# Looking for a name of a gigantic firebased mythological beast **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 2, 2008, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-name-of-a-gigantic-firebased-mythological-beast/470760 "2008-11-02T20:51:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2008, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-name-of-a-gigantic-firebased-mythological-beast/470760/1 "2008-11-02T20:51:28Z")
The OP says it all. It’s for a throw-away line in a story I’m working on. Prepfably it would be a roughly humanoid cbeast, but “fiery” and “giant” are more It should definitely be a malevolent entity; I cannot use the words dragon, phoenix, or surtur. If you name a creature from a workof fiction rather than myth, it has to be from a story published pre-1987, as that is when the story is set, and I’m relating thoughts of a specific character. Thoughts? ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2008, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-name-of-a-gigantic-firebased-mythological-beast/470760/2 "2008-11-02T20:57:18Z")
Balrog? ---
**Author:** ![Rapier42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/90db22/32.png) [@Rapier42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rapier42)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2008, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-name-of-a-gigantic-firebased-mythological-beast/470760/3 "2008-11-02T20:59:34Z")
Salamander. ---
**Author:** ![Sr\_Siete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@Sr\_Siete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sr_Siete)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2008, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-name-of-a-gigantic-firebased-mythological-beast/470760/4 "2008-11-02T21:00:14Z")
The goddess [Pele](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pele_(deity))? ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2008, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-name-of-a-gigantic-firebased-mythological-beast/470760/5 "2008-11-02T21:01:25Z")
Jötunn or Logi. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2008, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-name-of-a-gigantic-firebased-mythological-beast/470760/6 "2008-11-02T21:02:54Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > Balrog? I thought of Balrog right after I hit submit. It would be perfect were it not so associated with Professor Tolkien. I’m going to look around and see if I can find legendary antecedents the professor might have drawn on; if anybody knows some (other than Surtur), I’d be grateful to hear about them. [QUOTE=Rapier42] Salamander. [/QUOTE] Can’t use that one for in-story reasons. Besides, they aren’t giants. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2008, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-name-of-a-gigantic-firebased-mythological-beast/470760/7 "2008-11-02T21:10:45Z")
Fire Elemental Pit Fiend (Wall of Fire at will\*) Chimera (+ a dragon head) \*why yes, I am a roleplayer 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2008, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-name-of-a-gigantic-firebased-mythological-beast/470760/8 "2008-11-02T21:10:57Z")
Djinn? They are giant, firey spirits, often very malevolent. > [@](#): > > The Djinn are said to be creatures with free will, made from ‘smokeless fire’ by Allah in the same way humans were made of earth. According to the Qur’an, Djinn have free will, and Iblees used this freedom in front of Allah by refusing to bow to Adam when Allah told Iblees to do so. By refusing to obey Allah order he was thrown out of the Paradise and called “Shaitan”. Djinn are frequently mentioned in the Qur’an, Sura 72 of the Qur’an (named Al-Jinn) is entirely about them. Another Sura (Al-Naas) mentions the Djinn in the last verse. It is also mentioned in the Qur’an that Muhammad was sent as a prophet to both “humanity and the Djinn”. > > In the world there are three main creations, Angels, Humans and Jinns (other than various animals): > > Angels: Angels are made from light (Noor). In Islam they are slaves of God who have no free will. They do not commit any sin nor disobey God and they always worship him. > > Humans: Humans are created from earth and are given free will to do good or bad in their lives. Because of their free will, they will be held accountable for their choices in this life on the Day of Judgement. Those who follow and obey God (Allah), will be rewarded with paradise/heaven. > > Jinns: Similar to humanity, jinns have free will allowing them to follow any religion they choose to, such as Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, etc. The only difference is that they are made of smokeless fire and therefore are not visible to humans. There are more jinns than humans, in terms of population. Jinns have the power to fly and fit in to any space so they live in remote areas, mountains, seas, trees, and in the air, in their own communities. Similar to the humans, Jinns will also be judged on The Day of Judgement and will be sent to Jannat (heaven) or Nar (hell) according to the life they lead. > **[Jinn](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genie)** > > Jinn (Arabic: جِنّ‎), also romanized as djinn or anglicized as genies, are supernatural beings in ancient Arabian religion and Islam. Like humans, they are accountable for their deeds and can be either believers (Mu'minun) or unbelievers (kuffar), depending on whether they accept God's guidance. > Since jinn are neither innately evil nor innately good, Islam acknowledged spirits from other religions and could adapt them during its expansion. Likewise, jinn are not a strictly Islamic concept; the... ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2008, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-name-of-a-gigantic-firebased-mythological-beast/470760/9 "2008-11-02T21:13:33Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > Djinn? They are giant, firey spirits, often very malevolent. I’ve already used jotun and jinn in the sentence in question. I’m basically trying to ditch the word “dragon.” If anyone has a suggestion on a mythological giant stone beast, I could use that instead. (But not troll; I’m thinking BIG. Kaiju big. Big enough so that it could reasonably be in the same attack group as a roc.) ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2008, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-name-of-a-gigantic-firebased-mythological-beast/470760/10 "2008-11-02T21:22:53Z")
Bob? “Bob, the giant malevolent fiery humanoid beast who ate McKeesport, PA” has a nice ring to it. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2008, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-name-of-a-gigantic-firebased-mythological-beast/470760/11 "2008-11-02T21:23:45Z")
Stone Golem Earth Elemental ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2008, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-name-of-a-gigantic-firebased-mythological-beast/470760/12 "2008-11-02T21:27:15Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Bob? > > “Bob, the giant malevolent fiery humanoid beast who ate McKeesport, PA” has a nice ring to it. You know that blather I’m always skiting about superman and paying and all that crap? Pretend I wrote it here. ---
**Author:** ![Panurge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/fbc32d/32.png) [@Panurge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Panurge)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2008, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-name-of-a-gigantic-firebased-mythological-beast/470760/13 "2008-11-02T21:29:48Z")
Agni? ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2008, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-name-of-a-gigantic-firebased-mythological-beast/470760/14 "2008-11-02T21:34:46Z")
Oh, all right. Call it a Meassë. That’s a JRRT name for a very bloodthirsty Vala, who got edited out of the Silmarillion. ---
**Author:** ![ToeJam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dfb087/32.png) [@ToeJam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ToeJam)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2008, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-name-of-a-gigantic-firebased-mythological-beast/470760/15 "2008-11-02T21:37:54Z")
Ifrit. For some reason i recall that’s a fire based thing. Then again, i got it from Final Fantasy. But I believe it’s older than that. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2008, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-name-of-a-gigantic-firebased-mythological-beast/470760/16 "2008-11-02T21:38:46Z")
> [@RoOsh](#): > > Ifirit Too close to jinn. ETA: You edited while I was posting, so I’ll append. In Arabic legend, ifrits are akin to jinn. See the wikipedia article, which I am too lazy to link too. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2008, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-name-of-a-gigantic-firebased-mythological-beast/470760/17 "2008-11-02T21:55:56Z")
Xolotl is the Aztec god of fire and bad luck. ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2008, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-name-of-a-gigantic-firebased-mythological-beast/470760/18 "2008-11-02T22:16:05Z")
What’s wrong with just “fire giant?” They were a perfectly respectable race of fire-based gigantic humanoids in Norse mythology, destined to war against the gods and destroy Midgard in the time of Ragnarok. Alternately, if “fire giant” isn’t glamorous enough for the purpose, what about the Norse “eldjotun” (plural: “eldjotnar”)? ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2008, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-name-of-a-gigantic-firebased-mythological-beast/470760/19 "2008-11-02T22:21:19Z")
Volcanor, a terror-inducing giant made from molten lava. He’d kick Godzilla’s ass\*. \*On land, at least. It wouldn’t function so well at sea. ---
**Author:** ![Rapier42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/90db22/32.png) [@Rapier42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rapier42)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2008, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-name-of-a-gigantic-firebased-mythological-beast/470760/20 "2008-11-02T22:23:29Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Can’t use that one for in-story reasons. Besides, they aren’t giants. Well, giant salamander then, you picky bastidge. 😃 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-name-of-a-gigantic-firebased-mythological-beast/470760.md?page=2)