Monday, August 23, 2010

legendary beings list : Z

• Zahhak (Persian) - Dragon
• Žaltys (Baltic) - Serpentine fertility spirit
• Zamzummim (Jewish) - Giant
• Zână (Romanian) - Nature spirit
• Zashiki-warashi (Japanese) - House spirit
• Zburator (Romanian) - Wolf-headed dragon
• Zduhać (Slavic mythology) - Disembodied, heroic spirit
• Zennyo Ryūō (Japanese) - Rain-making dragon
• Zhar-Ptitsa (Slavic) - Glowing bird
• Zhulong (Chinese) - Pig-headed dragon
• Zhū Què (Chinese) - Fire elemental bird
• Žiburinis (Lithuanian) - Forest spirit in the form of a glowing skeleton
• Zilant (Tatar) - Flying reptile with chicken legs
• Zin (West Africa) - Water spirits
• Ziz (Jewish) - Giant Bird
• Zlatorog (Slovenia) - White deer with golden horns
• Zmeu (Romanian folklore) - Giant with a habit of kidnapping young girls
• Zmiy - Slavic dragon
• Zombie (Vodou) - Re-animated corpse
• Zuijin (Japanese) - Tutelary spirit
• Zunbera-bō (Japanese) - Faceless ghost

legendary beings list : Y

• Yacumama (South America) - Sea monster
• Yadōkai (Japanese) - Malevolent, nocturnal spirit
• Yagyō-san (Japanese) - Demon who rides through the night on a headless horse
• Yaksha (Buddhist, Hindu, and Jainism) - Male nature spirit
• Yakshi (Keralite) - Vampire
• Yakshini (Buddhist, Hindu, and Jainism) - Female nature spirit
• Yakubyō-gami (Japanese) - Disease and misfortune spirit
• Yale (Medieval Bestiaries) - Antelope- or goat-like animal with swiveling horns
• Yallery-Brown (English) - Nature spirit
• Yama-biko (Japanese) - Echo spirit
• Yama-bito (Japanese) - Savage, mountain-dwelling humanoid
• Yama-chichi (Japanese) - Monkey-like mountain spirit
• Yama-inu (Japanese) - Dog-like mountain spirit
• Yama-otoko (Japanese) - Mountain giant
• Yamata no Orochi (Japanese) - Gigantic, eight-headed serpent
• Yama-uba (Japanese) - Malevolent, mountain-dwelling hag
• Yama-waro (Japanese) - Hairy, one-eyed spirit
• Yanari (Japanese) - Spirit which causes strange noises
• Yaoguai (Japanese) - Animalistic demon
• Yara-ma-yha-who (Australian Aboriginal) - Diminutive, sucker-fingered vampire
• Yatagarasu (Japanese) - Three-legged crow of Amaterasu
• Yato-no-kami (Japanese) - Serpent spirits
• Yeth hound (English) - Headless dog
• Yeti (Tibet) - Abominable Snowman
• Yilbegän (Turkic) - Either a dragon or a giant
• Yobuko (Japanese) - Mountain dwelling spirit
• Yōkai (Japanese) - Supernatural Monster
• Yomotsu-shikome (Japanese) - Underworld hag
• Yong - Korean dragon
• Yōsei (Japanese) - Fairy
• Yosuzume (Japanese) - Mysterious bird that sings at night, sometimes indicating that the okuri-inu is near
• You Hun Ye Gui (Chinese) - Wandering ghost
• Yowie (Australian Aboriginal) - Nocturnal human-ape hybrid, also Yahoo
• Ypotryll (Heraldic) - Boar-camel-ox-serpent hybrid
• Yuan Gui (Chinese) - Distressed ghost
• Yukinko (Japanese) - Childlike snow spirit
• Yuki-onna (Japanese) - Snow spirit
• Yūrei (Japanese) - Ghost
• Yuxa (Tatar) - 100-year-old snake that transforms into a beautiful human

legendary beings list : X

• Xana (Asturian) - Female water spirit
• Xelhua (Aztec) - Giant
• Xing Tian (Chinese) - Headless giant
• Xiuhcoatl (Aztec) - Drought spirit

legendary beings list : W

• Waldgeist (German) - Forest spirit
• Wampus cat (Cherokee) - Human-cougar hybrid
• Wana-games-ak (Abenaki) - Water spirits
• Wani (Japanese)- A crocodilian water monster
• Warak ngendog (Indonesian Muslim) - Egg-laying bird
• Warg (English and Scandinavian O.N. vargr) - Giant, demonic wolf
• Wassan-mon-ganeehla-ak (Abenaki) - Aurora spirits
• Water monkey (Chinese) - Water spirit
• Water sprite (Alchemy) - Water elemental
• Wati-kutjara (Australia Aboriginal) - Iguana spirit
• Wa-won-dee-a-megw (Abenaki) - Shapeshifting snail spirit
• Weisse Frauen (German) - Female spirit
• Wekufe (Mapuche) - Demon
• Wendigo (Algonquian) - Anthropophagous spirit
• Wentshukumishiteu (Inuit) - Water spirit
• Werecat (Worldwide) - Feline-human shapeshifter
• Werehyena (Africa) - Hyena-human shapeshifter
• Werewolf (Worldwide) - Wolf-human shapeshifter
• White Lady (Worldwide) - Ghost of a murdered or mistreated woman
• Wild man (European) – Hairy, bipedal man-like creature
• Will-o'-the-Wisp (Worldwide) - Spectral fire
• Wirry-cow (Scottish) - Malevolent spirit
• Witte Wieven (Dutch) - Female, ancestral spirit
• Wondjina (Australia Aboriginal) - Weather spirit
• Wraith (Scottish) - Water spirit or ghostly apparition
• Wulver (Scottish) - Wolf-headed human
• Wu Tou Gui (Chinese) - Beheaded ghost
• Wyrm - English dragon
• Wyvern (Germanic Heraldic) - Flying reptile, usually with two legs and two wings

legendary beings list : V

• Vadātājs (Latvian) - Spirit that misleads people
• Vættir (Norse) - Nature spirit
• Valkyrie (Norse) - Female spirit that leads souls of dead warriors to Valhalla
• Vâlvă (Romanian) - Female nature spirit
• Vampire (Slavic) - Reanimated corpse that subsists on blood
• Vanara (Hindu) - Human-ape hybrid
• Vântoase (Romanian) - Female weather spirit
• Varaha (Hindu mythology) - third Avatar of Vishnu in the form of a boar
• Vârcolac (Romanian) - Vampire or werewolf
• Vardøger (Scandinavian) - Ghostly double
• Veļi (Latvian) - Ghost, shade, formed after a death of a human
• Věri Şělen - Chuvash dragon
• Vetala (Hindu) - Corpses possessed by vampiric spirits
• Víbria (Catalan) - Dragon with breasts and an eagle's beak
• Vielfras (German) - Gluttonous dog-cat-fox hybrid
• Vila (Slavic) - Weather spirit
• Vilkacis (Latvian) - Animalistic, werewolf-like monster
• Viruñas (Colombian) - Handsome demon
• Vision Serpent (Mayan) - Mystical dragon
• Víðópnir, (Norse) - Rooster that sits atop the tree
• Vodyanoy (Slavic) - Male water spirit
• Vrykolakas (Greek) - Undead wolf-human hybrid

legendary beings list : U

• Ubume (Japanese) - Ghosts of women who died in childbirth
• Uma-no-ashi (Japanese) - Horse's leg which dangles from a tree and kicks passersby
• Umibōzu (Japanese) - Ghost of drowned priest
• Umi-nyōbō (Japanese) - Female sea monster who steals fish
• Undead (Worldwide) - Dead that behave as if alive
• Underwater panther (Native American) - Feline water spirit
• Undine (Alchemy) - Water elemental
• Unhcegila (Lakota) - Dragon
• Unicorn (Medieval Bestiaries) - One-horned goat-lion-stag-horse hybrid
• Unktehi (Lakota) - Serpentine rain spirit
• Unktehila (Lakota) - Reptilian water monster
• Upinis (Lithuanian) - River spirit
• Urayuli (Native American) - Hairy giant
• Uriaş (Romanian) - Giant
• Urmahlullu (Mesopotamian) - Lion-human hybrid guardian spirit
• Ushi-oni (Japanese) - Bull-headed monster
• Utukku (Akkadian) - Underworld messenger spirit
• Uwan (Japanese) - Spirit that shouts to surprise people

legendary beings list : U

• Tachash (Jewish) - Large land animal
• Taimatsumaru (Japanese) - Tengu surrounded in demon fire
• Takam (Persian) - Nature spirit
• Taka-onna (Japanese) - Female spirit which can stretch itself to peer into the second story of a building
• Talos (Greek) - Winged giant made of bronze
• Tangie (Scottish) - Shapeshifting water spirit
• Taniwha (Māori) - Water spirit
• Tantankororin (Japanese) - Unharvested persimmon which becomes a monster
• Tanuki (Japanese) - Shapeshifting Raccoon dog
• Taotao Mona (Mariana Islands) - Ancestral spirits
• Taotie (Chinese) - Greed spirit
• Tapairu (Mangaia) - Nature spirit
• Tarasque (French) - Dragon with leonine, turtle, bear, and human attributes
• Tartalo (Basque) - One-eyed giant
• Tartaruchi (Christian) - Demonic punisher
• Tatami-tataki (Japanese) - Poltergeist that hits the tatami mats at night
• Tatsu - Japanese dragon
• Taurokampoi (Etruscan) - Fish-tailed bull
• Tavara (Trabzon) - Night-demon
• Teju Jagua (Guaraní) - Lizard with seven dog heads
• Tengu (Japanese) - Anthropomorphic bird
• Tennin (Japanese) - Angelic humanoid
• Te-no-me (Japanese) - Ghost of a blind man, with his eyes on his hands
• Terrible Monster (Jewish) - Lion-eagle-scorpion hybrid made from the blood of murder victims
• Teumessian Fox (Greek) - Gigantic fox
• Theriocephalus (Medieval folklore) - Animal-headed humanoid
• Three-legged bird (Asia and Africa) - Solar bird
• Thule (Greek) - sea orca larger in Greek mythology
• Thunderbird (Native American) - Avian lightning spirit, bird
• Tiangou (Chinese) - Meteoric dog
• Tianlong (Chinese) - Celestial dragon
• Tibicena (Canarian) - Evil Dog
• Tiddy Mun (English) - Bog spirit
• Tikbalang (Philippine) - Anthropomorphic horse
• Tikoloshe (Zulu) - Little people and water spirit
• Timingila (Hindu) - Sea monster
• Tipua (Māori) - Spirit that protects a specific place
• Tiyanak (Philippine) - Malevolent spirit in the form of a human infant
• Tizheruk (Inuit) - Sea serpent
• Tlahuelpuchi (Tlaxcalan) - Shapeshifting vampire
• Tōfu-kozō (Japanese) - Spirit child carrying a block of tofu
• Toire-no-Hanakosan (Japanese) - Ghost who lurks in grade school restroom stalls
• Tomte (Scandinavian) - House spirit
• Topielec (Slavic) - Water spirit
• Tōtetsu (Japanese) - Greed spirit
• Toyol (Malay) - Servant spirit
• Trauco (Chilota) - Fertility spirit
• Trenti (Cantabrian) - Diminutive demon
• Tripurasura (Hindu) - Demonic inhabitants of Tripura
• Tritons (Greek) - Human-fish hybrid
• Troll (Norse) - Nature spirit
• Trow (Orkney and Shetland) - Little people and nature spirits
• Tsi-noo (Abenaki) - Vampiric demon
• Tsuchigumo (Japanese) - Shapeshifting, giant spider
• Tsuchinoko (Japanese) - Plump snake-like creature
• Tsukumogami (Japanese) - Inanimate object that becomes animated after existing for 100 years
• Tsul 'Kalu (Cherokee) - Giant nature spirit
• Tsurara-onna (Japanese) - Icicle woman
• Tsurube-otoshi (Japanese) - Monster which drops or lowers a bucket from the top of a tree to catch people
• Tugarin Zmeyevich (Slavic) - Evil shapeshifter
• Tylwyth Teg (Welsh) - Nature spirit
• Tupilaq (Inuit) - Animated construct
• Turehu (Māori) - Pale spirit
• Turul (Hungarian) - Giant bird
• Typhon (Greek) - Winged, snake-legged giant
• Tzitzimitl (Aztec) - Skeletal star spirit

