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{{trope}}
[[File:The Shuck.png|350px|thumb|right|What the dog doin'?]]
A sub-type of [[Eldritch Abomination]], the '''Animalistic Abomination''' is a monstrosity that resembles one animal - [[Hybrid Monster|or often multiple]] -
This type can be [[Nightmare Fuel|even more nightmarish]] than your average horror, due to the contrast of something so thoroughly and decidedly unnatural appearing in a form "borne" of nature. Somewhat less commonly, Animalistic Abominations may actually ''be'' a direct product of their environment, which can sometimes suggest that nature itself [[Gaia's Vengeance|is harboring a severe animosity]] towards locals... assuming you're still currently on Earth, anyway.
It is somewhat easy to confuse this trope with [[Starfish Aliens]]: these are life-forms most simply adapted to a different environment from humanity and might even take on [[A Form You Are Comfortable With|more familiar forms]] for our benefit, whereas Animalistic Abominations (like any kind of Eldritch Abomination) will feel ''wrong'' and actively tamper with comprehension of it no matter how much they "should" be at home -
Good candidates for such monstrous beings include [[Reptiles Are Abhorrent|various reptiles]], [[Big Creepy-Crawlies|large insects]] ([[Giant Spider|and/or arachnids]]), or [[Everything's Squishier with Cephalopods|cephalopods]] if you want a nice [[Cthulhu]]-esque touch; your abomination may also be based on at least one sufficiently-weird [[Seldom-Seen Species]], or else a combination of various animal species. Heck, you can even make them like ''actual'' starfish if you want! There's no shortage of other [[Animal Motifs]] to explore and exploit when creating your creepy, cryptic critters.
[[The Worm That Walks]] may overlap with this, since an eldritch being may use a mass of smalls animals (or animal-like creatures) such as insects to take on [[Humanoid Abomination|a humanoid form]]. Some variants of this may also overlap with [[The Mindless Almighty]], who tend to possess "animal-like" intelligence at most. Contrast the [[Tortured Abomination]], which also has a feral ''mentality'' rather than appearance.▼
▲[[The Worm That Walks]] may overlap with this, since an eldritch being may use a mass of smalls animals (or animal-like creatures) such as worms or insects to take on [[Humanoid Abomination|a humanoid form]]. Some variants of this may also overlap with [[The Mindless Almighty]], who tend to possess "animal-like" intelligence at most. Contrast the [[Tortured Abomination]], which
{{examples}}
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* ''[[Berserk]]'' has the Beast of Darkness, a monstrous wolf that is [[The Heartless|Guts's bloodlust and hatred of Griffith given form]]. It's one of the swordsman's greatest enemies, and wants nothing more than to make him submit to his darkest desires so it can permanently steal control of his body and freely indulge in its psychopathic bloodlust.
* The Tailed Beasts of ''[[Naruto]]'' fame are dangerous monsters made of primal Chakra, and look like massive and unholy versions of otherwise ordinary animals
* ''[[Puella Magi Madoka Magica]]'' has a heavy spoiler example in {{spoiler|the wish-granting entity known as Kyubey, who typically appears in the form of a harmless-looking cutesy feline. This belies Kyubey's nature as an "Incubator", a [[Hive Mind]] race who eat their dead and take their predecessor's place and identity; Kyubey is frequently seen eating what looks to be his own corpse, and is capable of surviving ludicrous amounts of injury. Despite seemingly lacking emotion and claiming that Incubators have little understanding of mortality or the value of life in their "utilitarian" approach, Kyubey is more than happy to play [[Jackass Genie]] and leave out vital aspects of the contracts Madoka and company agree to until it's too late.}}.
** The reason for doing all this to begin with is that {{spoiler|Incubators have a technology that converts emotions into energy, used in order to counter entropy and prevent the impending heat death of the universe - but the Incubators have a lack of emotion such that having them is considered an abnormality, and instead find their ideal subjects among (pre)pubescent human girls. While Kyubey's manipulations serve the purpose of cultivating the desired energy by turning the soul gems of magical girls into grief seeds, and the logic he employs still ultimately remains alien, you wouldn't be blamed for thinking he's just a bit ''too'' good at it}}.
** The side-story manga ''[[Puella Magi Kazumi Magica]]'' also has a similarly spoiler-y examples: {{spoiler|the Pleiades Saints learned the truth about Kyubey and magical girls, and used one of Kyubey's corpses to create their own Incubator in Jubey, who could absorb the darkness from soul gems; they also concocted a spell that would make Kyubey invisible to all other girls in the city, as well as rewrite their own memories to believe they contracted with Jubey, in an attempt to stop more witches from being born. Unfortunately for them, Jubey turns out to be a failure, and Kyubey eventually manages to regain control}}
** In ''The Rebellion Story'', which is set after the series: {{spoiler|The witch system has been upended and the Incubators have less emotional energy to harvest, so Kyubey seals Homura outside the Law of Circles' jurisdiction and forces Madoka back into the physical world in an attempt to restore it. This backfires when Homura steals Ultimate Madoka's powers for herself and becomes a witch, rewriting reality to make Madoka and her friends human again while enslaving Kyubey's race to take on the curses of the new world in Madoka's stead - with the result that Kyubey is [[Too Spicy for Yog-Sothoth|''driven mad'' by having emotions forced upon him]], inlcuding the combined grief, suffering and despair of every magical girl from the past, present and future. It's the kind of payback that's [[Asshole Victim|almost too good for him]] after everything he's done.}}
* In ''[[Pokémon: Jirachi Wishmaker|Pokémon: Jirachi—Wish Maker]]'', the villain Butler attempts to resurrect a Groudon from a fossilized remnant of it using Jirachi's wish-granting powers. When he finally succeeds, the result is a bizarre manifestation of pure evil that ''looks'' like Groudon, but pretty clearly ''isn't'' - this Groudon-shaped monster (known as Meta Groudon in Japan) immediately begins absorbing energy from plant life, humans and Pokémon alike using the gelatinous tentacles expelled from its spikes. It takes Butler seeing the error of his ways and [[Enemy Mine|collaborating with Jirachi, Ash and his friends]] in order to finally destroy the monstrosity.
