Favorite Monsters ( Community Question )

[GF]

Hello All.

Here's another opportunity to get directly involved in helping shape Folk Tale. This month one of the two new artists joining the team will be tasked with creating all the Folk Tale monsters that you'll face as you explore worlds. We'd like to hear from the community about your favorite monsters by answering these two simple questions:

(1) What's your favorite cannon-fodder monster that you like to mow down?
(2) What's your ultimate boss monster?

To help steer posts, we're not looking for a re-post of the AD&D monster compendium. We'd like to understand your favorites, and any suggestions that have a basis in folk lore, old literature, or nature that we can interpret in our own way while respecting the legal rights of others. An example that we are working on is Morlocks from H.G. Wells 1895 novel 'Time Machine'.

Mentioned so far up to ( ---- STATS UPDATE 6 ---- )

Cannon-Fodder

Bandits/Outlaws - 18
Carnivorous Plants - 1
Crab
Centaur - 1
Clockwork Mobs - 3
Covenant - 1
Dark/Night Elf - 4
Ghost / Lost Soul - 2
Ghoul - 2
Giant Ants ( Nest ) - 3
Grave Robber - 1
Harpies - 4
Hell Hounds - 3
Immortals - 1
Lizardmen - 4
Mammoth - 1
Minotaurs - 6
Mummy - 2
Mole Men - 1
Monster Chest - 1
Naga/Lamias - 5
Merefolk/Sirens - 7
Ninja/Samurai - 1
Occultists - 3
Orcs - 14
Pirates - 4
Rats - 3
Rat Folk - 5
Revolting Peasants - 1
Rhino ( Hairy ) - 1
Sabretooth - 1
Satyrs - 1
Scorpion-Kin - 2
Slimes - 3
Succubus - 4
Tribesman/Pygmies - 2
Trolls - 3
Vampires - 5
Vulture - 2
Wasps - 2
Wights - 1
Witches - 1

Bosses

Amazon Queen - 1
Archmage - 3
Aspidochelone / Giant Turtle - 1
Camphry's Sibling - 1
Centaur ( Drunken ) - 1
Cerberus ( 3-Headed Hell-Hound ) - 2
Chimera - 5
Constructs - 3
Cthulhu Style - 1
Cyclops - 5
Davy Jones - 1
Death/Dark Knight - 6
Demon - 8
Demonic Cow - 1
Dinosaur - 1
Dracula / Nosferatu - 2
Elementals - 7
Ettin - 1
Evil Gods - 1
Fallen Angel - 2
Gargoyle - 1
Ghost Of Mother-In-Law - 1
Giant ( inc. 2-headed ) - 7
Giant Scorpion - 1
Giant Snake - 2
Goblin King - 2
God/Deity/Titan - 4
Gorgon - 1
Golem - 4
Griffon - 1
Headless Horseman - 5
Hydra - 7
Jabbawocky - 1
Jack Of Blades - 1
Juggernaut - 1
Kings - 1
Kraken - 4
Leviathan - 1
Lich King - 5
Lord Blackdark - 2
Medusa - 1
Orc Chieftan - 1
Pharaoh - 2
Pheonix - 1
Pirate Captain - 1
Polymorpher - 1
Queen Of Hearts ( White Dress, Blood ) - 3
Queen Wasp - 1
Reaper - 4
Rumpelstiltskin ( Hobbe-Like ) - 2
Sand Worm - 1
Sephiroth - 2
Spider Queen - 2
Toymaker ( Evil ) - 1
Troll King - 2
Unicorn - 2
Witch ( Coven Boss, Swamp ) / Warlock - 4
Wraith - 1

Promoted To Production

These monsters have entered production. Promotion is based not only on popularity, but also if there is a pressing gameplay need. For example, the Swamp Beast was added because we needed a hard-hitting goblin-aligned monster to pound on city walls in the tower-defense mini-game. Undead are popular and also fit the graveyard section of the mini-game map we're making.

