For a while now, we’ve been discussing how various scientific principles tie into things like anatomy and ecology. And unless you’re new here, you’ve probably seen me throwing out suggestions for how to tie those topics into some of the classic fantastical beasts. I think by this point, we’ve discussed enough basics that we can start really getting into some of these monsters. For that, I’m proud to introduce the “Make a Monster” series! In it, we’ll be taking a deep dive into some of the staple fantasy monsters and looking at ways to build them up from a scientific foundation and really make them our own. And as you’ve probably guessed by the title, today I thought we could start with the mighty gryphon!
(Surprised I didn’t start with dragons, after a post on fire breathing and my weird obsession with the Welsh dragon? Haha, yeah, that one just seemed too easy. Next time, maybe.)
Anyway, the gryphon (or griffin, or griffon, or however you want to spell it) is a pretty straightforward, mostly European monster. Lion body, eagle head and wings, big-cat-sized flying beastie that likes to hunt horses. They’re most well known for their derivatives from Greek mythology. However, gryphons have also been found in the ancient cultures of Egypt, the Middle East, and parts of Central Asia. They typically symbolize power and majesty, thanks to the lion being considered the “king of beasts” and the eagle the “king of birds.”
So that gives us good starting point to work with. We’ll look more into gryphon variants and how we can use them as we go on.
To cross or not to cross?
The first thing you’ll probably notice when looking at the gryphon as a species is the whole “cat/bird hybrid” thing. This makes gryphons a type of chimeric monster, made up of two species put together. We’ve already talked about how to work with chimeras, but let’s take a quick refresher. Basically, we have two options. We can skip the cross and make the gryphon a “normal” animal. Or use real-life chimeric concepts to make gryphons “artificial” creatures.
For the first example, we’ll want to start by asking ourselves where non-chimeric gryphons might fit in the animal kingdom. I actually gave an example of this back in the chimeras post. That version used a hypothetical clade featuring gryphons that’s closely related to falcons. These gryphons are birds, with feathers, wings, and the egg-laying behavior that’s a little more typical of the classical monster.
That said, if you want to really feature taxonomy, it might be better to make your gryphon an Accipitriform. The Accipitriformes order includes hawks, eagles and vultures, with falcons (Falconiformes) being more closely related to parrots. It serves a “classic” gryphon well both because it includes eagles and because Accipitriforms tend to be larger than falcons. And as a bonus, it includes a real-life bird literally called the “griffon vulture.”
Of course, one major issue here is the fact that gryphons distinctly have four legs in addition to wings. Six-limbed body plans don’t currently exist in land vertebrates, and it would be highly unlikely for birds to evolve an extra pair of legs. But unlikely isn’t impossible, and there’s always the option of “cheating” with some form of magical influence.
For now, let’s assume that these avian gryphons have a six-limbed body plan. This alone could make ample reasoning for an in-universe “crossed with big cats” theory. To add to the “lion” half of the image, your gyphon may have traits like a feather ruff similar to the gryphon vulture or long tail feathers that fan out in flight but tuck neatly into a seeming cat tail when it’s on the ground.
Okay, so what about the other half?
On the flip side, what about a feline or feline-relative gryphon? Like big cats, they’re meant to be large, powerful hunters. Many cats have large ears, like gryphons are often said to have. And while it would be hard to justify giving a wildcat wings, wingless gryphons do exist in Medieval heraldry and some mythological accounts.
Of course, at this point you might ask, “Why even call it a gryphon if it’s just a big cat?” This is probably where your magic system or other fantastical elements can start coming into play. Maybe your gryphon is wingless, but uses some kind of sky magic or gravity manipulation to leap impressive bounds or even fly outright.
And maybe it isn’t a true cat at all, but a relative elsewhere in the feliforma suborder. Among other animals, this group includes the little-known binturong, which is arboreal and has a long tail and pointed snout. Maybe your feliform gryphon has an even more beak-like snout and long, talon-like claws. Combine these traits with the aforementioned magical flight and a larger size, and you could have a truly convincing monster on your hands.
That’s nice and all, but I really just want my birdcat
It’s fine if you think that! Like I said, a non-chimeric gryphon is just one of our options. If you’re looking for a true hybrid, though, that’s going to bring up a whole new set of questions.
First and foremost, of course, is, “How does this thing even exist?” Unless you want to play very fast and loose with genetics, simply getting a cat and a bird of prey to fall in love isn’t going to cut it. So, where do you want your cross to come from? A wizard’s spell? Mad science? Divine intervention? Magical cataclysm?
