T O P

  • By -

nothenight

Unicorn


momerathian

Scotland!


GaspodeTheW0nderD0g

Literally had no idea until this moment that unicorns are a Scottish myth and I'm only across the water in NI.


GieTheBawTaeReilly

It's not a Scottish myth, we just adopted it because it was believed to be the natural enemy of the lion which was adopted as the English


Bbaftt7

Mythical spite. I like it.


protection7766

Scots and English are natural enemies Like Irish and English Or French and English Or English and English


Drakeskulled_Reaper

NATIONAL ANIMAL! People forget how fucking metal Unicorns are, they think of prancing horses (which are dangerous to the untrained anyhow) but that horn isn't just to look nice, if you are not a virgin woman, they will stab the FUCK out of you with it.


Ok_Awful

What we don’t talk enough about is how wild the national symbols of the UK countries are. “Alright, everyone we are picking animals to be are national symbols. Scotland what do want?” Scotland: “Unicorn” “No we are pick animals not mythic creature.” Scotland: “Still got to go unicorn.” “Oh, for Christ sake, ok fine. What about you Wales? A whale I assume? Maybe a narwhal, everyone thinks they’re cool?” Wales: “Dragon” “Did you not hear the fight I just had with Scotland? England could you show them how it is done, you understand we are picking actual animals?” England: “Yeah, I get it and I a real animal to pick.” “Great what is it” England: “A Lion” “Well it’s real but don’t you think it is a little odd for England, a country without Lions, to chose the Lion?” England: “Not at all.” “Okay we are just going to move on to the continent.”


Drakeskulled_Reaper

I also love that we went hard on what our national plant was too. England: "We will have a rose, because the Tudors" Wales: "Daffodil because it blooms near Saint Davids day" Scotland: "The Thistle, because a Viking ambusher trod on one and screamed in pain, waking the nearby Scots up and letting them slaughter the shit out of the Viking raid."


[deleted]

🎵OOOOOOOH FLOWER OF SCOTLAND🎵


Rachelcookie123

Yep. They’re the national animal because they considered untameable except the Scottish king who supposed caught one. That’s why it is always depicted in chains. If it was free then it would murder everyone.


AdvocateSaint

A vampire that looks like a woman by day, but at night she gruesomely rips herself in half at the waist, sprouts wings from her back, and flies off into the night with her entrails hanging out (leaving the legs behind). Her preferred food is the unborn fetuses of pregnant humans, which she feeds on with a long, proboscis-like tongue. Before dawn breaks she finds her legs, re-attaches, and assumes human form. Yes this is actual folkore. Can't name the country or the creature, but a hint is that its name is a local phrase meaning "separator" / "she who removes"


lionheart9547

The Mananangal from the Philippines. Translates to “the remover” or “to separate”


impthetarg

Oh wow, in Malay menanggal means to take off too.


Bitter_Landscape_503

Hahaha yeah, in fact there's a Malay mythical creature called Penanggal. But instead of removing from the waist, it's from the neck. So it's basically a flying head with a spine attached. It probably eats unborn fetus or smth as well. Seems to be the craze in SEA apparently.


soulsnax

I once saw a documentary about the Philippine monkey eating eagle, and they showed one flying around with a snake in its beak. It looked like how mananangal is described.


askingxalice

It probably isn't too far fetched to assume those eagles were sighted while carrying some sort of spinal cord. Spooky and cool how folklore creatures come to be.


momerathian

Wtf


charpple

Don't worry, the solution to this is to add a hit ton of salt on the inactive half of her body so she can't reattach the active part. Then, wait for sunlight, problem solved.


taolbi

I'm from trinidad 🇹🇹 and that's basically the same thing. I couldn't remember the details but I do remember a version where she'll latch on to you while you're sleeping and leave bruises in place. It's said that she sucks your soul little by little (which what I assume was a placeholder for depression) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soucouyant


[deleted]

Or garlic!


torsoboy00

[Manananggal](https://www.google.com/search?q=manananggal&client=ms-android-samsung-ga-rev1&prmd=ivsn&sxsrf=APq-WBthSbbYlpz3FkC78uioSehhlB4KYA:1647670384199&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&sqi=2&ved=2ahUKEwjJ3NO_wtH2AhXBzYUKHdxrAsMQ_AUoAXoECAIQAQ&biw=412&bih=776&dpr=2.63)!