* In the ''[[Witch Hat Atelier (manga)|Witch Hat Atelier]]'' manga, the Brimmed Caps possess [[Black Magic]] [[Painful Transformation|transformation spells]] which can turn them into scalewolf-like abominations against their will - while they share the canine appearance and scaly back of ''actual'' scalewolves, these monsters are black-colored beasts with pupil-less eyes. {{spoiler|Euini is subjected to a forceful transformation into one in volume 4, and attacks Coco and Tetia in volume 5.}}
== [[Comic Books]] ==
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* In ''[[DC Comics]]'':
** The ''[[Green Lantern]]'' comics have revealed the existence of alien entities that are incarnations of the various emotional forces that power each society of Lanterns. Examples of this trope among them include the bull-like red Butcher of Rage; the insectoid yellow Parallax of Fear; the three-faced, eagle-like blue Avara of Hope; and the [[Everything's Squishier with Cephalopods|massive, octopus-like indigo Proselyte of Compassion]].
** The Red is an an elemental force that connects all forms of land-dwelling animal life on Earth, and is governed by a group of entities known as the Parliament of Limbs. As a close ally of the plant-centric Green, the Red is far from malevolent and is connected to well known superheroes such as Beast Boy (formerly Changeling), Vixen and [[Animal Man]], but it's... [https://
* [[Spider-Man]] and other spider-themed super-beings (such as Silk, Madame Webb, Kaine, and all the heroes in ''[[Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse]]'') have an innate connection to a mystical force called the Web of Life and Destiny, which in turn connects them to several totemic entities that also resemble spiders. These include The Other, the Gatekeeper, the Master Weaver, the Bride (the direct source of Silk’s powers), and the Patternweaver. Most of these beings are, in fact, benevolent, at least towards those with totemic powers, but not always. Possibly they are all embodiments or vestiges of Neith, one of [[Our Titans Are Different| the Elder Gods]] and goddess of spiders, who [[The Maker|built the Web of Life and Destiny to begin with.]]
== [[Fan Works]] ==
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* In ''[[Annihilation]]'', animals exposed to [[Eldritch Abomination|the Shimmer]] are mutated into a form that, while recognizable, are far more alien and freaky than anything found on Earth. On the more mundane side of things is an alligator with a mouth full of shark teeth, while far more extreme is a bear with its skull exposed that can mimic the dying screams of a human it killed, and has one of her eyes and quite possibly ''her entire skull'' assimilated into its being.
* ''[[Pirates of the Caribbean]]'' has Calypso, the goddess of the sea whose favored form seems to be a vast swarm of crabs. The Kraken would also count, from the way Gibbs describes it.
* While there is a lot of [[Artistic License]] in ''[[Anaconda]]'', it doesn't seem like the snake is more than a... giant snake. [[Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid| The sequel]], however, claims it is in fact an avatar of a local deity, making this Trope a possibility.
* In the ''[[Jurassic Park]]'' franchise, most of the dinosaurs, while ferocious and deadly, are just dinosaurs, acting solely out of hunger and instinct. However, in ''[[Jurassic World]]'' (the third movie), the [[Mega Corp]] decides to push the limits they’ve already pushed at playing God and use genetic engineering to create a beast like none other, the Indominus Rex, am abomination spawned by technology. This massive hybrid-super-dinosaur starts with the base genome of a T-Rex, making her incredibly strong, then adds the DNA of a gigantosaurus, making her huge, carnotaurus, giving her an armored carapace, mundane snake DNA, allowing her to track heat signatures, a tree frog infusion, giving her excellent climate adaptability (''and'' hide her own heat signature), cuttlefish DNA for accelerated growth and camouflage, deinosuchus for powerful jaws and teeth, xenosaurus, giving her arms far more stronger and useful than those of the typical T-Rex, and most lethal of all, velociraptor, giving it the uncanny intelligence and cunning shown by those dinos in the previous films. And those are just the named ones, there are other dinosaurs in this genetic cocktail whose inclusion isn’t explained. It’s even hinted that she might have some human DNA in her, explaining opposable thumbs, problem solving abilities, and general ruthlessness. The end result is something far more malicious than anything previously seen in the franchise. They initially created two of these hybrids, but this one killed her sibling shortly after hatching. Not only does she seem to intentionally hunt down humans in preference to other prey, she hunts them long after her hunger is clearly sated, and slaughters other dinosaurs and leaves their corpses to rot, simply for fun. This is not a dinosaur, she is ''an avatar of Death itself'', possibly even [[Gaia's Vengeance|the embodiment of Nature's rage.]] Still, a big reason she proved as dangerous as she was is due to the reluctance to kill her - out of sheer greed - by her creators, as much like the rest of this franchise, [[Humans Are the Real Monsters]] .
== [[Literature]] ==
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* While [[The Bible]] does not go into detail about the origins of the Serpent in the Garden of Eden, ''[[Paradise Lost]]'' leaves no question that it is [[Satan]] in disguise.
