Rare Monsters

  Tianlu Pixiu The pixiu is a mythical beast from China. It first appeared in the Han dynasty (206 BC to 220 AD) and are still popular today, although both their appearance and role have changed greatly over the centuries. Today the pixiu are bringers of wealth and associated with the practice of feng shui. Bixie Pixiu There are two types of pixiu. The bixie, or female pixiu, has two horns or antlers. It was responsible for guarding its masters and protecting them from harm. The tianlu was the male and only had one horn or antler. The male was responsible for guarding and attracting wealth. Today the bixie pixiu has largely been forgotten about and pixius are almost always depicted with one horn. Likewise the pixiu has become more associated with wealth than protection. The pixiu comes in several colors. It is often gold, to represent its association with wealth. It can also be black to represent its protective aspects. The pixiu is often depicted as white or red as well. O...

  Bai Ze is a monster from Chinese mythology. It’s also found in Japan, where it’s known as hakutaku. It is a good and pure creature responsible for warding off evil spirits. The bai ze was a wise and intelligent creature. It was one of the nine spiritual beasts which resided in heaven. Bai ze descended to Earth where it taught the Yellow Emperor about the various harmful ghosts in the world and how to expel them. These lessons resulted in the Bai Ze Diagram, a scroll depicting various harmful spirits and how to ward them off. The Bai Ze is mentioned many times throughout Chinese literature. Over time the bai ze became a protective charm. Images of the beast were hung in homes or carried with people to ward off ghosts and disease. The bai ze has many varying appearances in Chinese mythology. In the History of Yuan, written in 1370, the bai ze was described as having the head of a tiger, the body of a dragon, a single horn and a red mane. In the Sancai Tuhui, written in 1609, the ba...

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 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...

  Denglong, also known as Wangtianhou, Chaotianhou and Hou, is a chimeric beast from Chinese mythology. It's sometimes considered a dragon and other times its own type of creature. Denglong has the qualities of several other animals: antlers of a deer, a camel's head, cat ears, shrimp eyes, a donkey's mouth, lion's mane, snake neck, sea serpent's belly, carp scales, eagle's talons and tiger's back legs. Incidentally, this list of features is very similar for Chinese dragons, who are often similarly described as having the features of many common animal. Denglong said to be one of the sons of the dragon emperor, although I didn't see it listed when researching the nine sons before. Yet Denglong looks very similar to Chaofeng's beast form and there may be some confusion between them, similar to how cockatrice and basilisk are used interchangeably in European mythology. Denglong is said to be the most powerful of beasts. And is capable of fighting and ...

  To end off the one year anniversary month I'm featuring one of the strangest beast I've ever found in mythology, the khara. Also known as the three legged ass, it's a unicorn found in Zoroastrian mythology, which is like no other. Khara means donkey in Sanskrit, it's name in Persian is xar-i-se-pay. It's one of the oldest written accounts of a unicorn like creature and likely influenced every other unicorn from Europe and western Asia. The idea of unicorns purifying water with their horn certainly originated with the khara. The overall appearance is like a donkey, and the khara was said to be a divine donkey. It was as tall as a mountain. It had three legs that were like tree trunks. The khara had six eyes, two in the normal location, two on top the head, and two on the shoulders. With this arrangement of eyes the khara could see in all directions at once and no threat could sneak up on it. The strangest aspect of the khara is that it is covered in extra mouths...

 The nine sons of the dragon are a group of hybrids and dragons that were the sons of the dragon emperor, usually either Longwang or Huanglong. Each of these character were used as motifs or decorations on objects, believed to impart their power or skill into the object. While there's always said to be nine sons in total, the list of sons varies greatly. There are some core members that end up on all lists, while others appear only occasionally as one of the sons. Dragons are often associated with the number nine, being a combination of nine different animals, having nine forms they pass through as they age, and having scales in multiples of the number nine. The order of the sons also changes with every list. But Bixi is consistently the eldest son. Consistent members: Bixi Bixi The eldest son. A turtle dragon hybrid who is associated with foundations, strength and dependability. He is depicted at the bottom of pillars, seemingly holding them on his back or shell.   Bi'...

  In the west dragons are usually associated with evil. This is especially true in the bible where Satan takes on the form of a dragon even. So it will surprise many that there are angelic dragons too. The chalkydri are angelic beasts that had the heads and tails of crocodiles, the bodies of lions and twelve wings. They were burning hot and glowed with fiery radiance. The name chalkydri meant copper serpent in ancient Greek, although the chalkydri were said to be purple in color. The chalkydri were described in the apocryphal Second Book of Enoch, where they were said to live in the heavenly sphere of the sun (the level of the heavens the sun occupied in it's rotation around the Earth in the Earth-centric Aristotelian model of the universe, rather than specifically in the sun itself). They shared this home with the phoenixes. The chalkydri were high ranking angels, associated with the similarly fiery seraphim. They were commanded by Uriel. Every morning the chalkydri and phoenixe...

  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...