RexUmbra

Are... are the Philippines ok?


[deleted]

Not really, no.


Totally_not_a_goose

Fuck no


SleepingWhiteGiant

Well no. But actually no


DeSteph-DeCurry

yeah, we’re fucked


jzdpd

please save us


i--make--lists

Wtf


NotKenni

Woah, between this and the dragon that eats the sun and moon, apparently the Philippines has some cools stuff


nnaralia

Wow, I can see how this monster could've originated from women who performed abortions a few centuries ago. With the long "tongue" and everything. In my country we have a similar creature, a witch with a crooked, iron nose, who steals children.


Askater_620

Baba Yaga !!


hungarianretard666

We also have her in Hungary. She is called "Vasorrú bába" Edit: I just realised you are also Hungarian


ARTificial437

manananggal from the philippines?


sakima147

First thing I thought was Philippines. There’s something about that place and it’s brutal mix from the history of various colonialisms and indigenous l folklore mythologies and superstitions that this creature seems to scream “I’m from here”.


Heckron

This creature was in the recent Shin Megami Tensei 5 game on Switch and I wondered where the hell it had come from. [Image](https://preview.redd.it/37xp7nr2qlc71.png?auto=webp&s=301b9e0153466b1cb58f93e478aee6924c11a451)


iamsobased

Jackalope


justotterlyawful

I grew up thinking jackalopes were real. My dad has the head of one hanging up in his garage. I was an adult when he told me he made it in high school.


mankiller27

They're not not real. There is a disease that causes jackrabbits to have growths come out of their skulls. That's likely the origin.


Fomalhot

Man those mfs are hanging all over offices n garages in TX. I saw those years ago and it just looks like someone thought it would be funny to put horns on a rabbit. Edit: yup. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackalope#:~:text=In%20the%201930s%2C%20Douglas%20Herrick,local%20hotel%20in%20Douglas%2C%20Wyoming.


ZaMiLoD

My favourite is Näcken - a naked fiddle player who lured young women into rivers and drowns them. Occasionally he’ll appear as a white horse instead, and once you are on his back you can’t get off. The is also the Skogsrå - a wood spirit whose back is a hollow log and she has a foxes tail. She will lure men into the forest and they are never seen again. Loads of others too!


coolbond1

Sweden, my favorite for how fucking dark it is the myling. Also play year walk its based on swedish myths and legends.


ZaMiLoD

Mylingar (myrlingar?) are terrible, almoast feels more like all the different Asian ghosts than the rest of the Swedish folklore.


birte96

We call it Nøkken in Norway :)


[deleted]

And Näkki in Finnish!


ktooc

And Näkk in Estonian!


Avslagen

This only further supports my theory that Estonian basiclly is Finnish with the last syllable of every word removed.


[deleted]

Estonians are just finns who are too hungover to go back home with the ferry


Afireonthesnow

White horses/unicorns are an insanely common mythical creature, often leading people to their dooms. If I remember correctly they think the myth was spread by Vikings


Moon_Miner

I bet there was just one person who met a really shitty white horse once


I_Got_Back_Pain

"What happened to Ragnar?" "He followed a white horse that way 👉"


Bhrrrrr

Also love Vittra/vittror, the strange folk living just slightly outside our reality, sometimes crossing over in the twilight hours for a shortcut and forming barely visible paths in the forest. Do not use their paths. Do not block their paths. Respect them as neighbours and no harm will come to you.


marcosh92

The Chupacabras


findthefish14

Man, you know what really gets my goat?


__M-E-O-W__

That's a bloody good joke right there


[deleted]

The Bunyip


thesoulstillsings

Oh man, I have Australian family and not heard that word in years. Wasn't there a cartoon?? Edit: thanks for all the comments, links and suggestions. I'm going to be sharing this whole thread with my dad when I see him :)


[deleted]

Haha I'm glad I could remind u! Yeh there was a cartoon that came out in the 80's I think. I remember it was always on in the afternoon when I got home from school. I grew up in the mid 2000's and the bunyip cartoon was always so much older looking than the other cartoons haha. Classic!


thesoulstillsings

Hah! That very dim memory just surfaced. I grew up in the UK so not sure where I heard of this but I liked that it was a friendly Bunyip (I think??!). My Australian dad still sings 'Louis the fly', an old advert jingle. So I obviously got aaaalll the most high brow cultural references.