legendary beings list : S

• Saci (Brazilian) - One-legged nature-spirit
• Sagari (Japanese) - Horse's head that dangles from trees on Kyūshū
• Sakabashira (Japanese) - Haunted pillar, installed upside-down
• Salamander (Alchemy) - Fire elemental
• Samebito (Japanese) - Shark-man servant of the dragon king of the sea.
• Samem (South America) and (Japanese)- Human-frog hybrid.
• Samodiva (Slavic) - Nature spirit
• Sandwalker (Arabian) - Camel-stealing, giant arthropod
• Sânziană (Romanian) - Nature spirit
• Sarimanok (Philippine) - Bird of good fortune
• Sarngika (Hindu) - Bird spirit
• Sarugami (Japanese) - Wicked monkey spirit which was defeated by a dog
• Satori (Japanese) - Mind-reading humanoid
• Satyr (Greek) - Human-goat hybrid and fertility spirit
• Satyrus (Medieval Bestiary) - Apes who always bear twins, one the mother loves, the other it hates
• Sceadugenga (English) - Shapeshifting undead
• Scitalis (Medieval Bestiaries) - Snake which mesmerizes its prey
• Scorpion Man (Sumerian) - Human-scorpion hybrid
• Scylla (Greek) - Human-snake-wolf hybrid with a snake's tail, twelve wolf legs, and six long-necked wolf heads
• Sea-bee (Heraldic) - Fish-tailed bee
• Sea monk (Medieval folklore) - Fish-like humanoid
• Sea monster (Worldwide) - Giant, marine animals
• Sea serpent (Worldwide) - Serpentine sea monster
• Sea-Wyvern (Heraldic) - Fish-tailed wyvern
• Seko (Japanese) - Water spirit which can be heard making merry at night
• Selkie (Faroese, Icelandic, Irish, and Scottish) - Human-seal shapeshifter
• Senpoku-Kanpoku (Japanese) - Human-faced frog which guides the souls of the newly deceased to the graveyard
• Seps (Medieval Bestiaries) - Snake with highly corrosive venom
• Serpent (Worldwide) - Snake spirit
• Serpopard (Ancient Egypt) - Serpent-leopard hybrid
• Shachihoko (Japanese) - Tiger-carp hybrid
• Shade (Worldwide) - Spiritual imprint
• Shahbaz (Persian) - Giant eagle or hawk
• Shang-Yang (Chinese) - Rain bird
• Shedim (Jewish) - Chicken-legged demon
• Shedu (Akkadian and Sumerian) - Protective spirit with the form of a winged bull or lion with a human head
• Shellycoat (English, Scottish and German, as schellenrocc) - Water spirit
• Shen (Chinese) - Shapeshifing sea monster
• Shenlong (Chinese) - Weather dragon
• Shibaten (Japanese) - Water spirit from Shikoku
• Shikigami (Japanese) - Child-sized servant spirit
• Shiki-ōji (Japanese) - Child-sized servant spirit
• Shikome (Japanese) - Underworld hag
• Shin (Japanese) - Giant clam which creates mirages
• Shiro-bōzu (Japanese) - White, faceless spirit
• Shiryō (Japanese) - Spirit of a dead person
• Shisa (Japanese) - Lion-dog hybrid
• Shishi (Chinese) - Protective animal
• Shōjō (Japanese) - Red-haired sea-sprites who love alcohol
• Shōkera (Japanese) - Creature that peers in through skylights
• Shtriga (Albanian) - An evil or dangerous witch
• Shui Gui (Chinese) - Drowned ghost
• Shunoban (Japanese) - Red-faced ghoul
• Shuten-dōji (Japanese) - Oni
• Sídhe - (Irish and Scottish) - Ancestral or nature spirit
• Sigbin (Philippine) - Goat-like vampire
• Sileni (Σειληνοί) (Greek) - Bald, fat, thick-lipped, and flat-nosed followers of Dionysus
• Simargl (Slavic) - Winged dog
• Simurgh (Persian) - Dog-lion-peacock hybrid
• Singa (Batak) - Feline animal
• Sint Holo (Choctaw) - Serpentine rain spirit
• Siren (Greek) - Human-headed bird
• Sirin (Slavic) - Demonic human-headed bird
• Sirrush (Akkadian) - Dragon with aquiline hind legs and feline forelegs
• Sisiutl (Native American) - Two-headed sea serpent
• Si-Te-Cah (Paiute) - Red-haired giants
• Sjörå (Norse) - Freshwater spirit
• Sjövættir (Norse) - Sea spirit
• Skin-walker (Native American and Norse) - Animal-human shapeshifter
• Skogsrå (Scandinavian) - Forest spirit
• Skookum (Chinook Jargon) - Hairy giant
• Skrzak (Slavic) - Flying imp
• Sky Women (Polish) - Weather spirit
• Sluagh (Irish and Scottish) - Restless ghost
• Sodehiki-kozō (Japanese) - Invisible spirit which pulls on sleeves
• Sōgenbi (Japanese) - Fiery ghost of an oil-stealing monk
• Soragami (Japanese) - Ritual disciplinary demon
• Soraki-gaeshi (Japanese) - Sound of trees being cut down, when later none seem to have been cut
• Sorobanbōzu (Japanese) - Ghost with an abacus
• Sōtangitsune (Japanese) - Fox spirit from Kyoto
• Soucouyant (Trinidad and Tobago) - Vampiric hag who takes the form of a fireball at night
• Spearfinger (Cherokee) - Sharp-fingered hag
• Spectre (Worldwide) - Terrifying ghost
• Sphinx (Greek) - Winged lion with a woman's head
• Spiriduş (Romanian) - Little people
• Spriggan (Cornish) - Guardians of graveyards and ruins
• Sprite (Medieval folklore) - little people, ghosts or elves
• Strigoi (Romanian) - Vampire
• Strix (Roman) - Vampiric bird
• Struthopodes (Medieval Bestiaries) - Humanoid whose males have enormous feet, and females have tiny feet
• Strzyga (Slavic) - Vampiric undead
• Stuhać (Slavic) - Malevolent mountain spirit
• Stymphalian Bird (Greek) - Metallic bird
• Suangi (New Guinea) - Anthropophagous sorcerer
• Succubus (Medieval folklore) - Female night-demon
• Sudice (Slavic) - Fortune spirit
• Sunakake-baba (Japanese) - Sand-throwing hag
• Sunekosuri (Japanese) - Small dog- or cat-like creature that rubs against a person's legs at night
• Surma (Finnish) - Hellhound
• Svartálfar (Norse) - "swart-elves", Cavern spirit
• The Swallower (Ancient Egyptian) - Crocodile-leopard-hippopotamus hybrid
• Swan maiden (Worldwide) - Swan-human shapeshifter
• Sylph (Alchemy) - Air elemental
• Sylvan (Medieval folklore) - Forest spirit
• Syrbotae (Medieval Bestiaries) - African giant
• Syrictæ (Medieval Bestiaries) - Reptilian humanoid

legendary beings list : R

• Rå (Norse) - Spirit that protects a specific place
• Rabisu (Akkadian) - Vampiric spirit that ambushes people
• Radande (Unknown) - Tree spirit
• Ragana (Lithuanian) - Malevolent wizard
• Raijū (Japanese) - Lightning spirit
• Rain Bird (Native American) - Rain spirit
• Rainbow crow (Lenape) - Crow spirit
• Rainbow Fish (Hindu) - Whale-sized, multi-colored fish
• Rainbow Serpent (Australian Aboriginal) - Dragon
• Rakshasa (Buddhist and Hindu) - Shapeshifting demons
• Ramidreju (Cantabrian) - Extremely long, weasel-like animal
• Raróg (Slavic) - Whirlwind spirit
• Raven Mocker (Cherokee) - Life-draining spirit
• Raven Spirit (Native American, Norse, and Siberian) - Trickster spirit
• Ratatoskr (Norse) - Squirrel spirit
• Redcap (English) - Malevolent, grotesque humanoid
• Re’em (Jewish) - Gigantic land animal
• Reichsadler (Heraldic) - Eagle, sometimes depicted with two heads
• Rephaite (Jewish) - Giant
• Revenant (Medieval folklore) - Reanimated dead
• Roc (Arabian and Persian) - Gigantic bird
• Rokurokubi (Japanese) - Long-necked, humanoid tricksters
• Rompo (Africa and India) - Skeletal creature with elements of a rabbit, badger, and bear
• Rồng - (Vietnamese) Dragon
• Rougarou (French America) - Human-wolf shapeshifter
• Rusalka (Slavic) - Female water spirit
• Ryū - Japanese dragon

legendary beings list : Q

• Qareen (Islamic) - Personal demon
• Qilin (Chinese) - Dragon-ox-deer hybrid
• Qiqirn (Inuit) - Large, bald dog spirit
• Qliphoth (Jewish) - Evil spirits
• Questing Beast (Arthurian legend) - Serpent-leopard-lion-hart hybrid
• Quetzalcoatl (Aztec) - half bird half lizard from Aztec mythology
• Quinotaur (Frankish) - Five-horned bull

legendary beings list : Q

• Qareen (Islamic) - Personal demon
• Qilin (Chinese) - Dragon-ox-deer hybrid
• Qiqirn (Inuit) - Large, bald dog spirit
• Qliphoth (Jewish) - Evil spirits
• Questing Beast (Arthurian legend) - Serpent-leopard-lion-hart hybrid
• Quetzalcoatl (Aztec) - half bird half lizard from Aztec mythology
• Quinotaur (Frankish) - Five-horned bull

