As humans, we have always been fascinated with the ocean.
It’s unfathombly vast, housing the world's biggest creatures, however, it has always
been suspected that we haven’t quite found everything yet, that there may be something
lying in the depths of the 90% of waters we haven’t yet explored.
This has been theorized throughout history, with mythological monsters coming to life
on the pages of our favorite novels, and popularized on the big screen.
So today on Top 5 Scary Videos, I’m going to be counting down our list of the Top 5
Scariest Mythological Monsters From The Seven Seas.
Before we begin though, be sure to stick around until the end of the video where I’ll be
responding to some of your comments.
And with that, let’s jump in.
5 Sirens Hailing from Greek mythology, Sirens were
supposed dangerous creatures, who, according to the legend of Odysseus, the Sirens would
lure nearby sailors with their enchanting music and singing, which would cause them
to shipwreck on the rocky coast of the Sirens’ island.
The ships would be wrecked and the sailors aboard would perish, either by drowning or
slain by the Sirens themselves.
However, what makes these creatures interesting, is that whatever they did to their captives
is unknown, but has been implied throughout mythology that they ate the unfortunate sailors.
Savage.
Now, when Odysseus sailed towards the island housing the Sirens, he ordered his crew to
tie him to the mast so that he could hear the Sirens’ song without being led astray.
Smart mans.
The crew were also ordered to plug their ears with beeswax so that they could not hear.
In turn, Odysseus’ ship past safely by the island.
Now, these mythological monsters were believed to combine women and birds in various ways.
Often represented as birds with large female heads, bird feathers and scaly feet.
However, throughout history this description would change, with them now being represented
as female figures with the legs of birds, with or without wings, playing a variety of
musical instruments, particularly harps.
They have also been depicted as beautiful women, whose bodies, not just their voices,
are seductive.
Now, according to Ovid, the Sirens were the companions of young Persephone.
Demeter gave them wings to search for Persephone when she was abducted by Hades.
However, Demeter would curse the Sirens for failing to intervene in the abduction, and
were ultimately fated to live only until the mortals who heard their songs were able to
pass by them.
4 Jormungandr (your-man-gand) Hailing from Norse mythology, Jormungandr,
meaning ‘huge monster’, and also known as the Midgard world Serpent, is a sea monster
and the middle child of the giantess Angrboda and Loki.
Now, according to mythology, Odin took Loki’s three children by Angrboda -- the wolf Fenrir,
Hel, and Jormungandr -- and tossed the latter into the great ocean that encircles Midgard.
The serpent then grew so large that it was able to surround the entire earth and grasp
its own tail.
As a result of this, it received the name The World Serpent.
When this monster releases its tail, Ragnarok will begin.
Frightening stuff.
Once the beast releases its tail, the seas will become violent, as the serpent thrashes
its way onto land.
Fenrir will set ablaze one half of the world with fire while Jormungandr sprays poison
to fill the skies and seas of the other half.
The two will then join the sons of Muspell into the plain of Vigrid.
Here is where the last meeting between the serpent and Thor is predicted to occur.
Thir will become occupied with battling Jormungandr and will be unable to help others as they
fight their own battles.
Thor, however, will eventually kill the serpent, but will fall dead after walking just nine
paces, having been poisoned by the serpent’s deadly venom.
Tragic.
This dude is not to be messed with.
3 Kraken The Kraken is a legendary sea-monster hailing
from Norse Mythology, and is a creature of enormous proportions.
Meaning an “unhealthy or twisted animal”, however the Kraken was borrowed for one of
the main antagonist monsters in Ray Harryhausen’s ‘Clash of the Titans’.
This creature is often described as a cephalopod and resembling a giant octopus or squid, The
Kraken is said to emerge from the depths of the ocean and envelop whole ships in the grasp
of its tentacles and dragging them beneaths the murky depths.
Now, most will remember this sea monster also making an appearance in the second installment
of The Pirates of the Caribbean, which featured a more mythologically-accurate depiction of
the Kraken, as opposed to the 2010 remake of Clash of the Titans.
Now, it’s true mythological history goes something like this: after returning from
Greenland, an old Norwegian author described in detail the physical characteristics and
feeding behavior of the Kraken, proposing that there must be just two in all of existence,
stemming from the observation that the beasts have always been sighted in the same parts
of Greenland Sea, and that each seemed incapable of reproduction, as there was seemingly no
increase in their numbers.
