The best (and worst) monsters of film and TV – in pictures

Alien The creature that became known as the Xenomorph (from 1979's Alien) was inspired by the maniacal musings of Swiss surrealist HR Giger. Phallic, shiny and threatening as only a monster with two sets of teeth can be, it broke new ground for both the horror and science fiction genres. Photograph: Allstar/20th Century Fox

Daleks The Dalek is perhaps the iconic Doctor Who nemesis. Capable of extreme destruction via vicious beams of energy and lots of monotone shouting, each individual is in fact a small mollusc-type creature inhabiting protective armour (which allows it to communicate, move around and fire its weapons). Once mocked for their inability to travel up stairs, Daleks have more recently been shown capable of rather nifty levitation, and even space travel, on the long-running BBC TV show. Photograph: Ronald Grant Archive

Balrog An ancient demonic creature of fire from the darkest days of Middle Earth, the Balrog is the only monster capable of defeating Gandalf the Grey in JRR Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. Though not for long: the wizard is dragged down into the depths of Moria, only to be resurrected (with extra-shiny new tresses) as Gandalf the White just in time to beat up some Orcs and really annoy old mucker Saruman. Photograph: The Kobal Collection

Gruffalo Beloved of children everywhere, Gruffalo is a strange mixture of cuddly and terrifying. With a poisonous wart on the end of his nose, this tusked, furry animal is part grizzly bear, part buffalo monstrosity and is undoubtedly the scariest animal in the forest. Or is he? Photograph: BBC/MAGIC LIGHT COMPANY

Pale Man The child-eating Pale Man from Guillermo del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth might appear blind at first sight, but wake him from his slumber and you'll swiftly discover that he can see through the palms of his hands. A deeply sinister creation, like something straight from the dankest of medieval torture chambers.  Photograph: The Kobal Collection

The Cylons Is it possible to be frightened of something that sounds like Stephen Hawking and shines brighter than a boy racer's hubcaps? The original Cylons from 1978's Battlestar Galactica represented a tinny threat of sorts, but the revamped villains from the 2004-2009 reboot series managed to be a lot scarier without resorting to a single vocoder. Photograph: Everett Collection/Rex Feature

The Kraken Ray Harryhausen's giant monster of the deep, the Kraken, from 1981's Clash of the Titans, was actually pretty convincing for its time – frightening the living daylights out of small children everywhere. Resurrected for the 2010 remake, the Godzilla-like CGI version looked a bit like an annoyed tortoise with giant tentacles. Photograph: Alamy

Mechagodzilla Speaking of which, here's Mechagodzilla, a monster created when the Japanese makers of the long-running Godzilla film series decided their main protagonist (a giant lizard sea-monster with radioactive superpowers) would be even more menacing with a mechanised update. Introduced in 1974's Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla, the silver-costumed villain is recognised as one of Godzilla's most powerful enemies - but is still portrayed by a bloke in a suit. Photograph: Moviestore Collection/Rex Feat

Vogons Intergalactic bureaucrats responsible for bulldozing the Earth to make room for a "vital" new space highway in Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the Vogons are vaguely humanoid, slug-like creatures best known for being the writers of the third-worst poetry in the universe. Photograph: The Kobal Collection

Mega Shark and Giant Octopus The Mega Shark from 2009's Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus is only really terrifying if you happen to have a terrible phobia of bad CGI. Did the producers seriously count on the presence of former pop star Debbie Gibson in the movie to distract from the general rubbishness of their fishy villain? Photograph: The Kobal Collection