legendary beings list : P

• Paasselkä devils (Finnish) - Spectral fire
• Pamola (Abenaki) - Weather spirit
• Panes (Greek) - Human-goat hybrids descended from the god Pan
• Pandi (Medieval Bestiary) - Humanoid with giant ears, eight fingers and toes, and white hair
• Panis (Hindu) - Demons with herds of stolen cows
• Panlong (Chinese) - Water dragon
• Panotti (Medieval Bestiaries) - Humanoid with gigantic ears
• Panther (Medieval Bestiaries) - Feline with sweet breath
• Parandrus (Medieval Bestiaries) - Shapeshifting animal whose natural form was a large ruminant
• Pard (Medieval Bestiaries) - Fast, spotted feline believed to mate with lions to produce leopards
• Pardalokampoi (Etruscan) - Fish-tailed panther
• Patagon (Medieval folklore) - Giant race reputed to live in the area of Patagonia
• Patasola (Latin America) - Anthropophagous, one-legged humanoid
• Patupairehe (Māori) - White-skinned nature spirits
• Pech (Scottish) - Strong little people
• Pegaeae (Greek) - Spring nymph
• Pegasus (Greek) - Winged horse
• Pelesit (Malay) - Servant spirit
• Peluda (French) - Dragon
• Penanggalan (Philippine) - Vampires that sever their heads from their bodies to fly around, usually with their intestines or other internal organs trailing behind
• Peng (Chinese) - Giant bird
• Penghou (Chinese) - Tree spirit
• Peri (Persian) - Winged humanoid
• Peryton (Allegedly Medieval folklore) - Deer-bird hybrid
• Pesanta (Catalan) - Nightmare demon in the form of a cat or dog
• Peuchen (Chilota and Mapuche) - Vampiric, flying, shapeshifting serpent
• Phoenix (Phoenician) - Regenerative bird
• Piasa (Native American mythology) - Winged, antlered feline
• Piatek (Armenian) - Large land animal
• Pictish Beast (Pictish stones) - Stylistic animal, possibly a dragon
• Pillan (Mapuche) - Nature spirit
• Pim-skwa-wagen-owad (Abenaki) - Water spirit
• Piru (Finnish) - Minor demon
• Pishacha (Hindu) - Carrion-eating demon
• Pita-skog (Abenaki) - Serpentine rain spirit
• Pixie (Cornish) - Little people and nature spirits
• Pixiu (Chinese) - Winged lion
• Pi yao (Chinese) - Horned, dragon-lion hybrid
• Plakavac (Slavic) - Vampire created when a mother strangles her child
• Pok-wejee-men (Abenaki) - Tree spirit
• Polevik (Polish) - Little people and field spirits
• Pollo Maligno (Colombian) - Man-eating chicken spirit
• Polong (Malay) - Invisible servant spirit
• Poltergeist (German) - Ghost that moves objects
• Pombero (Guaraní) - Wild man and nature spirit
• Ponaturi (Māori) - Grotesque, malevolent humanoid
• Pontianak (Malay) - Undead, vampiric women who died in childbirth
• Poukai (Māori) - Giant bird
• Preta (Buddhist, Hindu, and Jainist) - Ghosts of especially greedy people
• Pricolici (Romanian) - Undead wolf
• Psoglav (Serbia) - Dog-headed monster
• Psotnik (Slavic) - Mischievous spirit
• Psychai (Greek) - Butterfly-winged nymphs, daughters of Psyche
• Pterippus (Greek) - Winged horse
• Púca (Welsh) - Shapeshifting animal spirit
• Púki (Icelandic) - malevolent little person
• Puck (English) - House spirit
• Putz (German) - house spirit
• Pugot (Philippine) - Headless humanoid
• Puk (Frisian) - house spirit
• Pūķis (Latvian) - Malevolent house spirit
• Puckwudgie (Native American mythology) - Troll-like being with gray skin.
• Pygmy (Greek) - Little people
• Pyrausta (Greek) - Insect-dragon hybrid
• Python (Greek) - Serpentine dragon

legendary beings list : O

• Obake (Japanese) - Shapeshifting spirits
• Obambo (Central African) - Homeless ghost
• Obariyon (Japanese) - Spook which rides piggyback on a human victim and becomes unbearably heavy
• Obayifo (Ashanti) - Vampiric possession spirit
• Obia (West Africa) - Gigantic animal that serves witches
• Oceanid (Greek) - Nymph daughters of Oceanus
• Odei (Basque) - Storm spirit
• Odmience (Slavic) - Changeling
• Og (Jewish) - Giant king of the Amorites
• Ogre (Medieval folklore) - Large, grotesque humanoid
• Oiwa (Japanese) - Ghost of a woman with a distorted face who was murdered by her husband
• Ojáncanu (Cantabrian) - Giant cyclop who embodies the evil.
• Okiku (Japanese) - Plate-counting ghost of a servant girl
• Okuri-inu (Japanese) - Dog or wolf that follows travelers at night. Similar to the Black dog of English folklore
• Ole-Higue (Guyanese) - Vampiric hag who takes the form of a fireball at night
• Ōmukade (Japanese) - Giant, human-eating centipede that lives in the mountains
• Oni (Japanese) - Large, grotesque humanoid
• Onibi (Japanese) - Spectral fire
• Onmoraki (Japanese) - Bird-demon created from the spirits of freshly-dead corpses
• Onocentaur (Medieval Bestiaries) - Human-donkey hybrid
• Onoskelis (Greek) - Shapeshifting demon
• Onryō (Japanese) - Vengeful ghost that manifests in physical (rather than spectral) form
• Onza (Aztec and Latin American folklore) - Wild cat, possibly a subspecies of cougar
• Oozlum bird (Unknown origin) - Bird that flies backwards
• Ophiotaurus (Greek) - Bull-serpent hybrid
• Opinicus (Heraldic) - Lion-eagle hybrid, similar to a griffin, but with leonine forelimbs
• Orang Bunian (Malay) - Forest spirit
• Orang Minyak (Malay) - Spectral rapist
• Ördög (Hungarian) - Shapeshifting demon
• Oread (Greek) - Mountain nymph
• Ork ( Tyrolean) - Little people and house spirits
• Orobas (European) - Horse-headed, honest oracle classed as a demon
• Orphan Bird (Medieval Bestiaries) - Peacock-eagle-swan-crane hybrid
• Orthrus (Greek) - Two-headed dog
• Otso (Finnish) - Bear spirit
• Ouroboros (Worldwide) - Mystic serpent/dragon that eats its own tail
• Ovinnik (Slavic) - Malevolent threshing house spirit

legendary beings list : N

• Nachzehrer (German) - Anthropophagous undead
• Nāga (Buddhist and Hindu) - Nature and water spirits, serpentine or human-serpent hybrids
• Naga fireballs (Thai) - Spectral fire
• Nagual (Mesoamerica) - Human-animal shapeshifter
• Naiad (Greek) - Freshwater nymph
• Näkki (Finnish) - Water spirit
• Namahage (Japanese) - Ritual disciplinary demon from the Oga Peninsula
• Namazu (Japanese) - Giant catfish whose thrashing causing earthquakes
• Nando-baba (Japanese) - Old woman who hides under the floor in abandoned storerooms
• Nanom-keea-po-da (Abenaki) - Earthquake spirit
• Napaeae (Greek) - Grotto nymph
• Narasimha (Hindu mythology) - Avatar of Vishnu in the form of half-man/half-lion
• Narecnitsi (Slavic) - Fate spirit
• Naree Pons (Thai) - Pod people
• Nargun (Gunai) - Water monster
• Nasnas (Arabian) - Half-human, half-demon creature with half a body
• Nav' (Slavic) - Ghost
• Nawao (Hawaiian) - Savage humanoid
• N-dam-keno-wet (Abenaki) - Fish-human hybrid
• Negret (Catalan) - Little people that turn into coins
• Nekomata (Japanese) - Split-tailed magical cat
• Nekomusume (Japanese) - Cat in the form of a girl
• Nemean Lion (Greek) - Lion with impenetrable skin
• Nephilim (Jewish) - Giant
• Nereid (Greek) - Nymph daughters of Nereus
• Ngen (Mapuche) - Nature spirit
• Nguruvilu (Mapuche) - Fox-like water snake
• Nian (Chinese) - Predatory animal
• Nightmarchers (Hawaiian) - Warrior ghosts
• Nikusui (Japanese) - Monster which appears as a young woman and sucks all of the flesh off of its victim's body
• Nimerigar (Shoshone) - Aggressive little people
• Ningyo (Japanese) - Monkey-fish hybrid
• Ninki Nanka (Western Africa) - Large reptile, possibly a dragon
• Nisse (Scandinavian) - House spirit
• Níðhöggr (Norse) - Dragon
• Nivatakavachas (Hindu) - Ocean demon
• Nix (Germanic) - Female water spirit
• Nobusuma (Japanese) - Supernatural wall. Also a monstrous flying squirrel
• Nocnitsa (Slavic) - Nightmare spirit
• Noppera-bō (Japanese) - Faceless ghost
• Nozuchi (Japanese) - Small sea serpent
• Nuckelavee (Scottish) - Malevolent human-horse-fish hybrid
• Nue (Japanese) - Monkey-raccoon dog-tiger-snake hybrid
• Nu Gui (Chinese) - Vengeful female ghost
• Nukekubi (Japanese) - Disembodied, flying head that attacks people
• Nuku-mai-tore (Māori) - Forest spirit
• Nuli (Medieval Bestiary) - Humanoid with backwards, eight-toed feet
• Numen (Roman) - Tutelary spirit
• Nuno (Philippine) - Malevolent little people
• Nurarihyon (Japanese) - Head-sized ball-like creature that floats in the sea and teases sailors
• Nure-onna (Japanese) - Female monster who appears on the beach
• Nyami Nyami (Tonga (Zimbabwean) mythology) - The snake-spirit of the Zambezi River
• Nurikabe (Japanese) - Spirit that manifests as an impassable, invisible wall
• Nykštukas (Lithuanian) - Cavern spirit
• Nymph (Greek) - Nature spirit

legendary beings list : M

• Maa-alused (Estonian mythology) - Subterranean spirit
• Machlyes (Medieval bestiaries) - Hermaphroditic humanoid
• Macrocephali (Medieval bestiaries) - Giant-headed humanoid
• Madremonte (Colombian folklore) - Nature guardian
• Maero (Māori) - Savage, arboreal humanoids
• Magog (English folklore) - Giant protector of London
• Maha-pudma (Hindu mythology) - Giant elephant that holds up the world
• Mairu (Basque mythology) - Megalith-building giant
• Mājas gari (Latvian mythology) - Benevolent house spirit
• Majin (Japanese mythology) - Magical beings
• Makara (Indian mythology) - Aquatic beings
• Makura-gaeshi (Japanese mythology) - Pillow-moving spirit
• Mami Wata (Africa and the African diaspora) - Supernaturally beautiful water spirits
• Manananggal (Philippine mythology) - Vampires that sever their torsos from their legs to fly around
• Mandi (Medieval bestiaries) - Humanoid with a forty-year lifespan
• Mandrake (Medieval folklore) - Diminutive, animated construct
• Manes (Roman mythology) - Ancestral spirits
• Mannegishi (Cree) -Little people with six fingers and no noses
• Manticore (Persian mythology) - Lion-human-scorpion hybrid
• Mapinguari (Brazilian mythology) - Giant sloth
• Mara (Scandinavian folklore) - Female night-demon
• Marabbecca (Italian folklore) - Malevolent water spirit
• Mareikura (Tuamotu) - Attendant of Kiho-tumu, the supreme god
• Mares of Diomedes (Greek mythology) - Man-eating horses
• Marid
• Maro deivės (Lithuanian mythology) - Disease spirits
• Maski-mon-gwe-zo-os (Abenaki mythology) - Shapeshifting toad spirit
• Matagot (French mythology) - Spirit that takes animal form, usually a black cat
• Matsya (Hindu mythology) - first Avatar of Vishnu in the form of a half-fish and half-man
• Mayura (Hindu mythology) - Peacock spirit
• Mazikeen (Jewish mythology) - Invisible, malevolent spirit
• Mbói Tu'ĩ (Guaraní mythology) - Snake-parrot hybrid
• Mbwiri (Central Africa) - Possessing demon
• Meliae (Greek mythology) - Ash tree nymph
• Melusine (Medieval folklore) - Female water spirit, with the form of a winged mermaid or serpent
• Menehune (Hawaiian mythology) - Little people and craftsmen
• Menninkäinen (Finnish mythology) - Little people and nature spirits
• Merlion (Singapore) - Combination of a lion and a fish, the symbol of Singapore
• Mermaid (multiple cultures) - Human-fish hybrid
• Merrow (Irish mythology and Scottish) - Human-fish hybrid
• Metee-kolen-ol (Abenaki mythology) - Ice-hearted wizards
• Mimi (Australian Aboriginal mythology) - Extremely elongated humanoid that has to live in rock crevasses to avoid blowing away
• Minka Bird (Australian Aboriginal mythology) - Death spirit
• Minotaur (Greek mythology) - Human-bull hybrid
• Mishibizhiw (Ojibwa) - Feline water spirit
• Misi-ginebig (Ojibwa) - Serpentine rain spirit
• Misi-kinepikw (Cree) - Serpentine rain spirit
• Mizuchi (Japanese mythology) - Water dragon
• Mogwai (Chinese mythology) - Vengeful ghost or demon
• Mohan (Latin American folklore) - Nature spirit
• Mokoi (Australian Aboriginal mythology) - Malevolent spirit that kills sorcerers
• Moñái (Guaraní mythology) - Giant snake with antennae
• Monocerus (Medieval bestiaries) - One-horned stag-horse-elephant-boar hybrid, sometimes treated as distinct from the unicorn
• Mono Grande (South America) - Giant monkey
• Monopod (Medieval bestiaries) - Dwarf with one giant foot
• Mooinjer veggey (Manx folklore) - Nature spirit
• Mora (Slavic mythology) - Disembodied spirit
• Morgens (Breton and Welsh mythology) - Water spirits
• Mormolykeia (Greek) - Underworld spirit
• Moroi (Romanian) - Vampiric ghost
• Moss people (Continental Germanic mythology) - Little people and tree spirits
• Mujina (Japanese mythology) - Shapeshifting badger spirit
• Muldjewangk (Australian Aboriginal mythology) - Water monster
• Muma Pădurii (Romanian folklore) - Forest-dwelling hag
• Muscaliet (Medieval bestiaries) - Extremely hot hare-squirrel-boar hybrid
• Muse (Greek mythology) - Spirits that inspire artists
• Musimon (Heraldic) - Sheep-goat hybrid
• Myling (Scandinavian folklore) - Ghosts of unbaptized children
• Myrmecoleon (Medieval bestiaries) - Ant-lion hybrid

