monster Friday – Savior Gaming

Monster Friday- The Jabberwock

Welcome back to Monster Friday, and today I bring you an interesting Monster: The Jabberwock. This one is interesting because most people think it has some sort of amazing lore behind it or that it dates back to some ancient period. The fact is, it was just a poem written by Lewis Carroll. It first appeared in his 1987 book Through the Looking Glass, and the first part of the poem he written even before that. In the book, Alice basically calls it pretty and says the poem doesn’t really make any sense beyond that; something was killed.

Since then, people have of course expanded on the creature, for example, most agree it is the cousin of dragons, it can fly, lays eggs, you know, with typical dragon-like behavior.

In a strange twist, however, the Jabberwocky has become quite terrifying in its own right. Being the ancestor of dragons, people have given them all sorts of insane powers, from speed to strength. Some variations are said to be able to speak any known language, which includes the ability to talk to other dragons. Of course, they can supposedly also take human form. Not bad for a creature that didn’t exist until Alice went to Wonderland. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Monster Friday- Frankensteins Monster

This one is weird for me to write, because I always thought it was common knowledge until this past weekend when discussing it at work, when I was the only one in a group of 6 people that knew this, 3 of whom were college educated. Back in 1818 Mary Shelly wrote Frankenstein. In this story, Victor Frankenstein creates a monster out of spare human parts and brings it to life. He is described as being 8 feet tall and having pearly white teeth and lustrous black hair. His skin was yellow and tight to the point it barely concealed the inner workings of his muscles and arteries.

He also does not have a name. They simply referred to it in the abstract by calling it, well, “it” or ” monster” and things like “creature” and “demon,” but it doesn’t truly have a name.

Now I say all that to point this out, calling him Frankenstein isn’t actually wrong. Universal Studios has been doing it for over 100 years now. Hell there is even a movie called The Bride of Frankenstein.

I think, in all honesty, it is time to admit, we are basically just calling this dude by his last name. His creator’s (dad’s) name is Victor Frankenstein; he never gave him a first name, so we call him by his last name. I just never realized so many people knew there was a book, but didn’t know he didn’t have a name in it. Enjoy monster Friday, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Monster Friday-Djinn-Jinn-Genies

Monster Fridays continues with a very misunderstood one. Genies, Djinn, Jinn. They are all based on the same creature that most people assume takes one of two sides. The Disney, rub a lamp and get three wishes, or the Djinn evil screw you over type. If you want a vast overview, Britannica has a great article to get you going that goes into great depth about its Islamic and pre-Islamic history. I am just here to give a brief rundown of what it is.

Djinn aren’t truly good or evil and are much similar to humans than people think. While humans were believed to be created from the Earth itself, Djinn were created from smokeless fire. They can live and die just the same as humans can and even have the same free will. Djinns, on the other hand, can’t normally be seen and take the shape of trees, animals, or other inanimate objects. This is probably where the myth of rubbing lamps comes from.

This also may be where the confusion of them granting wishes and screwing people over comes from. They do have a massive amount of power and could, in theory, grant wishes if they chose or cause great harm. They would also harm humans who hurt them. Trying to cut down a tree that was actually one of these creatures would probably get you punished; worse, killing one of their children, even by accident, could conceivably cause one to cast a plague on a village.

At the same time, helping one of these that was in trouble could see someone instantly become a king, recover their health, or any number of seemingly great wishes come true, and it is easy to see why they became known for granting wishes.

Djinns are very oddly misunderstood. Some of this is because of Western media and Disney, and some of it is because of time itself just passing. They are still a rather interesting thing. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Monster Friday -The Squonk

Welcome back to Monster Friday,today’s monster is The Squonk. The Squonk is a strange one, as it is basically the ugliest thing imaginable. It is said to be covered in warts with skin that is way too big for itself. As such it is wrinkly.

Worse,it knows it is ugly so it is constantly crying. The Squonk is said to be nocturnal by nature specifically because it doesn’t want to be seen so much so that it avoids water so it won’t see its own reflection.

Like many such creatures it even has a built in mechanism as to why one has never been captured. This one turns into a puddle of tears when scared or cornered. Which is pretty handy I must admit. This seems pretty implausible to me but there is an entire festival dedicated to it in Johnstown PA in August. They usually have a lot of cool shirts at least. Best wishes,and may the gaming gods bring you glory.