This is similar to my previous questions:
How do Apsaras look? What are their physical characteristics and physical appearance?
How do Rakshasas look? Physical appearance of Rakshasas?
But now I am asking how do Daityas and Danavas look?
Rakshasas are described in detail in Hindu scripture, but I haven't come across a detailed description of how Daityas and Danavas look.
Do they look just like ordinary humans?
We get one description of one of the most popular dānavas - Śaṅkhacūḍa (Tulasī's husband)
in the Book 9 of the Devī Bhāgavata Purāṇa.
Chapter 18 - On the union of Śaṅkhacūḍa with Tulasī
On the other hand the great Yogi Śaṅkhacūḍa obtained the Kṛṣṇa Mantra from Mahaṛṣi Jaigīṣavya and got siddhi (success) in Puṣkara Tīrtha (sacred place of pilgrimage where one crosses the world). Holding on his neck the Kavaca named Sarvamangalamaya and obtaining the boon from Brahmā as he desired, he arrived at Badari, by Brahmā’s command. The signs of the blooming youth had just begun to be visible in the body of Śaṅkhacūḍa as if the God of Love incarnated in his body; his colour resembled that of white Champakas and all his body was decked with jewelled ornaments. His face resembled the autumnal full moon; his eyes were extended like the lotus leaves. The beautiful form was seen to sit in an excellent aerial car, made of pearls and jewels. Two jewel earrings, nice and elegant, suspended upto his cheek; his neck was adorned with Pārijāta flower garlands; and his body was smeared with Kumkum and scented sandal-paste. O Nārada! Seeing Śaṅkhacūḍa coming near to her, Tulasī covered her face by her clothing and she, with a smiling countenance, cast repeatedly sidelong glances at him and bent her head low abashed in the expectation of fresh intercourse.
So it seems that the popular TV depiction of the dānavas being shown hideous might not be completely true after all.
First, look at this tree of life in Hinduism made with trial and error so we are on the same page:
(Indra's form for race above race name)
From: https://en.m.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Rig_Veda/Mandala_10/Hymn_72, the word Mārtāṇḍa and the word Nārāyaṇa: Dānavas have a statis death ability. They have a completely robotic body when in their statis death and a majority (or completely) robotic body when alive. By default, they look spherical. Being robots, their bodies have a lot of geometric shapes and jagged edges.
From: https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/shiva-purana-english/d/doc226407.html, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andhaka#:~:text=In%20Hindu%20mythology%2C%20Andhaka%20(Sanskrit,asking%20for%20his%20wife%2C%20P%C4%81rvat%C4%AB.&text=In%20some%20versions%20of%20his,son%20of%20Shiva%20and%20P%C4%81rvat%C4%AB, http://mahabharata-resources.org/harivamsa/vishnuparva/hv_2_23_mpr.html, https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/vishnu-purana-wilson/d/doc115952.html, the word Nivātakavaca: I have concluded that Andhaka is Nṛsiṃha Nivātakavaca and Prahlāda is Śarabha Daitya. Daitya look like Śarabha, which is shown here: https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/shiva-purana-english/d/doc226408.html. They also presumably have wings like a bat/pterodactyl in order to not contradict with other descriptions of Śarabha. Śarabha doesn't fight Nārasiṃha for very long. Most of the fight is with Nṛsiṃha (the associated Indra form of Nārasiṃha), who is killed, but gets up and continues the fight because he is a God and a simple thing such as being dead is not going to stop him. This whole fight is mostly about whether or not Hiraṇyakaśipu should die. Prahlāda and Andhaka are beloved relatives so don't want to harm each other more than necessary so this fight takes forever, but long story short, Prahlāda learns to protect people's souls, not their bodies, gets a new name Śarabha, which he takes a liking to, Hiraṇyakaśipu dies happy and Nṛsiṃha gets to go to sleep, because he is tired.
From: https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/shiva-purana-english/d/doc226407.html, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andhaka#:~:text=In%20Hindu%20mythology%2C%20Andhaka%20(Sanskrit,asking%20for%20his%20wife%2C%20P%C4%81rvat%C4%AB.&text=In%20some%20versions%20of%20his,son%20of%20Shiva%20and%20P%C4%81rvat%C4%AB, http://mahabharata-resources.org/harivamsa/vishnuparva/hv_2_23_mpr.html, https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/vishnu-purana-wilson/d/doc115952.html, the word Nivātakavaca:: This one's easy because of how much it is referenced with stories about Andhaka/Bhṛṅgi/Nṛsiṃha (this guy has a lot of names) and the name Nivātakavaca being a dead give away. They are fleshless cyborgs, with only their bones made of living matter and the rest of their body being robotic. For more information look here: https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/shiva-purana-english/d/doc226407.html
From Kalki Purāṇa chapter 16: Rākṣasas look vaguely like giant floating Portuguese man o' war and are so gigantic that even when five years old they are large enough to make a garland out of dead elephants.
From https://www.themathesontrust.org/library/33-questions: Yakṣas, despite being inseparable from their beloved twin race, the Rākṣasa, look absolutely nothing like Rākṣasa. They look close to cranes and the name Kubera implies they are fearsome in appearance. So like a crane, but terrifying.
Maybe I'll do the other races someday.
