Rare Monsters

  A striga is a vampire like demon from Slavic and Polish folklore. It has owl like features, such as feathers, golden eyes and bird like talons. It can also shape shift into an owl at will. Strigas are strictly nocturnal, coming out at night to feast on the blood and flesh of the living. A striga comes from a person, usually female, that was born with two souls. This person will have various signs that they have two souls, usually having duplicated body parts, such as having two rows of teeth or two heartbeats. If this person is found out in life, they will be cast out of society to go die in the wilderness. If they're not found out they will continue to live like a normal person while they're still alive. On death one of the souls moves onto the afterlife while the other stays trapped in the body. When this happens the stiga begins to transform. They'll start out looking like they did in life, just with pale grey skin. Over time they will transform, gaining long need...

The yeongno is a demon from korea. There is little written about it and no folk tails where it appears. Instead the yeongno come from korean theatre, specifically small local plays to entertain the common folk. The type of theatre it appears in is the gamyeongeuk, a type of play where actors wear masks to play stalk characters, and the Kkokdugaksinoreum, a puppet show. These plays with the yeongno were performed to mock the yangban. The yangban were the wealthy elites of past Korea's highly stratified society. In these plays the yeongno is banished from heaven for some crime which isn't eluded upon. To reenter heaven the yeongno has to eat 100 yangban. The yeongno would creep up on the yangban and play it's willow pipe with a distinct bibibi tune, to strike fear in the yangban who was being stalked. This gives the yeongno it's alternate name of Bibi. The yeongno costume consists of a mask with a long crocodile like snout, and a long robe or blanket with scale pattern...

  The Wawel dragon, also known as Smok Wawelski and the dragon of Krak ó w. It's legend is tied with the founding of Krak ó w and the life of its earliest ruler, King Krakus. The earliest account of the dragon comes from the 13 th century. No description of the dragon's appearance is given in the legend. However there's a statue of the dragon at the foot of Wawel hill in Krak ó w, near the entrance of a cave known as the dragon's den. This statue depicts a strange and spiky looking dragon with eight legs and fin like wings. The legend goes that in the time of King Krakus, the legendary founder of Krak ó w, a dragon lived in a cave under Wawel Castle. The dragon would ravage the countryside, devouring people and livestock. To avoid the dragon's wrath people would satiate it's hunger with three cows and three rams a day, a hefty toll in livestock. Many knights tried to slay the dragon but none succeeded. Then a cobbler named Scuba came up with a plan. He fille...

  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 odontotyrranus is a giant and fearsome monster that attacked Alexander the Great as he entered India. The beast is described as being larger than an elephant, having a bull like body, and horse like head. Its most notable features were three large horns on its head and a wide mouth full of predatory teeth. The beast was also semi-aquatic and wallows in water like a hippopotamus. It was black in color and its head was darkest. Its name means toothy tyrant. The legend of the odontotyrranus states that Alexander's men made camp by a river after entering India. Two different versions state that the odontotyrranus either came down to the river to drink, or was wallowing in the water and lunged out of the river at them. Alexander's men fought the beast as it rampaged through their camp. It killed 26 men and injured 52. The odontotyrranus was carnivorous and able to swallow a human whole with ease. One of Alexander's commanders, Emendus, Duke of Arcadia finally brought the b...

  The knucker dragon was a water dragon who lived in a pond in Sussex England during the medieval and renaissance periods. It was a water dragon, but didn't have many water like features to its appearance. It looked like a stretched out western dragon with a long serpent like body. It is consistently depicted as red in color. The dragon was also considered unusually clever and conniving, and was capable of talking, which usually wasn't something dragons were capable of doing until modern fantasy. The name knucker is derived from words like nix or nacken, showing a connection back to malicious water fae. The pond the dragon inhabited is known as the knucker hole, and still exists on the Somptings Estate. Legend goes that the knucker dragon was quite a threat to the surrounding communities, coming out of its pond at night and eating livestock and people. The people begged an authority figure, in some version the local mayor of Lyminster, in other version they went all the way t...

  The jimplecute is a vampiric reptile from Ozark legend. It is a rarely heard of fearsome critter and shouldn't be confused with the gowrow, the more famous reptile from the region. There are two different descriptions of the jimplecute. The original appearance is of a long serpentine reptile, yet still baring short legs. It has skin the texture of dead leaves, which allows it to hide better in the forests. It even had the chameleon like ability to change color, so to blend in with leaves of different seasons. This jimplecute is able to wrap around its victims like a python to immobilize them while it feeds on their blood. The more modern version of the jimplecute is of a vampiric dinosaur, usually something similar to a raptor. This interpretation comes from the book We Always Lie to Strangers by Vance Randolph, which is a book about Ozarks folklore. There Mr Randolph describes the jimplecute as a prehistoric. Although I think he meant that all reptiles are primitive in his e...