And while that fact may put some minds at ease, there is no denying the impact The Kraken
has had on popular culture, and sailors alike, with many fearing beneath those murky waters
are elongated tentacles, waiting patiently to feast.
2 Dagon (day-gone) Dagon is a deity who presides over the Deep
Ones, an amphibious humanoid race indigenous to Earth’s oceans.
Now, this bad boy was first introduced in Lovecraft’s short story, “Dagon”, but
is also mentioned extensively through the mythos.
Also referred to as Father Dagon, he is a Great Old One and the consort of Mother Hydra.
Now, Dagon is huge, really huge, and could potentially reach a height of 50 feet.
He is an enormous monster and is worshipped by a devout cult of humans and Deep Ones,
who revere him as their deity.
It is rumored that he is immortal, however, his longevity may be attributable to his fraternization
with the Star Spawn who will oftentimes select specimens from a given species to protect,
nurture, and empower for reasons only known to them.
Now, Dagon is aptly described in the short story, I quote: “with only a slight churning
to mark its rise to the surface, the thing slid into view above the dark waters.
Vastm Polyphemus-like, and loathsome, it darted like a stupendous monster of nightmares to
the monolith, about which it flung its gigantic scaly arms, the while it bowed its hideous
head and gave vent to certain measured sounds.”
-- This is not a beast you would want to stumble across on a dark night.
1 Cthulhu Cthulhu is a fictional cosmic entity created
by our favorite writer over here at Top 5 Scary, HP Lovecraft himself, and was first
introduced in the short story “The Call of Cthulhu” which, if you haven’t read
it, get on it immediately!
Cthulhu is a Great Old One of great power that lies in a depth-like slumber beneath
the Pacific Ocean in his sunken city of R’lyeh (rill-yeh but hood) and remains a dominant
presence in the eldritch dealings on our world.
Now, it’s near impossible to describe Cthulhu, however, the most detailed descriptions come
from “The Call of Cthulhu” and are based on statues of the creature.
One of these statues, constructed by an artist after a series of baleful dreams, is said
to have, I quote, “yielded simultaneous pictures of an octopus, a dragon, and a human
caricature.
A pulpy, tentacled head surmounted a grotesque and scaly body with rudimentary wings.”
Horrifying, right?
Worse still, this oceanic monster has a loyal group of followers.
It is unknown how large the throng of worshippers are, but his cult has many cells around the
globe, and are noted for chanting horrid phrases that translate to, I quote, “In his house
at R’lyeh (rill-yeh but hood) dead Cthulhu waits dreaming”.
So, what happens when Cthulhu emerges from his slumber beneath the ocean?
Well, the story says that I quote, “the thing cannot be described, but it is called
the green sticky spawns of the stars, with flabby claws, and an awful squid-head with
writhing feelers.”
All I can say, folks, is that, if Ctuhlu awakens, there’s trouble for not just you, but for
all of us.
You have been warned.
Well, there we have it!
Do you guys agree with our list?
Were there any scary mythological monsters that we missed?
Leave us all your thoughts and feelings in the comments down below and perhaps we can
do a part 2.
Before I go though, I just want to respond to a few comments from one of our last videos,
Top 5 Scariest Animated Movies Of All Time - Part 3.
Raven House Mystery said: “In regards to Dante’s Inferno, Lucy, who would you like
to see travel the seven levels to save you?”
-- Who said I needed saving, I would be the one dragging people through the seven layers
of hell.
I’m the villain here.
Diogenes The Good said: “Lucy really sounds a lot like Lucifer.
Think about it.”
-- Please, Lucifer is my father’s name.
Mark Frost said: “Lucy what was your degree in?”
--A BA in Film and Television.
Westnile21 said: “Lucy is so freaking beautiful.
She’s hands down my favorite host.
Her eyes are literally hypnotizing.”
-- Fine.
I will marry you.
Jeffery Williamson said: “I’m sure Lucy did get a lot of “D’s” in school...Lmao”
-- *blank stare*
And on that note, if you haven’t already, be sure to give this video a big thumbs up,
subscribe, and turn on notifications so you never miss another scary vid.
And until next time, see ya later.