Throughout the seven books of the series, the protagonists encounter a variety of these creatures as they travel throughout Narnia and the surrounding lands and seas, including Archenland, Calormen, and the Great Eastern Ocean.
[1] As a member of the Inklings literary group, Lewis was a contemporary of other authors of fiction such as J. R. R. Tolkien, and as such they held much discourse regarding different approaches to world-building.
Perhaps most prominently, Lewis wrote the character of Aslan to reflect the figure Jesus Christ, mirroring the same journey of a sacrificial death and resurrection as found in the Gospels.
[2][3] In addition to the prominent Christian message that he sought to present, Lewis brings in figures from Greco-Roman and Norse mythology, Turkish tradition, and even specific European folk characters such as Father Christmas.
Centaurs are viewed as some of the most majestic and powerful creatures in Narnia, and as such, fellow Narnians place a great deal of respect on any member of this species.
[7] In the 2005 Disney film adaptation, Aslan's army is much larger than the book, with dozens of centaurs, both male and female, participating in the battle against the White Witch.
[8] Centaurs take their most prominent role in Prince Caspian (1951) in the form of Glenstorm and his three sons as part of the Narnian resistance against the Telmarine occupation.
As the four talk, the children learn that centaurs possess both a human and horse digestive system, so they require double the sustenance— large meals (particularly breakfast) and long hours of grazing.
On their journey through Narnia, they teach the Eustace and Jill about herbs and roots, planets, the nine names of Aslan with their meanings, and other philosophical subjects.
[10] In The Horse and His Boy (1954), an unnamed centaur prophesies about the baby Prince Cor one day saving the kingdom of Archenland, setting up those very events when someone kidnaps the infant to prevent this from occurring.
Roonwit is the only one initially aware that the ape Shift has allied with the Calormenes and set up a false Aslan, basing this on the terrible signs he sees in the skies.
In The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1952), Eustace Scrubb discovers the treasure horde of an old, sick dragon on one of the islands, and he watches as it collapses and dies.
When the Telmarines arrive in Narnia, magical creatures are hunted down and the dryads retreat deep within their trees, to the point that it is only Aslan who has the ability to wake them.
Similar to the changes made for the centaurs, Lewis tames down the half-man half-goat fauns from their lustful, intoxicated counterparts in Greco-Roman mythology, though they are still known for enjoying spirited parties in the woods to dance with the dryads.
An original creation by Lewis, Marsh-wiggles are frog-like humanoids that are known for being gloomy, cynical creatures who live in distant swamps.
The most notable individual in the series was Puddleglum, who aided Eustace and Jill in their journey in The Silver Chair to save Caspian's lost son.
In the 2005 film, satyrs are shown to be more bestial in appearance than fauns, covered in fur and having goat-like heads while still remaining humanoid in stature.
Sea serpents and other massive aquatic monsters are rumored to inhabit the vast oceans to the east of the mainland, though most regard these tales as mere superstitions of drunk sailors and pirates.
However, the crew of the Dawn Treader were notably attacked by a large sea serpent that almost destroyed the ship, confirming that much of the ocean had yet to be discovered.
Throughout the series, a number of these talking animals are involved in the storyline primarily as allies to Aslan and the protagonists, though some such as the ape Shift operate as antagonists.
In a demonstration of power, Ginger enters a stable to pretend to talk to the conglomerate god "Tashlan", not realizing that Tash himself was inside.
The incident scares Ginger so badly he flees from the stable and hysterically climbs a tree, where the surrounding crowd notice that he visibly shrinks in size and screams nonsense until he reverts to a normal cat, a dumb beast.