A polemical allegory represented as a five-headed monster, 1618
Amonster is a type of imaginary or fictional creature found inliterature,folklore,mythology,horror,fantasy,fiction andreligion. They are very often depicted as dangerous andaggressive, with a strange or grotesque appearance that causesterror andfear, often in humans. Monsters usually resemblebizarre, deformed, otherworldly and/or mutatedanimals or entirely unique creatures of varyingsizes, but may also take ahuman form, such asmutants,ghosts,spirits,vampires orzombies, among other things. They may or may not have supernatural powers, but are usually capable of killing or causing some form of destruction, threatening the social ormoral order of the human world in the process.
Animal monsters are outside the moral order, but sometimes have their origin in some human violation of the moral law (e.g. in the Greekmyth,Minos does not sacrifice toPoseidon the white bull which the god sent him, so as punishment Poseidon makes Minos' wife,Pasiphaë, fall in love with the bull. She copulates with the beast, and gives birth to the man with a bull's head,the Minotaur). Human monsters are those who by birth were never fully human (Medusa and herGorgon sisters) or who through some supernatural or unnatural act lost their humanity (werewolves,Frankenstein's monster), and so who can no longer, or who never could, follow the moral law of human society.
Monsters may also be depicted as misunderstood and friendly creatures who frighten individuals away without wanting to, or may be so large, strong and clumsy that they cause unintentional damage or death. Some monsters in fiction are depicted as mischievous and boisterous but not necessarily threatening (such as a slygoblin), while others may be docile but prone to becoming angry or hungry, thus needing to be tamed and taught to resist savage urges, or killed if they cannot be handled or controlled successfully.
Monster derives from theLatinmonstrum, itself derived ultimately from the verbmoneo ("to remind, warn, instruct, or foretell"), and denotes anything "strange or singular, contrary to the usual course of nature, by which the gods give notice of evil," "a strange, unnatural, hideous person, animal, or thing," or any "monstrous or unusual thing, circumstance, or adventure."[2]
Cultural heritage
In the words of Tina Marie Boyer, assistant professor of medieval German literature atWake Forest University, "monsters do not emerge out of a cultural void; they have a literary and cultural heritage".[3]
In the religious context of ancient Greeks and Romans, monsters were seen as signs of "divine displeasure", and it was thought that birth defects were especially ominous, being "an unnatural event" or "a malfunctioning of nature".[4]
Monsters are not necessarily abominations however. The Roman historianSuetonius, for instance, describes a snake's absence of legs or a bird's ability to fly as monstrous, as both are "against nature".[5] Nonetheless, the negative connotations of the word quickly established themselves, and by the playwright and philosopherSeneca's time, the word had extended into its philosophical meaning, "a visual and horrific revelation of the truth".[6]
In spite of this, mythological monsters such as theHydra andMedusa are not natural beings, but divine entities. This seems to be a holdover fromProto-Indo-European religion and other belief systems, in which the divisions between "spirit," "monster," and "god" were less evident.
Monsters in fiction
Prose fiction
The history of monsters in fiction is long. For instance,Grendel in the epic poemBeowulf is an archetypal monster: deformed, brutal, and with enormous strength, he raids a human settlement nightly to slay and feed on his victims. The modern literary monster has its roots in examples such as the monster inMary Shelley'sFrankenstein and the vampire inBram Stoker'sDracula.
Universal Studios specialized in monsters, withBela Lugosi's reprisal of his stage role,Dracula, andBoris Karloff playingFrankenstein's monster. The studio also made several lesser films, such asMan-Made Monster, starringLon Chaney Jr. as a carnival side-show worker who is turned into an electrically charged killer, able to dispatch victims merely by touching them, causing death by electrocution.
There was also a variant of Dr. Frankenstein, the mad surgeon Dr. Gogol (played byPeter Lorre), who transplanted hands that were reanimated with malevolent temperaments, in the filmMad Love.