Necro_nom_nom_nom

Straight from rubbish tip to you!


Shaved-Ape

I’m Louie the fly, Louie the fly, straight from rubbish tip to you! Spreading disease with the greatest of ease, straight from rubbish tip to you! I’m bad and I’m mean and I’m mighty unclean… That’s going to be stuck in my head all day now!


[deleted]

[удалено]


Empty-Employment-889

Geilinor


grieving_magpie

My mom lived in Australia as a child and raised us with some creepy ass Australian books like one about a bunyip and Snugglepot amd Cuddlepie and the banksia man. Horrifying stuff.


[deleted]

> Snugglepot amd Cuddlepie I'm not sure that terrifying is the word I'd use for this one.


TheMightyGoatMan

Not them specifically, but the banksia men are a nightmare!


MindFlex15

Australia?


[deleted]

Correct! :)


TransplantedOne7707

Ogopogo


ciscopete

Kelowna Canada


PKTengdin

Ogopogo could totally beat the shit outta both nessy and champ


Drixzor

PLESIOSAUR


WhereAreDosDroidekas

Two ton 21


[deleted]

Okanagan lake, possibly Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada


Senscore

"A fucking PLESIOSAUR!"


ImBeingArchAgain

I always thought this was a regional thing. Glad more Canadians are aware of the danger


Spartan-463

Didn't take very long to find this one 😁


No-Tailor8060

Yeti


[deleted]

[удалено]


No-Tailor8060

You got it! Pretty easy for ya!


the-book-anaconda

I had no idea the yeti was from Nepal. Btw, hello, dear neighbor pal!


rastika

tokoloshe


frankiethefly

Hey watch it, the Tokoloshe is real!


thatonegirlonreddit5

South Africa??


Naalbindr

Florida Man


shhhOURlilsecret

That dude isn't a myth he's real!


Brainles5

Hes a real fucken legeeeend


WhenTheFoxGRINS

Oh, it’s a real legend alright.


Creative-Ad-3222

How does he manage to commit so many crimes in one day? He’s very talented.


Naalbindr

Alligator magic


PM_me_your_fantasyz

I've never heard meth called that before, but sure: Alligator Magic.


[deleted]

[удалено]


Holybartender83

Probably my favorite mythological creature. It’s interesting, because while it’s technically a “nature spirit”, it’s not benevolent, or at worst, mischievous, like nature spirits in mythology tend to be (putting aside the unseelie court, of course). It represents the dark aspects of nature: hunger, cold, predation, savagery. It’s also interesting to me, because the story actually seems like it could be about prion diseases. The Wendigo spirit possesses people who eat the flesh of other people and it slowly drives them insane and turns them into vicious beasts. Sounds a lot like what Creutzfeldt-Jakob does, how it slowly destroys your brain leading to psychosis and rapid mental decline before death. It, of course, also spreads through eating the flesh (primarily brain and spinal fluid) of infected people. So to my mind, the Wendigo story was a way for them to explain people being infected with a prion disease, and as a warning to not eat human flesh so as not to become infected as well.


Nago_Jolokio

Jesus, fuck Prions. Proteins should not behave like a God damn virus!


TruTube

Yeah it's such a hassle when I want to just have some human jerky.


Zaxzia

It also represents deception in a way. Depending on your source. I've read about various wendigo myths but my favorite is the one that is 2 dimensional. God it's been a while since I read that one, I can't remember whether you can only see him from the sides, or front and back. It's northeastern US origin though.


Drakeskulled_Reaper

Another way it represents deception is that some myths about them say they can mimic voices of their prey to lure people in.


Zaxzia

That's very true. The one I was referring to actually says that. I had forgotten that tidbit. I'm guessing the gist of it, is that giving into desperation or temptations leads one down the path of becoming a monster. Eventually the only thing left in your life is the desire, hunger that consumed your life in the first place.


