Our Gryphons Are Different: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

[[Our Monsters Are Different]], dealing with [[Mix-and-Match Critters|bird/mammal hybrids]].

 

May overlap with [[Giant Flyer]] should the gryphon have wings. The wingless opinicus never flies, being seemingly not as magical as [[Our Dragons Are Different|eastern dragons]]. In contrast to their formerly benign religious symbolism, an example being the Gryphon in Dante's [[Divine Comedy]], which represents the mingling of the human and divine natures in [[Jesus|Christ]], modern gryphons often appear as dark if not demonic, though [[Dark Is Not Evil|they might still be good]]; or [[Light Is Not Good|they may be light-themed but evil]]. They are sometimes used as [[Horse of a Different Color|flying steeds]]. If gryphons are used as part of the [[Furry Fandom]], one may then expect a [[Winged Humanoid]] to be present.

 

See also [[Call a Pegasus a Hippogriff]] and [[Hold Your Hippogriffs]].

 

{{examples}}

* ''[[Digimon]]'' has Gryphomon, a truly awesome-looking Mega-level Phantom Beast Digimon who has sadly only made brief appearances thus far. He's the version that has a snake for its tail. However, it's the ''front end'' of the snake, meaning his tail should be just as capable of killing you (assuming it's poisonous) as his front end. There's also a hippogryph Digimon. [[All There in the Manual]] says he's Gryphomon's previous form, but {{spoiler|in the actual show, he was a disguise for a bad guy}}.

 

* A gryphon can be seen among the various mythical creatures (the others being a dragon and a unicorn) that were mocking the animals as they were boarding [[The Bible|Noah's Ark]] in [[Fantasia|''Fantasia 2000'']], and presumably drowned in the flood.

* Like the book series, the compressed adaptation of [[The Spiderwick Chronicles]] included a griffin but only halfway through the movie, whose only purpose was to fly the heroes to the [[Land of Faerie|Secret Glade]].

 

== [[Literature]] ==

* Edward Ormondroyd's ''David and the Phoenix'' features three different species, each with a [[Phantasy Spelling|slightly different spelling]]. The reader encounters the lazy, [[The Ditz|thick-headed]] '''gryffens''' and vicious, territorial '''gryffons'''; the amiable, red-feathered '''gryffins''' remain off-screen.

* Griffons are used as artificial soldiers by the [[Genius Loci|Gaian entity]] in [[Robert Reed]]'s short story, ''Aeon's Child''. The griffons have claws adapted to be compatible with high-powered laser rifles, and have beaks made of hyperfiber; a nearly indestructible compound. They are sentient ([[Hive Mind|sort of]])

 

== [[Live Action Television]] ==

* In the miniseries ''[[Merlin (TV miniseries)|Merlin]]'', Merlin and Arthur are attacked by creatures that [[Call a Pegasus a Hippogriff|Merlin calls "griffins"]]. They look a little like monkeys with the patagia of a flying squirrel and the heads of hawks, and they ''act'' an awful, awful lot like the "raptors" in ''[[Jurassic Park]]''.

* Goldar from ''[[Mighty Morphin Power Rangers]]'' is something of an odd example, as his leonine features include a muzzle. This, along with his fur colour and the shape of his forward fangs have lead some to assume he's a gorilla or wolf-man, but he is in fact an anthropomorphic griffin. This is backed up by his ''[[Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger|Zyuranger]]'' self being named Grifforzer.

 

== Other Mythology ==

* It has been suggested that the myths of the gryphons are connected to the sphinx and the mesopotanian shedu and lammassu (which also influenced the origins of [[Our Angels Are Different|cherubs]], other lion bodied creatures generally depicted with wings.

 

== [[Tabletop Games]] ==

* The current [[The Emperor|Emperor]] of [[The Empire]] (well obviously) in ''[[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]]'' can [[Authority Equals Asskicking|ride a gryphon into battle]]. (or a [[Cool Horse|regular horse]], or a [[Our Dragons Are Different|dragon]], depending on what you're willing to put together)

** Normal Empire and High Elf Lord-class Generals have the option to have their generals ride on Griffons. Bretonnians may ride Hippogriffs. Griffons in ''Warhammer'' are a bot more varied than the traditional depiction - they've been portrayed with markings like leaopards and tigers as well as lions.

* ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]'' has griffins as a creature type.

** The plane of Innistrad has gryffs, which are like hippogriffs, but instead of a bird of prey, their head and wings are those of herons, and they appear slimmer and sleeker than most hippogriffs.

 

== [[Video Games]] ==

* Griffons appear in ''[[Riviera: The Promised Land]]'' as demons, and in ''[[Yggdra Union]]'' and ''[[Blaze Union]]'' as mounts alongside horses and dragons. The latter two games have griffon-riding units as female-only, seeing as all the characters riding anything else happen to be male. In ''[[Yggdra Unison]]'', the superior mobility of griffon riders during the daytime makes the only two of them in the game, Kylier and Emilia, [[Lightning Bruiser]]-style [[Game Breaker]]s for as long as the sun is up and [[Mighty Glacier]]s at night; the other two Ancardia games give the class the [[Weaksauce Weakness]] of lacking terrain bonuses, making them far easier to pummel.