* ''[[The Hound of the Baskervilles]]'' has the titular canine, which is implied throughout the novel to be a sort of demonic hound. {{spoiler|This trope is ultimately subverted when it's revealed to be a [[Scooby-Doo Hoax]] perpetrated by the true villain, who covered a dog in phosphorus to make it glow in the dark.}}
== [[New Media]] ==
* The [https://web.archive.org/web/20131017224931/http://plus4chan.org/boards/coc/res/29988.html Dogscape], a creation of [[Something Awful]] and [[4chan]]'s /co/, is a colossal organic mass of dog parts smothering the entire globe, leaving only trees growing puppy fetuses and occasional masses of milk teats as the only sustenance for the few remaining scraps of humanity.
* Thanks to [[Tumblr]], the ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic]]'' fandom now has [https://web.archive.org/web/20111009030132/http://ask-loonyluna.tumblr.com/ Loony Luna].
* From ''[[Something Awful]]'' [[Zoofights]], we have Swanmass. It starts out as a bunch of swans with gorilla arms, but after the Zoofights people reanimate it with [[Black Magic]], [[From Bad to Worse|it gets much, much worse]].
== [[Oral Tradition]], [[Folklore]], Myths and Legends ==
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** In [[The Bible/Source/Revelation|Chapter 9]] of the [[Book of Revelation]], the first eleven verses describe "locusts" that are summoned from the Abyss, and appear as [[Hybrid Monster|armored horses with human faces, long hair, scorpion tails and leonine teeth]]. Unlike a typical [[Plague of Locusts]], they were sent to torment and harm "those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads" for nearly half a year; they are also led by the angel of the Abyss, known as [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|Abaddon in Hebrew, and Apollyon (or "Destroyer") in Greek]]. From Revelation 9:7-10:
{{quote|The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. On their heads they wore something like crowns of gold, and their faces resembled human faces. Their hair was like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth. They had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the thundering of many horses and chariots rushing into battle. They had tails with stingers, like scorpions, and in their tails they had power to torment people for five months.}}
* The [[w:Black Shuck|Black Shuck]] of English folklore is a canine apparition that is frequently recorded as an omen of death, and other legends of spectral black dogs have been linked to it
* [[Norse Mythology]] has numerous examples:
** Fenrir, or Fenrisúlfr - '''''the''''' [[Big Badass Wolf]] among Big Badass Wolves and one of Loki's three monstrous children by a female ''jötunn'' ([[Our Giants Are Bigger|often translated as "giant", despite not every jötunn being especially large]]). The Æsir raised Fenrir
*** And ''when'' Ragnarök comes, Fenrir is prophesized to break his binds and "go forth with his mouth opened wide, his upper jaw touching the sky and his lower jaw the earth, and flames will burn from his eyes and nostrils" - he will aid the forces of Surtr alongside his sibling, the World Serpent (who is another example discussed below), and consume the King of the Æsir, Odin.
*** Fenrir's sons, Sköll and Hati Hróðvitnisson, are each a [[Big Badass Wolf]] in their own right, and eternally chase the sun and moon respectively across the sky; one of the signs heralding Ragnarök is Sköll ''eating the sun'' and Hati ''swallowing the moon''. Then, the stars will then disappear from the sky, the earth will shake violently, trees will be uprooted, mountains will fall, and all binds will snap – and then their father will break free
** Jörmungandr the Midgard Serpent, one of the monstrous offspring of Loki and a giantess. Starting out big, he grew so large that he can ''encircle the world'', and sleeps at the bottom of the ocean depths while keeping his tail in his mouth - one of the signs of Ragnarök is finally releasing his tail, then causing to seas to flood as he thrashes onto the land and fills the water and air with his poison. Joining Loki and his other children in confronting the gods, Jörmungandr's role in the conflict is a battle with his [[Arch Enemy]] Thor that ends in a [[Mutual Kill]] - the hammer-wielder successfully slays the Serpent, but is felled by his poison after walking nine steps.
** Garmr, another monstrous wolf [[Hell Hound|guarding Nifhelm]].
** Norse folklore originated the Kraken of the [[Kraken and Leviathan]] trope.
* [[Egyptian Mythology]]:
** Apep (Greek "Apophis") is an example that makes the trope [[Older Than Dirt]]:
** Ammit
== [[Tabletop Games]] ==
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** [[Multiple Choice Past|One of the various backstories]] of Asmodeus, the Lord of Nessus and King of Hell, is that he is actually one of these. What others see when dealing with him [[Fighting a Shadow|is actually an advanced illusion]] - Asmodeus' real body is that of a titanic, ''miles-long'' serpentine creature who is some sort of [[Time Abyss|primordial entity that predated the Gods]], and is still injured from the Gods throwing him into an abyss so hard, it created the Nine Hells.
** ''Possibly'' the Froghemoth, which is a frog the size of an elephant, standing upright, with three eyes, and four tentacles in place of arms. While this is indeed weird, the "abomination" part is a theory put forth by Baron Lum the Mad, who claimed to have encountered strange, cylindrical chambers of metal buried in the ground from which froghemoths emerged (of course, there ''is'' a reason [[The Caligula|Lum was called "the Mad"]]). Also, in [[Forgotten Realms]], there is a legend stating that the [[Our Titans Are Different|primordial god Ubtao]] created froghemoths, first doing so by transforming a toad who dared to insult him; also, Kubazan, one of the Nine Trickster Gods of Chult, tooks the form of a Froghemoth. This suggests these monsters are at least originally divine creations. Whatever the case, it is clear they are "not of this world".
