History Main / AKindOfOne

* {{Pegasus}} - There was only the one in myth, but has since become synonymous with pterippi, or [[{{Pegasus}} [=Pegasi=]]], or "pegasoids". Interestingly, Pegasus was more or less Medusa's son. He... sort of [[SpontaneousGeneration spawned]] from the blood that spilled when Perseus beheaded her.
** Oh for...OK. Pegasus is the son of Medusa and Poseidon. Poseidon fell in love with Medusa and raped her in Athena's temple, impregnating her. Athena was furious but since she couldn't take her anger out on Poseidon (her uncle and a god) she turned Medusa into a Gorgon as a curse. When Perseus cut off Medusa's head, Pegasus was born out of her neck.

Some mythological creatures are more famous than others, but a few are so famous that their entire ''species'' has been named after them in the popular consciousness, in a kind of mythological malapropism -- or, alternatively, a singular creature proposed as a unique aberration is adopted by other stories as if it were a species.

However, AKindOfOne may be portrayed as a SingleSpecimenSpecies in each ''subsequent'' work, [[FollowTheLeader following the original]]; in which case it may be a case of CallASmeerpARabbit since the characters have never seen it before, but [[PopCulturalOsmosis the readers have]].

For instance, someone encountering a creature for the first time may CallAPegasusAHippogriff.

** In PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians, the Pegasi are stated to be descendants of the original Pegasus. The original is mentioned several times, and his twin brother Chrysaor (who is not a winged horse, but humanoid) appears as well.

** In PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians, the Pegasi are stated to be descendants of the original Pegasus. The original is mentioned several times, and his twin brother Chrysaor appears as well.

* Caesar. It started as [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etymology_of_the_name_of_Julius_Caesar part of one man's family name]], then became a term for emperors, spawning both Czar and Kaiser.

** The ''Arabian Nights'' "should-be-legendary" creatures were introduced before legendary creatures existed. This was later explained by a sort of {{Retcon}} in the ''Magic'' novels stating that the plane of Rabiah was split into 1001 alternate-universe versions of itself, so there are actually supposed to be 1001 copies of each of these guys running around. Still doesn't explain Uncle Istvan (who was introduced after legendary creatures already existed), though.

* {{Pegasus}} - There was only the one in myth, but has since become synonymous with pterippi, or [[{{Pegasus}} [=Pegasi=]]]. Interestingly, Pegasus was more or less Medusa's son. He... sort of [[SpontaneousGeneration spawned]] from the blood that spilled when Perseus beheaded her.

** Stheno is also a very early Boss (a leader of naga-like snake people) encountered at the low levels of ''[[VideoGame/CityOfHeroes City of Villains]]''
*** More specifically, her minions, the Snakes, are encountered at very low levels. You don't actually encounter Stheno herself until you hit the highest level tier and travel back to the starting island to beat her up.

* Chimera - A unique creature, child of Echidna and Typhoeos (aka Typhon) in one version of the Greek myth. It's now synonymous with MixAndMatchCritters (and has a similar meaning in RealLife genetics). It has also been used to describe an illusory threat.

* Satori Komeiji from ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' is an [[InvertedTrope inversion]], as she is named after her species, the satori, a mind-reading {{Youkai}}, making it closer to ADogNamedDog. Her fellow satori [[StrongerSibling younger sister]] [[BonusBoss Koishi Komeiji]] averts this trope, however.
** Later on we get Nue Houjuu who herself is a nue, the Japanese equivalent of the chimera. It's unclear whether she's supposed to be the actual mythological nue or not; if she is she would be this trope in-universe.

* In ''Film/PacificRim'', [[LightningBruiser Striker Eureka]] was the first and the last of the [[SuperPrototype Mark-5]] [[HumongousMecha Jaegers]] ever built.

Some mythological creatures are more famous than others, but a few are so famous that their entire ''species'' has been named after them in the popular consciousness, in a kind of mythological malapropism -- or, alternatively, a singular creature proposed as a unique aberration is adopted by other stories as if it were a species. The ancient phrase for this trope is ''sui generis'', roughly "a thing that defines its own category".

* The Sun, the Moon and the Galaxy... are the generally-accepted proper names of ''Earth's'' sun, moon and galaxy, after they turned out not to be unique. The Galaxy is usually called the Milky Way, which is [[ShapedLikeItself a loose translation of "galaxy" into English]].

* [[VideoGame/{{Kirby}} Kirby]] is...Kirby.

* [[VideoGame/Kirby Kirby]] is...Kirby.

* [[Franchise/Kirby Kirby]] is...Kirby.

* Yoda from ''StarWars'' probably deserves a mention here, since his species name was never revealed, and any other member that shows up is invariably referred to as "a yoda". George Lucas himself is said not to want the species named, and so it's almost universally referred to as 'Yoda's Species'. At one point he was even reluctant to allow any other characters of Yoda's Species to be introduced. Apparently he hasn't shared his reasoning for ''why'' Yoda's background should be so mysterious.

* The Cheat from ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'' looks vaguely like a short, fat miniature cheetah; he's been referred to as "a The Cheat" and no other creature resembling him has ever been seen (except in ''Cheat Commandos'', which is purely [[ShowWithinAShow metafictional]], [[hottip:*:exceptionally so for a setting where everything else tends to become real,]] so all the Cheat Commandos characters may be depictions of him). One cartoon shows him hatching out of an enormous egg along with "a lifetime supply of fishsticks" and one of the video games has Strong Bad referring to his "hot mom", though, so possibly there are others.

* {{Pegasus}} - There was only the one in myth, but has since become synonymous with pterippi, or {{winged horse}}s. Interestingly, Pegasus was more or less Medusa's son. He... sort of [[SpontaneousGeneration spawned]] from the blood that spilled when Perseus beheaded her.

* (The) Hydra - Again, a singular creature so tough that it took Heracles a labor to beat, yet is often a random encounter in many a RolePlayingGame.

** Later on we get Nue Houjuu who herself is a nue, the Japanese equivalent of the chimera. It's unclear whether she's supposed to be the actual mythological nue, which would cause her to be this trope in-universe.

* Renard, in France. Before, the French word for fox was "goupil", but after the ''Roman de Renard'', the whole species got the name. Renard (or ''Reynaud'', i.e. Ronald) was a famous TricksterArchetype who was CunningLikeAFox.