Giants

Supermen and superwomen born out of Chaos when the Creators of the Cosmos were striving to impose order on the elements. Giants existed in many parts of the world from Ireland to Japan. Neither mortal nor immortal, often possessed of magical powers and with a resemblance to enormous humans, they were uncouth and awkward characters who fought violently against the gods' efforts to control them. When at last they were flung out of the various heavens they settled in various parts of the earth.

For many centuries they caused great mischief by joining in human quarrels, gobbling up flocks of sheep, drinking rivers dry, trampling crops underfoot and tearing mountains apart. The only way to kill a giant or giantess is to cut off his/her head, and so it took a long time for various knights and folk heroes to dispose of this nuisance.