== [[Video Games]] ==
* ''[[Undertale]]'' has one of these in {{spoiler|Endogeny, one of the Amalgamates that takes on the vague shape of a large canine: it has two pointed ears atop its "head", a single vaguely mouth-like orifice [[Eyeless Face|where a face would be]] that produces "Happiness Froth" when it's excited, and a wide body with six digitigrade legs that form the silhouettes of five smaller canines, which display satisfied faces once it's content. For all its ''weirdness'', though, it's very much like a normal dog, and
* ''[[Bloodborne]]'' has many, but the Cleric Beast and Vicar Amelia are among the most iconic examples. They look like massive bipedal wolves with reindeer antlers that have been starved to death, and their screams sound truly hellish. Both seem to be some form of Wendigo, with the latter introducing herself by [[Living Bodysuit|erupting forth from the body of a seemingly normal priestess]].
* ''[[The Elder Scrolls]]'' has a ''lot'' of eldritch monsters hanging around, and with the [[Unreliable Narrator|vagueness surrounding the franchise's intentionally contradictory lore]], it only figures that some of them are animal-like in nature:▼
** Barbas
** [[Our Dragons Are Different|While they don't look too different in comparison to your stereotypical sauropod-like Western dragons]], the dragons of ''The Elder Scrolls'' aren't fire-breathing lizards so much as they are [[Draconic Divinity|Draconic Divinities]] (or [[Draconic Demon|Demons]]) with a connection to [[Top God|Akatosh]] himself. They're immortal creatures that can't be permanently killed unless their souls are absorbed, and find mortality to be so alien of a concept that it ''hurts'' them if they're forced to comprehend it. They also don't breathe fire, but instead ''speak it into existence'', with the dragon language giving them all sorts of other fantastic powers that include becoming ethereal and greatly weakening anyone they fight.▼
** Alduin, one of the most powerful dragons in the series, cranks this up even further. He is either the firstborn son of Akatosh, an aspect of him, or Akatosh himself, and that's ignoring the likely explanation that he's [[Mind Screw|all three at once]] somehow. His powers go further beyond his weaker brethren, and include being able to raise dragons from the dead as well as {{spoiler|traveling directly to Sovngarde, the Nordic afterlife, and
* Since [[the Heartless]] from ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]'' are an entire ''race'' of Eldritch Abominations, the ones with more animalistic forms fit this trope, such as the [[Maniac Monkeys|Powerwilds, Bouncywilds]] and [[Giant Spider|Pot Spiders]]. But even among them, there are a few that stand out:
** Skoll, a massive wolf Heartless named after the giant sun-chasing wolf from [[Norse Mythology]]. It fights by summoning packs of ghostly wolf minions, firing off powerful ice attacks, and trying to crush Sora and friends underneath a mass of darkness big enough to fill up the sky. But what makes it ''really'' special is the fact that it's the Heartless of ''[[Frozen
** Scar of ''[[The Lion King
* ''[[The Halloween Hack]]'' has the Desire Dog that appears in {{spoiler|Dr. Andonuts's [[Magicant]]}} - it appears as a Zombie Dog in the overworld, but in-battle the front half of its body consists of gooey tentacle-like pseudopods that it frequently uses to attack. Upon defeat, it collapses into an array of wriggling tentacles.
* ''[[Final Fantasy]]'':
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** ''[[Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U]]'' introduces the Master Core - either a superpowered form of Master Hand, or some sort of abomination that took his guise. It surrounds itself with The "Swarm", a mass of darkness that it can shape into a number of terrifying forms: the ones that qualify for this are the Master Beast, which appears as a scorpion-tailed hound with violent high-speed attacks and bites that can shake the stage, and the [[Mirror Boss|Master Shadow]] if you're using an animal-like fighter such as [[Donkey Kong]].
* Falzar and Gregar from ''[[Mega Man Battle Network 6]]'' overlap with [[Mechanical Abomination]] - both are obscenely powerful, animalistic superprograms that are feared as harbingers of the apocalypse, and serve as the game's version mascots. Gregar is a wolf-like amalgamation of Bugfrags not unlike Gospel, and Falzar was meant to be a countermeasure to Gregar that turned violent and unpredictable. When MegaMan.EXE is forced to absorb one, he turns into a feral and uncontrollable Mechanical Abomination due to their raw power, with [[Humanoid Abomination|his appearance altered accordingly]].
* The ''[[Pokémon]]'' series has an abundance of examples, typically in the form of its [[Olympus Mons]]. They're somewhat downplayed overall in the "abominable" department, considering the abilities possessed by more mundane Pokémon and the fact you can catch these Olympus Mons to begin with - Poké Balls work as power limiters that allow you to control what you catch with them, and as pointed out by [[Big Bad|Ghetsis]] in ''[[Pokémon Black and White]]'': "A Pokémon, even if it's revered as a deity, is still just a Pokémon". With that in mind, many of these creatures display more than enough power beyond what most Pokémon are capable of (including the ability to control various aspects of the Pokémon world), while also being [[Physical God]]s at minimum; some of the game's plots also feature villains that try to control these Pokémon through methods other than Poké Balls in order to unleash their full power.
** The super-ancient trio of ''[[Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire]]'' - Groudon, Kyogre, and Rayquaza - are [[Weather Control Creatures]] that lurk in places normally beyond the reaches of man, and the awakening of either the dinosaur-like Groudon or the whale-like Kyogre ''alone'' constitutes an apocalyptic event that could devastate the world; Team Magma and Team Aqua respectively seek out the version mascot in order to create their ideal domains for people and Pokémon alike using control orbs. The third version, ''Pokémon Emerald'', has '''''both''''' of them awakened,
** The fourth generation of Pokémon introduces
*** Both Dialga and Palkia are [[Dinosaurs Are Dragons|sauropod Pokémon]] said to be able to create new universes, either on their own or through working with each other, and each normally reside in a different dimension from ours. Dialga has complete control over time, and its birth is said to mark the beginning of time's flow; Palkia can warp space, connect dimensions and create alternate realities, and is said to stabilize the space it controls with each breath.
