When Vishnu had destroyed Hiranyakashipu as Narasimha, manlion, he fell into a bloodlust and was about to destroy everything in the universe. Shiva appeared as Sharabha and brought him back to his senses.
In the Sarala Mahabharata Krishna tested Arjuna as a similar creature Navagunjara.
Read about Sharabha here
http://utkarshspeak.blogspot.com/2010/12/sharabha-deva-form-of-lord-shiva.html