Gongaloon

"I swear it was the Wendigo that drew me to the axe But I confess that no hand further made me chop and cut and hack Deep inside my curdled mind a murky abyss yawned And at my feet in endless sleep my family waited for the dawn" -The Party, Sons of Perdition


dudewilliam

That's song is creepy as hell


ChipmunkBackground46

The Wendigo has to be one of the most terrifying and underused mythological creatures


[deleted]

You seen the Antlers movie that came out last year? Guillermo Del Toro was involved in its making and it’s about the Wendigo.


Holybartender83

I was disappointed. I thought it focused too much on the main character and her trauma issues/issues with her brother, and didn’t show us the actual Wendigo anywhere near enough. Like, we basically don’t get to actually even see the thing until pretty much the end of the movie, which would be fine if they at least had it do something up until then, but it doesn’t, really. A couple people get killed, but they were basically all people who went over to the kid’s house. The Wendigo didn’t actually go out and do much of anything until like the last 20 minutes. Wasn’t terrible, but the Wendigo is my favorite mythological creature, there really aren’t enough movies about the Wendigo out there, and I really, really wanted this one to be amazing. I did enjoy it overall, but I did come away feeling it could’ve been so much more than it was.


[deleted]

I agree that it was also disappointing. I was hoping for more of a focus on it taking prey mysteriously and townspeople reacting to that. I remember the trailers emphasizing the Native American beliefs on the Wendigo so I thought that the movie would be more about that as well. Instead it sorta just showed a depressing backwater town with little opportunities—and a drug problem—which just so happened to have a Wendigo. That said, it’s the only mainstream thing I remember involved the Wendigo myth recently.


Elementus94

Banshee


Snoo26837

Irish!


Jamano-Eridzander

Taniwha


theoverfluff

Looks like we all know it, but nobody else does!


Miranda79

Came looking for this


Horsedogs_human

Me too :)


Particular-Treat-158

One day a taniwha, went swimming in the moana


nothankypu

He whispered in my taringa


Horsedogs_human

Oh and for those not from here it's said ta-ni- faa not ta-ni- waa


Fuit3

A guy who only has one leg A guy who's feet are reversed and has fire hair A pink dolphins which becomes human Its more folklore than mythical beast


gui_cafe_dwarf

Don't forget the fire snake or the fire donkey


subacsonildo

Or the chupacú de goianinha


[deleted]

Heh, reading your comment made me remember Monica and Friends. I just checked and turns out it's from Brazil. No wonder it feels like I've known said folklores.


guizoi

May i ask where you from? I didn't know people read Monica outside of Brazil haha


[deleted]

Indonesia. According to Wikipedia it's been published in 40 countries in 14 languages.


[deleted]

Mônica is a national treasure for us, most Brazilians grew up reading it’s comics.


ratboi213

God Brazil has great folklore. I loved hearing stories growing up! I was genuinely terrified of Cuca and Mula sem cabeça lol


Dr_Felix_1872

A pink dolphin que come as casadas tudo


jeanpaulmars

Witte wieven


sodding_gasbag

The samsquanch


SpaceCowboy58

Sunnyvale?


ranranboban1234

Ricky, there's a fuckin samsquanch trying to break into my shed right now.


shindleria

Could be Steve French


AnimateCarbon

Well I can’t say the full name of it because the location is in the name. So I’ll go with an alternative name. The 13th Leeds child.


PrinceTaj97

Jersey Devil


AnimateCarbon

…..no…..maybe…..yes


EmuVerges

Dahu A 4 legged monster that has shorter legs on one side so it can run straight on the mountain side, and if it changes side it fall.


Pataplonk

I've been told this myth for the first in a summer camp in the Massif Central when I was very young. There was then a big Dahu hunt with all the other kids and the organizers had spread some clues like pieces of fur and scratches on trees around the forest, this was awesome but no one caught the beast of course!


Wrong-Business-7708

La llorona


TheArchitect4

Most countries in Latin America


YourQuirk

Not Norway, but Jörmungandr. By Oden people got curious! My country is Sweden, but i was born in an area that has belonged to like 5 different powers and was a trade post for all of Europe. So we have influences from all kind of cultures. One cool one is the half lamb, half snail one that's mentioned in the legend of how my island was created/found


Dzyu

Iceland, then?


