Ranting Dragon’s Favorite… Fantasy Creature!

The fantasy genre is positively infused with creatures. Some of those are terrifying. Some are amazing. And then there are those that are terrifyingly amazing. As always, this Sunday brings you a list of five favorites from our Ranting Dragon staff members. In no particular order, these are the favorite creatures from some of our writers and editors:

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			Ghost from A Song of Ice and Fire	By Michael
			Ghost the Direwolf is probably an obvious answer, and there’s nothing especially mystical or magical about a huge wolf. Yet Ghost, like his direwolf siblings, is an incredible character, not just a creature, who fully embodies Martin’s world.
			TenSoon from The Mistborn Trilogy	By Michelle
			There are so many great fantasy creatures, but if I had to choose one it would be TenSoon the kandra. He’s possibly my favorite Mistborn character and has a great role throughout the series. The development of his friendship with Vin is touching to behold and its culmination at the end of The Well of Ascension was awesome. The kandra are a really interesting and unique species in general, and TenSoon is the best of them.
			Dæmons from His Dark Materials	By Jake
			The Dæmons from Phillip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy. Having a lifelong animal companion who is also a manifestation of your soul seems pretty awesome. I love how the Dæmons can change type when young (Pan is always changing in amusing ways), but also found the concept of them choosing a permanent form at adulthood interesting. The various Dæmons in the story truly reflect the inner personalities of their humans; Lord Asriel’s snow leopard, Marisa Coulter’s golden monkey, and Lee Scoresby’s artic hare, Hester, are all great examples.
			Gollum from The Lord of the Rings	By Ashik
			You can’t help but pity him, caught up by the ring’s immense power, ostracized and driven from his home. Slowly giving way to insanity as the ring controlled his every thought—except for one little glimmer of his old self, which Frodo brings out.
			Cleopatra from Queen of Kings	By Stephan
			You may know Cleopatra as the queen of Egypt… But you ain’t seen nothing yet. In her debut novel Queen of Kings, Maria Dahvana Headley changed Cleopatra for good. She is no longer human. Instead, she has become a bloodsucking goddess with the ability to transform into whichever beast pleases her. She kills sailors as a great serpent and eats slaves alive as a huge lion. Cleopatra is one monster you don’t want to mess with. She goes to great lengths for revenge and passion.

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So, who or what is favorite creature? Let us know in the comments below, or on the forums!

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