Throughout the Old English poem Beowulf, Grendel, Grendel's mother, and the dragon were best known as antagonists/monsters. They say “beauty is only superficial”, but in this case it was more than appearance that confirmed the definition of their behaviors. Much has been written about the roles, functions, descriptions and underlying motivations, and sources of the "monsters" presented in Beowulf. With a brief overview of the three, readers will be able to identify the nature of the monsters in the poem and compare their characteristics to the narrative. The first monster Beowulf fought was Grendel. He was presented as a coward and an insensitive beast. He was also defined as "begotten in that slime" who was born in exile. With this he was compared to the biblical character Cain, "Until the monster moved, that demon, that demon/Grendel who haunted the moors, the wilds/Swamps, in that slime was begotten/of Cain, murderous creatures banished/by God , punished forever for the crime/death of Abel." (26). Despite Grendel's evil intentions, he is determined to be the best and overcome any obstacle that interferes with what he wanted to conquer. Grendel was large in size and held the strength of many. However, he was a coward. Grendel is shown as a coward because he only attacked at night, when the mead guards were asleep, to avoid any form of physical manipulation. One night he saw soldiers sleeping in the hall, which meant to him that the time had come to act. He grabbed a soldier next to him and tore him to pieces with claws and teeth, stuffing the dead man in mouthfuls. When he reached for another soldier, another hand met his, and it was indeed Beowulf. The joints in his fingers began to creak and he had never felt such power between his fingers. He wanted to go back to find his home. He was unable to escape