These 10 mythical creatures actually existed

Dracula was based off of a real man that lived less than 500 years ago called Vlad the Impaler. He was a romanian prince that would torture and kill his enemies by impaling them. He didn’t have fangs or could fly like the vampires in today’s pop culture, but he did consume the blood of his enemies in various ways.

The remains of nine bodies resembling hobbits were discovered in the Indonesian island of Flores dating back 12 to 18 thousand years ago. Each skeleton was only 3 feet tall and had a skull about one third the size of a normal human’s. Weighing only up to about 80 pounds, it’s believed that these were a separate species of humankind like Neanderthals.

The story of Moby Dick was actually inspired by a real sperm whale named Moca Dick. This whale was so aggressive, that it destroyed over 100 whaling ships that tried to kill it, including once taking in three at a time and surviving.

Hailing from Northern Europe, Berserkers were known for fighting in a nearly uncontrollable trance-like fury which gave rise to the English phrase “going berserk”. It’s believed that their fearless strength and unstoppable blood lust was caused by either working themselves into a range or taking intoxicating drugs before battle.

A colossal squid was discovered in the southern ocean which closely resembles the legendary Kraken. Measuring 46 feet (14 meters) long, it not only has suckers, but its limbs are lined with rows of sharp hooks each having three points. This creature was found only 1000 km south of Tokyo. First Godzilla, and now this?

A giant squid washed ashore in Ranheim, Norway. October 2nd, 1954

This unique animal has an upper body of a deer, a lower body of a zebra, but is actually a species of giraffe. I think what’s most cool is that this creature still exists today in Equatorial Africa. Even though it doesn’t have a horn like you would expect from a unicorn, it is still clearly magical. I mean look at it ↓

Dire Wolves existed beside early men and were much larger, stronger, and had sharper teeth than wolves of today. Interestingly, there was just one of a class called Megafauna which were a large or giant class of animals, including humans.

Amazons were a mythical tribe exclusively made of fierce woman warriors. Graves that were discovered in Eurasia revealed battled-damaged female skeletons that were buried with bows, swords, and other weapons. This is an extremely exciting find whether you’re a historian or a fan of the show “Xena — Warrior Princess”, because there were Amazons on the show.

Originating as a Korean legend, an enormous python was in fact found in South America. This gigantic Titanoboa was so huge that it was 46 feet (14 meters) long and weighed over a ton (907 kg). It also had a constrictive force of 400 PSI and could swallow a human whole without showing any bulge.

Native to Australia, the Megalania existed 30 to 40 thousand years ago. This creature is an ancient relative of the Komodo dragon that grew up to 26 feet (8 meters) in length and weighed up to 4300 pounds (1950 kg). It couldn’t breathe fire or fly, but it did have poisonous saliva that contained a blood thinner that would cause its victims to bleed to death.