  Azi Dahaka, also known as Zahak, was a dragon in early Persian mythology. He first appears in the Avesta and the later Denkard texts of the Zoroastrian religion. The legend of Azi Dahaka continued in folklore after the Muslim conquest of Persia, where he appeared in the epic poem Shahnama. Azi Dahaka was described as a three headed dragon, unlike other person dragons, which are usually single headed and long bodied, like an evil version of far eastern dragons. In the Avesta Azi Dahaka was the son of Ahriman. Even though he was a dragon he had the intellect and cunning of a human, and could take human form. With his human cunning Azi Dahaka was so evil he committed every form of sin. Later in the Shahnama, Azi Dahaka, then named Zahak, was said to be a human 'blessed' with evil magic and foresight by Ahriman, but Ahriman's touch leaves two snakes which grow from Zahak's shoulders which must be fed with human flesh. In the Avesta Azi Dahaka lived in Babylon and worshipp...

  Yayu is a vicious man eating monster from Chinese mythology. He has the face of a human and a body that is a mix of lion and dragon, like an eastern version of the manticore. Yayu started out as the son of Zhulong, and was a beautiful and well loved god. He was kind hearted before his death and transformation. However he was killed by Wei, one of the constellation gods. Zhulong was distraught over the death of his son and begged the heavens to bring Yayu back to life. The heavenly emperor warned that such things are dangerous, but seeing how much Zhulong grieved, he allowed it. Yayu was brought back from the dead. However doing so violated the natural order of things, which transformed him into a monster. Not only was he transformed into a beast like form, but he violently attacked everything around him, killing and eating humans. Because of this the legendary archer, Hou Yi was sent to kill Yayu again.  

  The straggeles are a group of Christmas demons from Switzerland, Austria and the alpine parts of Germany. They are the helpers of Frau Perchta, the crone of winter. She's a supernatural witch who's responsible for punishing the naughty during the holiday season. The straggeles are also known as the perchten, as they're Perchta's followers. Perchta is seen as a complex character, having both good and bad aspects. She's the upholder of cultural rules, and there for while she casts curses on people and sends her straggele demons out to torment them she does it for a purpose, to punish those people who ignore cultural traditions. Straggels look very similar to Krampus, the main difference being Krampus is an individual demon where as there are multiple straggeles. The exact number is never specified. Straggeles have a typically demonic face with a hooked nose, sharp chin, jagged teeth and glaring eyes. They have large goat horns on their heads, ranging in number from...

  The Plat Eye is a ghostly undead monster from America Folklore. It's found along the gulf coast, into Georgia and up into South Carolina. The legend of the plat eye was told primarily among African Americans. The plat eye is a ghostly predatory beast, usually a large cat. Its most distinguishing feature is its single large eye, which glows red. Often all a person will see of the plat eye is its glowing eye staring at them from the darkness. The plat eye's body is pale white or grey, like a lifeless corps. Often its flesh is rotten and its guts are hanging out, furthering the undead appearance.   The plat eye can shape shift into the forms of a headless human, a sickly black calf or a black dog. The plat eye can also appear and disappear at will. Plat eyes haunt bayous and crossroads after midnight, and are never seen in the light of day. They fade out of existence in the sunlight. The plat eye surrounds itself in mist and appears out of the fog. Plat Eyes are the restl...

  Valravn, meaning raven of the slain, is a sort of boogieman from Denmark. Valravns were created when a raven ate the flesh of the fallen in battle who had not been given a proper burial. The valravn was a thoroughly evil creature that sought to bring harm to the surrounding communities. After being transformed the valravn gained human intelligence and various magical abilities that allowed it to spread pestilence and misfortune. It also gained the ability to shape shift into wolves or a half wolf – half raven form. Even with these abilities valravns still sought out more power. The one thing they desired the most was the ability to take on the form of a black knight, which they could only gain by devouring the heart of a child. How they accomplished this was usually left to the imagination. However in one traditional Danish song a valravn offered to protect a maiden on her way to her marriage in return for her first born child, echoing similar trickster deals made with fairies an...