Monsters That Could Replace Domestic Animal Niches

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I think velociraptor would have made great pets.
Like dumber cats.

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???
is velociraptors some meme on /an/?
and sure, dinosaurs aren't monsters, bt look ath the pis posted, you could style a monster as a mix of velociraptors and cats and have them take the same function of cats in our world

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Dude they totally couldve been pets

Try using those edgy or realism drawn pokemon for some of the things you need filler for. Otherwise it devolves into reading myths folklore and other such materials

-Horses/camels
Desert Unicorns. They look more like solid white llamas with a big goofy solid black horn on their head and cloven hooves. Completely domesticated, no sapience, and no magical abilities. Although there are feral herds that are mean as fuck. Can be ridden just like a horse. But they have a thick reserve of fat coating their entire back (Rather than just one or two large humps) so they can drink a lot of water all at once and store it for a long time. You can milk them and use their milk just like cows. But it comes with an added bonus of being slightly magical so it can soothe minor aches and pains, reduce fevers, etc. bathing with it also gets rid of ticks, fleas, mange, etc. when you drink it plain. Cooking or processing it removes the magical nature.

-Water buffalo
Giant Sand Crabs. Giant crabs the size of RL water buffalo. Strictly herbivorous unless the meat has been dead for a couple of days. Can eat pretty much any plant species, even toxic/poisonous ones. But they prefer grazing on succulent fresh green grass. As a result, their meat is tender and delicious. IF you can successfully pierce their natural armor and kill it. The females have a special opening in their armor on their belly where they can store their eggs with water to keep them from drying out. Once their eggs hatch their offspring climb out and spend the first few years as juveniles riding on their mother's back.

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-Cows/Sheep/domestic herd animals
Jungle Unicorns and Marsh Unicorns. These smaller cousins of the Desert Unicorns are much more docile. And after only one or two generations of weeding out the more aggressive "bad eggs" you can fully domesticate a breeding population from pure wild stock. The Marsh Unicorn does not retain it's wool all year round, but unlike the Desert Unicorn this wool is very thick when it is shed. It's used the same way RL sheep wool is used. The Marsh Unicorn is usually a creamy brown, or light grey. The Jungle Unicorn gives birth to multiple offspring at once. Usually twins, but sometimes triplets. As such, it has a much larger udder and can produce much greater quantities of milk.

-Pigs
Sluggos. Giant slugs that can eat pretty much anything. Even feces. As such, when they are young they are used as clean up crew for left overs and table scraps. When they grow old/big enough to slaughter for their hides and meat they are switched over to a diet of fruit and vegetables. Once they have been on this diet for long enough their meat becomes incredibly tender and succulent. Their hides, if processed properly, becomes as thin as a human hair, but as durable as wool cloth. Thus, it is in high demand as parchment for scrolls and books.

-Chickens
Large feathered basilisks. The same size as turkeys IRL, Indistinguishable from birds except for the fact that they have reptilian jaws full of razor sharp teeth instead of beaks. They mate for life, and their nesting boxes are kept close to homes since the males make excellent guard dogs of the property in order to protect their mates and hatchlings. Social enough that if you give the individual nesting boxes enough space you can keep an entire flock of a dozen or so. But if they become too crowded older more dominant females will attack and kill younger weaker females. The females lay one single fertilized egg each month, same size as RL chicken eggs. But she will also lay several slightly larger false eggs. This strategy gives their fertilized eggs a chance to survive if nest raiders manage to successfully eat their eggs. The unfertilized eggs are easy to distinguish for humans due to being larger, and are an excellent source of protein.

-Messenger birds
Giant Wasps. Incredibly docile creatures, they have no mouths, so can not bite. Instead they have a butterfly or moth like tube to drink nectar. They use their venomless stingers to poke holes in the bark of certain trees to collect the sap as it drops out. This led to the discovery of Maple Syrup. Only the Queen produces venom. And she never leaves the hive. They can live for up to four years. And they also have excellent homing instinct. So if you take a young adult from a hive and transport it quite a ways away, it will unerringly find home again. They are also incredibly strong creatures and can carry letters, scrolls, and even small lightweight books.

>Horses
slightly smaller Irish Elk with small or no antlers

>camels
camel-sized goats

>water buffalo
giant beetles

>Cows
giant rabbits

>Sheep
not sure, maybe some sheep sized kiwi type bird that just has a lot of wool-like down feathers?

>Pigs
turtles (terrapins for anyone that cares)

>chickens
platypuses

>Messenger birds
drgaonflys

I think you may want totally new animals, but I think you'll get more bang for your buck if you pull a last airbender and make all the animals weird remixed versions of IRL animals (minus the animals combos probably)

What's the difference between a monster and an animal? If they're living creatures filling animal niches, what's so monstrous about them?

Remember convergent evolution and the effects domestication have on animals, OP. Also remember that certain animals might be better or worse to use than another depending on the conditions. EX: Horse vs Oxen vs Mules vs Camels etc.

Generally "monster" status is attributed to:

>being an unnatural creature
>being significantly larger than creatures of the same species
>being a killer of the local sophonts
>being noticeably aberrant compared to creatures of the same species
>being an unknown invasive species, destroying the biome

best birb

Half of these are in relation to other, 'normal' animals.

If there are only monsters, don't they just become the new normal, i.e. animals?

A creature can be both monster and animal.

But why would you call them monsters if they're just filling common niches?

Sure, those grazing animals on the grasslands have six legs, scales, a ridge of sharp horns, three eyes and a set of pincers, but they don't really do anything and we see whole herds of them.

They're not at all weird. They're just there.

What kind of philosophy are we applying, here?

Domestic slimes

>But why would you call them monsters if they're just filling common niches?
Because that monster killed [name]!
Because in this franchise everything is a "Monster".
Because random animals are called monster out of habit.
Because those creatures are dangerous.
Because they belong to the kingdom monster.
Because [character] used the term to push an agenda.
Because dungeons are inhabited by monsters, naturally.
Because Monster is the term for scary things applied in relation to the baseline animals.

In short depends on the setting.

Obvious carnivore or ovivore. Terrible for a mount. Gait/spine will throw any rider.

>Because that monster killed [name]!
We call those dangerous animals.
>Because in this franchise everything is a "Monster".
>Because random animals are called monster out of habit.
'Just because' is a boring reason.
>Because those creatures are dangerous.
So are some animals. So are people.
>Because they belong to the kingdom monster.
This doesn't define anything, it just tells us that the term exists.
>Because [character] used the term to push an agenda.
A vendetta against the in-setting equivalent of cows?
>Because dungeons are inhabited by monsters, naturally.
>Because Monster is the term for scary things applied in relation to the baseline animals.
That's nice, but wasn't this thread about monsters in the role of common, domestic animals? They are the baseline.

>In short depends on the setting.
The setting's in the OP.

It's starting to look like the people in that world wouldn't even call them monsters, it's just our frame of reference that's interfering.

OP used "monster" to communicate to us that he wants to replace real animals with fantasy creatures.

I wouldn't put such weight on the monster term.

Pump the brakes, user.

Discussing what 'monster' actually means and what would make something a monster in a specific world is a valuable exploration of the subject.

I've come to the conclusion that these creatures, which would be monsters to us, would probably be everyday animals to characters in that specific world. This kind of information is relevant if you're expecting to play a character in said world.

Shut the fuck up with your autism and post monster pics or gtfo

monsters in relation to Earth, so just alien animals i guess

Shut the fuck up you plebian.
Here, have best monster coming through.