Unless you have a reason to get in-depth with gryphon anatomy, answering this question will probably emphasize history over biology. A few related questions may still come up, though. Does your method of making chimeras give them a way to breed true, or are they fully “artificial?” If it’s the former, can gryphons really lay eggs if the torso comes from the mammalian half? How does having two different “parent” species influence the gryphon’s natural behavior?
And unless you’ve opted for a wingless gryphon, how does it fly? Since this last question also affects our non-chimeric gryphons, let’s take a more in depth look.
Lords of the sky
We’ve already talked about the square-cube law and how it affects flight at length, so I’ll keep this section brief. Basically, if you want a large (say, lion-sized) flying animal, you’ll need it to have big wings, big flight muscles, and a relatively small weight. Big wings are easy enough: hawks and eagles already have those, so you just have to scale them up accordingly. For musculature, flying birds have a keel bone jutting out from the ribcage for more and larger flight muscles to attach to. Avian gryphons and chimeras with a more birdlike front half can accommodate that handily. You’ll just want to remember that your gryphon should have a wide, muscular chest.
For chimeric gryphons, the hardest question will probably be weight. Flying birds famously have “hollow” bones full of air sacs. While the bone tissue itself is actually denser than that of most mammals, making it heavier, the air sacs both offset this to make the bones stronger without becoming too heavy and provide the birds with additional oxygen to help with energy consuming flight.
Obviously, cats don’t have that. Furthermore, the lion that is most commonly used as a gryphon half is a very stocky and heavy cat. So, how do we counter this? You could put more of an avian skeletal structure into your gryphon, giving it more of the strong and hollow bones and slimming its frame. You might also consider switching out the lion for a more lightweight cat, perhaps even a smaller one. Servals, for example, are tall for their smallish size, excellent hunters, and impressive jumpers (much like some gryphons!) They also top out at about 40 pounds – just like the male kori bustard, the heaviest flying bird alive today.
So, what about their behavior?
Of course, if you’re going to have gryphons in your story, they’re going to end up interacting with your characters. Depending on the story, they could even be major characters! But from here the question becomes how exactly they interact with the world around them.
Naturally, the answer to this question can vary as much as the many origins for the gryphon’s distinctive body plan. Still, we can narrow down some likely candidates.
For one thing, most raptors and wild cats alike are solitary hunters. The former will generally share parenting duties, territory and occasionally hunting skill with their mates, and both will take time to rear their young. But outside of that, only a few species like the Harris’s hawk and the African lion are known to regularly work in groups. This makes sense for large predators, which tend to be solitary and territorial in order to ensure they have enough food. But of course, those exceptions do still exist. Perhaps your gryphons live in extended family groups like their lion half, and work together to take down larger prey.
Speaking of large prey, some versions of the gryphon myth claim that they hate and/or prey on horses. In fact, the hippogriff, a legendary cross between a gryphon and horse, was invented as an impossible animal because of this animosity. Looking at a horse’s natural predators, they are all unsurprisingly large. Wolves and coyotes may attack horses opportunistically, especially when working in groups. And some animals, like grizzly bears and mountain lions, can take on a vulnerable horse even alone. Perhaps your gryphon is North American in origin, and has a mountain lion rather than African lion half.
Or perhaps you have smaller gryphons that work together to take down horses in packs, or flocks, or whatever collective noun you choose for them. Of course, they probably won’t be able to carry off horses by air no matter how strong they are – unless there’s magic involved, of course.
If your gryphons are specifically wizard-made chimeras, there’s also the question of how they interact with their “owners.” Assuming the creator doesn’t just throw them out into the world, what is their purpose? Neither wild cats nor raptors are known for being cuddly pets. Perhaps their creator uses methods similar to a falconer, acclimating them to humans and teaching them to hunt. Perhaps they are simply very challenging animals to work with, requiring careful training and housing that the owner may or may not actually have.
Gryphons and griffons and griffins
However you choose to build your gryphon, the simple act of asking “how” and “why” opens up a whole world of possibilities. Whether you have a convocation of six-limbed eagles dominating the skies just beyond your protagonist’s village, or a magically bred war beast that will perhaps take more training than your court wizard realized, these kings of mythical beasts are sure to make an impression.
Sources: Wikipedia article on gryphons, National Library of Medicine on hollow bird bones