Giants in Mythology
Giants resemble normal people. They stand upright, have hair on their heads and (usually) possess two arms, two legs and two eyes. They're distinguished from humans by their towering size. They appear as an antagonist race in many ancient mythologies, spanning from island of Eire to the subcontinent of India.
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The Titans
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In Greek mythology, Zeus and his family were not the first pantheon. The Titans preceded them. They were a race of giants born from the union of Earth and Sky. They were prophesized to inherent the world, and scared of losing his power, the Sky devoured them as they were born. The Titan Chronos eventually freed himself and his siblings, and as punishment, he castrated the Sky.
He and each of his siblings filled a particular role. Oceanus tended the seas, Hyperion brought forth light and Themis meted out justice. Chronos fell into the habit of eating his own children, which included Zeus and the Greek pantheon. Later, Zeus defeated Chronos and banished the Titans to the underworld.
Gigantes
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When Chronos castrated his father, the blood splattered across the ground, impregnating it. Three seasons later, the Gigantes were born directly from the soil. Unlike the Titans, these giants were savages. They wore tiger skins and wielded brutish clubs. When Zeus and his siblings came to power, the Gigantes terrorized them. One by one, though, each fell to the might of the Greek pantheon. Buried beneath the earth, they grumbled and turned for centuries afterwards, causing volcanic eruptions and earthquakes.
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Jotun
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The Norse pantheon was at constant war with a race of giants called the Jotun. They lived in the world of Jotunheim, which was separated from the other worlds by a vast mountain range. Although the Jotun tended to be ugly and cruel, there were also exceptions. Several Jotun even defected to join the Aesir, including the trickster god Loki. Other Jotun remained loyal to their tribe but fell in love with or married an Aesir.
Fomorians
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In Irish mythology, the Fomorians were a race of sea-faring giants. They were most active in the fifth cycle of Irish mythology, when the Tuatha de Danaan inhabited Eire. At their strongest, the Fomorians demanded an annual tribute at the end of October, taking both crops and children. The Tuatha resisted them, and over the course of many battles managed to push them out of Ireland for good. Their leader Balor was known for his evil eye, which was so heavy that it took a hundred men to open the lid. Anyone who gazed upon it was frozen in terror.
Daityas
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The Daityas were a race of Hindu giants that opposed sacrifice, effectively starving the gods. At one point, the dragon spirit Vritra gathered them together in an army and overthrew Indra and the other Hindu gods. They were helpless against the Daityas until the sage Rishi sacrificed himself and had the gods craft his bones into a sword. With Rishi's sword in hand, Indra conquered the Daityas and banished them to the depths of the ocean.
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