Hellooo, everybody! Today I'm talking about fantasy creatures. In particular,
the fantasy creatures that I have been obsessed with since childhood. In other words, I'm exposing
exactly why I had no friends in junior high. If I sound hella nasal, it's because I have a
sinus infection. Lucky me. So I'm probably gonna sound crazy for the next few videos,
deal with it. I love fantasy creatures. I have been in love with them ever since I was a kid,
and that love has never died. Fantasy creatures are here to stay. If you don't like it,
there's the door. There's the door bitch! And since I'm in the mood to geek out, I'm going
to list my ten favorite fantasy creatures. The best of the best. Spoiler alert, you're gonna see
a lot of Greek mythology on this list. I'm not sorry about it. My question for you is, are any
of your favorites on this list? We can be geeks together, Comment your favorite fantasy creature below.
Maybe we could be cyborg twinsies. Let's dive in.
(The sound of a pen scratching. LOGO.)
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be there, some huge fantasy writers are gonna to be there, get on it! Don't forget to subscribe to
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that bell. The first two books in my bestselling dark fantasy romance series, The Savior's Champion
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please pick up some copies for yourself. Pick up some copies for your friends and family. I’ll
love you for it, I'll love you forever. They're linked below. But now let's talk about fantastical
creatures and why we love ‘em. Number One (1): Chimeras. If you've been following me since
the beginning, this should come as no surprise. Chimera is a scientific term for an organism that
contains a mixture of genetic tissue. But it is also a fire breathing monster from Greek mythology
with the head of a lion, the body of a goat, and the snake tail. I first learned about chimeras
when I was about eight years old. I was super into drawing, and super into Greek mythology. So my
mom bought me a book that taught you how to draw mythological creatures. Thanks, Mom! The chimera
was my favorite. So much so that I kept drawing it over and over again for over a decade. I love the
absolute hodgepodge nature of the chimera. It's just three random animals stuffed into one body.
It makes no fucking sense, and I'm here for it. Obviously I've paid homage to chimeras in my
own writing, but I would love to see more actual chimeras in fiction. I rarely see them outside of
mythology, and when I do see them they're usually depicted inaccurately. It sucks, stop it. Number
Two (2): The Incubus. Sex demons for the win. I am very much into death, and demons, and the idea of
hell. Because I'm clearly a very healthy and well adjusted person. But my current favorite demon is
the Incubus, which is a male demon that lays with a sleeping woman. Sometimes he does this over and
over again, sucking the life out of her, until he eventually fucks her to death. I'm normal,
I promise. Incubi are fun because there are so many different interpretations of them,
or places that you could go with this creature. Incubi have been used to explain away wet dreams,
they have been used as an excuse for premarital pregnancies, the tales are loose and varied which
allows room for a ton of invention and creativity in your own writing. Besides everyone loves a
succubus, you see ‘em in movies, TV, books and video games—they've been done to death,
pun intended. Everyone wants to write about a sexed up lady demon. And by everyone I mean cis
het men. You guys are so predictable. The last time I've personally seen an Incubus in any form
of media, was the band. I saw them live, you know? That's how old I am. So will I one day write about
an Incubus? Probably, because male sex demons need love too dammit. A wild fantasy creature appears!
Say hello Butters! (BUTTERS) “Hello everyone!” Do you like fantasy creatures? I'll take that
as a yes. Number Three (3): Medusa. Medusa seems to be getting a revival in pop culture, and we
love to see it. What I love about Medusa and really most Greek mythological creatures, is that
there are so many different interpretations and origin stories. We've all heard the most popular
story about Medusa. She was raped by Poseidon in Athena's temple, so Athena punished her
by giving her a head full of snake hair, and by making it so that anyone she looks at would turn
to stone. But in some versions, she's the daughter of sea deities. In other versions, she's beautiful
despite her snake hair. And in other sources, she's always been a creepy monster. As a writer,
I like having variations to choose from. If I were to ever write my own Medusa inspired story,
I have so many different options and avenues that I could go with. Give me my freedom,
dammit. I also think that snake hair is pretty cool. And maybe it wouldn't be such a bad thing.
