The Midgard Serpent in its standard art design from its Smite video game character profile

(5) NORSE MYTHOLOGY – VILLAIN: JORMUNGANDR / MIDGARD SERPENT

The beast of the twilight of the gods – Gotterdammerung or Ragnarok – in Norse mythology.

Indeed, along with my next entry, one of two such beasts that outrank Loki as figures of apocalyptic destruction, despite being his children.

And by beast, I mean “an unfathomably large and monstrous sea serpent or worm who dwells in the world sea, encircling the Earth (Midgard)” – literally encircling that is, an ouroboros biting its own tail as it coiled around the world. Hence it was also known as the Midgard or World Serpent, “the sea monster to end all sea monsters” – “there isn’t an ocean in Midgard that doesn’t have part of him in it”.

Admittedly it didn’t too much than slumber at the bottom of the sea biting its tail, but that’s just because it was waiting for Gotterdammerung. Once it stopped biting its tail, you knew things were going down and the end of the world was literally nigh, led by the Serpent itself emerging from the ocean to assault Asgard. Even then, it’s so colossal that “only a third of his body is able to emerge from the ocean”.

It amuses me that the gods threw him in the world sea when he was just a small serpent to drown him, only for him to grow into the world-encircling entity he became. Even while essentially dormant at the bottom of the sea, he had a long running feud going on with Thor – with each regarded as the other’s nemesis, as they ultimately proved to be at Ragnarok, with Thor smiting the Serpent but succumbing to the Serpent’s venom afterwards. Before that, Thor had a few run-ins with him even while he was at the bottom of the sea – run-ins so terrifying that Thor’s companions cut the Serpent loose to force Thor to abandon the fight.

ELDRITCH ABOMINATION RANKING

One of the most eldritch and abominable, arguably the archetypal abomination – and on the largest scale, in Norse or any other mythology. Indeed, it is uncannily similar to fantasy’s benchmark eldritch abomination, Cthulhu – with both essentially dormant slumbering under the sea, until waking up and destroying the world

FANTASY DARK LORD RANKING

Yeah, not the brightest abomination, essentially just sleeping under the sea with a button marked “Push here for Ragnarok”. Indeed, one of the most mindless of mythology’s villains which costs it major points in my fantasy dark lord ranking – the other villainous entries from Norse mythology in my top ten run rings around it as potentially fantasy dark lord.

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Thor as depicted in his standard art design in his Smite video game character profile

(5) NORSE – HERO: THOR

Hammer time! The people’s champion! Thor the Thunderer – god of “thunder, storms, strength, protection, fertility, farmers and free people”. Thursday is named for him.

One of two deities from Norse mythology I rank as heroes in my top ten, Thor is the more conventionally heroic figure and was “the favorite god of the average Norse farmer”.

“Thor’s exploits, including his relentless slaughter of his foes” – giants and other primal “demonic threats to the gods and mankind” – and his “fierce battles with the monstrous serpent Jormungandr”, including “their foretold mutual deaths” in Ragnarok. Spoiler alert – Thor smites the serpent with his hammer but is then overcome by its venom (within nine steps).

What else is there to say? It was relatively straightforward for Marvel Comics to adapt Thor as a superhero in comics more or less the same as he is in Norse mythology. That led to his adaptation in film by the Marvel Cinematic Universe and his portrayal by Chris Hemsworth lent itself to Thor looming largest of all my top ten mythic heroes in popular imagination.

SUPERMAN-BATMAN SCALE

Definitely towards the divine superman end of the scale, except whereas Superman in comics is essentially superpowered by the sun, Thor is Superman of the storm.

However, he does have a certain Batman quality, relying on gadgets such as his hammer, belt, and gloves.

PUNCHING OUT CTHULHU RANKING

It’s what he does – routinely punching out giants and the other eldritch abominations of Norse mythology.

PARTY ROCK RANKING

Yes – Thor would thunder at parties and not just as depicted by Chris Hemsworth. He literally drains the sea as his keg in one of his stories.

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Loki as he appears in his standard character design from his official profile in the Smite video game

(6) NORSE – VILLAIN: LOKI

The supreme shapeshifting trickster deity of Norse mythology, whose shtick seemed to be screwing things up for the Hel of it before just wanting to watch the world freeze in Fimbulwinter for s€x, drugs and Ragnarok-and-roll.

Indeed, one might be surprised that I rank him only in sixth place – lower than two other figures of Norse mythology and children of Loki at that – given his ultimate apocalyptic role, arguably the equivalent of my top entry for Norse mythology.