legendary beings list : L

• La-bar-tu (Assyrian) - Disease demon
• Labbu (Akkadian) - Sea snake
• Lady midday (Slavic) - Sunstroke spirit
• Ladon (Greek) - Dragon guarding the golden apples of the Hesperides
• Laelaps (Greek) - Enchanted dog that always caught his prey
• Laestrygonians (Greek) - Anthropophagic giants
• Lakanica (Slavic) - Field spirit
• Lake monster (Worldwide) - Gigantic animals reputed to inhabit various lakes around the world
• La Llorona (Latin America) - Death spirit associated with drowning
• Lambton Worm (English) - Giant worm
• Lamia (Greek) - Child-devouring monster
• Lamassu (Akkadian and Sumerian) - Protective spirit with the form of a winged bull or lion with a human head
• La Mojana (Colombian) - Shapeshifting, female water spirit
• Lampades (Greek) - Underworld nymph
• Landvættir (Norse) - Nature spirits
• Lares (Roman) - House spirit
• La Sayona (Venezuela) - Female ghost that punishes unfaithful husbands
• La Tunda (Colombian) - Nature spirit that seduces and kills men
• Laukų dvasios (Lithuanian) - Field spirit
• Lauma (Baltic) - Sky spirit
• Lavellan (Scottish) - Gigantic water rat
• Leanan sidhe (Celtic) - Fairy lover
• Leanashe (Irish) - Possessing spirit or vampire
• Leimakids (Greek) - Meadow nymph
• Leokampoi (Etruscan) - Fish-tailed lion
• Leontophone (Medieval Bestiary) - Tiny animal poisonous to lions
• Leprechaun (Irish) - Cobbler spirit
• Leszi (Slavic) - Tree spirit
• Leuce (Greek) - White poplar tree nymph
• Leucrota (Medieval Bestiary) - Hybrid of a lion and crocotta
• Leviathan (Jewish) - Sea monster, as seen in Job 41
• Leyak (Balinese) - Anthropophagous flying head with entrails
• Libyan Aegipanes (Medieval Bestiaries) - Human-horse hybrid
• Libyan Satyr (Medieval Bestiaries) - Human-goat hybrid
• Lidérc (Hungary) - Magical chicken that transforms into a humanoid
• Lightning Bird (Southern Africa) - Magical bird that can be found at sites of lightning strikes
• Likho (Slavic) - One-eyed hag or goblin
• Lilin (Jewish) - Night-demoness
• Lilitu (Assyrian) - Winged demon
• Limnades (Greek) - Lake nymph
• Lindworm (Germanic) - Dragon
• Lizardman (Global) - Human-lizard hybrid
• Ljósálfar (Norse) - Sunlight spirit
• Llamhigyn Y Dwr (Welsh) - Frog-bat-lizard hybrid
• Lo-lol (Abenaki) - Hideous monster
• Lóng - Chinese dragon
• Longana (Italian) - Female human-goat hybrid and water spirit
• Long Ma (Chinese) - Dragon-horse hybrid
• Loogaroo (French America) - Shapeshifting, female vampire
• Lou Carcolh (French) - Snake-mollusk hybrid
• Lubber fiend (English) - House spirit
• Luduan (Chinese) - Truth-detecting animal
• Luison (Guaraní) - Death spirit
• Lutin (French) - Amusing goblin
• Lynx (Medieval Bestiaries) - Feline guide spirit

legendary beings list : K

• Kabouter (Dutch) - Little people that live underground, in mushrooms, or as house spirits
• Kachina (Hopi and Puebloan) - Nature spirit
• Kahaku (Japanese) - Little people and water spirits
• Kajsa (Scandinavian) - Wind spirit
• Kalakeyas (Hindu) - Descendents of Kala
• Kallikantzaroi (Greek) - Grotesque, malevolent spirit
• Kamaitachi (Japanese) - Wind spirit
• Kami (Japanese) - Nature spirit
• Kamikiri (Japanese) - Hair-cutting spirit
• Kanbari-nyūdō (Japanese) - Bathroom spirit
• Kanbo (Japanese) - Drought spirit
• Kanedama (Japanese) - Money spirit
• Kappa (Japanese) - Little people and water spirits
• Kapre (Philippine) - Malevolent tree spirit
• Karakoncolos (Bulgarian and Turkish) - Troublesome spirit
• Karakura (Turkish) - Male night-demon
• Karasu-tengu (Japanese) - Tengu with a bird's bill
• Karkadann (Persian) - One-horned giant animal
• Karkinos (Greek) - Giant crab
• Karura (Japanese) - Eagle-human hybrid
• Karzełek (Polish) - Little people and mine spirits
• Kasha (Japanese) - Cat-like demon which descends from the sky and carries away corpses
• Kashanbo (Japanese) - Kappa who climb into the mountains for the winter
• Katawa-guruma (Japanese) - Woman riding on a flaming wheel
• Katsura-otoko (Japanese) - Handsome man from the moon
• Kaukas (Lithuanian) - Nature spirit
• Kawa-uso (Japanese) - Supernatural river otter
• Kawa-zaru (Japanese) - Smelly, cowardly water spirit
• Keelut (Inuit) - Hairless dog
• Kee-wakw (Abenaki) - Anthropophagous giant
• Kekkai (Japanese) - Amorphous afterbirth spirit
• Kelpie (Irish and Scottish) - Malevolent water horse
• Ker (Greek) - Female death spirit
• Kesaran-pasaran (Japanese) - Mysterious, white, fluffy creature
• Keythong (Heraldic) - Wingless griffin
• Khalkotauroi (Greek) - Bronze-hoofed bulls
• Kigatilik (Inuit) - Night-demon
• Kijimunaa (Japanese) - Tree sprite from Okinawa
• Kijo (Japanese) - She-devil
• Kikimora (Slavic) - Female house spirit
• Killmoulis (English and Scottish) - Ugly, mischievous mill spirit
• Kinnara (Hindu) - Human-bird hybrid
• Kirin (Japanese) - Japanese Unicorn
• Kishi (Angola) - Malevolent, two-faced seducer
• Kitsune (Japanese) - Fox spirit
• Kitsune-Tsuki (Japanese) - Person possessed by a fox spirit
• Kiyohime (Japanese) - Woman who transformed into a serpent-demon out of the rage of unrequited love
• Klabautermann (German) - Ship spirit
• Knocker (folklore) (Cornish and Welsh) - Little people and mine spirits
• Knucker (English) - Water dragon
• Kobalos (Greek) - Shape-shifting thieves and tricksters
• Kobold (German) - Little people and mine or house spirits
• Kodama (Japanese) - Tree spirit
• Kofewalt (Germanic) - House spirit
• Ko-gok (Abenaki) - Hideous monster
• Kokakuchō (Japanese) - Ubume bird
• Komainu (Japanese) - Protective animal
• Konaki-Jijii (Japanese) - Infant that cries until it is picked up, then increases its weight and crushes its victim
• Kongamoto (Congo) - Flying creature
• Konoha-tengu (Japanese) - Anthropomorphic bird
• Koro-pok-guru (Ainu) - Little people
• Korrigan (Breton) - Little people and nature spirits
• Kraken (Scandinavian) (Greek mythology) - Sea monster
• Krasnoludek (Slavic) - Little people nature spirits
• Krasue (Southeast Asian) - Vampiric, floating head
• Kuarahy Jára (Guaraní) - Forest spirit
• Kubikajiri (Japanese) - Female corpse-chewing graveyard spirit
• Kuchisake-onna (Japanese) - Vengeful ghost of a woman mutilated by her husband
• Kuda-gitsune (Japanese) - Miniature fox spirit
• Kudan (Japanese) - Human-faced calf which predicts a calamity and then dies
• Kui (Chinese) - One-legged monster
• Kulshedra (Albanian) - Drought-causing dragon
• Kumakatok (Philippine) - Death spirits
• Kumiho (Korean) - Fox spirit
• Kun (Chinese) - Giant fish
• Kupua (Hawaiian) - Shapeshifting tricksters
• Kurabokko (Japanese) - Guardian spirit of a warehouse
• Kurage-no-hinotama (Japanese) - Jellyfish which floats through the air as a fireball
• Kurma (Hindu mythology) - the second avatar of Vishnu in the form of a Turtle
• Kurupi (Guaraní) - Wild man and fertility spirit
• Kushtaka (Tlingit) - Shapeshifting otter spirit
• Kye-ryong (Korean) - Chicken-lizard hybrid
• Kyūbi-no-kitsune (Japanese) - Nine-tailed fox
• Kyūketsuki (Japanese) - Vampire

legendary beings list : J

• Jack-In-Irons (English) - Malevolent giant
• Jaculus (Medieval Bestiaries) - Winged serpent or small dragon
• Jasconius (Medieval folklore) - Island-sized fish
• Jasy Jaterei (Guaraní) - Nature guardian and bogeyman
• Jatayu (Hindu mythology) - A demi-god who has the form of a vulture
• Jaud (Slavic) - Vampirised premature baby
• Jenglot (Java) - Vampiric little people
• Jengu (Sawa) - Water spirit
• Jentil (Basque) - Megalith-building giant
• Jenu (Mi'kmaq) - Anthropophagous giant
• Jerff (Swedish) - Gluttonous dog-cat-fox hybrid
• Jian (Chinese) - One-eyed, one-winged bird who requires a mate for survival
• Jiang Shi (Chinese) - Life-draining, reanimated corpse
• Jiaolong (Chinese) - Dragon
• Jibakurei (Japanese) - Spirit that protects a specific place
• Jievaras (Lithuanian) - House spirit
• Jikininki (Japanese) - Corpse-eating ghost
• Jiu tou niao (Chinese) - Nine-headed, demonic bird
• Jogah (Iroquois) - Little people nature spirit
• Jörmungandr (Norse) - Sea serpent
• Jötunn (Norse) - Gigantic nature spirits
• Jumbee (Guyanese) - Malevolent spirit

