In both Mythology and Folklore, some of the biggest mythical creatures tend to stand above the crowd.
Some of them are giants, larger than life, and have reached cult status. The biggest mythical creatures are from all over the world, from Russia to Fiji and from America to Africa.
We will explore the particulars of the biggest mythical creatures from all over the world with a short bio on each mythical creature.
Some information on some of the biggest mythical creatures is as follows:
Top 15 Big & Giant Mythical Creatures
1. Atlas (Giant who holds up the world)
The name Atlas is taken from the Ancient Greek word meaning “very enduring”. In many pictures or representations of Atlas, we see one of the biggest mythical creatures, a giant man under great duress holding up the heavens.
The world is usually depicted as a globe with constellations etched on the outside.
According to Greek mythology, Atlas is also said to be a titan who has been appointed the task of holding up the celestial heavens and sky for all of eternity. It has been said that Atlas stood at the ends of the Earth in the extreme west.
As one of the biggest mythical creatures, Atlas was believed to have many sons and daughters and close ties to both Prometheus and Hercules.
Another interesting fact about Atlas is that his name became synonymous with a collection of maps put together by Flemish geographer, Gerardus Mercator.
The name he gave to his published work was Atlas, since Atlas as one of the biggest mythical creatures, was said to be the creator of the 1st celestial sphere.
2. Balor (One-Eyed God of Death)
Reminiscent of the Greek Cyclops, Balor is the Celtic (Irish) equivalent of one of the biggest mythical creatures. He is a giant with an evil eye, that became poisonous when he was a boy gazing into a potion being brewed for his father.
The fumes from the potion resulted in the eye becoming evil and wrecking havoc on everything in its path when it was opened. Balor, as leader of the Fomoire, continually threatened the Irish people until he was killed by his grandson, the god Lugus in an epic battle called Mag Tuired.
3. Hrungnir (Drunken Norse Giant)
Hrungnir is one of the biggest mythical creatures made from stone from Norse mythology. As a giant, his heart was as hard as stone and spiked with 3 corners, his head was stone, and his shield was made of wide, thick stone.
When Hrungdir loses a horse race, he enters Asgard and becomes drunk and abusive. Thor, the thunder god, is then asked by the people of Asgard to battle Hrungnir and he is subsequently smashed by Thor’s hammer and killed.
4. Jentil (Heathen Giants)
Another one of the biggest mythical creatures, the Jentil is a race of giants from Basque mythology.
Supposedly, these giants lived among the Basque people of north-central Spain and southwestern France.
The Jentil were allegedly so tall and hairy that they were renowned for throwing stones from one mountain to another.
These tales of stone-throwing led to the belief that the Jentil was responsible for the creation of Neolithic monuments, called the dolmens, found in the Basque countryside.
5. Goliath (Biblical Giant)
One of the most well-known of the biggest mythical creatures is Goliath, a giant from the Bible. He is said to be over 7 ft tall, a Philistine warrior, with a very nasty and gloating demeanor.
Two times a day for forty days, he would taunt the Jews into battle. A shepherd boy named David volunteered to battle Goliath but Goliath laughed in his face.
David the shepherd boy defeated Goliath with a small stone, placed it in a sling, and shot strategically at Goliath’s forehead.
The impact of the stone hurled at Goliath killed him instantly and the Philistines were defeated.
6. Polyphemus (One-Eyed Cyclops)
Polyphemus is a one-eyed, giant son of Poseidon and Thoosa from the book Homer’s Odyssey.
As one of the biggest mythical creatures from ancient Greece, Polyphemus is a giant cyclops and cannibal living on the Island of Cyclopes when Odysseus comes ashore after returning home with his men from the Trojan War.
Having found the washed ashore strangers in his cave, he blocks the entrance and ends up killing and eating four men.
Odysseus then gets Polyphemus drunk with cheap wine and he falls asleep. At that point, Odysseus drives a wooden stake into his eye, making him blind.
When he awakes, Odysseus and his remaining men tie themselves to the underbellies of his sheep herd and escape.
Polyphemus, whose name means “abounding in songs and legends” is often depicted as a giant, heterosexual male massive in size but sorely lacking in musical ability.