However, that last feature is often seen as “adaptational villainy” under the influence of Christianity rather than reflecting his original role, which was more mischievous than destructive. This is also reflected in Loki happily knocking about with the gods (and being adopted by them), frequently paired up with Thor himself as trusted companion. And on the whole Loki lived up to the trust of Thor and the gods. Yes – he got them into sticky situations, but you really get the impression that he did so as a challenge to himself to see if he could get everyone out of the mischief he caused, as indeed he almost always did.

Ultimately however, at least in the popular version of Norse mythology we have inherited, he crossed the line into outright villainy with his role in the death of Baldur (as well as thwarting Baldur’s return from the underworld) and it was all downhill from there.

Also, I think it’s a fair call for his offspring to outrank him as they were monstrous and primal forces of destruction throughout, albeit he ultimately joined with them in the destruction of the world. They also take down the big two of Norse mythology, whereas Loki settles for settling scores with his longstanding enemy Heimdall in mutually assured destruction. It’s interesting that while Loki himself was not monstrous – at least in his fair appearance – he consistently sired monstrous offspring. I do feel sorry for his wife Sigyn, who remained the model of devotion to him despite everything he did.

ELDRITCH ABOMINATION RANKING

Not so much for Loki himself, although it is hard to fell with a shapeshifter, but certainly for everything he sired. I mean, whenever Loki got it on, it seemed to result in the birth of some monstrous abomination and usually a world-ending one at that.

FANTASY DARK LORD RANKING

Loki ranks high as a fantasy dark lord given his intelligence and abilities, arguably becoming an apocalyptic dark lord in Ragnarok albeit as one of what seems to be a committee of dark lords (and ladies), but loses points for his lack of focus because his true love seems to be trolling.

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King Arthur as he appears in his official character profile art from the Smite video game

(6) CELTIC MYTHOLOGY (ARTHURIAN LEGEND) – HERO: KING ARTHUR

Arthur Pendragon, the once and future king of Britain.

It always intrigues me that a figure that, if not actually a historical warlord of sub-Roman Britain is at least portrayed as one, should have such enduring resonance in popular culture and imagination beyond his time and place of origin. And not just in his native Britain onwards or even beyond to the wider ‘Anglosphere’ of British settlement and cultural influence but also in Europe and Western culture in general.

For mine is the grail quest –

round table & siege perilous

fisher king & waste land

bleeding lance & dolorous stroke

adventurous bed & questing beast

Part of that derives from the compelling elements and personae of Arthurian legend beyond Arthur himself. His father Uther. The wizard Merlin. The Lady in the Lake. The sword in the stone or Excalibur (which are not the same but are often conflated in adaptations, notably the film Excalibur).

His queen Guinevere. The enchantress Morgan Le Fay (often conflated with another character, Morgause, as the mother of usurper Mordred). The knights of the Round Table – most famously Lancelot but also Gawain, Galahad, Perceval and Bedivere. The Holy Grail. Avalon – and so on.

And yet always and everywhere the beating heart of Arthurian legend remains Arthur himself, befitting his title as once and future king, itself from the motif of his messianic return. He is consistently portrayed in heroic terms, as the best we can be in ability and character.

It might seems anomalous that I rank Arthur over gods or cosmic figures from Egyptian or Hindu mythology – Osiris and Horus, Shiva and Vishnu. In part, that’s because of preference from my Eurocentric and Anglocentric perspective. However, it also reflects that those gods or cosmic figures seem remote or even alien, with an alien morality to match. That is not the case for the all too human Arthur, whose character and morality are much more relatable to us – and indeed has served as the archetype of the ideal king or ruler, both in history and the genre of fantasy.

SUPERMAN-BATMAN SCALE

Finally a hero more on the Batman side of the scale – not a divine superman (although there are elements of that) but the peak of human perfection.

PUNCHING OUT CTHULHU RANKING

I am more familiar with King Arthur punching out human opponents but I seem to recall variants of Arthurian legend or at least adaptations from it when he punches out more supernatural opponents.

PARTY ROCK RANKING

We tend to think of Arthur as a paragon of honour, humility and virtue but I’m prepared to bet he could party hard at the Round Table or Camelot.

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The Minotaur as depicted by Sam Wood in art for Dungeons & Dragons 3rd edition in the Forgotten Realms wiki. I prefer the art for this edition over the others as it showcases the more bestial and bull-like depiction of the Minotaur in modern fantasy, as opposed to its far more human depiction in classical mythology itself (essentially as human with bull’s head and tail)

(7) CLASSICAL MYTHOLOGY – VILLAIN: MINOTAUR

Perhaps the most iconic and the most archetypal of the beasts of classical mythology – the bull-man (or is that man-bull?) stalking its sacrificial human victims in its Labyrinth and devouring them until it was slain by the Athenian hero Theseus.