legendary beings list : I

• Iannic-ann-ôd (Breton) - Ghost of a drowned person
• Iara (Brazilian) - Female water spirit
• Ibong Adarna (Philippine) - Bird that changes color each time it finishes a song
• Ichimoku-nyūdō (Japanese) - One-eyed kappa from Sado Island
• Ichiren-Bozu (Japanese) - Animated prayer beads
• Ichneumon (Medieval Bestiaries) - Dragon-killing animal
• Ichthyocentaur (Greek) - Human-fish hybrid
• Iele (Romanian) - Female nature spirits
• Ifrit (Arabian) - Fire genie
• Ijiraq (Inuit) - Spirit that kidnaps children
• Ikiryō (Japanese) - can be considered a 'living ghost', as it is a person's spirit outside their body
• Ikuchi (Japanese) - Sea-serpent that travels over boats in an arc while dripping oil
• Iku-Turso (Finnish) - Sea monster
• Il-Belliegħa (Maltese) - Malevolent well spirit
• Imp (Medieval) - Diminutive, demonic servant
• Impundulu (Southern Africa) - Avian, vampiric lightning spirit
• Imugi (Korean) - Flightless, dragon-like creatures (sometimes thought of as proto-dragons)
• Inapertwa (Aboriginal) - Simple organisms, used by creator-gods to make everything else
• Incubus (Medieval folklore) - Male night-demon and rapist
• Indrik (Russian) - One-horned horse-bull hybrid
• Indus Worm (Medieval Bestiaries) - Giant, white, carnivorous worm
• Inkanyamba (Zulu) - Horse-headed serpent
• Inugami (Japanese) - Dog spirit
• Ipotane (Greek) - Horse-human hybrid, two-legged (as opposed to the four-legged centaur)
• Ippon-datara (Japanese) - One-legged mountain spirit
• Iratxoak (Basque) - Diminutive, demonic servants
• Irin (Jewish) - Fallen angels
• Ishigaq (Inuit) - Little people
• Island Satyr (Medieval Bestiaries) - Savage human-goat hybrid from a remote island chain
• Isonade (Japanese) - Shark-like sea monster
• Ittan-momen (Japanese) - Ghostly aerial phenomenon that attacks people
• Iwana-bōzu (Japanese) - Char which appeared as a Buddhist monk

legendary beings list : H

• Hadhayosh (Persian) - Gigantic land animal
• Haetae (Korean) - Dog-lion hybrid
• Hag (Many cultures worldwide) - Wizened old woman, usually a malevolent spirit with this specific form, or a goddess in disguise
• Haietlik (Nuu-chah-nulth) - Water serpent
• Hai-uri (Khoikhoi) - Male, anthropophagous, partially invisible monster
• Hakutaku (Japanese) - Talking beast which handed down knowledge on harmful spirits
• Hākuturi (Māori) - Nature guardian
• Half-elf (Norse) - Hybrid of a human and an elf
• Haltija (Finnish) - Spirit that protects a specific place
• Hamadryad (Greek) - Oak tree nymph
• Hamingja (Scandinavian) - Personal protection spirit
• Hamsa (Buddhist, Hindu, and Jainism) - Mystical bird
• Hanau epe (Rapa Nui) - Long-eared humanoid
• Hantu Air (Malay) - Shapeshifting water spirit
• Hantu Demon (Philippine) - Demon
• Hantu Raya (Malay) - Demonic servant
• Harionago (Japanese) - Humanoid female with barbed, prehensile hair
• Harpy (Greek) - Death spirit with the form of a bird with a human head
• Haugbui (Norse) - Undead who cannot leave its burial mound
• Havsrå (Norse) - Saltwater spirit
• Headless Mule (Brazilian) - Fire-spewing, headless, spectral mule
• Hecatonchires (Greek) - Primordial giants with 100 hands and fifty heads
• Heikegani (Japanese) - Crabs with human-faced shells, the spirits of the warriors killed in the Battle of Dan-no-ura
• Heinzelmännchen (German) - Household spirit
• Helead (Greek) - Fen nymph
• Hellhound (Many cultures worldwide) - Dog from underworld
• Hercinia (Medieval Bestiaries) - Glowing bird
• Herensuge (Basque) - Dragon
• Hesperides (Greek) - Nymph daughters of Atlas
• Hidebehind (American)
• Hiderigami (Japanese) - Drought spirit
• Hieracosphinx (Ancient Egypt) - Falcon-headed sphinx
• Hihi (Japanese) - Baboon monster
• Hiisi (Finnish) - Nature guardian
• Hippocamp (Etruscan, Greek, and Phoenician) - Horse-fish hybrid
• Hippogriff (Medieval Bestiaries) - Hybrid of a griffon and horse, that is a lion-eagle-horse hybrid
• Hippopodes (Medieval Bestiary) - Horse-hoofed humanoid
• Hircocervus (Medieval Bestiary) - Deer-goat hybrid
• Hitodama (Japanese) - Ghosts of the newly dead, which take the form of fireballs
• Hitotsume-kozō (Japanese) - One-eyed child-like spirit
• Hob (English) - House spirit
• Hobbididance (English) - Malevolent spirit
• Hobgoblin (Medieval) - Friendly or amusing goblin
• Hodag (Native American) - part frog, part mammoth, part lizard, from Native American mythology
• Hōkō (Japanese) - Dog-like tree spirit from China
• Homa (Persian) - Eagle-lion hybrid, similar to a griffin
• Hombre Caiman (Colombian) - Human-alligator hybrid
• Hombre Gato (Latin America) - Human-cat hybrid
• Homunculus (Alchemy) - Diminutive, animated construct
• Hō-ō (Japanese) - Rooster-swallow-fowl-snake-goose-tortoise-stag-fish hybrid
• Hoopoe - A near passerine bird common to Africa and Eurasia that features in many mythologies in those continents
• Horned Serpent (Native American) - Serpentine rain spirit
• Hotoke (Japanese) - Deceased person
• Houri (Islamic) - Heavenly beings
• Hrímþursar (Norse) - Frost Giant
• Huaychivo (Mayan) - Human-deer hybrid
• Huldra (Norse) - Forest spirit
• Huli jing (Chinese) - Nine-tailed fox spirit
• Huma (Persian) - Regenerative fire bird
• Humbaba (Akkadian) - Lion-faced giant
• Hundun (Chinese) - Chaos spirit
• Hupia (Taíno) - Nocturnal ghost
• Hyakume (Japanese) - Creature with a hundred eyes
• Hydra (Greek) - Multi-headed water serpent/dragon
• Hydros (Medieval Bestiary) - Snake whose poison causes the victim to swell up
• Hydrus (Medieval Bestiary) - Snake from the Nile River that would kill crocodiles from the inside
• Hyōsube (Japanese) - Hair-covered kappa
• Hypnalis (Medieval Bestiary) - Snake that kills its victims in their sleep

legendary beings list : G

• Gaasyendietha (Seneca) - Dragon
• Gagana (Russian) - Bird with iron beak and copper talons
• Gaki (Japanese) - Ghosts of especially greedy people
• Gallu (Mesopotamian) - Underworld demons
• Galtzagorriak (Basque) - Diminutive, demonic servants
• Gamayun (Russian) - Prophetic bird with human head
• Gana (Hindu) - Attendants of Shiva
• Gancanagh (Irish) - Male fairy that seduces human women
• Gandaberunda (Hindu) - Double-headed bird
• Gandharva (Hindu) - Male nature spirits, often depicted as part human, part animal
• Gargouille (French) - Water dragon
• Garmr (Norse) - Giant, ravenous wolf
• Garuda (Hindu) - Human-eagle hybrid
• Gaueko (Basque) - Wolf capable of walking upright
• Ged (Heraldic) - The fish pike
• Gegenees (Greek) - Six-armed giant
• Genie (Arabian) - Elemental spirit
• Genius loci (Roman) - Spirit that protects a specific place
• German (Slavic) - Male spirit associated with bringing rain and hail
• Geryon (Greek) - Giant with three heads, six arms, three torsos and (in some sources) six legs
• Ghillie Dhu (Scottish) - Tree guardian
• Ghost - Disembodied spirits, specifically of those that have died
• Ghoul (Arabian) - Earth genie. Also a shapeshifting desert anthropophagus
• Giant (mythology)
• Giant animal (mythology)
• Gichi-anami'e-bizhiw (Ojibwa) - Bison-snake-bird-cougar hybrid and water spirit
• Gidim (Sumerian) - Ghost
• Gigantes (Greek) - Race of giants that fought the Olympian gods, sometimes depicted with snake-legs
• Gigelorum (Scottish) - Smallest animal
• Girtablilu (Akkadian) - Human-scorpion hybrid
• Gjenganger (Scandinavian) - Corporeal ghost
• Glaistig (Scottish) - Human-goat hybrid
• Glashtyn (Manx) - Malevolent water horse
• Gnome (Alchemy) - Diminutive Earth elemental
• Goblin (Medieval) - Grotesque, mischievous little people
• Gog (English) - Giant protector of London
• Gold-digging ant (Medieval Bestiaries) - Dog-sized ant that digs for gold in sandy areas
• Golem (Jewish) - Animated construct
• Gorgades (Medieval Bestiary) - Hairy humanoid
• Gorgon (Greek) - Fanged, snake-haired humanoids that turn anyone who sees them into stone
• Goryō (Japanese) - Vengeful ghosts, usually of martyrs
• Gremlin (Folklore) - Goblins that sabotage airplanes
• Griffin (Heraldic) - Lion-eagle hybrid
• Grigori (Christian) - Fallen angels
• Grim (English and Scandinavian) - Tutelary spirits of churches
• Grindylow (English) - Malevolent water spirit
• Grine (Moroccan) - Genie duplicate of a person. Lives in a parallel world
• Gualichu (Mapuche) - Malevolent spirit
• Gud-elim (Akkadian) - Human-bull hybrid
• Guhin (Japanese) - Anthropomorphic bird
• Gui Po (Chinese) - Ghost that manifests as an old woman
• Gui Shu (Chinese) - Ghostly tree that confuses travelers by moving
• Gulon (Germanic) - Gluttonous dog-cat-fox hybrid
• Gumiho (Korean mythology)- A demon fox with thousands of tails. Believed to possess an army of spirits and magic in its tails.
• Gwyllgi (Welsh) - black dog
• Gwyllion (Welsh) - Malevolent spirit
• Gyascutus (American folklore) - Four-legged herbivore
• Gytrash (Lincolnshire and Yorkshire) - black dog
• Gyūki (Japanese) - Bull-headed monster

legendary beings list : F

• Fachen (Irish and Scottish) - Monster with half a body
• Fairy (Many cultures worldwide) - Nature spirits
• Familiar (English) - Animal servant
• Far darrig (Irish) - Little people that constantly play pranks
• Faun (Roman) - Human-goat hybrid nature spirit
• Fear gorta (Irish) - Hunger ghost
• Feathered Serpent - Mesoamerican dragon
• Fenghuang (Chinese) - Rooster-swallow-fowl-snake-goose-tortoise-stag-fish hybrid
• Fenodyree (Manx) - House spirit
• Fenris (Norse) - Gigantic, ravenous wolf
• Fetch (Irish) - Double or doppelgänger
• Fext (Slavic) - Undead
• Finfolk (Orkney) - Fish-human hybrid that kidnaps humans for servants
• Fir Bolg (Irish) - Ancestral race
• Fire Bird (Many cultures worldwide) - Regenerative, solar bird
• Firedrake (Germanic) - Dragon
• Fish-man (Cantabrian) - Amphibious, scaled humanoid
• Fomorian (Irish) - Goat-headed giant
• Forest Bull (Medieval Bestiaries) - Giant, red cattle with swiveling horns
• Freybug - Norfolk black dog
• Fuath (Celtic) - Malevolent water spirit
• Fucanglong (Chinese) - Underworld dragon
• Funayūrei (Japanese) - Ghosts of people who drowned at sea
• Futakuchi-onna (Japanese) - Woman with a second mouth on the back of her head
• Fylgja (Scandinavian) - Animal familiar

