He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And if you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you. ~Friedrich Nietzsche
Amonster is a type of fictional creature found inhorror,fantasy,science fiction,folklore,mythology andreligion. Monsters are very often depicted as dangerous andaggressive with a strange, grotesque appearance that causes terror andfear. Monsters usually resemble bizarre, deformed, otherworldly and/or mutatedanimals or entirely unique creatures of varying sizes, but may also take ahuman form, such asmutants,ghosts andspirits,zombies or cannibals, 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.
Monsters pre-date written history, and the academic study of the particular cultural notions expressed in a society's ideas of monsters is known as monstrophy. Monsters have appeared in literature and in feature-length films. Well-known monsters in fiction includedragons,gnomes,centaurs,werewolves,fearsome critters,dinosaurs,pterosaurs,snails,lions, andtigers.
...they defiled...they begot giants and monsters...they begot, and, behold, all the earth was corrupted...with its blood and by the hand of...giant's which did not suffice for them and...and they were seeking to devour many...the monsters attacked it. ~Book of Giants...flesh...all...monsters...will be...they would arise...lacking in true knowledge...because... the earth grew corrupt...mighty...they were considering...from theangels upon ...in the end it will perish and die...they caused great corruption in the earth...this did not suffice to...they will be... ~Book of GiantsI always enjoyed doing monsterbooks. Monster books gave me the opportunity to draw things out of the ordinary. Monster books were achallenge — what kind of monster would fascinate people? I couldn’t draw anything that was too outlandish or too horrible. I never did that. What I did draw was somethingintriguing. There was something about this monster that you could live with. If you saw him you wouldn’t faint dead away. There was nothingdisgusting in his demeanor. There was nothing about him that repelled you. My monsters werelovable monsters. ~Jack KirbyYou takethe Thing, he’d knock out 50 guys at a time and win — then maybe he’d sit down and kind of reflect on it: “Maybe Ihurt somebody or maybe we could have done it some other way” like ahuman being wouldthink, not like a monster. ~Jack Kirby
...they defiled...they begot giants and monsters...they begot, and, behold, all the earth was corrupted...with its blood and by the hand of...giant's which did not suffice for them and...and they were seeking to devour many...the monsters attacked it.
...flesh...all...monsters...will be...they would arise...lacking in true knowledge...because... the earth grew corrupt...mighty...they were considering...from theangels upon ...in the end it will perish and die...they caused great corruption in the earth...this did not suffice to...they will be...
What is asaint? A saint is someone who has achieved a remotehuman possibility. It is impossible to say what that possibility is. I think it has something to do with theenergy oflove. Contact with this energy results in the exercise of a kind of balance in thechaos of existence. A saint does not dissolve the chaos; if he did theworld would have changed long ago. I do not think that a saint dissolves the chaos even for himself, for there is somethingarrogant and warlike in the notion of a man setting theuniverse in order. It is a kind of balance that is hisglory. He rides the drifts like an escaped ski. His course is the caress of the hill. His track is a drawing of the snow in a moment of its particular arrangement with wind and rock. Something in him so loves the world that he gives himself to the laws of gravity and chance. Far from flying with theangels, he traces with the fidelity of a seismograph needle the state of the solid bloody landscape. His house isdangerous and finite, but he is at home in the world. He can love the shape of human beings, the fine and twisted shapes of theheart.It is good to have among us such men, such balancing monsters of love.
Dr. Ludwig Frankenstein: You're a cunning fellow Ygor. Do you think I would put your sly and sinister brain into the body of a giant? That would be a monster indeed. You will do as I tell you or I will not be responsible for the consequences.
I always enjoyed doing monsterbooks. Monster books gave me the opportunity to draw things out of the ordinary. Monster books were achallenge — what kind of monster would fascinate people? I couldn’t draw anything that was too outlandish or too horrible. I never did that. What I did draw was somethingintriguing. There was something about this monster that you could live with. If you saw him you wouldn’t faint dead away. There was nothingdisgusting in his demeanor. There was nothing about him that repelled you. My monsters werelovable monsters.
To make the [reader]happy was not my objective, but to make the [reader] say, “Yeah, that’s what would happen” — that was my objective. I knew the [reader] was never happy all the time. You takethe Thing, he’d knock out 50 guys at a time and win — then maybe he’d sit down and kind of reflect on it: “Maybe Ihurt somebody or maybe we could have done it some other way” like ahuman being wouldthink, not like a monster. In otherbooks the guy would knock out the gangs and that would be the end of it. You would see the guys injail, and that’s it. Or it would say, “Wait until nextweek.”
Simply put, since the dawn ofcivilization, our collectiveimagination has transformed ourfears into monsters. Once that happened, it was inevitable for monsters to get incorporated into ourstories. Of course, our collective fears changed ashuman civilization progressed. Humans were no longer afraid of theforest or theseas. Instead, they became afraid of other things, and that meant they created new monsters to replace the ones that no longer frightened them. For instance,Grendel represents the distinctmedieval fear of the lower classes rising up against the aristocracy. It's no coincidence that theTransylvanian CountDracula was created during thevictorian era when theEnglish feared an invasion fromEurope.
Stan Lee's How To Draw Superheroes, byStan Lee; co-written by Danny Fingeroth, Keith Dallas and Robert Sodaro, Waston-Guptill Publications New York, (2013), ch. 8 “Monsters”, pp. 139-140.