The Minotaur needs little introduction, except perhaps a reminder that it actually had a name, something that blows my mind each time I recall it – Asterion or Asterius. As a bull-man hybrid, the Minotaur was classically depicted with the head (and tail) of a bull and the body of a man.

In modern fantasy, minotaurs tend to be depicted as more bestial and bull-like, usually as much bigger and stronger than humans – and typically with hooves rather than feet. They also tend to be depicted in the plural – that is, as part of a fantasy species – in marked contrast to the singular nature of the original Minotaur in classical mythology as a result of its distinctive origin.

You do not want to know that distinctive origin – it’s squick. Okay, maybe you do but don’t say I didn’t warn you! The king of Crete, Minos, reneged on sacrificing a bull to Poseidon and as usual when the gods got angry with mortals, they got…weird. “Poseidon arranged with Aphrodite for Minos’ wife Pasiphae to fall in love with the bull”. You can guess where it goes from there, albeit it needed Minos’ master architect Daedalus to make it happen with a cow disguise for Pasiphae.

Naturally, Minos couldn’t have the Minotaur roaming about the palace as family embarrassment, so he resorted to the stereotype of locking it up in the attic. And by attic, I mean the Labyrinth, the iconic lair of the Minotaur – also designed by Daedalus – where they fed people to it.

Yes, despite its herbivorous head, the Minotaur had an unnatural appetite for human flesh to match its monstrous appearance – which it satisfied from sacrificial victims, seven youths and seven maidens, offered in tribute by Athens to Crete, although the myths varied between an annual tribute or some other period. I’m guessing the Minotaur kept leftovers in the fridge for the rest of the period.

Enter the Athenian hero Theseus, who volunteered for the tribute so as to end it once and for all. The rest is, well, mythology.

Despite its singular nature in classical mythology, the Minotaur or minotaurs have recurred throughout popular culture and imagination, both literally and metaphorically, in adaptations or imitations. One of my favorites is the minotaurs in Sean Stewart’s Resurrection Man, essentially conjured from human bestiality or brutality by the wild magic force infusing the world after the Second World War.

ELDRITCH ABOMINATION RANKING

An archetypal abomination – “born from a union so unnatural that he can only sustain himself by consuming human flesh”.

FANTASY DARK LORD RANKING

Not so much in the original mythology but the Minotaur has surprising potential as a fantasy dark lord ruling from its Labyrinth, particularly if its intelligence is more human than bovine – or if combined with Minos, whether conflated as the one person (for example as a weird were-creature) or combined as a team (for example with the Minotaur as Minos’ “muscle”).

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The Sphinx as it appears in Dungeons & Dragons, featured on D & D Beyond, D & D’s 5th edition online resource

(8) CLASSICAL MYTHOLOGY – VILLAIN: SPHINX

What walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three legs in the evening?

Yet another one of the beasts of classical mythology, albeit at least one with some human component.

It has far more name recognition in popular culture and imagination than other hybrid beasts of classical mythology such as the Chimera, primarily because it did not just feature in classical mythology but also in representations throughout the ancient Near East – particularly in Egypt and most famously the monumental statue of the Great Sphinx of Giza.

However, that does bring us to an important distinction for a Top 10 Heroes & Villains of Mythology. The sphinxes (or sphinges as that is the other plural form of sphinx) of the ancient Near East in general and Egypt in particular tended to be more heroic. In Egypt, the human component of the sphinx was “typically depicted as a man” – or androsphinx – “and is seen as a benevolent representation of strength and ferocity, usually of a pharaoh”.

The Egyptian sphinxes are so iconic, particularly the Great Sphinx of Giza, that they tend to influence the visual characteristics or depictions of all sphinxes since, whether in size or Egyptian headdress or other features – even when those sphinxes otherwise behave like evil or villainous Sphinx of classical mythology.

And yes – it is the Sphinx of classical mythology that was villainous. Whereas the Egyptian sphinxes were typically depicted as male, the Sphinx of classical mythology had the head of a woman – and interestingly, as opposed to the wingless Egyptian sphinxes, it also had the wings of an eagle.

The Sphinx of classical mythology was also the one that had its Riddle, which it effectively used as its murder weapon. Okay, okay – the Riddle itself wasn’t the weapon. The Sphinx itself would kill you, presumably with its lion claws although the fact that it ate its victims suggests it also had lion fangs, but after you failed to answer the Riddle which it posed to all who encountered it.