legendary beings list : E

• Each Uisge (Scottish) - Malevolent water horse
• Eachy (English and Scottish) - Humanoid lake monster
• Eagle Spirit (Many cultures worldwide) - Leadership or guidance totem
• Ebu Gogo (Flores) - Diminutive humanoids, possibly inspired by Homo floresiensis
• Echeneis (Medieval Bestiaries) - Remora, said to attach to ships to slow them down
• Edimmu (Sumerian) - Ghosts of those not buried properly
• Egbere (Yoruba) - Humanoid that carries a magical mat
• Einherjar (Norse) - Spirits of brave warriors
• Ekek (Philippine) - Flesh-eating, winged humanoids
• Elbow Witch (Ojibwa) - Hags with awls in their elbows
• Eldjötnar (Norse) - Fire giant
• Eleionomae (Greek) - Marsh nymph
• Elemental (Alchemy) - Personification of one of the Classical elements
• ‘Elepaio (Hawaiian) - Monarch flycatcher spirit that guides canoe-builders to the proper trees
• Elf (Germanic) - Nature and fertility spirit
• Eloko (Central Africa) - Little people and malevolent nature spirits
• Emela-ntouka (Central Africa) - Gigantic, elephant-killing beast
• Emere (Yoruba) - Child that can move back and forth between the material world and the afterlife at will
• Emim (Jewish) - Giant
• Empusa (Greek) - Female demon that waylays travelers and seduces and kills men
• Encantado (Brazilian) - Dolphin-human shapeshifter
• Enchanted Moor (Portuguese) - Enchanted princesses
• Enfield (Heraldic) - Fox-greyhound-lion-wolf-eagle hybrid
• Enkō (Japanese) - Kappa of Shikoku and western Honshū
• Epimeliad (Greek) - Apple tree nymph
• Er Gui (Chinese) - Hungry ghost
• Erlking (Germanic) - Death spirit
• Erymanthian Boar (Greek) - Giant boar
• Ethiopian Pegasus (Medieval Bestiaries) - Two-horned, winged horse
• Ettin (English) - Three-headed giant
• Eurynomos (Greek) - Blue-black, carrion-eater in the underworld
• Ežerinis (Lithuanian) - Lake spirit

legendary beings list : D

• Dactyl (Greek) - Little people and smith and healing spirits
• Daemon (Greek) - Incorporeal spirit
• Daidarabotchi (Japanese) - Giant responsible for creating many geographical features in Japan
• Daitengu (Japanese) - The most powerful class of tengu, each of whom lives on a separate mountain
• Daitya (Hindu) - Giant
• Danava (Hindu) - Water demon
• Daphnaie (Greek) - Laurel tree nymph
• Datsue-ba (Japanese) - Old woman who steals clothes from the souls of the dead
• Dead Sea Apes (Islamic) - Human tribe turned into apes for ignoring Moses' message
• Deer Woman (Native American) - Human-deer hybrid
• Deity (Global) - Preternatural or supernatural being
• Demigod - Half human, half god.
• Demon - Malevolent spirit
• Dhampir (Balkans) - Hybrid between a human and a vampire
• Diao Si Gui (Chinese) - Hanged ghost
• Dilong (Chinese) - Chthonic dragon
• Dip (Catalan) - Demonic and vampiric dog
• Di Penates (Roman) - House spirit
• Dipsa (Medieval Bestiaries) - Extremely poisonous snake
• Dirawong (Australian Aboriginal) - Goanna spirit
• Di sma undar jordi (Gotland) - Little people and nature spirits
• Diwata (Philippine) - Tree spirit
• Dobhar-chu (Irish) - Dog-fish hybrid
• Do-gakw-ho-wad (Abenaki) - Little people
• Dokkaebi (Korean) - Grotesque, horned humanoids
• Dökkálfar (Norse) - Male ancestral spirits
• Dola (Slavic) - Tutelary and fate spirit
• Domovoi (Slavic) - House spirit
• Doppelgänger (German) - Ghostly double
• Drac (Catalan) - Lion or bull-faced dragon
• Drac (French) - Winged sea serpent
• Dragon (Many cultures worldwide)
• Dragon turtle (Chinese) - Giant turtle with dragon-like head
• Draugr (Norse) - Undead
• Drekavac (Slavic) - Restless ghost of an unbaptised child
• Drop bear (Australian) - a monstrous koala-like creature in Australian folklore
• Drow (Scottish) - Cavern spirit
• Drude (German) - Possessing demon
• Druk (Bhutanese) - Dragon
• Dryad (Greek) - Tree nymph
• Duende (Spanish) - Little people and forest spirits
• Duergar (English) - Malevolent little people
• Dullahan (Irish) - Headless death spirit
• Duwende (Philippine) - Little people, some are house spirits, others nature spirits
• Dvergr (Norse) - Subterranean little people smiths
• Dvorovoi (Slavic) - Courtyard spirit
• Dwarf (Germanic) - Little people nature spirits
• Dybbuk (Jewish) - A spirit (sometimes the soul of a wicked deceased) that possesses the living.
• Dzee-dzee-bon-da (Abenaki) - Hideous monster
• Dzunukwa (Kwakwaka'wakw) - Child-eating hag

legendary beings list : C

• Cabeiri (Greek) - Smith and wine spirits
• Cacus (Roman) - Fire-breathing giant
• Cadejo (Central America) - Cow-sized dog-goat hybrid in two varieties: benevolent and white, and malevolent and black
• Caipora (Tupi) - Fox-human hybrid and nature spirit
• Caladrius (Medieval Bestiary) - White bird that can foretell if a sick person will recover or die
• Calingi (Medieval Bestiary) - Humanoids with an eight-year lifespan
• Callitrix (Medieval Bestiary) - Apes who always bear twins, one the mother loves, the other it hates
• Calydonian Boar (Greek) - Giant, chthonic boar
• Calygreyhound (Heraldic) - Wildcat-deer/antelope-eagle-ox-lion hybrid
• Camahueto (Chilota) - One-horned calf
• Cambion (Medieval folklore) - Hybrid between a human and an incubus or succubus
• Campe (Greek) - Dragon-human-scorpion hybrid
• Candileja (Colombian) - Spectral, fiery hag
• Canaima (Guyanese) - Were-jaguar
• Canotila (Lakota) - Little people and tree spirits
• Caoineag (Scottish) - Death spirit (a specific type of Banshee/Bean Sídhe)
• Capa (Lakota) - Beaver spirit
• Căpcăun (Romanian) - Large, monstrous humanoid
• Carbuncle (Latin America) - A small creature with a jewel on its head
• Catoblepas (Medieval Bestiary) - Scaled buffalo-hog hybrid
• Cat Sidhe (Scottish) - Fairy cat
• Cecaelia - Modern term for mermaid-like, human-octopus hybrid
• Ceffyl Dŵr (Welsh) - Malevolent water horse
• Centaur (Greek) - Human-horse hybrid
• Cerastes (Greek) - Extremely flexible, horned snake
• Cerberus (Greek) - Three-headed dog that guards the entrance to the underworld
• Cercopes (Greek) - Mischievous forest spirit
• Cericopithicus (Medieval Bestiary) - Apes who always bear twins, one the mother loves, the other it hates
• Ceryneian Hind (Greek) - Hind with golden antlers and bronze or brass hooves
• Cetan (Lakota) - Hawk spirit
• Chakora (Hindu) - Lunar bird
• Chamrosh (Persian) - Dog-bird hybrid
• Chaneque (Aztec) - Little people and nature spirits
• Changeling (European) - Non-human humanoid child (fairy, elf, troll, etc.) substituted for a kidnapped human child
• Charybdis (Greek) - Sea monster in the form of a giant mouth
• Chepi (Narragansett) - Ancestral spirit that instructs tribe members
• Cherufe (Mapuche) - Volcano-dwelling monster
• Chibaiskweda (Abenaki) - Ghost of an improperly buried person
• Chichevache (Medieval folklore) - Human-faced cow that feeds on good women
• Chickcharney (Bahaman) - Bird-mammal hybrid
• Chimaera (Greek) - Lion-goat-snake hybrid
• Chindi (Navajo) - Vengeful ghosts that cause dust devils
• Chinthe (Burmese) - Temple-guarding feline, similar to Chinese Shi and Japanese Shisa
• Chitauli (Zulu) - Human-lizard hybrid
• Chōchinobake (Japanese) - Animated paper lantern
• Chollima (Korean) - Supernaturally fast horse
• Chonchon (Mapuche) - Disembodied, flying head
• Choorile (Guyanese) - Ghost of a woman that died in childbirth
• Chromandi (Medieval Bestiary) - Hairy savages with dog teeth
• Chrysaor (Greek) - Son of the gorgon Medusa, imaged as a giant or a winged boar
• Chukwa (Hindu) - Giant turtle that supports the world
• Chupacabras (North and Central America) - Sucks the blood out of livestock, believed to be reptile-like
• Churel (Hindu) - Vampiric, female ghost
• Ciguapa (Dominican Republic) - Malevolent seductress
• Cihuateteo (Aztec) - Ghosts of women that died in childbirth
• Cikavac (Serbian) - Bird that serves its owner
• Cinnamon bird (Medieval Bestiaries) - Giant bird that makes its nest out of cinnamon
• Cipactli (Aztec) - Sea monster, crocodile-fish hybrid
• Cirein cròin (Scottish) - Sea serpent
• Cluricaun (Irish) - Leprechaun-like Little people that are permanently drunk
• Coblynau (Welsh) - Little people and mine spirits
• Cockatrice (Medieval Bestiaries) - Chicken-lizard hybrid
• Cofgod (English) - Old English term meaning "cove-god"
• Colo Colo (Mapuche) - Rat-bird hybrid that can shapeshift into a serpent
• Corycian nymphs (Greek) - Nymph of the Corycian Cave
• Cretan Bull (Greek) - Monstrous bull
• Crinaeae (Greek) - Fountain nymph
• Criosphinx (Ancient Egypt) - Ram-headed sphinx
• Crocotta (Medieval Bestiaries) - Monstrous dog-wolf
• Cuco (Latin America) - Bogeyman
• Cucuy (Latin America) - Malevolent spirit
• Cuegle (Cantabrian) - Monstrous, three-armed humanoid
• Cuélebre (Asturian and Cantabrian) - Dragon
• Curupira (Tupi) - Nature spirit
• Cu Sith (Scottish) - Gigantic fairy dog
• Cŵn Annwn (Welsh) - Underworld hunting dogs
• Cyclops (Greek) - One-eyed giants
• Cyhyraeth (Welsh) - Death spirit
• Cynocephalus (Medieval Bestiaries) - Dog-headed humanoid

