I made a quintet of monsters from Sega's 1992 Game Gear portable roleplaying video game Defenders of Oasis. Said title takes place in a Middle Eastern setting, a la 1,001 Arabian Nights, although all of the creatures don't necessarily reflect that motif.


Barometz:
The Barometz (a.k.a., "The Vegetable Lamb of Tartary" or "The Scythian Lamb") is a mythological plant creature from Central Asia. Strangely, it bore "fruit" in the form of a lamb that was tethered to the earth by its' root "umbilical cord". Like a normal sheep, the Barometz would devour all of the grass surrounding it, however, because it couldn't move any further than its' root allowed, it would then die of starvation (unless some kind-hearted person brought it fresh food that is). The Barometz creature in the game is clearly a plant, but, sadly, it looks absolutely nothing like a lamb.


Crocotta:
The Crocotta is a mythical beast of Indian or Ethiopian origin, said to resemble some combination of dog/wolf/hyena/lion. Crocotta was reputed to be immensely strong, swift, and cunning, fond of digging up, and devouring, buried corpses, and capable of imitating the speech of humans (to lure its prey out of the safety of their homes). Leucrotta is another name for the creature (or a separate, but similar, species, depending on the source), which Sega also used for the brown-hued version of the Crocotta sprite.


Cyclops:
Cyclops are the well-known, single-eyed giants from Greco-Roman mythology. This one has satyr-like legs, but is otherwise unremarkable, design-wise. I've made a lot of one-eyed monsters over the years, but never a proper Greek cyclops, so, this creature fills a hole in my collection in that regard.


Mushus:
"Mushus" is probably a truncation of Mushussu (once misinterpreted by scholars as "Sirrush"), a monster from ancient Babylonian myth. While Mushussu is sometimes depicted with the tail of a scorpion (or a serpent), it's more of a dragon-like creature, so, like the Barometz, the game's version is significantly off-model. This Mushus sprite, recolored green, is also utilized for the "Pabilsag" enemy, a legendary entity that actually was half-scorpion, which is naturally a much more appropriate choice than Mushus was (I think scorpions look better in red than lime though, which is why I went with the former).


Salwa:
What on earth is Salwa, anyway? I doubt that the fiend itself knows. Offhand, I can't think of anything from mythology that matches Salwa's grotesque appearance, but it's a delightfully-disgusting and creative monster design, that's for sure! There was a Salwa Kingdom in ancient India, which would be my guess as to where Sega got the name from.

Unlike the rest of these creatures, Salwa is a "boss" monster, or, more accurately, a "Wizard King", one of several super-powerful enemies that you'll have to confront and defeat on the way to your final opponent, Ahriman, in the game's last dungeon.


*****


Materials:
Newsprint, tissue paper, white glue, acrylic paint, wire twist ties (for tendrils/tail/legs structural support, Barometz and Mushus only), and sand (for surface texture, Cyclops and Mushus only).

Dimensions:
[Barometz] 3.1 cm (1.2") wide x 3.5 cm (1.4") tall.
[Crocotta] 3.8 cm (1.5") long x 3.8 cm (1.5") high.
[Cyclops] 3.3 cm (1.3") wide x 3.7 cm (1.5") tall.
[Mushus] 2.9 cm (1.1") wide x 3.4 cm (1.3") tall.
[Salwa] 5.7 cm (2.2") wide x 3.5 cm (1.4") tall.

Time:
Four days in July, 2015. I made both Mushus and Barometz on the 4th, Cyclops on the 5th, and Crocotta and Salwa were produced over the span of two days, the 6th and the 7th. Let me tell you, my hands were starting to get mighty sore after modeling that many figures in such a short period of time!