  Shinchus are good monsters and considered holy. They are protective minor deities and are known as the divine insects. While shinchus look terrifying they only attack demons, especially those which cause disease. Shinchus violently rip these demons apart, leaving a trail of gore and blood. Every day a shinchu will devour six thousand demons, three thousand in the morning and three thousand in the evening. It's said the shinchu's appetite is as big as it is. Shinchus are silk moths the size of elephants or larger. They have bulging eyes, gaping mouths full of sharp teeth and a wasp like stinger. According to the myth, shinchus originated in India in the mythical lands of Jambudvipa. Of the four lands surrounding Mount Meru, Jambudvipa is the only one inhabited by humans and the only one where enlightenment could be achieved in one life time purely through study. Because such things could be achieved only in this one land it was under constant attack from demons who wanted to s...

  One of the most notable differences of Asian dragons from European dragons is the lack of wings, with Asian dragons having the magical ability to levitate effortlessly into the sky. This is true for most, but Yinglong is consistently depicted with wings, giving him a visually striking difference from other Asian dragons. Yinglong means responding dragon, a fitting name as his role was to respond to the emperor when he had requests to send to the heavens. Yinglong was also a weather deity, responsible for bringing rainfall. A role he shared with many other dragons. Yinglong appears several times in classic Chinese literature. In the Song of Chu , Emperor Yu was tasked with ending the floods destroying China when the previous emperors could not. He called on Yinglong to show him where to dig drainage canals. These canals then became the borders of the nine classical provinces of China. In The Classic of Mountains and Seas Yinglong and the Yellow Emperor's daughter Ba battled aga...

  The xiezhi was said to be a single horned ram, with black fur and burning eyes. Although in artistic depictions it more often looks like a cross between a qilin and a lion, always with a single horn or antler. The xiezhi is an ideally just beast and can intrinsically distinguish between the just and unjust people in the world. It is a highly intelligent beast and can understand all human languages. The xiezhi will hunt down evil doers and stab them with its single horn and devour them. It was believed that the legendary emperor Shun had a captive xiezhi, who would preside over court hearings and ram the guilty party. The censorate of the Ming and Qing periods wore xiezhi badges as a sign of their office. Among common people the image of the xiezhi was believed to ward off evil and protect them from crime. Similar creatures could be found in other parts of Asia. In Japan it was known as the sinyou and in Korea it was known as the haetae.  

  The al-miraj is one of those monsters who's on the edge of being well known. More and more people have heard of it as of recently, but few people know anything about it other than being the 'unicorn bunny'. The al miraj comes from the Arabic translations of the tale of Alexander the Great. In this account Alexander travels to Jazirat Al-Tinnin, or Sea Serpent Island. There the locals are being tormented by a serpent like dragon who is devouring their livestock. Alexander defeated the dragon by filling a cow hide with poisonous substances. The dragon subsequently swallowed the decoy and was killed. For his efforts the islanders gave Alexander the al miraj as a gift. The al-miraj is always depicted as a horned rabbit or hare that's golden yellow in color. It tends to vary more in image then it does in written description. Occasionally the al miraj is drawn with leopard spots, or a gazelle stripe, while other times it's left plain. The texts always describe the al...

  In traditional Chinese folklore there are five dragon kings associated with each direction. There's Qinglong, the azure dragon of the east and of spring. Chilong, the red dragon of the south and of summer Bailong, the white dragon of the west and of autumn Heilong, the black dragon of the north and of winter And Huanglong, the yellow imperial dragon of the center and of late summer These directional associations exist in addition to the four beasts of the directions, the vermilion bird of the south, the white tiger of the west, the black turtle of the north and the azure dragon of the east, where Qinglong makes it into both groups. Already in early history there existed folk religion incantations to five seasonal dragons for rainmaking rituals. Although there were many different dragon king associated with smaller regional areas rather than one codified group of dragon kings. Later, Confucius texts associated each season with directions and colors, further codifying ...

  Everyone has heard about qilins. Although fewer people realize that the qilin is not as unicorn like as it is typically depicted. The qilin was originally depicted with two horns before comparisons between it and western unicorns were made. However there are other one horned beasts in Chinese mythology, several in fact. One being the luduan, which shares many aspects with both qilin and unicorns, and had a single horn before western influence. Written descriptions of luduan depict it as deer like, green in color and having a single antler or horn. Sculptural depictions instead show the luduan as a cat like creature with paws. Legends about the luduan say it could run 18 000 li in a day (7000 km), speak every known language and detect the truthfulness of a speaker. The luduan was a peaceful creature who hated violence in any form. Accounts by Buddhist monk, Yelu Chucai say the luduan appeared before Genghis Khan and convinced him to abandon his conquest in India. Although it's ...

  The wamp ( Caudasal lakeshorekearni ) is one of the fearsome critters of lumberjack lore. It was a small and peaceful creature. The wamp was about the size of a raccoon and has a salt bag shaped body. It had a long, hollow tail with a salt shaker at the end and it would use this tail to leave salt licks for deer over the winter. Hunters caught wise to this and started following the wamp around to more easily find deer. So the wamp's efforts to help deer ended up in them being hunted down instead. Because April Fools is tomorrow I wanted a feature a light hearted and silly creature this time.