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Public Domain Bestiary - Printable Version

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Public Domain Bestiary - Photonamus - 08-23-2026

Public Domain Bestiary

376 monsters, demons, spirits, and legendary creatures from world mythology — structured for AI, games, and creative work

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The Public Domain Bestiary is a structured reference dataset of 376 creatures drawn from world mythology, folklore, public-domain literature, and grimoire demonology. Every entry is public domain in the United States as a concept or source material, making the collection a safe, ready-to-use foundation for worldbuilding, game design, writing, illustration, and any other creative work where you need monsters and don't want to worry about stepping on somebody's IP.

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Three Formats, Same Data

The dataset ships in three interchangeable formats — pick whichever fits your workflow:
  • .html — a self-contained, offline, searchable and filterable browser reference for human reading. Open it in any browser, no server needed. Supports dark mode, type filtering, region grouping, and a text search bar. This is the best way to browse the full collection.
  • .json — clean structured data intended for feeding into AI models or programmatic use. Types are stored as arrays. Includes metadata header with title, note, and total count.
  • .csv — a spreadsheet- and database-friendly format that imports directly into game engines such as Unreal Engine as a DataTable. Multiple type tags are pipe-separated for easy splitting.

All three files contain identical data. The .zip attachment at the bottom of this post includes all of them.

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What It Covers

18 traditions are represented across the collection:
  • Greek/Roman — Minotaur, Hydra, Cerberus, Chimera, Medusa, Typhon, and more
  • Norse/Germanic — Fenrir, Jörmungandr, Draugr, Kraken, Nidhogg, Valkyrie
  • Celtic/British — Banshee, Dullahan, Kelpie, Púca, Fomorian
  • Slavic — Baba Yaga, Leshy, Rusalka, Strigoi, Zmey Gorynych
  • Middle Eastern / Mesopotamian — Djinn, Lamassu, Simurgh, Manticore, Pazuzu
  • Japanese — Oni, Kappa, Tengu, Yuki-Onna, Jorōgumo, Gashadokuro
  • Chinese — Qilin, Jiangshi, Pixiu, Hundun, Nian
  • South and Southeast Asian — Naga, Garuda, Rakshasa, Yaksha, Manananggal
  • African — Grootslang, Impundulu, Adze, Tokoloshe, Ammit
  • Mesoamerican — Quetzalcoatl, Ahuizotl, Cipactli, Nagual
  • South American — Mapinguari, Encantado, Yacumama
  • North American — Wendigo, Thunderbird, Skinwalker, Piasa
  • Australian/Pacific — Bunyip, Taniwha, Rainbow Serpent
  • Finnish/Baltic — Iku-Turso, Ajatar, Nakki
  • Jewish/Biblical — Golem, Leviathan, Behemoth, Dybbuk, Nephilim
  • Universal Medieval European — Basilisk, Griffin, Wyvern, Werewolf, Will-o'-the-wisp
  • Public-domain classic literature — Frankenstein's Monster, Dracula, Cthulhu, Morlocks, Martian Tripods
  • Grimoire demonology — the complete 72 demons of the Ars Goetia from the Lesser Key of Solomon, plus additional figures from the Dictionnaire Infernal and Testament of Solomon

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Entry Structure

Every creature carries a consistent set of fields:
  • Name — the creature's name, with disambiguating notes where two share a name (e.g. the Goetic Asmoday versus Asmodeus of Tobit)
  • Region / Tradition — the cultural or literary origin it belongs to
  • Types — one or more classification tags from a consistent vocabulary: undead, beast, spirit, demon, dragon, humanoid, elemental, divine, aquatic, avian, shapeshifter
  • Description — a concise summary of the creature's appearance, behavior, and role in its source mythology
  • Caveat — where relevant, a usage warning flagging protected modern depictions, culturally sacred figures, or trademark concerns
  • Source — for literary and grimoire creatures, the originating work and date

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What an AI Can Do With It

Feed any of the three files into an AI assistant as context and it gains a complete, organized reference it can draw on without inventing details or guessing at copyright status. With the data loaded, a model can:
  • Recommend creatures that fit a given theme, biome, region, or tone
  • Generate enemy rosters, bestiary entries, or encounter tables for games
  • Expand any entry into full stat blocks, lore, dialogue, or design notes
  • Filter by tradition or type — every aquatic dragon, all Slavic spirits, demons suitable for a boss tier
  • Build new content grounded in real public-domain mythology rather than fabricated or copyright-uncertain material
  • Cross-reference creatures across traditions for comparative or fusion designs

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Important Usage Notes
  • Public domain does not mean unrestricted in every way. Mythology and folklore carry no copyright, but a specific modern depiction — such as Universal Pictures' Frankenstein design — may still be protected. Work from the original source description, not a film version.
  • Trademark can persist separately from copyright. Some names like Tarzan and Zorro remain trademarked even where the character is public domain. Check the name before commercial use.
  • Some entries are culturally sacred. Certain Indigenous, Aboriginal, and Maori figures are legally unrestricted but deserve research and respect before commercial use. These are flagged in the data's caveat field.
  • Verify 20th-century literary creatures (such as Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos entities) in your own jurisdiction before release, as public-domain status can vary by country.

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Sample Entries

To give you a feel for what the data looks like, here are a few entries pulled from across the collection:

Code:
Fenrir | Norse/Germanic | beast, divine Monstrous wolf destined to devour Odin at Ragnarök. Jorōgumo | Japanese | spirit, shapeshifter, beast Spider-woman who seduces men with her beauty, then ensnares them in webs. Ammit | African | beast, divine Crocodile-lion-hippo chimera that devours unworthy souls. Amduscias (Goetia #67) | Grimoire Demonology | demon Duke commanding 29 legions; appears as a unicorn, gives concerts of invisible instruments, bends trees. Source: Lesser Key of Solomon (Ars Goetia), c. 1641 Frankenstein's Monster | Classic Literature | humanoid, undead Reanimated creature of stitched corpses, intelligent and tragic. Caveat: Novel text is public domain. Universal's flat-top bolt-neck design is NOT — work from Shelley's description. Source: Frankenstein (Mary Shelley), 1818

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Download the .zip below containing all three formats (.html, .json, .csv).
Open the HTML file in a browser to browse and search the full collection.