ghost.

Mummy: We all know the stories and histories of the mummification processes used in real life, but when it comes to the Mummy as a monster in fantasy it's not much different than any other animated corpse. Because of the history of the practice, it is usually assumed that a Mummy was made of a person because of their great stature, so a living corpse that was put through the mummification process is usually considered a monster of some power, assuming he was some kind of king when he still lived. Mummies are generally considered the second most powerful corporeal undead after the Lich.

Will-o'-the-Wisp: From the hinkypunk, to the faerie light, to the corpse road, there are hundreds of variations on the Will-o'-the-Wisp, but the one thing that is agreed upon is that it generally lives in swamps, bogs, and marshes, and will recede when approached, often assumed to be attempting to lead it's victim to a watery grave.

Jiang Shi: The Jiang Shi (Chinese), or Gangshi (Korean), or Kyonshi (Japanese) is known as a hopping Vampire (or sometimes Zombie). They are said to live in coffins or caves during the day, and move around at night by taking great leaps of impressive agility. They are known for feeding on a living person's Ch'i (or Qi or Ki) rather than their blood.

There are countless variations on these forms of undead from many different cultures and histories, but I hope I have covered the main ones, and maybe even introduced some of you to something new.

Please continue to return and read this week, as I will cover other categories of fantastic creatures all week long.