Amanda Hocking

Here’s a guest post from Daniel Arenson, author of the Song of Dragons series. The first two books – Blood of Requiem and Tears of Requiem – are available now for ereaders or in paperback. For more info, please check out his website – www.danielarenson.com

Song of Dragons is a fantasy series about one of the toughest creatures around. But besides dragons, what are the other toughest creatures out there?

10. Fireys (Labyrinth)

The Fireys are creatures from the fantasy film Labyrinth. Lanky beasts with flaming red pelts, they enjoy removing their limbs and heads and tossing them around. The Fireys enjoy pulling off humans’ heads too, not understanding that our heads don’t detach and reattach like theirs.

9. R.O.U.S.s (The Princess Bride)

Rodents Of Unusual Size from the 80s film The Princess Bride. They’re nasty creatures who live in fire swamps. One savaged and nearly killed Westly while Princess Buttercup wrung her hands.

8. Skeksis (The Dark Crystal)

Mmmmm MMMMmmmm. The Skeksis are villanious creatures who killed most of the Gelflings. They’re not quite birds. They’re not quite reptiles. They’re definitely some of the ugliest Muppets around.

7. Dementors (Harry Potter)

They dress in black. They suck all joy and hope from everyone around them. If you misbehave, they’ll drag you off to prison. No, they’re not IRS agents — they’re Dementors. These are possibly the foulest creatures in the world of Harry Potter. They’d rank higher on the list, were it not for their Achilles’ heel; a simple Patronus Charm sends them fleeing.

6. Formics AKA The Buggers (Ender’s Game)

Huge, alien insects are hardly original in science fiction. They exist everywhere, from Heinlein’s Starship Troppers to Futurama. But they’re rarely as effective as in Ender’s Game. They almost destroyed the Earth, and they inspired a string of sequels.

5. Beholders (Dungeons and Dragons)

A Beholder resembles a floating orb of flesh with a large mouth, a single central eye, and lots of smaller eyestalks on top. Most D&D creatures — goblins, dragons, elves, orcs, and the like — are based on folklore or literature. The Beholder is an original D&D invention, and one of the meanest creatures in the game.

4. The Others AKA White walkers (A Song of Ice and Fire)

They’re the reason for the Wall. These undead creatures from the north live in snow and ice. If they kill you, you become one of them. After five books in A Song of Ice and Fire, we still haven’t seen too much of them… but when they do appear, they’re creepy.

3. Aliens (Alien series)

Game over, man. Arguably the toughest, ugliest, creepiest creatures in science fiction.

2. Ringwraiths (Lord of the Rings)

Even Led Zeppelin sang about them. The Ringwraiths are among the most dangerous creatures in Middle Earth, and in all of fantasy literature.

1. The Gorgs (Fraggle Rock)

These huge, shaggy creatures are the rulers of the universe. They are the terror of Fraggles and defendors of raddishes. We bet they can defeat any other creature on this list. The Gorgs top the list for toughest creature.

Excellent list, Daniel – with one notable exception. Where’s the thing with the hands?