What are the mythical creatures in where you live? Here in the Philippines there are lots of this. Here are some... Manananggal (ma-na-nang-gal) Manananggals are half bodied winged vampires that have wings and preys on unborn children. They appear human in the morning but will change into a winged demon when they apply an oil on their bodies at full moon. When they fully changed into the winged demon, they will leave their lower part of the body while they fly around the neighborhood looking for pregnant woman. They have long needle thin tongue that can puncture through the womb of the pregnant woman to suck the unborn child. Tikbalang (teek-BAH-lang) Tikbalang is a half horse half human creature that likes playing tricks on humans. They have the ability to create illusions, confusing the targeted humans. The Tikbalang makes it appear that the targeted human is lost in the forest even though he is going in the right way. Kapre (KAH-preh) Kapres are the guardians of the forest. They are big hairy humanoid that always smokes tobacco (talk about class ). It is depicted in the series "Destination Truth" (if any of you know that) as the Big Foot of the Philippines. Diwata (DI-wah-ta) Diwatas are beautiful dryad like creatures that are the keepers of the forest. They make sure that everything in the forest is in balance. Villagers gives them offerings when they are about to hunt an animal in the forest.
This is a 해대 /haetae (hay-tay)~ It is a creature that represents justice and protects buildings from natural disaster~~ It is also said that the cycles of the moon are because every night the haetae takes a bite of the moon ^.^
Bunyips have been a part of Aboriginal folklore for centuries, possibly millennia. While I have got pictures, the greatest part of it is the oral tradition and performances. The idea is so much more entrancing when told around a fire; I've seen an Aboriginal story troupe do a performance in which the audience were seated around a campfire in the bush. The storyteller sat among them and told of the creature, hunting and leaving traces but never being seen. In the background, fellow performers banged sticks against trees at key points, rustling and increasing the intensity as the story went on. It was really good; the oral tradition is so much more poignant than the European pictures below. Because of the nature of indigenous storytelling, the pictures are really different in the way they were interpreted and drawn, from style to the beast's physical image.
References are nice but I think this takes the cake - Album on Imgur Don Rosa paid an awesome tribute to Finnish folklore.
There's these things called changelings, I guess. Basically, a human child is replaced by another child in it's cradle. The other child could be an elf, a troll, a demon or any other thing like that
Neat post, I love mythical things! Well, in Sweden, we have trolls. They've been an essential part of folklore for ages. (hope I'm linking these images right, gulp) http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/53/Skog_Troll.jpg If I take "here" as including the Nordic countries (which I shall, thank you very much), I can include FAIRIES! Like my avatar : ) Actually, a recent study showed that 57% of people in Iceland believe in the existence of fairies/elves cooool! http://free.wallpaperbackgrounds.com/fantasy/fairy/spring-fairy-28100.jpg
Ogopogo Ogopogo resides in Lake Okanagan, British Columbia. It's kinda like the Canadian Loch Ness Monster. Ogopogo is described as 20-50 feet long, with a horse-shaped head and a serpentine body. Wendigo Wendigo comes from Algonquin folklore. It is described as a furry bipedal creature, with large eyes, and skinny body. The spirit of Wendigo can possess people and induce them into cannibalism. Some tales say that the creatures were once humans that became possessed and turned into the monsters. And if a human were to ever practice cannibalism, the act itself invites possession by a Wendigo.
Down here in Florida we have Florida Man. He's famous enough. You may have heard of him. He's always up to no good! After that ... well I'm afraid we're out of mythical creatures. Do Florida panthers count?
We have the Black Shuck, a single-eyed black dog said to roam the coast of East Anglia (where I live). I'm actually not too far away from the church where you can see scratch marks, supposedly from the Black Shuck's claws.
Alligators in the sewers, is somewhat the closest thing i know of in nyc...... our next door neighbor got the Jersey Devil.