*** Giratina rivals both Dialga and Palkia in power, and dwells in [http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Torn_World the Distortion World], a dimension [[Eldritch Location|where time and space do not work like they should]]. Like the others, it can also travel to different universes and warp reality, but represents gaseous and "ghostly" antimatter, as opposed to "solid and resilient" time and fluid space - it can turn itself into a shadow and merge the Distortion World with the Pokémon world, which risks it being destroyed in the process. Its Pokédex entry states that it was banished to the Distortion World for its violence - the third version, ''[[Pokemon Platinum]]'', also has Giratina as the mascot and gives it a surprise role in the plot, where it demonstrates how highly aggressive and protective of its home it is by {{spoiler|''snatching Cyrus into the Distortion World'' right in front of you in a way that looks like [[The Fourth Wall Will Not Protect You|it's lunging at the screen]]}}. There's ''a good reason'' why people compare it to Yog-Sothoth or even [[Satan]].
*** ''Arceus'' - [[Crystal Dragon Jesus|the Alpha Pokémon and "The Original One"]] - it is the creator of the lake guardians and the creation trio, possibly the Sinnoh and Ransei regions, and maybe even the ''entire'' Pokémon universe. It is said to have created the universe with "one thousand arms", including the Plates that are said to be shards from that creation, and can use those Plates or Z-Crystalss to change its type to any of the other 17. It also lives in a pocket dimension, the Hall of Origin, seemingly located above Dialga and Palkia’s summoning grounds on Spear Pillar, and all music associated with it just sounds... ''wrong''. As shown by an event involving a special distributed Arceus in ''[[Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver]]'', it can recreate the latter trio of Pokémon, presumably to guard the dimensions when a Trainer has caught one of them
** Xerneas and Yveltal of ''[[Pokémon X and Y]]'' are the incarnations of life and death, respectively, and otherworldly to a T. Xerneas breaks the usual mold of cute, cuddly Fairy-Types and is a divine, imposing stag who can grant eternal life to those it deems worthy. Yveltal, on the other hand, is a ghastly vulture-like Pokémon who can suck the life out of people, Pokemon, and the very Earth itself, [[Taken for Granite|rendering its victims statues]]; when it reaches the end of its lifespan, it steals the life energy of everything around it
*** Eldritch as they are, neither Xerneas nor Yveltal hold a candle to the third member of their trio: Zygarde. While Xerneas and Yveltal at least have recognizably animalistic forms, Zygarde is instead a
▲** Xerneas and Yveltal of ''[[Pokémon X and Y]]'' are the incarnations of life and death, respectively, and otherworldly to a T. Xerneas breaks the usual mold of cute, cuddly Fairy-Types and is a divine, imposing stag who can grant eternal life to those it deems worthy. Yveltal, on the other hand, is a ghastly vulture-like Pokémon who can suck the life out of people, Pokemon, and the very Earth itself, [[Taken for Granite|rendering its victims statues]]; when it reaches the end of its lifespan, it steals the life energy of everything around it and then transforms into a cocoon to sleep. Living being drained by Yveltal can only be restored to life by Xerneas.
**
▲*** Eldritch as they are, neither Xerneas nor Yveltal hold a candle to the third member of their trio: Zygarde. While Xerneas and Yveltal at least have recognizably animalistic forms, Zygarde is a hive mind collective of tiny cell-like creatures; depending on the amount of Zygarde Cells gathering around a "Core", it can take on the appearance of a hound, a bizarre alien serpent, or a hulking monstrosity that looks like some sort of alien Gundam. No matter the form, it’s a hyper-vigilant protector of nature that will eliminate any and all threats to the ecosystem with extreme prejudice. Thankfully, it's an otherwise benevolent and gentle creature.
▲** The Ultra Beasts of ''[[Pokémon Sun and Moon]]'' are only barely recognizable as Pokémon, and are interdimensional beings whose appearances and powers are unlike those of even the most Eldritch Pokémon. Those the most fit this trope include:
*** Nihilego looks like an oddly humanoid jellyfish, but is inexplicably a Rock/Poison type instead of anything even remotely aquatic. It secretes a venom that [[Mind Rape|turns victims into rabidly insane husks of their former selves]], and drives the conflict behind ''Pokémon Sun and Moon'' by {{spoiler|turning the once-kind and loving Lusamine into a narcissistic sociopath who terrorizes her children and innocent Pokémon alike}}.
*** Serving as something of an unofficial "leader" of the Ultra Beasts, Guzzlord is a gluttonous [[Draconic Demon]] that acts as a living black hole. Its monstrous appetite allows it to devour anything
*** While Solgaleo and Lunala are pretty otherworldly, they're at least comprehensible enough -- the same can't be said for Necrozma. A strange Pokémon seemingly made of black crystal, it has a vaguely humanoid shape with spiked shoulders, thin arms, gigantic hands, and a tail-like protrusion on its head. Its face is actually a prism-like object known as the brain prism, which holds a collection of multicolored eye-like shapes and glows when it absorbs and feeds on light. Necrozma fires off light constantly, including in the form of its signature Prismatic Laser, and [[Light Is Not Good|is unceasingly vicious towards other life forms]] - it's also believed to be impossibly ancient, and is said to be reminiscent of the similarly-alien Ultra Beasts.