legendary beings list : C

legendary beings list : B

• Baba Yaga (Slavic) - Forest spirit and hag
• Backoo (Guyanese) - Malevolent little people
• Bagiennik (Slavic) - Malevolent water spirit
• Bahamut (Arabian) - Giant fish
• Bashe (Chinese) - Elephant-swallowing serpent
• Bai Ze (Chinese) - Talking beast which handed down knowledge on harmful spirits
• Ba Jiao Gui (Chinese) - Banana tree spirit
• Bake-kujira (Japanese) - A ghostly whale skeleton that drifts along the coastline
• Bakeneko (Japanese) - Magical cat
• Bakezōri (Japanese) - Animated straw sandal
• Bakhtak (Iranian) - Night demon
• Baku (Japanese) - Dream-devouring, tapir-like creature
• Bakunawa (Philippine) - Sea serpent that causes eclipses
• Balaur (Romanian) - Multi-headed dragon
• Bannik (Slavic) - Bathhouse spirit
• Banshee (Irish) - Death spirit
• Barbegazi (Swiss) - Dwarf with giant, snowshoe-like feet
• Bardi (Trabzon) - Shapechanging death spirit
• Barghest - Yorkshire black dog
• Bar Juchne (Jewish) - Gigantic bird
• Barnacle Geese (Medieval folklore) - Geese which hatch from barnacles
• Barong (Balinese) - Tutelary spirit
• Basajaun (Basque) - Ancestral, megalith-building race
• BasCelik (Serbian) - A powerful and very evil winged man whose soul is not held by his body and can be subdued only by causing him to suffer dehydration
• Basilisco Chilote (Chilota) - Chicken-serpent hybrid
• Basilisk (Medieval Bestiaries) - Multi-limbed, venomous lizard
• Batibat (Philippine) - Female night-demon
• Batsu (Chinese) - Drought spirit
• Baubas (Lithuanian) - Malevolent spirit
• Baykok (Ojibwa) - Flying skeleton
• Bean Nighe (Irish) - Death spirit (a specific type of Banshee/Bean Sídhe)
• Behemoth (Jewish) - Primal, gigantic land animal
• Bendigeidfran (Welsh) - Giant king
• Bennu (Egyptian) - Heron-like, regenerative bird, equivalent to (or inspiration of) the Phoenix
• Berehynia (Slavic) - Water spirit
• Bergrisar (Norse) - Mountain giant
• Bergsrå (Norse) - Mountain spirit
• Bestial beast (Brazilian) - Centauroid specter
• Betobeto-san (Japanese) - Invisible spirit which follows people at night, making the sound of footsteps
• Bhūta (Buddhist and Hindu) - Ghost of someone killed by execution or suicide
• Bi-blouk (Khoikhoi) - Female, anthropophagous, partially invisible monster
• Bies (Slavic) - Demon
• Bigfoot (American folklore) - Forest-dwelling apeman.
• Binbōgami (Japanese) - Spirit of poverty
• Bishop-fish (Medieval Bestiaries) - Fish-like humanoid
• Black Annis (English) - Blue-faced hag
• Black Dog (British) - Canine death spirit
• Black Shuck - Norfolk, Essex, and Suffolk black dog
• Blemmyae (Medieval Bestiary) - Headless humanoid with face in torso
• Bloody Bones (Irish) - Water bogeyman
• Bluecap (English) - Mine-dwelling fairy
• Bodach (Scottish) - Malevolent spirit
• Bogeyman (English) - Malevolent spirit
• Boggart (English) - Malevolent household spirit
• Boginki (Polish) - Nature spirit
• Bogle (Scottish) - Malevolent spirit
• Boi-tatá (Brazilian) - Giant snake
• Bolla (Albanian) - Dragon
• Bonnacon (Medieval Bestiaries) - Bull-horse hybrid with flaming dung
• Boo Hag (American Folklore) - Vampire-like creature that steals energy from sleeping victims
• Boobrie (Scottish) - Roaring water bird
• Bozaloshtsh (Slavic) - Death spirit
• Brag (English) - Malevolent water horse
• Brownie (English and Scottish) - Benevolent household spirit
• Broxa (Jewish) - Nocturnal bird that drains goats of their milk
• Bokkenrijders (Dutch) - Damned bandits
• Bugbear (English) - Bearlike goblin
• Buggane (Manx) - Ogre-like humanoid
• Bugul Noz (Celtic) - Extremely ugly, but kind, forest spirit
• Bukavac (Serbia) - Six-legged lake monster
• Bukit Timah Monkey Man (Singapore) - Forest dwelling immortal primate
• Bunyip (Australian Aboriginal) - Horse-walrus hybrid lake monster
• Buraq (Islamic) - Human-headed, angelic horse
• Bush Dai Dai (Guyanese) - Spirit that seduces and kills men
• Byangoma (Bengali) - Fortune-telling birds
• Bysen (Scandinavian) - Diminutive forest spirit

legendary beings list : A

• Á Bao A Qu (Malay) - An entity that lives in the Tower of Victory in Chitor.
• Aatxe (Basque) - A spirit that takes the form of a bull.
• Abassy (Yakuts) - Demons that have teeth of iron.
• Abada (African) - Small type of unicorn reported to live in the lands of the African Congo.
• Äbädä (Tatar) - Forest spirit
• Abaia (Melanesian) - Huge magical eel
• Abarimon (Medieval Bestiaries) - Savage humanoid with backward feet.
• Abath (Malay) - One-horned animal
• Abatwa (Zulu) - Little people that ride ants.
• Abura-bō (Japanese) - Spectral fire from Shiga Prefecture, in which the shape of a monk can often be seen.
• Abura-sumashi (Japanese) - creature from a mountain pass in Kumamoto Prefecture.
• Acephali (Greek) - Headless humanoids
• Acheri (Indian) - Disease-bringing ghost
• Achiyalabopa (Puebloan) - Rainbow-feathered birds
• Achlis (Roman) - Curious elk
• Adar Llwch Gwin (Welsh) - Giant birds that understand human languages.
• Adaro (Solomon Islands) - Malevolent merfolk
• Adhene (Manx) - Nature spirit
• Adlet (Inuit) - Vampiric dog-human hybrid
• Adroanzi (Lugbara) - Nature spirit
• Adze (Ewe people) - An African vampiric-forest being.
• Aerico (Macedonian) - Disease demon
• Afanc (Welsh) - Lake monster (exact lake varies by story).
• Agathodaemon (Greek) - Spirit of vinefields and grainfields.
• Agloolik (Inuit) - Ice spirit that aids hunters and fishermen.
• Agogwe (East Africa) - Small, ape-like humanoid.
• Ahkiyyini (Inuit) - Animated skeleton that causes shipwrecks.
• Ahuizotl (Aztec) - Anthropophagous dog-monkey hybrid.
• Aigamuxa (Khoikhoi) - Anthropophagous humanoid with eyes in its instep.
• Aigikampoi (Etruscan) - Fish-tailed goat
• Aigamuxa (Khoikhoi) - Man-eating Ogres
• Aitu (Polynesian) - Malevolent spirits or demons
• Aitvaras (Lithuanian) - Household spirit
• Ajatar (Finnish) - Dragon
• Akabeko (Japanese) - Red cow involved in the construction of Enzō-ji in Yanaizu, Fukushima
• Akamataa (Japanese) - Snake spirit from Okinawa.
• Akateko (Japanese) - Tree-dwelling monster
• Akhlut (Inuit) - Orca-wolf shapeshifter
• Akka (Finnish) - Female spirits or minor goddesses
• Akki (Japanese) - Large, grotesque humanoid
• Akkorokamui (Ainu) - Sea monster
• Akuma (Japanese) - Evil spirit
• Akupara (Hindu) - Giant turtle that supports the world.
• Akurojin-no-hi (Japanese) - Ghostly flame which causes disease.
• Al (Armenian and Persian) - Spirit that steals unborn babies and livers from pregnant women.
• Ala (Slavic) - Bad weather demon
• Alal (Chaldean) - Demon
• Alan (Philippine) - Winged humanoid that steals reproductive waste to make children.
• Al Basti (Turkish) - Female night-demon
• Alce (Heraldic) - Wingless griffin
• Alicanto (Chilean) - Bird that eats gold and silver.
• Alicorn - Technically a unicorn's horn. In modern times is commonly misapplied to winged unicorns.
• Alkonost (Slavic) - Angelic bird with human head and breasts.
• Allocamelus (Heraldic) - Ass-camel hybrid
• Allu (Akkadian and Sumerian) - Faceless demon
• Almas (Mongolian) - Savage humanoid
• Al-mi'raj (Islamic) - One-horned rabbit
• Aloja (Catalan) - Female water spirit
• Alom-bag-winno-sis (Abenaki) - Little people and tricksters
• Alp (German) - Male night-demon
• Alphyn (Heraldic) - Lion-like creature, sometimes with dragon or goat forelegs.
• Alp-luachra (Irish) - Parasitic fairy
• Al Rakim (Islamic) - Guard dog of the Seven Sleepers
• Alseid (Greek) - Grove nymph
• Alû (Assyrian) - Leprous demon
• Alux (Mayan) - Little people
• Amaburakosagi (Japanese) - Ritual disciplinary demon from Shikoku.
• Amala (Tsimshian) - Giant who holds up the world.
• Amamehagi (Japanese) - Ritual disciplinary demon from Hokuriku.
• Amanojaku (Japanese) - Small demon
• Amarok (Inuit) - Giant wolf
• Amarum (Quechua) - Water boa spirit
• Amazake-babaa (Japanese) - Disease-causing hag
• Amemasu (Ainu) - Lake monster
• Amorōnagu (Japanese) - Tennyo from the island of Amami Ōshima.
• Amphiptere (Heraldic) - Winged serpent
• Amphisbaena (Greek) - Serpent with a head at each end.
• Anakim (Jewish) - Giant
• Androsphinx (Ancient Egyptian) - Human-headed sphinx
• Angel (Christian, Islamic, Jewish, and Zoroastrian) - Heavenly being, usually depicted as a winged humanoid.
• Angha (Persian) - Dog-lion-peacock hybrid
• Ani Hyuntikwalaski (Cherokee) - Lightning spirit
• Ankou (French) - Skeletal grave watcher with a lantern and a scythe.
• Anmo (Japanese) - Ritual disciplinary demon from Iwate Prefecture
• Antaeus (Greek) - A giant who was extremely strong as long as he remained in contact with the ground
• Antero Vipunen (Finnish) - Subterranean giant
• Ao Ao (Guaraní) - Anthropophagous peccary or sheep
• Aobōzu (Japanese) - Blue monk who kidnaps children
• Apkallu (Sumerian) - Fish-human hybrid that attends the god Enki
• Apsaras (Buddhist and Hindu) - Female cloud spirit
• Aqrabuamelu (Akkadian) - Human-scorpion hybrid
• Ardat-Lili (Akkadian) - Disease demon
• Argus Panoptes (Greek) - Hundred-eyed giant
• Arikura-no-baba (Japanese) - Old woman with magical powers
• Arimaspi (Greek) - One-eyed humanoid
• Arion (Greek) - Extremely swift horse with a green mane and the power of speech
• Arkan Sonney (Manx) - Fairy hedgehog
• Asag (Sumerian) - Hideous rock demon
• Asakku (Sumerian) - Demon
• Asanbosam (West Africa) - Iron-toothed vampire
• Asena (Turkic) - Blue-maned wolf
• A-senee-ki-wakw (Abenaki) - Stone-giant
• Ashi-magari (Japanese) - Invisible tendril that impedes movement
• Asiman (Dahomey) - Vampiric possession spirit
• Askefrue (Germanic) - Female tree spirit
• Ask-wee-da-eed (Abenaki) - Fire elemental and spectral fire
• Asobibi (Japanese) - Spectral fire from Kōchi Prefecture
• Aspidochelone (Medieval Bestiaries) - Island-sized whale or sea turtle
• Asrai (English) - Water spirit
• Astomi (Hindu) - Humanoid sustained by pleasant smells instead of food
• Aswang (Philippine) - Carrion-eating humanoid
• Atomy (English) - Surprisingly small creature
• Ato-oi-kozō (Japanese) - Invisible spirit that follows people
• Atshen (Inuit) - Anthropophagous spirit
• Auloniad (Greek) - Pasture nymph
• Avalerion (Medieval Bestiary) - King of the birds
• Awa-hon-do (Abenaki) - Insect spirit
• Axex (Ancient Egyptian) - Falcon-lion hybrid
• Ayakashi (Japanese) - Sea-serpent that travels over boats in an arc while dripping oil
• Ayakashi-no-ayashibi (Japanese) - Spectral fire from Ishikawa Prefecture
• Aziza (Dahomey) - Little people that help hunters
• Azukiarai (Japanese) - Spirit that washes azuki beans along riversides
• Azukibabaa (Japanese) - Bean-grinding hag who devours people
• Azukitogi (Japanese) - Spirit that washes azuki beans along riversides

mythology???