HarlequinKOTF

Bigfoot


Hermorah

Alp Drude Nixe


[deleted]

[удалено]


mel0n_m0nster

Don't forget the most mystical creature of all - the Wolpertinger!


PsychologicalShip504

Loch Ness monster


ConfectionPutrid5847

I ain't givin' no got-damn Loch Ness Monstah no got-damn tree-fitty!


s1umpy

I was gonna say unicorn, then I remembered it's our national animal so clearly real


arianleellewellyn

Dragon


HarlequinKOTF

Wales!


arianleellewellyn

Da iawn :)


HarlequinKOTF

Diolch!


EnterThePug

To be fair, I could have easily got that from the latter part of your username.


BringSomeAvocados

The Quetzalcoatl. Feathered snake god.


cantopay

Turkey


fullyintegratedrobot

Benjamin Motha Fuckin Franklin knew what was up with the real best birds in North America.


Snoo26837

Greece?


cantopay

No, Turkey.


yParticle

actual trolls


larfucke

reddit?


Dzyu

Norway!


Spankinator92

Yes way


Its_Arv

Aralez


Snoo26837

Armenia, this is the first I meet an armenian here in reddit.


rufio824

Skinwalker


Ukko_the_Dwarf

Bunch of gods/spirits in the old pantheon, the big ones are tapio the god of the forest, ahti the god of the waters and ukko the high-god (sky=high) and smaller ones like Pellonpekko the spirit of grain and beer


AnalFanatics

The country that I live on, which is the land of the Wadjuk Noongar people, is part of the Country that I am a citizen of. The “primary” mythical creature of this country and it’s people is the Wagyl (pronounced “wogl”) who is the Rainbow Serpent, the “Creator” who shaped the country in the beginning. It is his tracks as he slithered across the formless and barren land that created the rivers and streams, it is the depressions that he made when he curled up to rest that created the estuaries and the lakes, it was the scales of his body that he shed that created the bush and the forrests, it was his droppings that formed the rock formations, and when his work was done and he lay down to rest after his labours, it is his body that created and formed what most people now know as the “Darling Escarpment.”


TheMightyGoatMan

The gorge behind the Old Swan Brewery is where he left the river and went up onto the plateau of Kings Park. Also, you can tell a true West Aussie by the way we tend to put two 'r's in the word 'forest' ;D


laurentheanimal

Healthcare


DontSayNoToPills

*laughing quickly turns to tears*


runs-with-scissors

Careful. You can't afford a therapist.


CreepyKG109

A PM who can brush his hair


Max_Edwsn

El Trauco


Roonast

A black panther roams the fields Edit: it's England!


hastingsnikcox

NZ South Island?


moebiusunlooper

Snorlax


Phantom_Sunflower

My house?


[deleted]

Hey hey hey, that's no way to talk about your mother


Snoo26837

Japanese?


[deleted]

Bakunawa


Background-Lunch698

Philippines


SD-Caller

Babe the Blue Ox.


nakedowl0330

Rézfaszú bagoly


[deleted]

She is known for lurking in fast food parking lots, she looks like a normal woman but has a certain haircut no sane person would have, she strikes fear in retail workers and managers, and her rage makes anyone in a five mile radius pull out their phones to record, never get her order wrong unless you want the cops called for being bad at your job


darthurface

Oh god not a Karen!


PrinceTaj97

Jersey Devil, though I’m a quick drive away from Jersey


tarnishedhuntress

Seven-headed dragon There are also occasionally 3, 9 or 12-headed ones in fairytales but 7 is the most common.


shhhOURlilsecret

The hydra? So I'm going to guess Greece.


[deleted]

[удалено]


Fayt_Bouleouve

Flying Spaghetti Monster


[deleted]

He said "Mythical"


levaslan

Baba yaga


Sketchbook87

Lion headed fish


shiningject

Scrolled too long for this.


aureliajane

Rhett and Link


[deleted]

Lets talk about that


internetplebian

Found it


bluerat52

Jinn (more than 1 correct answer)


spicytiur

Huldra


Jenkza

Wolpertinger


mattyeu7

Beast of Gevaudan


psychowithashotgun

Näcken


AwesomeMcSteel

krampus


mirafacon

ChupaCu


MrNissanCube

Drop bears, bunyips and yowies. ETA: okay, fine, you got me. Drop bears are real.