7. ONI (Japanese Giant Demons)
An Oni is a type of demon, ogre, or troll from Japanese folklore. The Oni are some of the biggest mythical creatures from Japan and have one or more horns growing out of their head, sharp claws, wild hair, and skin color that is red and blue.
They also wear tiger-skin loincloths and carry iron clubs.
Oni are invisible spirits said to be responsible for disasters, disease, and other awful happenings. They are also known to deceive and devour humans.
The term Oni, or “one with an iron club” is generally thought to mean undefeatable or unconquerable.
In addition, Oni can mean “strong beyond strong” meaning the building up an enhanced strength through the use of a tool.
8. Gog Magog (The Last British giant)
As the biggest mythical creature in England, the giant Gog Magog was a legendary character in Welsh and English mythology.
Allegedly, he was thrown off a cliff by Corineus during a wrestling match. He was the last of the giants found on the Island of Albion by Brutus and his men.
9. Kumbhakar (Giant Appetite)
Kumbhakar is a giant and one of the biggest mythical creatures in Hindu mythology. Kumbhakar is of good character, and pious and intelligent.
He is the younger brother of Ravora from the famous Hindu book Ramayana.
Kumbhakar is also an unchallenged warrior with Indra, the king of Gods.
In this battle, it is a widely held belief that Kumbhakar was the one who won.
10. Orion (Left his Mark on the Stars)
In Greek mythology, Orion was one of the biggest mythical creatures and was a giant huntsman that Zeus placed among the stars as the constellation of Orion.
His life, beginning with his birth in Boetha spans a visit to Chios where he meets and later rapes Merapi.
He is blinded by Merape’s father and later recovers his sight at Lemnos.
While hunting on Crete with Artemis he is killed by the bow of Artemis or the sting of the giant scorpion, later to become Scorpio. His death results in his later elevation to the heavens.
11. Brobdingnag (Giant from Gulliver’s Travels)
In Jonathan Swift’s novel, Gulliver’s Travels, Brobdingnag is a fictional land occupied by giants. They are some of the biggest mythical creatures and not only are they physical giants but moral giants as well.
They stand 60 feet tall and are all of calm virtue and goodwill. In the novel, they are discovered by Lemuel Gulliver who comes upon the land when the ship he is on blows off course.
He subsequently becomes separated from his party who are exploring the unknown land.
The point of Swifts’ satirical novel is that even though the Brobdingnags are physically unattractive people their high moral values make them beautiful.
12. Paul Bunyan (American Folkore)
One of the biggest mythical creatures in American folklore is a superhuman, giant lumberjack named Paul Bunyan.
His story was passed down by North American loggers, and then subsequently featured in a promotional piece written by William B. Laughhead in 1916.
Paul Bunyan is said to be of superhuman strength and is usually seen with his companion, Babe the Blue Ox.
Across North America, especially in the United States and Canada, Paul Bunyan’s likeness has been duplicated many times over.
13. Ferragut (also known as Ferragus, Ferrnatio, etc.)
Ferragut is a character who at times is seen as a giant in such texts as The matter of France and other Italian Romantic epics.
In these stories, he was seen as someone who was undefeatable except in the area of his navel/stomach. As expected, he was eventually killed by the paladin, Roland.
14. Flaming Teeth (A Giant in Fijian mythology)
According to Fijian mythology, one of the biggest mythical creatures was a giant who was so large his teeth appeared as burning logs.
He ran amok in the village, eating people and generally causing a lot of trouble.
Some of the villagers came up with a plan to lure him under a giant rock and smash his skull with a rock. Their plan worked and the giant was killed by the villagers but his teeth were still on fire.
The villagers then took the teeth back to the village which sparked the notion that the discovery of fire first happened there.
15. Dragons
Dragons are mythical creatures that have been around for as long as people can remember.
They have a compelling history and many different stories about dragons exist in folklore, literature, movies, and other forms of media.
They are said to represent the power of life, strength from within, courage, fearlessness, and wisdom.
Dragons were originally depicted as large-scaled beasts that breathed fire but now they can be found in many forms including winged beings with horns or antlers on their heads.