Rare Monsters

  The ushi oni is a monstrous yokai found in western Japan, usually along the coast or near rivers and waterfalls. The name mean ox demon. The most common depiction of the ushi oni is one with a bull's head and a spider's body. Although the spider part is just supposed to represent 'a form of demonic evil' and isn't inherently connected to spiders. However the name ushi oni refers to many local monsters with varying appearances. Ushi onis are cruel and violent monsters. They almost exclusively eat people. Occasionally they are said to attack live stock, but this is usually to lure people out. Ushi onis also breath out toxic gas and spread a variety of diseases. Ushi onis have a variety of behaviors and ways of hunting people. Some lay in wait in their layers and pounce upon unaware victims. These layers are usually along the coast in sea caves, as well as inland in dangerous river features such as whirlpools and waterfalls. Some rare ushi oni live far inland,...

  The hadhayosh was a giant bull from Persian mythology. It was also known as the sarsaok. The hadhayosh had six horns and a flaming mane. It's body was made of brass. There were multiple hadhayoshes made, each one exactly 52 feet tall and 57 tons in weight. The hadhayosh were created by 'the god of the forge'. While there are various angels or lesser gods in Zoroastrianism, I couldn't find exactly who this god of the forge was. Possibly Khshathra Vairya, the angel of metals, that would be my best guess. The hadhayoshes were primordial beings who were created right after the earth was finished. They were tasked with carrying the newly created humanity across the Voutkasha sea from the land of the gods to the know world. Once they had reached the mortal world the hadhayosh acted like normal cattle, grazing on the ample grasslands. The hadhayosh were slain and prepared like cattle by the newly arrived humans. When the hadhayosh were slain 55 species of grain and 12 spe...

  The escornau was an unusual unicorn from Ahigal, Spain. It was a vicious beast the terrorized the village sometime in the 16 th century. It was a hybrid creature with the head of a boar, ears of a rabbit, front body of a bull and back end of a horse. It had a cork screw unicorn horn in the middle of its forehead. There are two versions of its origin. Either the escornau was sent by god as a punishment for the village's sinful ways. Alternately the beast was the union between two different species of farm animal. Pretty much any combination of the four animals that make up the escornau were said to be the parents, a cow and a stallion, or a bull and a sow, or a horse and a rabbit, I honestly don't know how that one would work. Either way, there was so much sin in this village that even the farm animals per partaking in it. The escornau would use its horn as a weapon, impaling its victims with it. It would sharpen its horn on rocks to keep its tip as sharp as a spear. The be...

  The ophiotaurus was a monster who's front half was that of a bull, with a snake's tail replacing the back legs. It's only known appearance was from Fasti by Ovid. Although he's retelling a story from the lost Greek poem Titanomachia. The ophiotaurus was a primordial being existed at the beginning of time when the world was forming. At that time animals were not fully formed and so had miss matched parts from the wrong species. The ophiotaurus, as well as the other first animals, were born from the goddess Gaia without a mate. The bull was so toxic that its flesh could kill any being. If its entrails were burned (such as was done in ritual sacrifices) then the smoke would kill the gods. The bull was otherwise peaceful and not inclined to harm other creatures. Because of this the bull was trapped in a triple walled ring, within an endless dark forest, on the far side of the river Styx. During the Titanomachy one of the titans' allies, either Briareus the Hecatonch...

  The indrik is a gigantic unicorn from Slavic mythology. The Indrik has ancient roots going back to Slavic paganism and predates Christianity bringing legends of western European unicorns to Russia. Its inspiration may lie with the Khara from Persia, a similarly huge unicorn. The indrik was massive, being larger than all other beasts. It was also said to be the 'father' of beasts, being both their originator and an example for them to strive towards. The indrik was associated with strength and might. It was also associated with purity and protection from evil, even before associations with western European unicorns. The indrik was the opponent of serpents, both small and monstrous. The indrik had the head of a bull, the body of a horse and the hooves of a deer. There was a large single horn in the middle of its forehead the color of amber. Although two horned depictions exist as well, usually with the horns one in front of each other, like a rhinoceros. The indrik is best kn...

  The hodag is a fearsome critter from lumberjack folklore, a hoax perpetrated by a businessman trying to advertise his resort, and the beloved mascot of Rhinelander Wisconsin. The hodag looks like a giant, green, hairy beast, with a short bulldog face and prominent tusks. The hodag has bull like horns on it's head and a row of spikes running down it's back. It has a long reptilian tail, tipped with a spike at the end. The legend of the hodag starts in 1893 with resort owner Eugene Shepard. He created the hodag as a hoax to stir up interest in the area around Rhinelander so people would visit his resort. Mr. Sheperd reported that he and a group of hunters had a battle in the forest with the vicious hodag. They had fought off the beast with hunting rifles, hounds and 'poisoned water' in toy squirt guns. All their efforts were to no avail though, until one of the hunters finally killed the hodag by throwing a stick of dynamite at it. At first people were intrigued and ...

  Many real creatures were turned into mythical beasts in the Medieval era. The hyena inspired the crocotta, the wildebeest the bonnacon and the ibex the yale. Yet few beasts have strayed so far from their real life inspiration as the antelope and the calopus. The antelope was first known in Europe by the ancient Greeks, who called it antelopos. The records of Alexander the Great called them aeternae and the Romans called them calopus, which means pretty foot. The name calopus continued through the Medieval period as a mostly separate creature from antelopes. Medieval bestiaries varied on whether they had entries on the calopus, antelope or both. Eventually the calopus became a symbolic beast in heraldry, where it gained its most unfamiliar form yet. The antelope known to the ancient Greeks was considered a fearsome beast, yet it still had the overall form of a goat or a roe deer. The calopus had dangerous serrated horns which it used to shred tree branches. It would hesitate to ...

  You would think that belief in unicorns would have ended in the medieval era and by the time the Americas were being explored people would have moved on from such notions. On the contrary, with all the strange wildlife being discovered around the world in the age of exploration interest in the possibility of unicorns was reignited in the minds of explorers and naturalists. In 1539, in the area of New Spain which would today be New Mexico there were reports by Friar Marcos de Niza that there existed a city of gold beyond the Zuni Pueblos. He said he had visited this city and seen untold treasures there. Some of these treasures he described in great detail, including the hide of an unknown animal. De Niza said it was like that of a large bull, but had a single horn on forehead, which pointed back towards its breast. No cities or creatures like these have ever been found. Its unknown what Marcos de Niza saw, or if he had made up the entire report, and why.   The next unicorn w...