The Arassas hails from the folklore of Lagrand in the Hautes-Alpes region of France. It is a greyish-colored animal with the head of a cat and the body of a lizard. It lives in ruined houses and old crumbling walls. Its gaze kills immediately.
Like other European mountain dragons, it is likely derived from superstitions about otters and martens.
References
van Gennep, A. (1948) Le folklore des Hautes-Alpes, Tome II. J. P. Maisonneuve et Cie, Paris.
A Book of Creatures 
Mountain Dragon?
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Yup
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It might not look like it would qualify at first blush but this creature’s reptile characteristics place it in the dragon category. Pretty much all a monster needs is to be a large, fantastical reptile (or something that is mostly reptile) to qualify. Greek Drakones are often just large serpents and yet they are the creature that the rest of the Dragon family gets its name from
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Except maybe giant turtles. They tend to not be considered dragons unless they have some extra features like teeth. The Tarasque is a good example of a turtle-like dragon. So I guess dragons need to have lizard or snake features to be dragons
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A lot of medieval depictions of dragons in bestiaries did show them with what look like feline or canine heads (or one might consider them leonine or lupine) and shaggy beards and furry legs and claws. This put them closer in appearance to East Asian and Persian dragons. You would often see them drawn right next to panthers, and the panther head and dragon head would look exactly the same, but with the dragon it was on a serpent’s body. This is what the tatzelwurm, stollenwurm, and arassas remind me of. The illustration above doesn’t so much strike me as a dragon, but only because it is a bit more of a naturalistic depiction.
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Have you heard of El Cuero, a water monster from Argentina and Chile? It has flat body, looking like discarded cow-skin from above and if you foolishly go into water and try to grab it, it will show hooked spikes under its body and stabs you, sucking out all of you body fluits or entrails.
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Of course! Love it 🙂
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Must be related to the Tatzelwurm. The similarities between the two creatures are hard not to notice
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Basilisk cat!
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little killer.
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why is there so many creatures who can kill with their sight immediately?
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Because it’s scary!!!
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The eyes are an incredibly expressive part of the body. So much so that some call them the “windows into the soul”. It only makes sense that a set of organs used to convey intense emotional energy can also project other intense things like negative influence. The ubiquitous belief in the Evil Eye (a curse that the envious lay upon those they look upon) is even explicitly stated to be tied into extreme emotions like envy. Keeping this in mind, it doesn’t take much imagination to jump to the next level from beings able to curse you with a look to beings able to kill you with a look. The Gorgoneion (a symbol of the severed head of a Gorgon like Medusa) was actually used by the Ancient Greeks to protect themselves from negative spirits. Similarly, other beings (divine and semi-divine) in numerous cultures are shown with big eyes staring at the viewer to defend against negative spirits and influences. What can harm can also heal
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