** ''[[Pokémon Legends: Arceus]]'' marks the first non-event appearance of the titular Mythical Pokémon and reveals even more about Arceus and the creation trio.▼
**** ''Ultra Moon'' and ''Ultra Sun'' make Necrozma a significant part of the games' new storyline, grants it a pair of new forms and [[Incredibly Lame Pun|sheds some light]] on Necrozma's biology and its violent tendencies: Necrozma came from {{spoiler|the world of the Ultra Megalopolis, where it was called the "Blinding One", and once had the ability to give light}} - but it was severely injured and partly shattered when {{spoiler|the ancestors of the Ultra Recon Squad tried to steal that light from it}}. This made Necrozma ''extremely violent'' and forced it to search for light to consume, both to sustain itself and {{spoiler|regain its original form; in its desperation, [[Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds|it also stole light from other beings and places, which left them in near-permanent darkness]] -- this also gave it a reputation as a "pillager of light" in ancient Alola}}. Necrozma also displays the same ability to make portals into Ultra Space as Solgaleo and Lunala, and can even {{spoiler|take control of Solgaleo or Lunala, dominating them body and mind in order to fuse}} -- this makes it ''even more vicious'' to the point of brutalizing any perceived enemy. Its new signature move is Photon Geyser, a pillar of destructive light that runs of the higher of Necrozma's offensive stats. And those fragments of Necrozma that it lost? They might well be {{spoiler|''the Z-Crystals you've used throughout those games''}}.
**** And then there's the form of Necrozma that players encounter as the main boss of the story: {{spoiler|Ultra Necrozma, a colossal four-winged dragon composed of pure light energy, whose entire body uses its base form as a sort of "skeleton" - these portions of the body glow gold from the light energy it's absorbed}}. Its body temperature exceeds ''10,000 degrees Fahrenheit (or 5,540 degrees Celsius)'', melting anything it touches. Its Photon Geyser can also become one of the strongest Z-moves in the game: {{spoiler|[[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|'''Light That Burns the Sky''']], which is likely the basis for what the Pokédex entry describes as a laser that can burn through anything in its path ''for up to 18 miles''}}. And ''that's'' what {{spoiler|the ancestors of the URS}} [[Mugging the Monster|pissed right the fuck off]].
*** And what of the titular Arceus? {{spoiler|Oh, it's only responsible for the creation of the Noble Pokémon that the Hisui people worship, the Ride Pokémon that guide you through a blessing that made them stronger, ''and'' the Arc Phone you use throughout the game. Arceus is also capable of human speech, and simply took on the name that humans called it. Around the time you finally encounter it near the end of the game, there are hints that its physical appearance is only [[You Cannot Grasp the True Form|a fragment of its unknown and incomprehensible true form]] that exists outside the dimension it calls home. After you capture this 'fragment', Arceus appears in your dreams and creates the Eternal Battle Reverie, where you can fight various Pokémon as challenges.}}▼
▲** ''[[Pokémon Legends: Arceus]]'' marks the first non-event appearance of the titular Mythical Pokémon, and
▲*** {{spoiler|Dialga and Palkia}} each have their ''own'' Origin Formes now, which partly explains why {{spoiler|they were believed to be "almighty Sinnoh" (aka Arceus) by their respective clans, as well as the Pokédex entries that stated they were revered as deities in ancient times}}. And what of the titular Arceus? {{spoiler|Oh, it's "only" responsible for the creation of the Noble Pokémon that the Hisui people worship, the Ride Pokémon that guide you through a blessing that made them stronger, ''and'' the Arc Phone you use throughout the game. Arceus is also capable of human speech, and simply took on the name that humans called it. Around the time you finally encounter it near the end of the game, there are hints that its physical appearance is only [[You Cannot Grasp the True Form|a fragment of its unknown and incomprehensible true form]] (a theory that is supported by at least one PokeDex entry claims it "shaped the world with its thousand arms") that exists outside the dimension it calls home. After you capture this 'fragment', Arceus appears in your dreams and creates the Eternal Battle Reverie, where you can fight various Pokémon as challenges.}}
*** And then finally there's none other than {{spoiler|Giratina - its portrayal here leans way more into the Satanic archetypes, with the power to create space-time distortions that rip holes in reality and can drive both Dialga and Palkia berserk... ''as well'' as creating Alpha Pokémon and driving Noble Pokémon into their berserk Lord/Lady States. The player learns of Giratina from Volo after they successfully reconcile the warring clans and he asks them to collect the Plates: upon obtaining 17 of them, Volo informs the player of a Legendary Pokémon as powerful as Dialga and Palkia, which was banished to another world due to its cruelty. Volo takes the player to the ruins of the Temple of Sinnoh, where he reveals that he sought out Giratina in order to cause a space-time rift that would make Dialga and Palkia appear - this would summon Arceus, [[A God Am I|whose power Volo wants to destroy the world and create a superior one]]. When you defeat Volo in battle, Giratina appears immediately afterward to attack you, even transforming into its Origin Forme partway through - defeating it earns you the final plate and foils Volo's plot for the time being}}.
** Several of the [http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Glitch_Pokemon Glitch Pokémon] that appear as other Pokémon fit this on a conceptual level, including [[The Missingno|Missingno.]] - glitch Pokémon on a gameplay level are essentially junk data given form, and as such the game will pull the images and cries of other 'Mons from the index for them. Many of them warp or alter music, graphics and save data, possess bizarre dimensions, and can induce game crashes; some such as [https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/%27M_(00) 'M] and its ''Yellow'' counterpart [https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/3TrainerPoké_$ 3TrainerPoké $] can even ''evolve'' into actual Pokémon!