If I could just look at a douchebag and turn him to stone. If you asked me Medusa was doing the
world a service. I salute you lady. Number Four (4): Giants. At first glance, giants are not the
most interesting fantasy creature. They're tall people, whoop-de-doo. What I love about giants is
the history surrounding them, and the intricacies of their descriptions. Yeah, giants are tall and
scary, but they also supposedly had six fingers on each hand, and six toes on each foot. They are
often described as having red hair and a second row of teeth. And on top of that, every culture
has some kind of lore about giants. In fact, there's a widespread belief that it's not lore
at all. There's shockingly realistic video footage and photographs of giants. There are preserved
footprints and skeletal structures of humanoid creatures that are enormous. Which sounds a
whole lot like giants. I think all the information surrounding them is fascinating, and I especially
love it when it becomes increasingly difficult to separate fact from fiction. They totally existed,
I'm calling it. Number Five (5): Sirens. Sirens have been a favorite of mine since I was a kid,
which is why I feel qualified to say this. They're bird women, not fish, women, bird
women. Siren’s originated in Greek mythology and were typically depicted as having the head of a
woman and the body of a bird, or their body was just covered in feathers, or they just had bird
legs and feet. But the common denominator here is bird. It wasn't until the Middle Ages that
people started describing sirens as mermaids. Which is fucking stupid because the mermaid
lore already exists. Let sirens be birds! I will die on this hill. These super saucy birds would
hang out along rocky coasts, and lure sailors with their music, ultimately ship wrecking them.
We love murderous women in this house. Originally the mythology depicted both male
and female sirens, however, eventually the male sirens disappeared and the women reigned supreme.
They probably murdered all the guy sirens, that's my theory. I may or may not have a story idea that
I'd like to write in the future that includes a siren. And maybe I'll get to write it one day,
if my schedule stops being pure chaos. And you can bet your ass my siren will be of the bird variety.
The way God intended. Which brings us to Number Six (6): Mermaids. Contrary to what you might
be thinking, I actually do love mermaids, when they're called mermaids. You guys probably know
all about mermaids. The fish ladies, sometimes they’re fish men. I like them because they're yet
another mythical creature that spans the globe. You see him in stories from Asia to Africa.
I also like that they've got sort of a sad vibe, typically when you hear a mermaid story,
it's kind of depressing. I think one of the earliest mermaid stories is about a goddess
who accidentally kills her lover, and then turns herself into a mermaid as punishment.
Because that makes sense. But my main love of mermaids stems from my fear and terror over the
deep sea. The craziest shit lives in the ocean, so the thought of mermaids is both mysterious
and intriguing. If see-through light bulb monsters can live underwater, why not fish people? I'm just
saying. Number Seven (7): Harpies. Speaking of mutant animal ladies, let's talk about harpies.
Harpies, like sirens, are bird ladies. The way that they differ from sirens, is that
they're fucking ugly. Their hands are talons, they're haggard, and disgusting, and grotesque.
They're supposed to be the physical manifestation of stormwinds, so basically, their job is to
snatch shit up and carry it away. Usually the shit they snatch up is food, which begs the question,
maybe they're just hangry. What I enjoy about harpies is somewhere down the line, they became
synonymous with terrorizing men. I love that for them. I'm realizing that punishing men has become
a theme on this list. I think that's fantastic. My favorite depiction of harpies is in the 1963 movie
Jason and the Argonauts, even though it's not super accurate, they look more like bats than
birds. I still love them, I actually think it's super creative and honestly makes them scarier.
