Griffon illustration from Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition.
A griffin, griffon or gryphon is a legendary creature with the body, tail, and back legs of a lion; the head and wings of an eagle; and sometimes an eagle's talons as its front feet. Griffins are generally considered especially powerful and majestic creatures (combining the characterisation of the lion as king of the beasts, and the eagle as king of the birds), and may appear in role-playing games as characters, monsters or mounts.
Griffins are similar to other hybrid legendary creatures such as hippogriffs (eagle and horse) and sphinxes (eagle and lion, but in a different combination to griffins).