* ''[[American McGee's Alice]]'' has the Gryphon, who is initially held captive by the Mad Hatter. Alice frees him, and he helps lead her force against the Red Queen's army. {{spoiler|He is killed in an aerial duel with the Jabberwock, and his corpse is pretty much one of the only things that Alice can take cover behind in the ensuing boss fight.}}

 

== [[Web Comics]] ==

** Their resemblance to a certain type of candy is important early on. Stanley requests that the perfect warlord be summoned "who eats Marbits and Gwiffons for breakfast". Cue Parson, who literally eats Peeps and '''Mar'''shmallow '''Bits''' for breakfast.

** Also apparently actually quite fearsome, which is understandable when you realize that their entire front opens into [[Just Eat Him|a gigantic gummy maw]]. They eat horn, hooves, and marrow, and get soggy in the rain.

* ''[[Dragon Mango]]'' has the [http://www.dragon-mango.com/comic/chapter02/dm02-28.htm cutest] [http://www.dragon-mango.com/comic/chapter02/dm02-29.htm hippogryff].

* In ''[[Dan and Mab's Furry Adventures]]'', there are [http://missmab.com/Demo/HG09.php three types of gryphons].

* In ''[[Rusty and Co.|Rusty and Co]]'', [http://rustyandco.com/comic/8/ one of the tower's beastly guardians].

 

== [[Web Original]] ==

* The Eyrie from [[Neopets]], originally a dragon like creature, became an opinicus sort of gryphon, albeit with ears.

** Add the rare Maraquan Paintbrush item, and you've got yourself a Marigryph.

* [http://windsonde.deviantart.com/ Windsonde] is a community-based Role-Playing Game at [[Deviant ART]], and nearly all of the player characters are gryphons. The rules for character design are pretty strict... except for Tookie Island, where any bird/mammal combination goes. There, the gryphons [http://bgarts.deviantart.com/art/ROCOCOCOCOCOCOCOCOCOCOCOCOCOCO-180219275 are] ''[http://sparrowstampede.deviantart.com/art/Windsonde-Jiacomo-Ref-244688521 really]'' [http://razzlewolf.deviantart.com/art/Yappa-184748182 different].

* According to [[Deviant ART]] any bird/fuzzy mammal hybrid qualifies as a gryphon. Take a look at the [http://mcgibs.deviantart.com/art/Humming-Gryphon-63613452 tiny hummingbird-mouse], [http://zirofax.deviantart.com/art/Gryphon-2893002 secretary bird-maned wolf], [http://charreed.deviantart.com/art/Cockatiel-Gryphon-200358873 cockatiel-sugar glider], [http://alectorfencer.deviantart.com/art/Gryphon-Cassidix-40151694 hornbill-puma Cassidix], [http://katolin.deviantart.com/art/Bluejay-Gryphon-31576686 bluejay-squirrels], and [http://ahkahna.deviantart.com/art/Lappet-Faced-Hyena-Gryphon-115698993 vulture-hyena].

** You can also have your pet [http://bailiwick.deviantart.com/art/House-Gryphon-Wren-72967035 house griffin].

 

== [[Western Animation]] ==

* According to Fu-Dog in ''[[American Dragon: Jake Long]]'', gryphons lay an egg only once every thousand years. Once the baby hatches, [[Bizarre Alien Biology|the mother actually SWALLOWS the baby, which lives in its digestive tract for a week or two before it's healthy enough for the mother to throw back up and live on its own]]. Of course, this all grosses out Jake.

* ''[[He-Man and the Masters of the Universe]]'': In this 2002 remake, Beast Man's control over wild creatures allows him to use whale-sized, twin tailed gryphons as his mounts.

* An episode of [[Garfield and Friends]] had Orson and his friends [[Separate Scene Storytelling]] themselves in their own version of Camelot called "Hamelot" where they must bypass a hungry talk show host griffin who was obviously a spoof on [[Merv Griffin]].

* A few episodes of ''[[Aladdin (Disney film)|Aladdin]]: [[The Animated Series]]'' involved griffins. One episode had Aladdin and his friends try to return an egg stolen by Abis Mal to a rampaging mother griffin, another had the group encounter one of a bunch of mechanical monsters piloted by a grumpy insect, among them a mechanical griffin, while another had a clumsy thief transform himself into a griffin from the Stone of Transformation given to him by Mozenrath. This was an appalling move on his part since the claw of a griffin was needed to transform Jasmin's father back to normal after magic powder turned him into a golden statue. Although this is somewhat mitigated by the fact that the transformed griffin had [[Frickin' Laser Beams]].

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Index of Fictional Creatures]]

[[Category:Mythical Motifs]]