WhenSpider-Man created an antidote that turnedthe Lizard back into Dr. Connors, he demonstrated both hisscientific acumen and his compassion for Dr. Connors's situation. Again, the crucial thing to remember is that yoursuperhero embodies several different exceptional qualities, and the manner in which your superhero defeats a monster tells the reader which of these qualities are paramount. —Stan Lee
Imagine different ways to overcome a monster other than just fisticuffs andviolence. For instance, when theFantastic Four first met the shape-shifting alien skrulls, the story could have easily been resolved by having the four superheroes tear apart theSkrull's invadingspaceship. Instead, the Fantastic Four resorted todeception: By being shown pictures from comic books, the Skrulls were led tobelieve they would be slaughtered if they dared invadeEarth. For good measure,Mr. Fantastichypnotized the remaining Skrulls into believing they were reallycows. Thus, the fantastic Four demonstrated theiringenuity andresourcefulness. Similarly, whenSpider-Man created an antidote that turnedthe Lizard back into Dr. Connors, he demonstrated both hisscientific acumen and his compassion for Dr. Connors's situation. Again, the crucial thing to remember is that yoursuperhero embodies several different exceptional qualities, and the manner in which your superhero defeats a monster tells the reader which of these qualities are paramount. And besides, physicalstrength alone won't work against some monsters, likevampires. Sure, you can drive a stake through a vampire'sheart to take him out of commission but most superheroes refrain from resorting to that kind of violence... even against theundead! Again, you must imagine other means of prevailing against the monster.
Stan Lee's How To Draw Superheroes, byStan Lee, co written by Danny Fingeroth, Keith Dallas and Robert Sodaro, Waston-Guptill Publications New York, (2013) ch.8 “Monsters”, p. 140.
As asurvival mechanism,fear can help us avoiddangerous situations or prepare us forhostile confrontations. But being scared all the time isn't healthy. It can lead to panic or emotional breakdowns. So why in the world would we even want to have monsters as part of our popularentertainment? Whyread (or write) stories about monsters if we know it will ultimately make us unnecessarily experience anemotion that isn'tpleasant? To come back toGodzilla, why would the Japanese want to be reminded of the horror ofHiroshima and Nagasaki? Well, to answer those questions, let's consider the ancientGreek concept ofCatharsis.
Stan Lee's How To Draw Superheroes, byStan Lee; co-written by Danny Fingeroth, Keith Dallas and Robert Sodaro, Waston-Guptill Publications New York, (2013), ch. 8, “Monsters”, p. 140.
I tried to talk. I want you to remember that. I tried to reach out. I tried to understand you, but I think you understand us perfectly. I think that you just don't care. And I don't know whether you're here to invade, infiltrate or just replace us. I don't suppose it really matters now.You are monsters! That is the role you seem determined to play! So, it seems that I must play mine: the man that stops the monsters. I'm sending you back to your owndimension. Who knows, some of you may even survive the trip. And if you do, remember this: You are not welcome here! This plane is protected! I amThe Doctor, and I name you "the Boneless"!
He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And if you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you.
Hateful day when I received life!' I exclaimed in agony. 'Accursed creator! Why did you form a monster so hideous that even you turned from me indisgust?God, inpity, made man beautiful and alluring, after his own image; but my form is a filthy type of yours, more horrid even from the very resemlance. Satan had his companions, fellow-devils, to admire and encourage him; but I am solitary and abhorred.
Postremo nemo aegrotus quidquam somniat tam infandum, quod non aliquis dicat philosophus.
No sick man's monstrous dream can be so wild that some philosopher won't say it's true.
Marcus Terentius VarroEumenides, fragment 6, fromSaturae Menippeae; translation from J. Wight DuffRoman Satire: Its Outlook on Social Life (Hamden, Conn.: Archon Books, 1964) p. 90.
Monkrum horrendum, informe, ingens, cui lumen ademptum.
An immense, misshapen, marvelous monster whose eye is out.
I don't want tokillUltron. He'sunique. And he's inpain. But that pain will roll over theEarth. So he must be destroyed — every form he's built, every trace of his presence on the 'net. We have to act now, and not one of us can do it without the other.Maybe I am a monster … I don't think I would know if I were one. I'm not what you are, and not what you intended. So there may be no way to make you trust me.[casually hands Thor his hammerMjöllnir ] But we need to go.
The monster’s power is one of sexual difference from the normal male. In this difference he is remarkably like the woman in the eyes of the traumatized male: a biological freak with impossible and threatening appetites that suggest a frightening potency precisely where the normal male would perceive a lack.
Harriet: That was defence. It's adapted from alientechnology. A ship that fell to Earth ten years ago.
The Doctor: But they were leaving.
Harriet: You said yourself, Doctor, they'd go back to the stars and tell others about theEarth. I'msorry, Doctor, but you're not here all the time. You come and go. It happened today. Mister Llewellyn and the Major, they were murdered. They died right in front of me while you were sleeping. In which case we have to defend ourselves.
The Doctor: Britain's Golden Age.
Harriet: It comes with a price.
The Doctor: I gave them thewrongwarning. I should've told them torun asfast as they can, run andhide because the monsters are coming. Thehuman race.
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