This is where my love of harpies originated. I saw this movie as a kid, and I just thought those
demon bitches were my kind of people. Further proving that it was probably nature, not nurture,
that may be this way. Number Eight (8): Anubis. Anubis is the Egyptian God of the dead,
the afterlife, and mummification. He's not exactly a creature because he's a god. But he's depicted
as having the head of a jackal, so I'm saying it counts. It's my list, dammit. I do what I want. I
wish I could say my love for Anubis came from in depth and analysis but the truth is, I love dogs
and I like mythology surrounding death. That's it. Are you Anubis? You could totally be a jackal with
those big ears. Plus the Egyptian depiction of jackals is stunning. That is another thing I found
myself drawing all the time when I was a kid. So not only is he a dog-man God, but he's also
gorgeous? I see no downside. Egyptian mythology is one of my favorites, I find it fascinating. But my
love for Anubis is shallow, and I won't apologize for it. Number Nine (9): Centaurs. There are a
lot of animal human hybrids on this list. I blame ancient civilizations' obsession with beastiality,
I'm just saying. But centaurs are another creature that I have loved since I was a kid. They are half
human, half horse, and according to Disney, they are adorable colorful delights. Centaurs
are cool because they're wild and free. Plus, they're another mythical creature that persisted
throughout different eras of folklore. They seem to have gotten their start in Greek mythology, but
they show up again in Roman mythology, and they even show up in medieval folklore. And once again,
they're so beautiful. I mean, you're combining the most beautiful part of the human body, with one of
the most stunning animals on the planet. It's just a majestic creature, and personally, I'd like to
see more of ‘em in fiction. Before we announce the final creature, let's take a moment to honor the
creatures that barely missed making the list. The sphinx. Cerberus. Cherubim and Seraphim angels,
and their many eyeballs. Penistrice, I mean cockatrice. The devil. The roc. And
el chupacabra. Thank you for your service. And now for our final winning creature. Number Ten (10):
Pegasus. If you didn't see this coming, you must be new here or stupid. Pegasus is my all time
favorite fantasy creature. It really brings out the neuro divergence in me. The need to correct
people when they say it's a breed of flying horses, and I have to be like, ‘No, no child.
It's only one horse. Just a single Pegasus. That's his name.’ This excludes different variations
and retellings, obviously, I'm talking about the original source. Let me be pedantic for a second,
okay. There are a million different stories about how Pegasus was born, but I tend to lean
more so toward the one where the Medusa’s blood mixes with seafoam, and out pops a flying horse.
Because that's the stupidest version. Most mythological origins stories are insane,
and I like to keep tabs on the ones that really swung for the fences. But Pegasus and I go way
back. He's been my favorite since I was a kid. I talk about him all the time on my channel, but for
some reason the message has gotten misconstrued. I receive a lot of fan mail mentioning my love for
unicorns. And don't get me wrong, unicorns are nice. But love? A deep emotional bond
for unicorns? I think not! Horses with wings motherfuckers. So that’s all I got for you today.
A huge thank you to ProWritingAid for sponsoring today's video. If you want to improve your
writing, you should definitely check them out. You can try them for free. Or if you want access
to their premium platform, you can get 20% off by clicking the link below. And be sure to check out
their annual Fantasy Writers Week! They've got some amazing guest speakers like V.E Schwab,
and of course, yours truly! I will be speaking at this event all about how to write romance and
fantasy. It's awesome. It's gonna be so much fun, please join me. It's a free event. What
have you got to lose? Nothing. Nothing to lose and everything to gain. I got it linked below,
check it out. Don't forget to subscribe to my channel. I post new videos on Wednesdays,
and if you wanna be alerted as SOON as I upload, ring that bell. The Savior's Champion and The
Savior’s Sister are available in ebook, paperback, hardback and audiobook. They're available all over
the place. So please, please, please pick up a copy today. Pick one up for yourself. Pick up
some copies for friends and family. You will love it. And be sure to follow me on social media. I'm
on Instagram, Tumblr, Facebook and BookBub. And of course you could tweet me @Jenna Moreci! Bye!
(Female Voice) Hey everyone! I'm Emma Tigan, narrator for The Savior’s Sister written by Jenna
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be sure to subscribe and ring the bell! That way, you'll know as soon as her content goes live!