As such, the Riddle of the Sphinx tends to have “dire consequences for those who won’t or can’t guess correctly” – and for the Sphinx if you did, which is how the hero Oedipus killed it, whether by the Sphinx killing itself from some strange compulsion upon answering the riddle or Oedipus taking a more direct hand in slaying it.

“The Greek sphinx was a single one-of-a-kind monster and enemy of mankind sent as a plague by Hera to punish Thebes and was the one that asked the infamous riddle and was bested by Oedipus.”

While the Sphinx has not quite lent its name to a metaphorical term like the Chimera – or for that matter Oedipus thanks to Freud – its name is used to connote enigma or mystery.

“Sphinxes are enigmatic beings. Some are merely monsters with inscrutable motives, while others guide entire civilizations towards goals only they understand. No matter the world, a sphinx is a mystery given form.”

ELDRITCH ABOMINATION

Well yes, as a hybrid beast it ranks high as eldritch abomination – arguably its human aspects make it even more so.

FANTASY DARK LORD RANKING

Unlike the Hydra or Chimera, the Sphinx would actually rank well as potential fantasy dark lord, particularly if it could focus its intelligence or mysterious nature away from riddles.

“Sphinxes are typically associated with knowledge in some form… Associations with magical lore and oracular powers are also fairly common. They’re usually powerful, rare and magical beings; regardless of their specific role in a story, sphinxes are rarely trivial creatures.”

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Horus character profile in the Smite video game

(8) EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY – HERO: HORUS

“Look out Set, here I come Set

To get Set, to sunset Set

To unseat Set, to set down Set”

One of two deities from Egyptian mythology I rank as heroes in my top ten, Horus is the more conventionally heroic figure.

“God of kingship, healing, protection, the sun, and the sky. He was worshipped from at least the late prehistoric Egypt until the Ptolemaic Kingdom and Roman Egypt. Different forms of Horus are recorded in history…these various forms may be different manifestations of the same multi-layered deity…He was most often depicted as a falcon, most likely a lanner falcon or peregrine falcon, or as a man with a falcon head.”

Vengeful god Horus!

The best-known form of Horus is the son of Isis and Osiris on a roaring rampage of revenge against Set for killing his father Osiris.

Horus! The pharaoh’s champion!

While “the pharaoh was associated with many specific deities”, perhaps the most pharaonic deity was Horus, “who represented kingship itself and was seen as a protector of the pharaoh”.

Cosmic Horus! His right eye is the sun and his left eye is the moon.

No, seriously – “since Horus was said to be the sky, he was considered to also contain the Sun and Moon”.

Speaking of eyes, even his eye was heroic – “The Eye of Horus is an ancient Egyptian symbol of protection and royal power from deities…In the Egyptian language, the word for this symbol was “wedjat”

SUPERMAN-BATMAN SCALE

Like Egyptian gods in general, Horus is definitely on the divine Superman end of the scale, even to the point that they have remarkably similar origins as infant children saved from disaster by their parents for divine greatness – except for Horus, it’s his mother Isis that’s the literal equivalent of Superman’s rocket launching him to safety from Krypton’s destruction. Isis fled with Horus from Set and raised him up for his roaring rampage of revenge.

PUNCHING OUT CTHULHU RANKING

I don’t know about Cthulhu but he certainly ranks high in the punching out Set ranking.

PARTY ROCK RANKING

A little too serious to rank high in my party rock ranking but what do you expect from the Egyptian pantheon’s equivalent of Inigo Montoya – “you killed my father, prepare to die!”.

Also – you do NOT want him bringing the salad with his special sauce to barbecues…

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The Chimera as it appears in art for Dungeons & Dragons, featured in D & D Beyond, D & D’s 5th edition online resource

(9) CLASSICAL MYTHOLOGY – VILLAIN: CHIMERA

Like the Hydra in tenth place, the Chimera is one of many beasts that roam classical mythology.

So why does it rank in ninth place in my Top 10, above the other beasts of classical mythology, you might ask? At least the Hydra was killed by a god-tier hero like Heracles (as one of his twelve legendary Labors). The Chimera was killed by the hero Bellerophon, not exactly in the top rank of heroes for name recognition from classical mythology, although his steed Pegasus fares somewhat better.

Like the Hydra, there are a couple of reasons – indeed, pretty much the same reasons as for the Hydra. As one of the offspring of Typhon and Echidna, it was a particularly nasty beast.

