Scorpion men are featured in several Akkadian language myths, including the Enûma Elish and the Babylonian version of the Epic of Gilgamesh. They were also known as aqrabuamelu or girtablilu. They were first created by the Tiamat in order to wage war against the younger gods for the betrayal of her mate Apsu. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, they stand guard outside the gates of the sun god Shamash at the mountains of Mashu. These give entrance to Kurnugi, the land of darkness. The scorpion men open the doors for Shamash as he travels out each day, and close the doors after him when he returns to the underworld at night. They also warn travellers of the danger that lies beyond their post. Their heads touch the sky, their "terror is awesome" and their "glance is death". This meeting of Gilgameš, on his way to Ūta-napišti, with the Scorpion-folk guarding the entrance to the tunnel is described in Iškār Gilgāmeš, tablet IX, lines 47-81.[1]
One famous image found on a relief carving pictures a scorpion man aiming with a bow and arrow. This relief was the basis for the Scorpion Man figurine that is #55 in the Monster in My Pocket series.
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The scorpion is likewise a magical guard to an entrance among, e.g., the Mekeo of Papua -- "a scorpion charm is used to protect ... your house."[2]
Scorpion men feature as powerful myth units for the Egyptians in the game Age of Mythology. It can sting human soldier units for extra damage in a short interval. The stinging action will repeat once in about 15 seconds making them devastators for human armies.
The role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons features centauric scorpion-men called Stingers, normally found in desert locales and devoted to gods of the waste, often those reflecting the Pharaonic or Babylonian pantheons.
In Warlords Battlecry III, scorpion-people are the primary servants of Melkor, the Lord of Famine.
In The Mummy Returns, the Scorpion King is shown as a scorpion-man.
Scorpion men are found in the world of Glorantha by Greg Stafford. A scorpion man features in one of the Beast Quest books. In The Secret Saturdays, the character Baron Finster has a robotic scorpion for a lower body. Other concepts in the show also reference Mesopotamian myth.
