19. Koh the Face Stealer - Avatar: The Last Airbender

Koh is an ancient and knowledgeable spirit who enjoys goading victims into emoting, so he can add to his collection of faces.

He’s got the body of a centipede and wears the faces he steals like masks. The child of the Mother of Faces, another powerful spirit. Provided a person shows even a little emotion in his presence, he can steal their face. This doesn’t kill them, just leaves them… well. Faceless.

Despite this, he doesn’t really seem completely evil. When Aang visits him, he reveals the information the Avatar was seeking, despite his failure to get him to emote. Even so, Koh is definitely not a good spirit.

I love anything to do with Avatar spirit lore, and Koh is no exception. I mean, he stole the face of an Avatar’s wife to punish him for arrogance. He seems to enjoy chatting up humans (as noted by Father Glowworm,) but that’s probably just to steal their faces.
Koh the Face Stealer is most known for:

• Stealing faces, obviously. Any emotion shown gives Koh the opportunity to steal a person’s face.
• His wealth of knowledge. Being one of the older spirits, and also one of the more chatty ones, Koh has quite a bit of information to share. Provided you can keep a straight face.
• Being the son of the Mother of Faces. The latter has even been known to give victims of Koh new faces, such as Rafa. A young man from the Northern Water Tribe whose face was stolen by Koh.

18. Davy Jones - Pirates of the Caribbean

Once the ruler of the seven seas, Davy Jones was the captain of the Flying Dutchman- a ship of the dead, ferrying souls of those who perished at sea to the afterlife. However, a broken heart caused him to turn into a cruel and fierce monster.

The story of Davy Jones is entwined with that of Calypso, Goddess of the Seas. He fell in love, and when she broke their promise to meet after ten years, he carved out his heart and locked it away in a buried chest. After he abandoned his duties as ferryman of souls, came his transformation, becoming more sea beast than man.

Davy Jones commanded the Flying Dutchman still, but goaded souls to join his crew to avoid final judgment and death. He was a masterful swordsman, matched by few others, with an aggressive fighting style. He possessed several other supernatural abilities, such as teleportation between the worlds of life and death and control over the Kraken.

Heartbreak can bring out the worst in people. Sometimes tentacles, and a claw even. Still, what did he expect, falling in love with the Goddess of the Sea? And binding her into human skin? Davy, buddy, just accept it and move on.
Davy Jones is most known for:

• Being the captain of the infamous Flying Dutchman, ghost ship of legend.
• Ferrying the souls of those dead at sea to the afterlife. A position he would give up, which led to his curse.
• Possessing a few supernatural abilities, such as going between the worlds of the living and dead, and being able to walk through solid objects. He was also a masterful swordsman.
• His skills on the pipe organ, even using his tentacles as extra limbs to play complex pieces.

17. Witches - Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters

Witches, practitioners of dark arts (usually), and the primary target of Hansel and Gretel. Their ultimate goal is to sacrifice children during a Blood Moon to gain immunity to fire, their biggest weakness.

Whether it’s a white witch or a common witch, all practice witchcraft. The biggest difference, though, is black magic (used for evil) corrupts a witches physical appearance. Only a Grand Witch- the most powerful among their kind- can disguise themselves as regular humans.

White Witches (those who use magic for benevolent purposes) don’t mutate. Inner beauty means outer beauty, someone should tell the black magic witches. Witches cast various spells, far too many to list. They use wands, grimoires, talismans, and other occult tools to aid in their spellcasting.

Witches are probably one of my favorite occult creatures. Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters does a good job at showing how evil they can be, but also how good. A classic portrayal.
Witches are most known for:

• Witchcraft, obviously. They use wands, grimoires, candles, and talismans to augment their spells. They can also use brooms for flying (classic) and herbs for potion making.
• Deforming with use of black magic. It corrupts a witches’ appearance, causing them to look monstrous. Such as the horned witch, or the redhead witch.
• Diversity. Yes, many witches use black magic (hence why they’re called common witches,) but there are good witches who use white magic for benevolent purposes such as healing and protection.

16. Grendel - Beowulf

A demon of legends, in the 2007 film “Beowulf,” Grendel is the illegitimate child of King Hrothgar and a water demon. Not quite as evil as the original, this Grendel is strong, timid, and sensitive. He wants to please his mother, more than anything.

In the original poem, Grendel is a bloodthirsty and evil monster who kills for pleasure. In this movie, he is less of an evil, bloodthirsty killer and more of a deformed child who is highly sensitive to noise. That’s what caused his attack. The constant partying and singing from the mead hall traveled to his cave, and eventually, he went to confront them. Though, Grendel is still half demon, and definitely lacks social graces.

Breaking down the door only caused people to scream, which in turn caused Grendel intense pain due to his exposed eardrum, and you can guess what happens next. He is strong, and surprisingly agile for his size. He can easily rip men in half with his bare hands, and commands some control over fire as well.

It’s easy to feel bad for him, but really, he is still a demon and he did attack without warning or remorse. While he spared his father, he killed many others, which incited retribution. Really though, at the end of the day all he wanted was some peace and quiet, and is that so wrong?
Grendel is most known for:

• Being the illegitimate son of King Hrothgar and the water demon.
• His appearance, which is highly deformed. He has no skin, long black claw-like nails, and a crooked jaw that causes him to drool constantly. Most notably is his external, enlarged eardrum, which causes…
• Hypersensitivity to sound. The main reason for his aggression (besides the fact that he’s half demon and it’s just in his blood) is the pain the noise caused him.

15. Deathclaws - Fallout

One of the most iconic monsters in the Fallout games, Deathclaws are the result of an experiment gone wrong. They’re highly territorial, and even more so lethal.

They’ve been a staple in Fallout for quite some time. Deathclaws were originally an experiment conducted by the US Military (the in-game one, not the real one. I hope.) to replace humans in close-combat search-and-destroy missions. They have since broken out and begun to reproduce naturally in the wild.

A pack animal (monster?), Deathclaws have keen senses, and are excellent hunters. Thankfully, they don’t often venture far out to hunt humans, and the danger comes when you venture too close to their territory. Their hide is extremely tough, being nearly impossible to cleave through with a melee weapon. Firearms and energy weapons are better, but still require some oomph to them to pierce the skin. Their claws are lethal (shocking), being able to cut an unarmored human clean in half with far too much ease.

Deathclaws are an apex predator, and I remember the first time I played a Fallout game. One of these things mowed me down, and I died. I mean, I was probably undergeared, but this thing really just chewed through me like I was gum in a classroom.
Deathclaws are most known for:

• Being apex predators, with keen smell, hearing, and sight.
• Intelligence, with some being artificially modified to obey commands. Some even reached a level of intelligence where they could mimic human speech, like a parrot.
• Being highly territorial, fiercely attacking anyone who ventures too close. Unless both pack leaders (or the entire pack) are slain, another will take its place and they will continue.