Hm, if I was capable of getting money to Toady, I would certainly vote for gaze attacks. It's always entertained me to imagine the complete and sudden ridiculousness of someone turning to stone because they looked at something that ugly. Almost as though the vision is just so horrible that they really have no other reasonable choice. Now I'm remembering the eye case I fantasized about so often so long ago and giggling constantly.
Of course, doing that option right would require quite a bit more coding and time than bees did, as it's an attack that needs to check for target vision (organs, direction, eye-contact, chance-of-successful aversion), ~kill the target, and replace the target's normal corpse with a (possibly already 'built') statue of the target (then check if it falls to the ground and breaks). The special masterwork statues would be the best part of the feature, especially in Fortress Mode.
I'd expect adult phoenixes would be the size of the average funeral pyre, and worthy of fear and awe at their incineration and rebirth powers. It would be neat to have one come to your fort, wipe out all but a few of your dwarves, and then when you think it's over, a chick appears to finish the roasting.