inspirations for Encounter Critical's monsters?

[geoffrey]

Keeping in mind that Encounter Critical was published in its second corrected edition in Feb. 1979, let's list the inspirations for each of EC's monsters. I've listed what I know (or think I know). If I got some things wrong, don't hesitate to set me straight! I'll update the list periodically as my esteemed fellow posters chime in:

1. Asteroid Worm (The Empire Strikes Back film)
2. Bee Girl (Invasion of the Bee Girls 1973 film)
3. Bee Girl Queen (Invasion of the Bee Girls 1973 film)
4. Blink Beast (blink dogs from D&D's Supplement I: GREYHAWK)
5. Cave Ooze (The Blob 1958 film)
6. Crater Lake Monster (The Crater Lake Monster 1977 film)
7. Demon (various sources)
8. Dragon of Darkness
9. Dragon of Fire (various sources, including The Hobbit 1977 film)
10. Dragon of Wisdom (Chinese myth?)
11. Giant Ant (various sources, including Them! 1954 film)
12. Giant Gold Spider
13. Giant Sand Lizard
14. Giant Serpent (anacondas and pythons)
15. Giant Spider (various sources, including The Hobbit 1977 film)
16. Giant, 1-Headed (various sources)
17. Giant, 2-Headed (various sources)
18. Giant, 3-Headed (various sources)
19. Gjenie (Arabic myth)
20. Goblin (The Hobbit 1977 film)
21. Godzilla (the first 16 Godzilla films, 1954-1975)
22. Haunted Quick Sand
23. Hyperspace Gremlin
24. Infernal Ape
25. Jungle Flower
26. Living Dead (Night of the Living Dead 1968 film and Dawn of the Dead 1978 film)
27. Magic Statue
28. Manion Devil
29. Mega Turtle (One Million Years B. C. 1966 film; Gamera films, Showa Series 1965-1980)
30. Mummy (various Universal and Hammer Mummy films)
31. Orc (Tolkien)
32. Phasic Wolf
33. Pyrexis Hounds
34. Radioactor
35. Raider Rats
36. Rogue Robodroid
37. Ruin Slug
38. Sky Pirana
39. Smog Monster (Godzilla vs. Hedorah/the Smog Monster 1971 film)
40. Specteral Spirit
41. Succubus Demon (various sources)
42. Tyrannosaurus Rex (real!)
43. Vampire (various sources, especially the various Universal and Hammer vampire films)
44. Whirling Dervish (real!)

[Falconer]

Jul 12, 2010 23:15:21 GMT -6 geoffrey said:

24. Infernal Ape

“The Beast in the Cave” by H.P. Lovecraft and “Rogues in the House” by Robert E. Howard plus of course the “white ape” of Edgar Rice Burroughs’s Mars books.

Jul 12, 2010 23:15:21 GMT -6 geoffrey said:

27. Magic Statue

OD&D mentions it and it was given a proper writeup in Tegel Manor (reprinted in Ready Ref Sheets).

Jul 12, 2010 23:15:21 GMT -6 geoffrey said:

31. Orc (Tolkien)

Hmm, jarring in this context. It has to be “Tolkein”! ;-)

[snorri]

- Cyclops (The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad, 1958) theseventhvoyage.com/thecyclops.htm
- Winged man (Barbarella, 1968) barbarella.mon-oueb.com/media/barbarella.jpg
- Nosferatu (1922) www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcyzubFvBsA

[fnast]

Man, I love Encounter Critical!

Manion Devil is a pun on Tasmanian devil.

The Giant Sand Lizard would probably be inspired by the dewbacks of Tatooine.

Ruin Slug immediately brings to mind the Giant Slug illo in the Monster Manual.

[abecross]

Sky Piranhas, aren't there something similar (possibly sky sharks) in Arduin?