Your countries mythilogical creatures

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Dhoff

Dhoff

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Hallo everyone,

I enjoy creating content for fantasy worlds, attempting to write novles, and play tabletop roleplaying games.

In doing this I've noticed a trend in especially roleplaying towards designed creatures that are not well thought out.

I would like your help in my search for myths on creatures by writing what you know if you have any interesting to share. Although I perform research, my thought is, that many know of local legends or mythological creatures that are not easy to locate through search without knowing the name and/or description.

Examples that may, or may not include mistakes, please bear with me.

Lindworms (Nordic, possible also other places): dragonlike creatures though similar to snakes in having no legs or arms.

Kappa (Japanese origin): Lives in/near rivers and are human-like in having arms, legs and head but are more ... reptillian like, with a small amount of water always present on the top of the head.

Sincerely,
Daniel
 
we have these:
https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trollhttps://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomtehttps://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Näckenhttps://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vättehttps://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Älvor
also i think i saw a chupacabra in the fruit section in the store yesterday.

1024px-John_Bauer_1915.jpg
 
Too many ancient creatures to mention, from gargoyles through to willo the wisps, hobgoblins, gremlins and many of the fantasy genre staples

And in the present day, can I contribute the feared Brixton Crack Squirrels, an urban gang of tree-hopping rodents all too crazed in their search of a fix, These are of course entirely real - i think the story even made Fox News iirc - and not at all something that someone joked about on a bulletin board much like this.

;)
 
Taniwha New Zealand

What are taniwha?
Taniwha are supernatural creatures in Māori tradition, similar to serpents and dragons in other cultures. They were said to hide in the ocean, rivers, lakes or caves.

Some taniwha would eat and kill people, or kidnap women. Others were believed to be guardians for a tribe, and people would offer them gifts and say a karakia (a spell).

What did they look like?
Some were like giant lizards, sometimes with wings. Others were reptile-like sea creatures. Or they took the shape of sharks or whales, or even logs of wood in the river. Some could change their shape.

Famous taniwha
The explorer Kupe had a guardian taniwha, Tuhirangi, who guided and protected canoes in Cook Strait. Much later, a friendly dolphin named Pelorus Jack swam with ships in this area. Some Māori believe Pelorus Jack was Tuhirangi in dolphin form.

The taniwha Tūtaeporoporo began life as a shark. A chief caught him and kept him as a pet in a river. Then Tūtaeporoporo changed, growing scaly skin, wings, webbed feet and a bird-like head. He began eating people travelling on the river. To catch him a taniwha slayer, Ao-kehu, hid inside a hollow log in the river. The taniwha smelt him, and swallowed the log. Slashing his way out of the taniwha’s stomach, Ao-kehu soon killed him. Inside the taniwha were the remains of people and canoes that he had eaten.

A female taniwha, Hine-kōrako, married a human. When his relatives insulted her, she escaped to Te Rēinga waterfall near Wairoa. But she still protected the local people. One day the river was in flood, and some travellers in a canoe came dangerously close to the waterfall. Hine-kōrako held back the canoe and saved their lives.

Taniwha today
In 2002 the Ngāti Naho people in Waikato opposed a plan for a highway. They said it would destroy the lair of their taniwha, Karutahi. As a result, the highway was built in a different area.

In Northland, members of Ngāpuhi opposed the building of a prison. They believed there was a taniwha, in the form of a log, in nearby waterways. They said the building would stop the taniwha from moving around. However, the prison was built.

Although not all Māori believe in taniwha, they are still important to many
 
I should have said, we don't really need mythical creatures.

We got plenty of actual creatures which will kill you for real.

Plenty of venemous snakes including the three most venomous terrestrial snakes (Inland Taipan {aka small scaled snake, fierce snake}, Eastern Brown Snake, Coastal Taipan), Funnellweb Spider, Blue-ringed Octopus, Stonefish, Irakandji jellyfish...
 
Nemo said:
I should have said, we don't really need mythical creatures.

We got plenty of actual creatures which will kill you for real.

Plenty of venemous snakes including the three most venomous terrestrial snakes (Inland Taipan {aka small scaled snake, fierce snake}, Eastern Brown Snake, Coastal Taipan), Funnellweb Spider, Blue-ringed Octopus, Stonefish, Irakandji jellyfish...
Click to expand...
And Bogan's.
 
