Editing Monster (section)

==Monsters in fiction==

===Prose fiction===
The history of monsters in fiction is long. For instance, [[Grendel]] in the epic poem ''[[Beowulf]]'' is an archetypal monster: deformed, brutal, and with enormous strength, he raids a human settlement nightly to slay and feed on his victims. The modern literary monster has its roots in examples such as the monster in [[Mary Shelley]]'s ''[[Frankenstein]]'' and the vampire in [[Bram Stoker]]'s ''[[Dracula]]''.

Monsters are a staple of [[fantasy fiction]], [[horror fiction]], and [[science fiction]] (where the monsters are often [[Extraterrestrial life|extraterrestrial]] in [[nature]]). There also exists [[monster erotica]], a subgenre of [[erotic fiction]] that involves monsters.

===Film===
{{main|Monster movie}}

====Pre–World War II monster films====
[[File:Frankenstein's monster (Boris Karloff).jpg|thumb|left|150px|Hollywood's interpretation of Frankenstein's monster, played by [[Boris Karloff]]]]
During the age of [[silent film]]s, monsters tended to be human-sized, e.g. [[Frankenstein's monster]], the [[Golem]], [[Werewolf|werewolves]] and [[vampire]]s. The film ''[[Die Nibelungen|Siegfried]]'' featured a [[dragon]] that consisted of [[Stop motion|stop-motion animated]] models, as in [[RKO]]'s ''King Kong'', the first giant [[Monster movie|monster film]] of the sound era.

[[Universal Pictures|Universal Studios]] specialized in monsters, with [[Bela Lugosi]]'s reprisal of his stage role, [[Dracula]], and [[Boris Karloff]] playing [[Frankenstein's monster]]. The studio also made several lesser films, such as ''Man-Made Monster'', starring [[Lon Chaney Jr.]] as a carnival side-show worker who is turned into an electrically charged killer, able to dispatch victims merely by touching them, causing death by electrocution.

There was also a variant of Dr. Frankenstein, the mad surgeon Dr. Gogol (played by [[Peter Lorre]]), who transplanted hands that were reanimated with malevolent temperaments, in the film ''[[Mad Love (1935 film)|Mad Love]]''.

[[Werewolf|Werewolves]] were introduced in films during this period. [[mummy|Mummies]] were cinematically depicted as fearsome monsters as well. As for giant creatures, the cliffhanger of the first episode of the 1936 ''[[Flash Gordon (serial)|Flash Gordon]]'' [[Serial (film)|serial]] did not use a costumed actor, instead using real-life [[lizard]]s to depict a pair of battling dragons via use of camera perspective. However, the cliffhanger of the ninth episode of the same serial had a man in a rubber suit play the Fire Dragon, which picks up a doll representing Flash in its claws. The cinematic monster cycle eventually wore thin, having a comedic turn in ''[[Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein]]'' (1948).

====Post–World War II monster films====
[[File:Gojira 1954 poster 3.jpg|thumb|upright|Original film poster for ''[[Godzilla (1954 film)|Godzilla]]'' (1954)]]
In the [[Aftermath of World War II|post–World War II]] era, however, giant monsters returned to the screen with a vigor that has been causally linked to the development of [[nuclear weapon]]s. One early example occurred in the American film ''[[The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms]]'', which was about a [[dinosaur]] that attacked a lighthouse. Subsequently, there were [[Cinema of Japan|Japanese]] film depictions, ([[Godzilla]], [[Gamera]]), British depictions (''[[Gorgo (film)|Gorgo]]''), and even [[Cinema of Denmark|Danish]] depictions (''[[Reptilicus]]''), of giant monsters attacking cities. A recent depiction of a giant monster is depicted in [[J. J. Abrams]]'s ''[[Cloverfield]]'', which was released in theaters 18 January 2008. The intriguing proximity of other [[planet]]s brought the notion of extraterrestrial monsters to the big screen, some of which were huge in size (such as [[King Ghidorah]] and [[Gigan]]), while others were of a more human scale. During this period, the [[fish]]-human monster [[Gill-man]] was developed in the film series ''[[Creature from the Black Lagoon]]''.

[[File:Obake Karuta 4-12.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Card from the Japanese game ''[[obake karuta]]'', {{circa|early 19th century}}{{efn|Each card features a monster from [[Japanese mythology]] and a character from the [[hiragana]] syllabary.}}]]
Britain's [[Hammer Film Productions]] brought [[Color motion picture film|color]] to the monster movies in the late 1950s. Around this time, the earlier Universal films were usually shown on American television by independent stations (rather than network stations) by using announcers with strange personas, who gained legions of young fans. Although they have since changed considerably, movie monsters did not entirely disappear from the big screen as they did in the late 1940s.

Occasionally, monsters are depicted as friendly or misunderstood creatures. King Kong and Frankenstein's monster are two examples of misunderstood creatures. Frankenstein's monster is frequently depicted in this manner, in series and films such as ''[[Monster Squad]]'' and ''[[Van Helsing (film)|Van Helsing]]''. [[The Hulk]] is an example of the "Monster as Hero" archetype. The theme of the "Friendly Monster" is pervasive in pop-culture. [[Chewbacca]], [[Elmo]], and [[Shrek (character)|Shrek]] are notable examples of friendly "monsters". In the ''[[Monsters, Inc. (franchise)|Monsters, Inc.]]'' franchise by [[Pixar]], the monster characters scare (and later entertain) children in order to create [[energy]] for running machinery in their home world, while the furry monsters of ''[[The Muppets]]'' and ''[[Sesame Street]]'' live in harmony with animals and humans alike. Japanese culture also commonly features monsters which are benevolent or likable, with the most famous examples being the ''[[Pokémon]]'' franchise and the pioneering anime ''[[My Neighbor Totoro]]''. The book series/webisodes/toy line of [[Monster High]] is another example.
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===Games===
Monsters are commonly encountered in fantasy or role-playing games, as well as video games, as enemies for players to fight against. They may include [[Extraterrestrial life|aliens]], [[legendary creature]]s, extra-dimensional entities or [[mutant|mutated]] versions of regular animals.

Especially in role-playing games, "monster" is a catch-all term for hostile characters that are fought by the player. [[Sentience|Sentient]] [[race (fantasy)|fictional races]] are usually not referred to as monsters. At other times, the term can carry a neutral connotation, such as in the ''[[Pokémon]]'' franchise, where it is used to refer to cute fictional creatures that resemble real-world animals. Characters in games may refer to all of such creatures as "monsters". Another role playing game that has many different fantasy creatures (monsters and dragons alike), is ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]''.

In some other games, such as ''[[Undertale]]'' and ''[[Deltarune]]'', "Monsters" (which are usually NPCs) refer to strange beings that are either [[undead]], [[robot]]s, [[humanoid]]s or mythical creatures that share similarities with human beings.