Mythical Indian beast
"…a scary, man-eating monster with the head of a man, the body of a lion, and the tail and sting of a scorpion. In nature, one of the most spectacular of God’s favorite creatures, beetles."
— Carnegie Museum of Natural History
Originating in India, described by Persian and Greek writers, the manticore's memory is preserved today through a magnificent beetle, the music of Emerson, Lake and Palmer, arms businesses, Harry Potter and of course video and other games. The mythology describes a chimeric monster as above, with subtle variations. Sometimes the tail has porcupine-like quills, sometimes a scorpion sting. It is capable of rendering a man to nothing, but somehow elephants (who are immune to their poison) and lions cannot be defeated by them.
The name derives from Latin mantichora via the Greek μαρτιχόρας, ultimately from Old Persian for "eater of man". Fearsome in the extreme, the oldest description states it:
"…has three rows of teeth like a comb, the face and ears of a human, and bluish eyes. It is red in colour with the body of a lion and a tail with stingers like a scorpion. Its voice is as if the sounds of the pipe were mixed with a trumpet and it is a creature of great speed which avidly goes after human flesh."
— Ctesias
Ctesias described the stings as a cubit long, with additional foot-long stings that could be launched up to 100 feet. It would completely consume its prey, leaving no trace.
The fearsomeness of this beast has led to its use in many games and media. My introduction was through the ELP album Tarkus, whose first side described the battle between a manticore and the eponymous Tarkus. Despite being an armadillo tank, it loses. Should have been a lion, dude.
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