Thank you everyone, many I did not know, especially interesting is the Taniwha, the story from 2002 is quite fun :)


Nemo said:
I should have said, we don't really need mythical creatures.

We got plenty of actual creatures which will kill you for real.

Plenty of venemous snakes including the three most venomous terrestrial snakes (Inland Taipan {aka small scaled snake, fierce snake}, Eastern Brown Snake, Coastal Taipan), Funnellweb Spider, Blue-ringed Octopus, Stonefish, Irakandji jellyfish...
Click to expand...


Australia is a deathtrap even without mythical creatures, If it wasnt so gorgeous I'd wonder why people live there ;)
 
There are a number of relatively modern supernatural creatures in North America, e..g the Jersey Devil or Mothman but you'd probably want to look at Native American myths like the Wendigo. Small, hard to see creatures, somewhat analogous to elves or fairies are relatively common in American Indian folklore, try searching Canotila, Jogah, Nimregar, or Nirumbee. Variations on Bigfoot or Sasquatch is another common figure in many tribal traditions. Many American Indian tribes have some sort of trickster figure often personified as a fox, coyote, rabbit, spider, or racoon - search Kokopelli, Azeban, Nanabozho, Iktomi, or Mica
 
Dhoff said:
Australia is a deathtrap even without mythical creatures, If it wasnt so gorgeous I'd wonder why people live there ;)
Click to expand...

After minimal consideration, I’d like to call this statement out as a flatulent heap of delusional flapjackery- Australia isn‘t half as dangerous as the natives like to make out. I’ve only visited a couple of times admittedly, but I couldn‘t help but be struck by how many seemed to revel in the supposed danger of the place. Mulleted larrikins wearing dubious vests being were only too keen to regale me with tales of whopping scorpions in every other bar, and even in coffee shops you couldn’t escape Camillas eagerly venting about lethal spiders (and associated toilet seat precautions) over flat whites*,

I appreciate that I’m a whinging Pom from a grey little island to them - and I wouldn’t for one second suggest that Aussies are big hysterical Jessies - but they really need to get a sense of proportion and stop getting their budgie smugglers in a twist. Apparently nobody has ever perished from an Australian scorpion and the last spider fatality was in the distant 1970s. They stand more chance of being choked by a passing grape or suffocated by a rogue tampon, seriously. Feck knows what they’d think of a properly dangerous animal, like a staffordshire bull terrier or randy labradoodle.

I’m also unsympathetic as the other half of my family stem from Guyana, where small children wash their teeth and bathe in piranha and cayman infested waters. And that‘s before setting off an 10 mile barefoot trek to schools on the edge of dense, lethal rainforest, not a sports bar, air conditioned coffee shop or hospital in reach
😏
*I’m willing to concede that my two visits to Australia (rugby tour and media/photography work trip) may not have provided me with exposure to the widest cross section of Australian society,
 
inferno said:
where do bogans attack?
Click to expand...

Often in the carparks of bottle-O s (alcohol shops) in certain neighbourhoods.

Their approach is heralded by a screeching of tyres and the revving of a 20 year old V8 Commodore or Falcon. Their feet are shod in heavy Moccasin boots. They advance clad in an inpenetable armour of flanelette and stretch denim.

😉
 
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WiriWiri said:
Australia isn‘t half as dangerous as the natives like to make out.
*I’m willing to concede that my two visits to Australia (rugby tour and media/photography work trip) may not have provided me with exposure to the widest cross section of Australian society,
Click to expand...
This is in all seriousness kinda true.

The snakes and other animals will definitely kill you if you are unlucky (or stupid) but it doesn't happen often. Since antivenoms and rational first-aid have been available, there are only a handful of deaths due to snakebite per year. Having said that, I will have half a dozen snake sightings around the house (semi-rural property) most summers. The Eastern Browns seem to love the pool skimmer box.

Interestingly, bees and kangaroos kill as many Aussies as snakes do. Cows kill twice as many. The most dangerous animal in Australia is the horse which kills 5 times as many as snakes do.

The bloody Brown snakes still scare the hell out of me though. Especially when they get cranky- their strike pose is pretty scary and they are very fast.
 
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