Whether a monster looks stupid or not depends largely on execution

A Paizo forum member once posted (while discussing adapting monsters from mythology), "In my opinion if something is stupid, like some depiction of the Tatzlwyrm as a snake with a cat's head, then it needs to be changed."

I cannot believe that anyone who ever cracked open a monster manual would say that with a straight face.


The bestiaries are chock full of stupid looking monsters, as articles on Head Injury Theater, Cracked.com, Ranker.com, Escapist Magazine, Geek.com et al may attest. The most beloved monsters look just as stupid as the typical Syfy channel movie monster, but we give them a pass due to a combination of nostalgia and good art.

For example, the peryton looks fundamentally goofy and no matter how hard artists strive to make it look terrifying it only ends up looking even more ridiculous. The tatzelwurm looks amazing and I have artwork to prove it: http://fav.me/d8r3p2d http://fav.me/d488nzl http://fav.me/d53aofh http://fav.me/d4rhu85

Whenever the tatzelwurm appears in my campaigns, it is going to be the cat-headed snake and not Paizo's misspelled "tatzlwyrm." That ugly pile of crap can go die in a fire and the artist who drew it should be ashamed. (That was sarcasm. I'm sure the artist had no idea what they were drawing when Paizo commissioned them to draw yet another generic dragon.)

ADDENDUM 10/26/2017
Here are the linked images hosted locally in cast they ever get taken down:

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