I know that when it comes to roleplay, I hate the idea of rehashing all those boring, stereotypical Elves and dwarfs. If you're like me, then maybe you'll appreciate the quick list of folklore below. Wikipedia has a more extensive list, but I found these to be the most interesting:
Karakura - male night demon
Abatwa (Zulu) - Little people that rides ants
Adar Llwch Gwin (Welsh) - Giant birds that understand human languages
Adze (Ewe people)) - African vampiric forest being
Agloolik (Inuit) - Ice spirit that aids hunters and fishermen
Addanc (Welsh) - Lake monster (exact lake varies by story)
Akateko (Japanese) - Tree-dwelling monster
Akhlut (Inuit) - Orca-wolf shapeshifter
Akka (Finnish) - Female spirits or minor goddesses
Aloja (Spanish) - Female water spirit
Apsaras (Buddhist and Hindu) - Female cloud spirit
Amarok (Inuit) - Giant wolf
Axex (Ancient Egyptian) - Falcon-lion hybrid
Bakeneko (Japanese) - Magical cat
Banshee (Irish) - Death spirit
Behemoth (Jewish) - Primal, gigantic land animal
Bennu (Egyptian) - Heron-like, regenerative bird, equivalent to (or inspiration of) the Phoenix
Buraq (Islamic) - Human-headed, angelic horse
Byangoma (Hindu) - Fortune-telling birds
Bysen (Scandinavian) - Diminutive forest spirit
Caladrius (Medieval Bestiary) - White bird that can foretell if a sick person will recover or die
Cat Sidhe (Scottish) - Fairy cat
Cecaelia - Modern term for mermaid-like, human-octopus hybrid
Centaur (Greek) - Human-horse hybrid
Chinthe (Burmese) - Temple-guarding feline, similar to Chinese Shi and Japanese Shisa
Churel (Hindu) - Vampiric, female ghost
Cirein crÚin (Scottish) - Sea serpent
Daemon (Greek) - Incorporeal spirit
Double Hawk(unknown) - hawk with 4-wings
Doppelg‰nger (German) - Ghostly double
Drac (French) - Winged sea serpent
Edimmu (Sumerian) - Ghosts of those not buried properly
Einherjar (Norse) - Spirits of brave warriors
Encantado (Brazilian) - Dolphin-human shapeshifter
Enchanted Moor (Portuguese) - Enchanted princesses
Emere (Yoruba) - Child that can move back and forth between the material world and the afterlife at will
Fish-man (Cantabrian) - Amphibious, scaled humanoid
Fuath (Celtic) - Malevolent water spirit
Funayurei (Japanese) - Ghosts of people who drowned at sea
Gorgon (Greek) - Fanged, snake-haired humanoids that turn anyone who sees them into stone
Hamingja (Scandinavian) - Personal protection spirit
Huli jing (Chinese) - Nine-tailed fox spirit
Isonade (Japanese) - Shark-like sea monster
Jasconius (Medieval folklore) - Island-sized fish
Jenglot (Malay) - Vampiric little people
Kajsa (Scandinavian) - Wind spirit
Kulshedra (Albanian) - Drought-causing dragon
La Llorona (Latin America) - Death spirit associated with drowning
Lynx (Medieval Bestiaries) - Feline guide spirit
Majin (Japanese) - Magical beings
Makara (Indian) - Aquatic beings
Kumiho (Korean) - Fox spirit
Kupua (Hawaiian) - Shapeshifting tricksters
LidÈrc (Hungary) - Magical chicken that transforms into a humanoid
Luduan (Chinese) - Truth-detecting animal
Merfolk (Worldwide) - Human-fish hybrid
Nymph (Greek) - Nature spirit
Alseid - Grove nymph
Auloniad - Pasture nymph
Corycian nymphs - Nymph of the Corycian Cave
Dryad - Tree nymph
Daphnaie - Laurel tree nymph
Epimeliad - Apple tree nymph
Hamadryad - Oak tree nymph
Leuce - White poplar tree nymph
Meliae - Ash tree nymph
Helead - Fen nymph
Hesperides - Daughters of Atlas
Lampades - Underworld nymph
Leimakids - Meadow nymph
Naiad - Freshwater nymph
Crinaeae - Fountain nymph
Eleionomae - Marsh nymph
Limnades - Lake nymph
Pegaeae - Spring nymph
Napaeae - Grotto nymph
Oread - Mountain nymph
Oozlum bird (Unknown origin) - Bird that flies backwards
Onza (Aztec and Latin American folklore) - Wild cat, possibly a subspecies of cougar
Pardalokampoi (Etruscan) - Fish-tailed panther
Pamola (Abenaki) - Weather spirit
Panotti (Medieval Bestiaries) - Humanoid with gigantic ears
Poukai (Maori) - Giant bird
Preta (Buddhist, Hindu, and Jainist) - Ghosts of especially greedy people
Pricolici (Romanian) - Undead wolf
Pterippus (Greek) - Winged horse
P˙ca (Welsh) - Shapeshifting animal spirit
Puck (English) - House spirit
Qareen (Islamic) - Personal demon
Sea-bee (Heraldic) - Fish-tailed bee
Serpopard (Ancient Egypt) - Serpent-leopard hybrid
Setontot (Malay) - Slow-moving land animal
Shahbaz (Persian) - Giant eagle or hawk
Shachihoko (Japanese) - Tiger-carp hybrid
Swan maiden (Worldwide) - Swan-human shapeshifter
Sylph (Alchemy) - Air elemental
Tengu (Japanese) - Anthropomorphic bird
Tennin (Japanese) - Angelic humanoid
Thunderbird (Native American) - Avian lightning spirit
Undine (Alchemy) - Water elemental
Urias (Romanian) - Giant
Valkyrie (Norse) - Female spirit that leads souls of dead warriors to Valhalla
Warg (Norse) - Giant, demonic wolf
Yuxa (Tatar) - 100 year-old snake that transforms into a beautiful human
Zhu QuË (Chinese) - Fire elemental bird
Salamander (Alchemy) - Fire elemental
Arkan Sonney (Manx) - Fairy hedgehog
Asanbosam (West Africa) - Iron-toothed vampire
Shisa (Japanese) - Lion-dog hybrid same legend
Shishi (Chinese) - Protective animal /
Odei (Basque) - Storm spirit
Bishop-fish (Medieval Bestiaries) - Fish-like humanoid
Cikavac (Serbian) - Bird that serves its owner
Cluricaun (Irish) - Leprechaun-like Little people that are permanently drunk
Dybbuk (Jewish) - Possessing spirit
Haltija (Finnish) - Spirit that protects a specific place
Ibong Adarna (Philippine) - Bird that changes color each time it finishes a song
Kabouter (Dutch) - Little people that live underground, in mushrooms, or as house spirits
Kikiyaon (West Africa) - Large, owl-like predatory bird
Lightning Bird (Southern Africa) - Magical bird that can be found at sites of lightning strikes
Strix (striga) (Roman) - Vampiric bird
Yuki-onna (Japanese) - Snow spirit
Gaia's Good Samaritans
A Guild for any person dedicated to spreading their benevolence across Gaia.