The term mythology can refer to either the study of myths or a body of myths.[1] For example, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures,[2] whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece. The term "myth" is often used colloquially to refer to a false story;[3][4] however, the academic use of the term generally does not pass judgment on its truth or falsity.[4][5] In the study of folklore, a myth is a symbolic narrative explaining how the world and humankind came to be in their present form.[5][6][7] Many scholars in other fields use the term "myth" in somewhat different ways.[7][8][9] In a very broad sense, the word can refer to any traditional story.[10]

Nature of myths
Typical characteristics
The main characters in myths are usually gods or supernatural heroes.[11][12][13] As sacred stories, myths are often endorsed by rulers and priests and closely linked to religion.[11] In the society in which it is told, a myth is usually regarded as a true account of the remote past.[11][12][14][15] In fact, many societies have two categories of traditional narrative—(1) "true stories", or myths, and (2) "false stories", or fables.[16] Myths generally take place in a primordial age, when the world had not yet achieved its current form.[11] They explain how the world gained its current form[5][6][7][17] and how customs, institutions, and taboos were established.[11][17]
Related concepts
Closely related to myth are legend and folktale. Myths, legends, and folktales are different types of traditional story.[18] Unlike myths, folktales can take place at any time and any place, and they are not considered true or sacred by the societies that tell them.[11] Like myths, legends are stories that are traditionally considered true; however, they are set in a more recent time, when the world was much as it is today.[11] Also, legends generally feature humans as their main characters, whereas myths generally focus on superhuman characters.[11]
The distinction between myth, legend, and folktale is meant simply as a useful tool for grouping traditional stories.[19] In many cultures, it is hard to draw a sharp line between myths and legends.[20] Instead of dividing their traditional stories into myths, legends, and folktales, some cultures divide them into two categories — one that roughly corresponds to folktales, and one that combines myths and legends.[21] Even myths and folktales are not completely distinct: a story may be considered true — and therefore a myth — in one society, but considered fictional — and therefore a folktale — in another society.[22][23] In fact, when a myth loses its status as part of a religious system, it often takes on traits more typical of folktales, with its formerly divine characters reinterpreted as human heroes, giants, or fairies.[12]
Myth, legend, and folktale are only a few of the categories of traditional stories. Other categories include anecdotes and some kinds of jokes.[19] Traditional stories, in turn, are only one category within folklore, which also includes items such as gestures, costumes, and music.[23]
Origins of myth
Euhemerism
Main article: Euhemerus
One theory claims that myths are distorted accounts of real historical events.[24][25] According to this theory, storytellers repeatedly elaborated upon historical accounts until the figures in those accounts gained the status of gods.[24][25] For example, one might argue that the myth of the wind-god Aeolus evolved from a historical account of a king who taught his people to use sails and interpret the winds.[24] Herodotus (5th century BC) and Prodicus made claims of this kind.[25] This theory is named "euhemerism" after the novelist Euhemerus (c.320 BC), who suggested that the Greek gods developed from legends about human beings.[25][26]
Allegory
Some theories propose that myths began as allegories. According to one theory, myths began as allegories for natural phenomena: Apollo represents fire, Poseidon represents water, and so on.[25] According to another theory, myths began as allegories for philosophical or spiritual concepts: Athena represents wise judgment, Aphrodite represents desire, etc.[25] The 19th century Sanskritist Max Müller supported an allegorical theory of myth. He believed that myths began as allegorical descriptions of nature, but gradually came to be interpreted literally: for example, a poetic description of the sea as "raging" was eventually taken literally, and the sea was then thought of as a raging god.[27]
Personification
Some thinkers believe that myths resulted from the personification of inanimate objects and forces. According to these thinkers, the ancients worshipped natural phenomena such as fire and air, gradually coming to describe them as gods.[28] For example, according to the theory of mythopoeic thought, the ancients tended to view things as persons, not as mere objects;[29] thus, they described natural events as acts of personal gods, thus giving rise to myths.[30]
See also: Mythopoeic thought
The myth-ritual theory
According to the myth-ritual theory, the existence of myth is tied to ritual.[31] In its most extreme form, this theory claims that myths arose to explain rituals.[32] This claim was first put forward by the biblical scholar William Robertson Smith.[33] According to Smith, people begin performing rituals for some reason that is not related to myth; later, after they have forgotten the original reason for a ritual, they try to account for the ritual by inventing a myth and claiming that the ritual commemorates the events described in that myth.[34] The anthropologist James Frazer had a similar theory. Frazer believed that primitive man starts out with a belief in magical laws; later, when man begins to lose faith in magic, he invents myths about gods and claims that his formerly magical rituals are religious rituals intended to appease the gods.[35]
See also: Myth and ritual
Functions of myth
One of the foremost functions of myth is to establish models for behavior.[36][37]
Myths may also provide a "religious experience". By telling or reenacting myths, members of traditional societies detach themselves from the present and return to the mythical age, thereby bringing themselves closer to the divine.[14][37][38] In fact, in some cases, a society will reenact a myth in an attempt to reproduce the conditions of the mythical age: for example, it will reenact the healing performed by a god at the beginning of time in order to heal someone in the present.[39]. Modern culture also explores "religious experience": because it is not the job of science to define human morality, a religious experience is an attempt to connect with a perceived moral-past, which is in contrast with the technological present.[40]
The study of mythology: a historical overview
Historically, the important approaches to the study of mythology have been those of Vico, Schelling, Schiller, Jung, Freud, Lévy-Bruhl, Lévi-Strauss, Frye, the Soviet school, and the Myth and Ritual School.[41]
This section describes trends in the interpretation of mythology in general. For interpretations of specific similarities and parallels between the myths of different cultures, see Comparative mythology.
Pre-modern theories
The critical interpretation of myth goes back as far as the Presocratics.[42] Euhemerus was one of the most important pre-modern mythologists. He interpreted myths as accounts of actual historical events, distorted over many retellings. This view of myths and their origin is criticised by Plato in the Phaedrus (229d), in which Socrates says that this approach is the province of one who is "vehemently curious and laborious, and not entirely happy . . ." The Platonists generally had a more profound and comprehensive view of the subject: Sallustius,[43] for example, divides myths into five categories – theological, physical (or concerning natural laws), animastic (or concerning soul), material and mixed. This last being those myths which show the interaction between two or more of the previous categories and which, he says, are particularly used in initiations.
Although Plato famously condemned poetic myth when discussing the education of the young in the Republic – primarily on the grounds that there was a danger that the young and uneducated might take the stories of Gods and heroes literally – nevertheless he constantly refers to myths of all kinds throughout his writings. As Platonism developed in the phases commonly called 'middle Platonism' and 'neoplatonism', so such writers as Plutarch, Porphyry, Proclus, Olympiodorus and Damascius wrote explicitly about the symbolic interpretation of traditional and Orphic myths.[44]
Varro distinguished three aspects of theology, besides political (social) and natural (physical) approaches to the divine allowing for a mythical theology.[citation needed]
Interest in polytheistic mythology revived in the Renaissance, with early works on mythography appearing in the 16th century, such as the Theologia mythologica (1532).
19th-century theories
The first scholarly theories of myth appeared during the second half of the 19th century.[42] In general, these 19th-century theories framed myth as a failed or obsolete mode of thought, often by interpreting myth as the primitive counterpart of modern science.[45]
For example, E. B. Tylor interpreted myth as an attempt at a literal explanation for natural phenomena: unable to conceive of impersonal natural laws, early man tried to explain natural phenomena by attributing souls to inanimate objects, giving rise to animism.[46] According to Tylor, human thought evolves through various stages, starting with mythological ideas and gradually progressing to scientific ideas. Not all scholars — not even all 19th century scholars — have agreed with this view. For example, Lucien Lévy-Bruhl claimed that "the primitive mentality is a condition of the human mind, and not a stage in its historical development."[47]
Max Müller called myth a "disease of language". He speculated that myths arose due to the lack of abstract nouns and neuter gender in ancient languages: anthropomorphic figures of speech, necessary in such languages, were eventually taken literally, leading to the idea that natural phenomena were conscious beings, gods.[48]
The anthropologist James Frazer saw myths as a misinterpretation of magical rituals, which were themselves based on a mistaken idea of natural law.[49] According to Frazer, man begins with an unfounded belief in impersonal magical laws. When he realizes that his applications of these laws don't work, he gives up his belief in natural law, in favor of a belief in personal gods controlling nature — thus giving rise to religious myths. Meanwhile, man continues practicing formerly magical rituals through force of habit, reinterpreting them as reenactments of mythical events. Finally, Frazer contends, man realizes that nature does follow natural laws, but now he discovers their true nature through science. Here, again, science makes myth obsolete: as Frazer puts it, man progresses "from magic through religion to science".[35]
By pitting mythical thought against modern scientific thought, such theories implied that modern man must abandon myth.[50]
20th-century theories
Many 20th-century theories of myth rejected the 19th-century theories' opposition of myth and science. In general, "twentieth-century theories have tended to see myth as almost anything but an outdated counterpart to science […] Consequently, moderns are not obliged to abandon myth for science."[50]
Swiss psychologist Carl Jung (1873–1961) tried to understand the psychology behind world myths. Jung asserted that all humans share certain innate unconscious psychological forces, which he called archetypes. Jung believed that the similarities between the myths from different cultures reveals the existence of these universal archetypes.[51]
Joseph Campbell believed that there were two different orders of mythology: that there are myths that, "are metaphorical of spiritual potentiality in the human being", and that there are myths, "that have to do with specific societies", but also, that myths have four basic functions: the Mystical Function--experiencing the awe of the universe; The Cosmological Function--explaining the shape of the universe; The Sociological Function--supporting and validating a certain social order; and The Pedagogical Function--how to live a human lifetime under any circumstances.[52]
Claude Lévi-Strauss believed that myths reflect patterns in the mind and interpreted those patterns more as fixed mental structures — specifically, pairs of opposites (i.e. good/evil, compassionate/callous) — than as unconscious feelings or urges.[53]
In his appendix to Myths, Dreams and Mysteries, and in The Myth of the Eternal Return, Mircea Eliade attributed modern man’s anxieties to his rejection of myths and the sense of the sacred.
Mythopoeia is a term coined by J. R. R. Tolkien for the conscious attempt to create fiction styled like myths.
In the 1950s, Roland Barthes published a series of essays examining modern myths and the process of their creation in his book Mythologies.
Comparative mythology
Main article: Comparative mythology


Old Belgian banknote, depicting Ceres, Neptune and caduceus.
Comparative mythology is the systematic comparison of myths from different cultures.[2] It seeks to discover underlying themes that are common to the myths of multiple cultures.[2] In some cases, comparative mythologists use the similarities between different mythologies to argue that those mythologies have a common source. This common source may be a common source of inspiration (e.g. a certain natural phenomenon that inspired similar myths in different cultures) or a common "protomythology" that diverged into the various mythologies we see today.[2]
Nineteenth-century interpretations of myth were often highly comparative, seeking a common origin for all myths.[54] However, modern-day scholars tend to be more suspicious of comparative approaches, avoiding overly general or universal statements about mythology.[55] One exception to this modern trend is Joseph Campbell's book The Hero With a Thousand Faces, which claims that all hero myths follow the same underlying pattern. This theory of a "monomyth" is out of favor with the mainstream study of mythology.[55]