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Mythical Creatures Around the World
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Phoenix
Origin: Ancient Greco-Roman mythology. Description: A long-lived bird that cyclically regenerates or is otherwise born again. Associated with the sun, a phoenix obtains new life by arising from the ashes of its predecessor.
Wendigo
Origin: Algonquian Native American folklore. Description: A mythical man-eating creature or evil spirit native to the northern forests of the Atlantic Coast and Great Lakes Region of the United States and Canada. The wendigo is associated with murder, insatiable greed, and the cultural taboos against such behaviors.
Kappa
Origin: Japanese folklore. Description: A water demon that inhabits rivers and lakes and likes to challenge humans to sumo wrestling, known for pulling pranks, and sometimes attacking them. They are described as roughly humanoid in form and about the size of a child, with scaly skin that ranges in color from green to yellow or blue.
Hydra
Origin: Greek mythology. Description: A serpentine water monster with many heads. For each head cut off it is said that the Hydra would regrow two heads. It was killed by Hercules as one of his Twelve Labors.
Leprechaun
Origin: Irish folklore. Description: A type of fairy of the Aos Sí in Irish folklore, usually depicted as little bearded men, wearing a coat and hat, who partake in mischief. They are solitary creatures who spend their time making and mending shoes and have a hidden pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
Mermaid
Origin: Various cultures worldwide. Description: An aquatic creature with the head and upper body of a human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids are often associated with perilous events such as floods, storms, shipwrecks, and drownings.
Chimera
Origin: Greek mythology. Description: A monstrous fire-breathing hybrid creature, composed of the parts of more than one animal. It is usually depicted as a lion, with the head of a goat protruding from its back, and a tail that ends with a snake's head.
Banshee
Origin: Irish folklore. Description: A female spirit who heralds the death of a family member, usually by wailing, shrieking, or keening. Many legends attribute banshees to being ancestors or some form of faerie.
Cerberus
Origin: Greek mythology. Description: Often referred to as the 'hound of Hades', it is a multi-headed dog that guards the gates of the Underworld to prevent the dead from leaving.
Yokai
Origin: Japanese folklore. Description: A class of supernatural monsters, spirits, and phantoms in Japanese stories. They come in many different shapes and sizes and often possess animal features, although they can be spirits of inanimate objects as well.
Naga
Origin: Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. Description: Divine or semi-divine deities, or a serpentine race that could take either wholly human or wholly serpentine form and are often associated with water and sometimes with mystical initiation.
Sphinx
Origin: Egyptian and Greek mythology. Description: A mythical creature with the head of a human, the haunches of a lion, and sometimes the wings of a bird. It is mythicized as treacherous and merciless but will kill itself if a riddle it posed is answered.
Griffin
Origin: Ancient Near Eastern and Mediterranean mythology. Description: A creature with the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle. As the lion was traditionally considered the king of the beasts and the eagle the king of the birds, the griffin was thought to be an especially powerful and majestic creature.
Minotaur
Origin: Greek mythology. Description: A creature with the head of a bull on the body of a man; it dwelt at the center of the Labyrinth, which was an elaborate maze-like construction designed by the architect Daedalus and his son Icarus, on the command of King Minos of Crete.
Dragon
Origin: Various cultures worldwide. Description: Large, serpentine legendary creatures that appear in the folklore of many cultures around the world. Beliefs about dragons vary by region, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as winged, horned, and capable of breathing fire.
Unicorn
Origin: Various, including Ancient Greek natural history and European folklore. Description: A legendary, single-horned horse or goat-like animal. The unicorn is often depicted as a symbol of purity and grace; its horn was said to have the power to render poisoned water potable and heal sickness.
Golem
Origin: Jewish folklore. Description: An animated anthropomorphic being, created entirely from inanimate matter (usually clay or mud). The word was used to mean an amorphous, unformed material in Psalms and medieval writing.
Roc
Origin: Middle Eastern folklore. Description: An enormous legendary bird of prey, often white, reputed to be strong enough to carry off elephants. Stories of the roc appear in Arabian fairy tales and sailors' folklore.
Troll
Origin: Norse mythology and Scandinavian folklore. Description: A class of being in Norse mythology and Scandinavian folklore, generally described as oversized, ugly, and slow-witted creatures which reside in isolated rocks, mountains, or caves, and live in small family units.
Kraken
Origin: Norse mythology and Scandinavian folklore. Description: A legendary sea monster of gigantic size and cephalopod-like appearance in Scandinavian folklore. According to the Norse sagas, the Kraken dwells off the coasts of Norway and Greenland and terrorizes nearby sailors.
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