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6[[caption-width-right:350:From the [[OurCryptidsAreMoreMysterious mysterious]] to the [[OurAngelsAreDifferent angelic]] and from the [[OurMonstersAreWeird weird]] to the [[{{Kaiju}} big and weird]]. Good luck fitting all of them under your bed! [[note]]Clockwise from top-left: [[WesternAnimation/AaahhRealMonsters Ickis, Oblina and Krumm]], [[Franchise/{{Godzilla}} Gigan]], [[Blog/{{Slimyswampghost}} the Angel]] and [[VisualNovel/CryptidCrush Jamie]]. In the middle is [[Series/SesameStreet Cookie Monster]].[[/note]]]]
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9
10->''"Frankly, it's much more common for pop culture staples like these to have lots of internal variation than for them to have some kind of rigid canon defining how everything works."''
11-->-- '''Red,''' ''WebAnimation/OverlySarcasticProductions'': [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mm0KyaovhY "Halloween Special: Werewolves"]]
12
13The creator of a fantastic fiction universe gets to set the rules for how the stock fictional creatures and peoples work. There are a bunch of mythological creatures that are, as a whole, vaguely defined, and even though their recognizable traits (blood-sucking, flying, fiery breath etc.) are widely known, they need to be cleared up and re-defined to be able to appear as actual characters in a particular work. However, the audience is going to want said creator to stick pretty close to the [[MagicAIsMagicA rules they pick]].
14
15A writer uses this trope any time they want to use a famous critter or race without having to deal with the all of the various baggage said critter has accumulated in folklore and pop culture over the years, allowing them to leverage existing tropes and characteristics only as much as they want to. So in the end, when they use a term like "elf" or "vampire", we have a pretty good idea what to expect, but at the same time we know that there may be something off about it compared to somebody else's book.
16
17[[TabletopGames Fantasy RPG]] creators often engage in this while populating their worlds, rulebooks and monster manuals. As well as getting the various creatures to fit properly in their particular fantasy scenario and play nice with their game mechanic, they often want to produce as big and varied a bestiary as they can. So, for example, if two folkloric creatures are so similar as to be interchangeable, one or both may end up being altered just to make them distinct and justify separate entries. A similar thing can happen if a creature is known by more than one traditional name. In some cases, a single creature will be spun off into several varieties, often distinguished by [[ColourCodedForYourConvenience colour]] or [[UndergroundMonkey habitat]].
18
19A violation of GenreConsistency, but (usually) not of InternalConsistency.
20
21For an index of all fictional creatures see the [[SarcasmMode imaginatively named]] IndexOfFictionalCreatures (including AngelicTropes, DragonTropes, the UndeadIndex, et cetera). See also StockMonsterSymbolism.
22----
23!!Tropes:
24[[index]]
25* AllTrollsAreDifferent
26* OurAlebrijesAreDifferent
27* OurAngelsAreDifferent
28* OurArchonsAreDifferent
29* OurBansheesAreLouder
30* OurCentaursAreDifferent
31* OurCryptidsAreMoreMysterious
32* OurDarkElvesAreDifferent
33* OurDemonsAreDifferent
34* OurDragonsAreDifferent
35* OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame
36* OurElvesAreDifferent
37* OurFairiesAreDifferent
38* OurGargoylesRock
39* OurGeniesAreDifferent
40* OurGhostsAreDifferent
41* OurGhoulsAreCreepier
42* OurGiantsAreBigger
43* OurGnollsAreDifferent
44* OurGoblinsAreDifferent
45* OurGodsAreDifferent
46* OurGnomesAreWeirder
47* OurGryphonsAreDifferent
48* OurHippocampsAreDifferent
49* OurHomunculiAreDifferent
50* OurHydrasAreDifferent
51* OurImpsAreDifferent
52* OurKelpiesAreDifferent
53* OurKoboldsAreDifferent
54* OurLichesAreDifferent
55* OurMagesAreDifferent
56* OurManticoresAreSpinier
57* OurMermaidsAreDifferent
58* OurMinotaursAreDifferent
59* OurMonstersAreWeird
60* OurNymphsAreDifferent
61* OurOgresAreHungrier
62* OurOrcsAreDifferent
63* OurPerytonsAreDifferent
64* OurPixiesAreDifferent
65* OurSirensAreDifferent
66* OurSlashersAreDifferent
67* OurSphinxesAreDifferent
68* OurSpiritsAreDifferent
69* OurTitansAreDifferent
70* OurVampiresAreDifferent
71* OurWerebeastsAreDifferent
72* OurWerewolvesAreDifferent
73* OurWitchesAreDifferent
74* OurWightsAreDifferent
75* OurWyvernsAreDifferent
76* OurZombiesAreDifferent
77[[/index]]

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