*** MissingNo. in particular is known for its ability to duplicate items, mess with save data like the Hall of Fame entries, and scrambling in-sprites when sent out to battle. It has [https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/MissingNo.#Fossil_and_ghost_MissingNo. three "special" forms] in ''[[Pokémon Red and Blue]]'' as well as ''Yellow'': two of them resemble the Kabutops and Aerodactyl fossils from the Pewter Museum of Science, due to the game using the index numbers of these images to get their front sprites. In these forms, MissingNo. has no constant base stats, experience types or starting moves, and instead
** Possibly the Paradox Pokémon from ''[[Pokémon Scarlet and Violet]]''. Initially, the Professor claims these overly aggressive Pokemon are from the distant past or far future (depending on which game you are playing) brought to the present by the [[Time Machine]] discovered in the Great Crater of Paldea, but whether that is true or whether these are truly Pokémon at all is debatable. Sure, you can catch them, train them, battle them, and even love them as you would any other Pokémon, but true to their name, much about them just does not make sense and often contradicts established lore on the Pokémon they resemble. To give one example, [[Mushroom Man| Brute Bonnet]] seems to be an ancient version of Amoongus, and like the latter, has markings on its head and arms resembling PokéBalls… a strange situation for a Pokémon that supposedly existed millennia before PokéBalls were invented. In-game lore suggests that possibly the Time Machine is nothing of the sort, and that they were concepts from the Professor’s dreams of a “perfect” ecosystem of Pokémon, the machine being a [[Reality Warping]] device that made the figments real.
▲* ''[[The Elder Scrolls]]'' has a ''lot'' of eldritch monsters hanging around, and with the [[Unreliable Narrator|vagueness surrounding the franchise's intentionally contradictory lore]], it only figures that some of them are animal-like in nature:
▲** [[Our Dragons Are Different|While they don't look too different in comparison to your stereotypical sauropod-like Western dragons]], the dragons of ''The Elder Scrolls'' aren't fire-breathing lizards so much as they are [[Draconic Divinity|Draconic Divinities]] (or [[Draconic Demon|Demons]]) with a connection to [[Top God|Akatosh]] himself. They're immortal creatures that can't be permanently killed unless their souls are absorbed, and find mortality to be so alien of a concept that it ''hurts'' them if they're forced to comprehend it. They also don't breathe fire, but instead ''speak it into existence'', with the dragon language giving them all sorts of other fantastic powers that include becoming ethereal and greatly weakening anyone they fight.
▲** Alduin, one of the most powerful dragons in the series, cranks this up even further. He is either the firstborn son of Akatosh, an aspect of him, or Akatosh himself, and that's ignoring the likely explanation that he's [[Mind Screw|all three at once]] somehow. His powers go further beyond his weaker brethren, and include being able to raise dragons from the dead as well as {{spoiler|traveling directly to Sovngarde, the Nordic afterlife, and devour the souls of the honored dead to get even stronger}}. His role is meant to be that of a living apocalypse that plays into the world's cycle of death and renewal, hence his moniker "The World-Eater".
* Some examples lurk among the horrors infesting ''[[Spooky's Jumpscare Mansion]]'':
** Specimen 8 looks like a humanoid deer wearing a robe, but its "body" is a mass of screaming faces of its past victims tucked under its rib cage. It kills its victims by assimilating them into itself, and every time it attacks you you're assaulted by disturbing imagery in the form of subliminal messages and sudden closeups of its freaky face.
* ''[[Hollow Knight]]'' has a spoiler-riffic example: {{spoiler|The Radiance is a [[Cosmic Horror]] that vaguely resembles a fluffy moth crossed with one of the Bible's more outlandish angels. She can invade the minds of bugs and manifest a viral plague that [[Mind Rape]] them into feral shells of their former selves, and can stop existing entirely if enough people forget about her... only to re-materialize upon being remembered. Even her roars are mind-bending and otherworldly, sounding more like an angry ethereal choir instead of any kind of earthly creature.}}
* In ''[[Might and Magic|Might & Magic 9]]'', the Great Honk is implied to be this. The Founder of the Temple of Honk stated that devout believers could achieve spiritual redemption via the Way of the Bread (which stated one should never get agitated and should instead rise up over adversity) which would result in the Great Honk’s blessing causing them to be reincarnated as geese. (The present-day cult is far less benign.) {{spoiler|In truth, however, the Great Honk (whose name is actually Philip) is [[Subverted Trope| nothing but a giant goose]] whom the goddess [https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Freyja Fre] keeps as a pet. In fact, one late-game side quest has Fre telling the heroes to get rid of the cult - it’s embarrassing.}}
* ''[[Fallen London]]'':
** Sorrow Spiders are common fauna in London, but they are basically just [[Giant Spider]]s. The Spider Council is… different. Described in the narrative as “an abominable monster like an amalgamation of several large sorrow-spiders” the regular sorrow spiders graft the eyes of their victims onto this thing as part of the process to hatch more of them. The fact that it speaks [[Surprisingly Good English]] is even more unsettling.
** In [[The City Narrows| Spite]], cats (whom you can nab to collect Cryptic Clues) are [[Cats Are Snarkers|sassy]], [[Cats Are Magic|magic]], and [[Cats Are Mean|often mean]], and [[Talking Animal| most of them can talk]]. Black Cats, however, seem to stand out. Again, the narrative betrays their true nature, "You didn't know cats came in this particular black. It's as if someone's cut a hole in a shadow and filled it with ink.” Failing to catch one makes your character wonder if it was even there at all; successfully catching one is an eerie experience that seems more like the cat has caught you, and the reward is an Appalling Secret and a Tale of Terror (both of which are items in the same category of Cryptic Clues but more valuable). It seems these cats are minions of the Dutchess, [[Humanoid Abomination| who is herself something of an abomination.]]
