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Old or young, beautiful or sinister -- when designing an avatar, do people choose one that is really different from themselves?

Green Lantern, one of DC Comics' oldest and most enduring heroes, is serving as a beacon for the publisher again, this time as a proud, mighty and openly gay hero.

The media often touts the Merlion as a legendary creature. However, it was imagined in 1964 by a member of the Souvenir Committee in the Singapore Tourism Board and then erected as a statue along the river in 1972.

Milan's main cathedral has put 135 gargoyles, grotesque figures used in Gothic architecture, up for adoption. The campaign seeks protagonists to make good a shortfall caused by cuts to the Italian culture budget.

The legendary thunderbird is a symbol of power and strength, capable of creating rain and thunder storms, and shooting lightning from its eyes.

Niaqornat is a place of extremes - we move from midnight sun to midday darkness, the young craft shaman symbols and also surf the internet. The population of 59 has dropped and the village faces potential closure.

What tidings will the Year of the Snake bring? The New Year's season is implacably festive, but given the destructive power of the snake sign, many worry that this year will bite.

The largest monolith statue in the world is the couchant sphinx, with the body of a lion and head of a man.

'Cock-a-doodle-doo' symbolizes the break of dawn in many countries. Scientists, by putting roosters under constant light conditions, have proven that their startling crows are under the control of a biological clock.

"I don't think there's any doubt that there is more of a verisimilitude in the moment when you really look like the thing you're portraying..."