Meanwhile at the Round Table, from English Illustrated, 1907.

Here are some mythical personages of Navajo origin, drawn in charcoal.  From the Smithsonian Institution's Bureau of American Ethnology's Bulletin 65, 1919.

By Theodor Kittelsen, ca. 1904.

"Mythology modernized.  Jupiter the son of (H)Ops," from Judy, Or The London Serio-Comic Journal, 1873.

"Daikokuten, a god of wealth, throws money to people below while Namazu, a giant catfish of earthquakes, is held down by Kashima/Takemikazuch, a god of thunder and swords."  Circa 1855.  Scanned by the University of British Columbia Library.

Here's an ancient precursor to the finale of Michael Jackson's "Thriller," in which the protagonist turns around to scare the audience a second time by revealing yellow eyes.  The Japanese yokai demon Shunoban (or Zhu-no-Bon, しゅのばん) scares people twice.  The first time he simply reveals his bright-red monster face and horn to startle his victims and cause them to flee.  He gives chase, then disguises himself as someone providing assistance.  Having lulled his target into a false sense of security, with his back turned, he goes back to his monster face and frightens the person a second time by looking over his shoulder.  (Haunted by the fear of seeing that face once again, victims ultimately die of fright 100 days later.)  These events occur in the same order in the short film "Thriller," with Michael Jackson's character turning into a monster, giving chase, disguising himself as a rescuer, and then, after turning his back, looking over his shoulder to display demonic eyes.  The yokai card in our illustration is from the very charming Obake No Karuta deck, available via Amazon Japan.  We're translating the Japanese texts that come with each card — e-mail us if you'd like those translations.  (Our e-mail address is at our "About the Author" link.)

The Chinese dragon, Lung, from the Mythology of All Races by John Ferguson and Masaharu Anesaki, 1916.

From The Lost Giant by Violet Moore Higgins, 1918.

From The Beginning of the World by Edward Burne-Jones, 1903.

From The Beggar's Vision by Brookes More and illustrated by Tracy Porter Rudd, 1921.

This is Marquette's Monster, a.k.a. Lennipinja or Man-Cat of the Peorias and Illinois, a.k.a. Micibisi of the Northern tribes.  The Chippewa name is Michibichi, the spirit panther "god of the waters" or "the manito of the waters and the fishes."  The Shawnese clan name is "Manetuwi Msi-pessi," a "'celestial tiger,' i.e. a meteor or shooting star.  The manetuwi msi-pessi lives in water only, and is visible not as an animal, but as a shooting star.  But the activities of this manito are not confined to the water.  He corresponds to the 'Fire Dragon' of other mythologies; and when they see a meteor, the old Miamis say that it is Lennipinja going from one sea to another" (Indiana and the Indianans by Jacon Piatt Dunn, 1919).

From Le Monde Moderne, 1895.