And it was a particularly distinctive one – “a monstrous fire-breathing hybrid creature…composed of different animal parts. Typically, it is depicted as a lion with a goat’s head protruding from its back and a tail ending with a snake’s head. Some representations also include dragon’s wings.” In its adaptation in Dungeons and Dragons, the tail with snake’s head ends up as a dragon head and tail, making it a three-headed beast.

However, as usual the primary reason is for its thematic or metaphorical significance. Its very nature as a fantastic hybrid has lent its name as a term for any “imaginary monster composed on incongruous parts” – or even more so for any “illusion or fabrication of the mind”, typically of a haunting nature or that of a fever dream. The former has seen its use as a term in genetics for an organism, potentially including humans, with more than one genetically distinct cell populations within its body – or in other words, more than one genotype or DNA profile.

Again, it’s a metaphor with some real resonance in life – or at least my life, which at times I think had been populated almost entirely by chimeras. Or is that chimerae? (According to spellcheck, it’s chimeras).

ELDRITCH ABOMINATION RANKING

The definitive eldritch abomination of mythology – so much so that its name has effectively become synonymous with the concept.

FANTASY DARK LORD RANKING

Again like the Hydra, it fares poorly for fantasy dark lord ranking, possessed at it was of only animal intelligence – albeit a bit brighter than the Hydra, such that it seemed to have been capable of terrorizing a somewhat larger area.

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Shiva as depicted in his standard game design in Smite official game art

(9) HINDU MYTHOLOGY – HERO: SHIVA

The other of two deities from Hindu mythology I rank as heroes in my top ten, Shiva may be a more ambiguously heroic figure than Vishnu but I just have an idiosyncratic preference for him – a running theme for this and two other pantheons in my top ten where I prefer the more ambiguous and arguably anti-heroic of two heroic deities from that pantheon.

As I noted for Vishnu, Hindu gods can be incredibly complex figures, and Shiva is one of the most complex. Like Vishnu, “the persona of Shiva converged as a composite deity” – “Vishnu and Shiva…began to absorb countless local cults and deities within their folds. The latter were either taken to represent the multiple facets of the same god or else were supposed to denote different forms and appellations by which the god came to be known and worshipped…Shiva as we know him today shares many features with the Vedic god Rudra…the god of the roaring storm”.

In broad strokes, Shiva is known as the Destroyer within the Trimurti or trinity of supreme divinity that includes Brahma as the Creator and Vishnu as the Preserver. However, when it comes to the practice of Hinduism, Shiva and Vishnu are the big two with Brahma a distant and abstract third (or lower if you count goddess), reflected in Shaivism and Vaishnavism as the two major strands of Hinduism. The former elevates Shiva as the sole supreme deity “who creates, protects, and transforms the universe”, just as the latter does with Vishnu (although there are variations within these two strands which combine both gods as one).

Where Vishnu is usually depicted in blue hue, Shiva is usually depicted with white skin, albeit from ashes smeared on his skin and a blue throat, both with hardcore explanations. He has many iconic attributes – his mystical third eye, crescent moon as his crest or crown, matted hair, yogic pose, tiger skin pelt, trident, drum, the serpent or naga Vasuki as his garland, and the bull Nandi as his mount.

“Shiva has many aspects, benevolent as well as fearsome…in his fierce aspects, he is often depicted slaying demons”. The fierce aspects usually fall within his persona as the Destroyer, but he has a dual persona as a benefactor as well – and we’re talking righteous destruction here, slaying demons after all.

“Shiva is often depicted as embodying attributes of ambiguity and paradox. His depictions are marked by the opposing themes including fierceness and innocence. This duality can be seen in the diverse epithets attributed to him and the rich tapestry of narratives that delineate his persona within Hindu mythology”.

Two aspects of Shiva particularly appeal to me. Well, apart from his representation as the phallic “lingam” – Shiva is a phallic god!. The first is his persona as Nataraja – lord of the dance. We’re talking the cosmic dance of creation and destruction here, as well as the other literal and metaphorical meanings of dance.

The second is the extent to which he is identified with Dionysus from classical mythology – to the extent that “the ancient Greek texts of the time of Alexander the Great call Shiva Indian Dionysus, or alternatively call Dionysus god of the Orient”.

SUPERMAN-BATMAN SCALE

Like Vishnu and Hindu gods in general, Shiva is definitely on the divine Superman end of the scale.

PUNCHING OUT CTHULHU RANKING

Even more so than Vishnu, as punching out demons is part of his epithet as Destroyer

PARTY ROCK RANKING

With his phallic lingam symbol and Dionysian persona, Shiva scores even higher than Vishnu for party rock ranking. And of course he’s a god for the goddesses, from his usual consort Parvati to the divine feminine principle, Devi or Shakti.

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