Bear
Beastman
Beetles
Boars / Razorback aka War Pig
Deer
Dragon/Wyvern/Drake
Dryad
Fairy Queen (Nara)
Giant, Frost
Giant, Snail
Goblins ( already in )
Imps ( Forest )
Jack Frost
Kobolds ( already in )
Morlocks
Necromancer
Ogre ( already in )
Skeleton, Warrior
Skeleton, Archer
Skeleton, Lord (Mordrich)
Spiders
Spriggan
Swamp Beast
Toadkin
Tree Folk ( Ents ) - redux required
Werewolves/Werefu Monks - redux in production
Wolves
Yeti
Zombie

[AG]

I don't think I represent the community here but here are my answers :

Do you speak about "wild animal" like monsters ? then

1) trolls in various shape and size (they are I think "the" traditionnal folk tale monsters)

2) Ogre or Cyclops

Edit :

Or now that I have watch a doc about ants :

1/ giant ants nest

2/ More giant ants !

[talonblade3]

So many are in my head right now... Well here are mine

1) Ratfolk or Animated Objects (like moving candle sticks and such)
2) Chimera or Hydra

[Nostro]

1) Not a monster but perhaps some kind of fable style viking/bandit mobs
2) Chimera, Bandit/Ogre King

[BardFrog]

1.) orcs
2.) the kraken!

[0110101001100001011000110110101]

cannon fodder: Zombies, skeletton
ultimate: demons, dragons

[Pvt Ueimanen]

cannon fodder: orcs
ultimate: Troll King (who can only be killed by some kind of fire damage)

[Lecherous]

I always enjoyed mowing down Kobolds, plus they make excellent cannon fodder due to their ratlike proliferation.

As for the ultimate: tough question. I always found it strangely satisfying to kill Minotaurs, but they don't scream "I'm in charge," they scream "I'm a badass brute." Ultimate should be something with a brain, something devious. The way Dragon Age portrays dragons elicits this effect. And then, of course, there's giant ants.

edit: I think I mis-interpreted this question intitally as being directed towards the tower-defense minigame. If this is more directed towards populating the world with random encounters, I'd look towards games like Valve's DOTA2, with random mythological/fantasy creatures for small encounters, and I always really liked (sometimes painfully) Blizzard's entire Blackrock Spire encounter in WoW featuring a collusion of Dragonkin and Orcs as a dungeon. It felt as dark and menacing as it should have, without going over the top like the expansions have done.

So, with all that in mind, Minotaurs and Harpies for cannon-fodder, and armored Cyclops for ultimate.

[Raine]

My favorite peons has to be anything clockwork like. Steampunked suits of automated armors, clockworked hounds, mechanical spiders and beefy bronze golums.

My favorite boss battles definitely include the classic Dragon, or to a lesser degree, though can be just as exciting...a creatively worked Stone Giant.

[Belradek]

Fodder: Kobolds or Goblins classic folklore horde menace

Ultimate boss: Dragons or Giants/Ettins (hmmm giant Hydra!)

[mrus3662]

Fodder: Always thought bandits were good. Mainly because it showed that there was a negative side to humanity.
Ultimate Boss: As a few have stated above, I think Dragons would be very epic :P

[Jibber]

Fodder: Goblins, Kobolds or Trolls.

Bosses: Dragons, Giants, anything BIG!

[TheTruestRepairman]

1. Goblins/Orcs
2. Lich King for sure.

[Feran]

1) cannon fodeder, Skeleton and Zombies and lots of them
2) Lich King as already stated, or Necromancer, Deamon Lord, Dragon

[Skexis]

1 - Goblins, rats
2 - Dragon

Would be really cool to be able to make skirmish parties of Goblins etc. to infiltrate sabotage or simply attack a settlement. As a sort of minigame.

[Doc]

1). Increasingly difficult, roving banditry, Necromancers, Any Outlaws really

2) The Main Boss should be a Giant-sized Necromancer who uses his dominion to elicit human sacrafices. You know a little dead villagers to go with his burnt toast.

- Can't go wrong with skulls or horned-helm'd black armor-clad enemies. Plus who wants burnt toast.