** '''[[Pure Evil| THE]] [[Bigger Bad| OVERGOAT!]]'''
{{quote|Spawn of a Master and a feather-gartered-demon at the Feast of the Exceptional Rose! Guardian of the Bazaar's deepest cellar! It consumes smoke and defecates flame! It rises like flies and walks on the cavern roof! It ate the tongue of the King with a Hundred Hearts! It can only be tamed by the child who has one green eye and one blue! In its roar is heard the voice of the Old God of the Cavern! In its heart burns the fire of the first candle!
...[[Deadpan Snarker|and so on]]. [[Misunderstood Loner with a Heart of Gold| Grains of truth in oceans of rumour]]}}
=== [[Visual Novel]]s ===
* In the [[Nasuverse]], ''[[Tsukihime]]'' has Nero Chaos, whose body is composed of hundreds of animals that can detach from him to attack and feed.
== [[Web Comics]] ==
* [[Played for Laughs]] in a ''[[Dinosaur Comics]]'' strip [http://www.qwantz.com/index.php?comic=2016
* ''[[xkcd]]'' features [https://xkcd.com/1013/ Sheeple]. Do not wake the Sheeple.
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** [https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-5683 SCP-5683] is [[Giant Spider|an arachnid-like being]] that [[Adaptive Ability|adapts its form]] to resist anything posing a danger to it. It doesn't seem to be particularly intelligent, but is smarter than it looks and still a capable hunter, especially with its '''''ridiculously adaptive''''' body - [[Lightning Bruiser|it's extremely destructive and tough to bring down]], and the Foundation wants it neutralized as soon as possible. It absolutely hates humanity and tries its damnedest to kill anyone and everyone it can get within reach of - [[Suspiciously Similar Substitute|does all this sound familiar?]] One of the staff assigned to it even dealt with SCP-682 previously, and seems quite ambitious about it. {{spoiler|Turns out, it's because the SCP is really part of ''a tailor-made hell'' to punish them for their grievous failures in handling 682.}}
** [https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-5962 SCP-5962] overlaps this with [[Monster Clown]]. Biologically, this creature is a cow and was born from one at a Midwest American farm, but it resembles a monstrous version of Ronald McDonald that is 4 meters tall and weighs over 5 tons, and it continually spits out fully-packaged McDonalds products. The owners of the farm sold it to a Chinese McDonalds franchise, where they enjoyed an incredible boost in profits for a while until the Foundation found out about it. They also found out that [[Human Resources|the food was made from human flesh]] - [[Squick|''all of it'']]. The bacon and fries are human cartilage and ligaments; the chicken nuggets were made from reproductive organs; the bread is made of hair, nails, and skin; and the coffee and ice cream were made from... various human waste products. [[Squick|(Yeah, a lot of folks in-story were grossed out too.)]] The weird part is, nobody knows [[The Unsolved Mystery|where the stuff comes from]]: SCP-5962 has never been known to attack anyone save one time when it spewed hot coffee on [[The Rival|a visiting Burger King manager]], [[Fridge Logic|possibly the guy who tipped off the Foundation]]; it seems relatively mindless and never really does anything except produce the food - when analyzed, the food's genetic material matches that of still-living humans, who seem unharmed by this process.
*** SCP-5962 isn’t even the only example of this trope that came from [[Eldritch Location|that farm]]. [https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-4158 SCP-4158] is the other; it looks closer to a cow than SCP-5962, but is huge, monstrous, and deformed. Some sort of anomalous birth defect gives it uncontrollable regenerative ability, causing it to grow at an alarming rate, requiring the Foundation to sever its limbs and shear off parts of its muscle on a weekly basis, lest the poor beast’s spine snap under its own weight - fortunately, the same condition makes it
* ''[[RWBY]]'': The Grimm are monsters that resemble animals that feast on humans and [[The Heartless|are attracted to their negative emotions]]. Their forms consist of black hides with outward skulls and bones throughout their bodies.
* [http://www.creepypasta.com/the-rake/ The Rake] is a well-known creepypasta creation that's a freakish hairless [[Beast Man|dog-man]] with seemingly similar stalking habits to [[The Slender Man Mythos|Slenderman]], albeit being more direct with his victims
== [[Western Animation]] ==
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** [[Word of Dante]] has it that [[Fallen Angel|Nightmare Moon]] also shows traces of this, as not all of her is Luna.
* Used as a [[Brick Joke]] in ''[[The Owl House]]''. In the first season, Eda tells Luz that giraffes are natives of the Boiling Isles; the "joke" is supposed to be that "giraffes are so silly that they must have originated elsewhere." Or so it seems. Fast forward to season 3 where Amity, Gus, Willow, and Vee (all of them natives of the Boiling Isles themselves) visit a zoo in the human world and take a photo of a giraffe, [https://theowlhouse.fandom.com/wiki/Giraffe causing it to show them its true face.] ''Even they'' are ''terrified''.
* A benevolent (probably) version of this trope is the Koala in ''[[Star Trek: Lower Decks]]''. This god-like entity that looks like a negative-image of koala (sometimes normal-sized, sometimes giant-sized) has been [[Near-Death Experience| seen by dead or dying mortals.]] It resides in what humans describe as "a black mountain" and can talk, but does so in reverse.
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