Top 10 Mythical Creatures List - #9 - The Ogre

Next on our Top 10 Mythical Creatures list, we have the Ogre.

Standing at almost 8'-9' feet tall, and often being depicted as a grotesque and devolved human being, the Ogre falls in a growing category of creatures who are often represented as lonesome hideous creatures. In most instances, an Ogre is typically displayed as something of a deformed human, yet much taller and powerful, making it capable of preying on human beings. It has no notable features other than its strong similarities to man, and visually deformed appearance. In some cases they have been depicted with horns, tusks, and large dentures, but the more indistinguishable feature of an Ogre, is it's deformity of aesthetic appearance and behavior, with its contradicting evolution in physical strength and cannibalistic hunting abilities.

The Ogre has been in the list of mythical creatures for not as long as some may think, first appearing in texts around the late 12th century, appearing for the very same reason we use the term today, to describe a creature (in many cases, a man or even a women) of hideous content. In most cases, it is easy to believe that an Ogre may just be anything that is aesthetically unpleasant to bear witness on, and not necessarily one creature in specific.

Behind any creature on any list of mythical creatures, there is some application in modern day media that has made it popular, and the Ogre is definitely no exception, as it has been featured on a variety of different sources of media. The most notable use of the Ogre by far was in the animated film Shrek, as if it weren't for this hit film, the Ogre most certainly would stand no chance on any Mythical Creatures List. The film, though cutesy and filled with tons of subtle adult references any toddler would never catch on to, does display most of the common attributes with the Ogre, the most prominent being that humans typically are disgusted and afraid of an Ogre. The Ogre has also enjoyed its share of popularity on our mythical creatures list because almost every fantasy role-playing game depicts the Ogre in same way or shape, sometimes even as playable avatars.

Though the Ogre holds a strong position on Mythical Creatures List across the world today, it is likely that without production of Shrek, the Ogre could not have possibly held any position on any list of mythical creatures. Many would agree that the depiction in Shrek is not what one would imagine of an original Ogre, and even though the Ogre certainly does have its niche within the most popular mythical creatures list today, in the future the original Ogre image may not stand a chance against the popularity of something such as a dragon or a werewolf, unless Shrek gets his own TV series.