SOURCES:
"John Carter and the Giant of Mars" by Edgar Rice Burroughs

DESCRIPTION:  "It was a species of three-legged Martian rat! Its yellow fangs were bared hideously in a vicious snarl..." ("John Carter and the Giant of Mars")

NOTES: The giant rats of Mars look like ordinary rats except for having three or six legs and having a weird culture that involves dancing and sacrifice.

HISTORY: The Giant Rats of Mars are one of the more controversial creatures in the Barsoom series because Burroughs changed them unthinkingly. Like all Barsoomian creatures the Martian rats would have six legs. In "John Carter and the Giant of Mars" they suddenly had only three. This inconsistency along with other factors made readers suspect that the story was a fake. The dancing rat ritual in "John Carter and the Giant of Mars" may have been inspired by The Nutcracker, since this book seems to have many childhood inspirations, including Gulliver's Travels.

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