Werewolves were introduced in films during this period.Mummies were cinematically depicted as fearsome monsters as well. As for giant creatures, the cliffhanger of the first episode of the 1936Flash Gordonserial did not use a costumed actor, instead using real-lifelizards to depict a pair of battling dragons via use of camera perspective. However, the cliffhanger of the ninth episode of the same serial had a man in a rubber suit play the Fire Dragon, which picks up a doll representing Flash in its claws. The cinematic monster cycle eventually wore thin, having a comedic turn inAbbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948).
In thepost–World War II era, however, giant monsters returned to the screen with a vigor that has been causally linked to the development ofnuclear weapons. One early example occurred in the American filmThe Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, which was about adinosaur that attacked a lighthouse. Subsequently, there wereJapanese film depictions, (Godzilla,Gamera), British depictions (Gorgo), and evenDanish depictions (Reptilicus), of giant monsters attacking cities. A recent depiction of a giant monster is depicted inJ. J. Abrams'sCloverfield, which was released in theaters 18 January 2008. The intriguing proximity of otherplanets brought the notion of extraterrestrial monsters to the big screen, some of which were huge in size (such asKing Ghidorah andGigan), while others were of a more human scale. During this period, thefish-human monsterGill-man was developed in the film seriesCreature from the Black Lagoon.
Britain'sHammer Film Productions broughtcolor to the monster movies in the late 1950s. Around this time, the earlier Universal films were usually shown on American television by independent stations (rather than network stations) by using announcers with strange personas, who gained legions of young fans. Although they have since changed considerably, movie monsters did not entirely disappear from the big screen as they did in the late 1940s.
Occasionally, monsters are depicted as friendly or misunderstood creatures. King Kong and Frankenstein's monster are two examples of misunderstood creatures. Frankenstein's monster is frequently depicted in this manner, in series and films such asMonster Squad andVan Helsing.The Hulk is an example of the "Monster as Hero" archetype. The theme of the "Friendly Monster" is pervasive in pop-culture.Chewbacca,Elmo, andShrek are notable examples of friendly "monsters". In theMonsters, Inc. franchise byPixar, the monster characters scare (and later entertain) children in order to createenergy for running machinery in their home world, while the furry monsters ofThe Muppets andSesame Street live in harmony with animals and humans alike. Japanese culture also commonly features monsters which are benevolent or likable, with the most famous examples being thePokémon franchise and the pioneering animeMy Neighbor Totoro. The book series/webisodes/toy line ofMonster High is another example.
Games
Monsters are commonly encountered in fantasy or role-playing games, as well as video games, as enemies for players to fight against. They may includealiens,legendary creatures, extra-dimensional entities ormutated versions of regular animals.
Especially in role-playing games, "monster" is a catch-all term for hostile characters that are fought by the player.Sentientfictional races are usually not referred to as monsters. At other times, the term can carry a neutral connotation, such as in thePokémon franchise, where it is used to refer to cute fictional creatures that resemble real-world animals. Characters in games may refer to all of such creatures as "monsters". Another role playing game that has many different fantasy creatures (monsters and dragons alike), isDungeons & Dragons.
In some other games, such asUndertale andDeltarune, "Monsters" (which are usually NPCs) refer to strange beings that are eitherundead,robots,humanoids or mythical creatures that share similarities with human beings.
^Boyer, Tina Marie (2013). "The Anatomy of a Monster: The Case of Slender Man".Preternature: Critical and Historical Studies on the Preternatural.2 (2).
Asma, Stephen (2009).On Monsters: An Unnatural History of Our Worst Fears. Oxford University Press.ISBN978-0195336160.
Beagon, Mary (2002). "Beyond Comparison: M. Sergius, Fortunae victor". In Clark, Gillian; Rajak, Tessa (eds.).Philosophy and Power in the Graeco-Roman World: Essays in Honour of Miriam Griffin. Oxford University Press.ISBN978-0-19-829990-5.
Staley, Gregory A. (2010).Seneca and the Idea of Tragedy. Oxford University Press.ISBN978-0-19-538743-8.
Wardle, David (2006).Cicero on Divination, Book 1. Oxford University Press.
Weinstock, Jeffrey Andrew, ed. (2020).The Monster Theory Reader. University of Minnesota Press. 2020.
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