Mediterran Sphinx - one of the first chimeras ever created, the original sphinx was crafted by the monster progenitors Typhon and Echidna, themselves two of the most supremely powerful chimeras ever crafted. A lion with the head of a human woman, the wings of an eagle, and the tail of a serpent, this chimera combined the vicious killing power with flight, venom, and a devious human intellect. Though tricky to create, its power as both a guardian beast and a dauntless assassin/hunter made it much desired, and sure enough, wizards set out to replicate it, creating sphinxes of their own.
Wingless Sphinx - getting the combination of elements right in the original sphinx recipe is difficult, so it was inevitable that some wizards would try to simplify the hybrid a bit to make its creation more manageable. The most pared down sphinx reduces it to a lion with a human’s head, which is easy enough to create and still results in a highly intelligent animal minion with the raw killing power of a lion, though it lacks a bit in flair.
Winged Sphinx - slightly more complicated but still easier than the original recipe, the winged sphinx is a bit harder to create than a standard griffin, providing a moderate challenge in creation but with results that are more than worth it. Though it lacks the venom of the Mediterran sphinx, the winged sphinx is still a force to be reckoned with both on the land and in the sky.
Manticore - the most popular variation on the sphinx formula by far. Substituting a tiger for the lion bits and a scorpion for the serpent, while axing the eagle entirely, the manticore has a vicious cunning that even the clever Mediterran sphinx lacks, creating a brutal hunter of men that is as devious as any human killer and as durable as the striped terrors of Ruslovak.
Mantydrac - the one thing holding manticores back from being as commonly created as griffins is the fact that scorpions are not incredibly common in Midgaehim, which resulted in some wizards trying to substitute something in their place. Of course, wizards being wizards, many went straight to using dragons as an ingredient, despite dragon chimeras often proving to be uncontrollable monsters. Sting-tailed wyverns are most commonly used, since the venomous stingers on their tails are roughly analogous to those of a scorpion, and the wings they provide to the resulting chimera are also desirable. Peludas, a special breed of lesser drake covered in spikey armor, are also often used, with their mace-like spike-clubbed tails also proving to be an adequate substitute for a scorpion’s sting. While the resulting chimera is definitely strong, Mantydracs almost always turn their keen predatory intelligence against their masters before anything else, then strike out on their own to terrorize a world that was not prepared for them.
Mantygre - more prudent wizards will replace the scorpion in their manticore with other mundane animals that just happen to be more easy to track down. With a mix of scorpion, goat, and, oddly enough, sharks, the recipe can be stabilized into a beast whose tail is bristling with sharp spines (and the added bonus of multiple rows of teeth) without losing the cunning that makes manticores so useful as monstrous servants.
Feral Manticore - of course, the sheer number of sphinxes and manticores produced over time eventually led to feral populations, and the variations on the recipe eventually blended as these feral populations grew. Feral manticores can exhibit a whole slew of different elements: scorpion stingers on wyvern tails, dragon or eagle wings, venomous quills, fire breath, the sky is the limit for these dreadful man-eaters, making them a dangerous predator to encounter in the wild.
A genius? Do people like that really exist…? Most craftspeople in Sargon are just ordinary apprentices who are still learning to walk, tinkering with metals. But as long as they continue down the path, even they can reach the road’s destination.
—Sargon Icons part 2/2 ; like/reblog + credit if using
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Tail whipping, flinging toxic darts That poison blood and stop men’s hearts. Shee sees mankind’s mulitidude As a plentiful source of food. —W. Woodchuck, “Manticore”
Various mythical monsters illustrated by Harry Bishop for Keith Lye’s 1985 Intrepid Explorers. Silly Europeans! That Manticore’s definitely got a GMO superciv hybrid vibe going on, though.
Creating Fantastic Beasts: VFX Supervisor Explains How the Team Designed the Manticore and Delicate Swivel in “Secrets of Dumbledore”
After several years of waiting, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore hit theaters last month, and thankfully, it came with new magical creatures. While the qilins took center stage in the movie and our hearts, there was another beast that drove a rather harrowing, yet hilarious scene involving the Scamander brothers. In a recent interview, production visual effects supervisor Christian Manz discussed the collaborative efforts behind the creation of the manticore and the beloved delicate swivel.
Speaking with the visual effects and animation publication Befores and Afters,Christian Manz, the production visual effects supervisor for the Fantastic Beasts films, broke down the process behind designing the manticore, the terrifying creature used in the Erkstag, the German wizarding prison. Manz explained that, like all the magical creatures seen in the Fantastic Beasts films, the animal must honor the oft-cited legends that describe its appearance but it must also still feel organic and real within the universe.
When we were looking at something like the [m]anticores as creatures to design, the first thing [we] were thinking of, in the spirit of the rest of the creatures that we’ve done in the Beasts franchise was how were we going to make something that is like a Greek mythological creature but also an authentic creature. Part of the remit we’ve been given on all the Beasts films is to make audiences believe that they’re witnessing a living, breathing animal. A lot of those mythological beasts, particularly Greek ones, tend to be half horse, half human, half whatever, and a Manticore is part lion with a human face, and part scorpion.
Our approach really was to think about it like this: maybe when a human first saw a giraffe, they said, ‘Hey that’s a horse and something else I don’t recognize,’ and they came back and drew it, and actually it turned into something else. We went down that route with the Manticore of how could we change the behaviour of something that is, effectively, a giant, horrible insect.
Though the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Themtextbook describes manticores as having “the head of a man, the body of a lion, and the tail of a scorpion,” Manz explained that the overall design was primarily inspired by scorpions, eventually landing on a “multi-limb scorpion.” It was explained that its lion-like features were due to the many spines resembling a mane, while African masks and beetles inspired its face. Manz attributed its legendary appearance to people’s perceptions of the creature slowly evolving over time as they attempted to reconstruct its look through drawings.
When asked about how the baby manticores were animated, Manz revealed that the infamous “swivel, but delicately” choreography was actually a collaborative effort between the team and Eddie Redmayne (Newt Scamander). While trying to determine how exactly the baby manticores would move, the team looked at scorpion references, developed some walks, and then previewed them to Redmayne. He would then work with his movement coach and further developed the movements. Manz admitted that the main objective of the scene was that it had to be funny and attributed the scene’s success to Redmayne’s commitment to the role.
You could always hear David chuckling in the tent when Eddie suddenly throws a pose and holds it. The reason why it works as well is Eddie is incredibly committed to making that work. He cares about the character, cares about what we are doing and making it work together. And that makes it all believable.
If you’re interested in more movie magic, you can read the rest of the interview on how the scene came together.
Do you think the scene was funny? How did you like the design of the manticore? How would you have made the baby manticores move? Let us know in the comments.
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Draw Yourself As 4 Different Creatures- I drew this for an art meme over on twitter. It is my sona, Bug, as various animals and mythical creatures! The suggestions were made by @ascalaphid @Grimonomicon @TJG_art and @spoonfayse on twitter!
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