From amphibian-like blood sucking humanoids in Australia to one-eyed umbrellas in Japan and even bull-lie creatures that act like skunks when they meet with humans, the world is filled with bizarre tales of mythological creatures.
Bake-Danuki
The Tanuki is a Japanese Raccoon Dog, and the Bake-Danuki is a kind of tanuki y?kai (ghost) found in the classics and in the folklore and legends of various places in Japan. Some say they bring good luck to people who encounter them, and other tales tell of shape-shifting creatures that turn into humans and sing songs.
Bakhtak
A village in North Eastern Iran, but also the name of an Iranian creature that is known to sit on his victim’s chest, causing nightmares and sleep paralysis. There are others versions of such a creature in England and Scandinavia.
Blemmyes
A nomadic Nubian tribe described in Roman histories of the later empire, but also ecame fictionalized as a legendary race of acephalous (headless) monsters who had eyes and mouths on their chest.
Bonnacon
A mythical Asian animal that has curled horns and when startled sprays acidic dung that burns on contact with skin “like a kind of fire”. Somewhat of a bull-skunk. The animal was described most famously by Pliny the Elder, and since then (almost 2000 years) there have been no sightings of the best.
Fenghuang
The Chinese Phoenix, and early descriptions of it said it is is made up of the beak of a rooster, the face of a swallow, the forehead of a fowl, the neck of a snake, the breast of a goose, the back of a tortoise, the hindquarters of a stag and the tail of a fish. More modern alterations suggest it is a composite of many birds including the head of a golden pheasant, the body of a mandarin duck, the tail of a peacock, the legs of a crane, the mouth of a parrot, and the wings of a swallow.
Kasa-obake
Created by Pearl Hodges
Another Japanese ghost that old umbrellas turn into – generally, umbrellas with one eye and jump around with one leg, but sometimes they have two arms or two eyes among other features and sometimes depicted with long tounges.
Lambton Worm
A legend from North East England that takes place on the River Wear, involving John Lambton, an heir of the Lambton Estate, County Durham, and his battle with a giant worm (dragon) which had been terrorizing the local villages. Lambton finds an eel or lamprey one day while skipping church, reminding him of the devil, and he throws it down a well. The eel grows into a monstrous dragon which wrecks havoc on the villagers, until Lambton defeats it in battle. The ending also involves a tragic curse the Lambtons see fall upon their house.
Manananggal
Not to be confused with the Wak Wak, the Mananaggal is another Filipino creature, resembling the Western depiction of vampires, usually described as an evil, man-eating monster or witch. They are said to have a weakness to garlic and salt, and were also known to avoid daggers, light, vinegar, spices and the tail of a stingray
Sigbin
A creature in Philippine mythology said to come out at night to suck the blood of victims from their shadows. It resembles a hornless goat, but has very large ears which it can clap like a pair of hands and a long, flexible tail that can be used as a whip, and is known to emit a terrible odor. According to legend, there are families known as Sigbinan (“those who own Sigbin“) whose members possess the power to command these creatures, and are said to keep the Sigbin in jars made of clay. The Aswang are said to keep them as pets, along with another mythical creature, a bird known as the Wak Wak.
There are those that believe that the Sigbin is based on creatures that actually exist, like the recently discovered cat-fox or even a kangaroo.
Yara-ma-yha-who
Created by Pearl Hodges
Originating from Australian Aboriginal folklore, the YMYW is a creature resembles a little red man with a very big head and large mouth with no teeth, and has suckers at the end of his hands and feet. It drops on victims that pass under their fig tree, using their blood using the suckers on its hands and feet, making them weak. It then consumes the person, drinks some water, and then takes a nap. When the Yara-ma-yha-who awakens, it regurgitates the victim, leaving it shorter than before, eventually turning it into a YMYW.
Mythology isn’t only about creatures that give us nightmares. It also helps create video game masterpieces, like Final Fantasy.
