Relatives of the manticore

The manticore comes in many variants and there are many monsters visually similar to the manticore. Sometimes it may be difficult to tell the difference, but I will certainly try.

Similar creatures

The manticore is loosely similar to several other monsters including the chimera, leucrota, lamia, and sphinx. The manticore generally shares no common origin with such creatures, but may be easily confused by the unwary. What follows are some guidelines to distinguish the two.

• Chimera: there are many different chimeras, but the one relevant here is the Lycian chimera, being a hybrid of goat, lion and dragon. Some chimeras may include manticores or parts of manticores as components, as they may any other creatures. (See my posts on the chimera for details.)
• Lamia: Lamia are shapechangers that assume the forms of beautiful women to lure victims to eat, before assuming their true monstrous forms. Although some lamia may resemble lions with human faces or whole torsos, they are distinguished by their shapechanging. (See my posts on the lamia for details.)
• Leucrota: Also called the crocotta or hyena. It has plates of bone (or a retractable beak inside a sheath) instead of teeth and mimics human speech. This lends itself to comparison with the manticore's triple rows of shark's teeth and trumpet-like voice, but the two look nothing alike. (See my post on the leucrota and hyena for details.)
• Ball-tailed cats: These panthers of the Pacific Northwest have long tails ending in clubs, spikes or other features used to subdue prey, fight or defend themselves. These are often confused with manticores, but they lack humanoid faces and are unable to speak. I would also refer to them as "false manticores." (This refers to those depictions of manticores in artwork with leonine instead of human faces. The key characteristic of the manticore is its human face!)
• Sphinx: Some sphinxes have human faces on lion bodies, inviting comparison to the manticore. The two have completely different ecologies: sphinxes are immortal guardians of scared places, while manticores are beasts of the wastes. Stories circulate (see 13th Age Bestiary) that the two are mortal enemies and that manticores are fallen shedu. (See my post on sphinxes for details.)

Examples

As I said in prior posts, manticores have wildly variable appearances in art and I would like to show this off in gaming. Since every such randomly generated manticore is essentially unique, I present a few named individuals based on medieval bestiaries and game supplements. Alternately, these could be named for recurring variants and subspecies. (Some of these have appeared before in my posts on art history.)

Asheeba has the body of a panther and the face of a woman. She enjoys taunting her prey while hunting them. (Appears in Mazes & Minotaurs.)

Baricos has the face of a man, the body of a lion and the stinger of a scorpion. (The standard mythological manticore.)

Emipusa has the forequarters of a lion, the hindquarters of a goat, the tail of a wolf or horse, the face and breasts of a comely woman, a prodigious manhood, and flanks covered in scales. Mesmerizes men with its cleavage and then pounces. (The "lamia" as depicted by Topsell and Tudor heraldry.)

Lympago has the face of a man, the body of a lion, and the paws of a monkey. (Appears in heraldry.)

Manicora is a womanticore with a scaled body and a snake for a tail. (Appears in Monster Encyclopaedia II.)

Mantidrake is a manticore dragon hybrid. (See my posts on dragon-kin hybrids.)

Mantimera is perhaps a "chimerical manticore," or perhaps a terrifying monster with two heads, a mane of serpents and a gaping maw.

Phix has the body of a lion, the face and breasts of a woman, the wings of an eagle, and the tail of a serpent. (The Greek or Theban sphinx from the myth of Oedipus. The gynosphinx from 3e D&D.)

Satyral has the horned head of an elderly satyr, the body of a tiger, the tusks of a boar, and the paws of a dragon. (Appears in heraldry.)

Schimäre has the forequarters of a lion, the hindquarters of a goat, the face and breasts of a woman, and a dragon-headed tail. (Appears in heraldry.)

Mantimera, Shining South ©Wizards of the Coast