Monsters From Around the World – Part 2

Here is the second part to Monster from Around the World! More nightmares for you…

Africa

  • Lukwata: Living in Lake Victoria in Africa’s Great Rift Valley, the Lukwata is a carnivorous monster with a small squat head and a very long neck from the Baganda folklore. Its body is similar to a dolphin’s and it is brown with a white underbelly. Measuring 20 to 30 feet, it is known to attack boats. It has been sighted at least once, and there is no evidence to prove the monster’s existence, but also none that disproves it beyond wild theories of giant eel or anaconda. 
  • Werehyena: Unlike the werewolf, the Werehyena is believed to be a hyena disguised as a human, and sometimes the other way around. Originating from North Africa, the Werehyenas, sometimes travelling alone or in packs, can control their transformation and have an insatiable hunger for human meat. Being nocturnal, they have the ability to see people in the dark, and they emit hyenas’ characteristic noise, sometimes sounding like humans. They are believed to sometimes call out people’s names during the night in hopes of tormenting people and luring them from their homes to eat them. Associated to blacksmiths, the beasts apparently like to rob graves, to pillage, to engage into cannibalistic activities and to make horse shoes. This monster originated from the fear of the hyena in cultures exposed to actual hyenas in their everyday lives.
  • The Lukwata (9)
  • A Werehyena (10)

Asia

  • Ghoul: Mentioned in the Arabian Nights, the Ghoul comes from Arabic folklore and is a creature which prowls in graveyards and consumes human flesh, ideally 10 to 15 pounds of flesh a day. The small population of ghouls is spread over the world and they have been sighted on all continents, the last time been in 2013. When a ghoul is sated, it is undistinguishable from human beings, and can even take on the appearance of the person they consumed, but as it gets hungrier, it looks less and less human until, when starving, it becomes extremely thin and pale, the skin so translucent its veins can be seen. A food deprived ghoul loses all humanity and falls into madness.   
  • Kappa: Never reaching five feet of height, the Kappa is a malevolent but intelligent creature that inhabits the lakes and ponds of Japan. With webbed hand and feet, the monster can swim very fast. Covered with scales varying from yellow to green to blue, the Kappa has a shell similar to a tortoise and a humanoid face, as well as hair in a bowl cut. Fond of pranks, the Kappa’s jokes range from harmless, like making a fart noise, to brutal, like drowning livestock, kidnapping and eating children and even raping women. The instances of generosity are however often linked to a Kappa being in debt of a human, the main reason for this being that a person has refiled the creature’s “sara”. The “sara” is a small bowl filled with water on the top of the monster’s head, which must be filled when the Kappa leaves water so it can retain its magical powers and its life. Its biggest weakness is its respect of politeness, which makes them bow back when someone does, effectively spilling their “sara” water. Sightings are still shared nowadays and, in smaller regions, peasants put up signs to ward off people form the waters.
  • Futakuchi-onna: Meaning “two-mouthed woman”, the Futakuchi-onnas pose as young women, but with a slight difference: they have a second mouth, hidden in their thick, long hair. The mouth is big and full of teeth and very hungry, a hunger that is satisfied by strands of hair acting as tentacles and bringing food to the hidden mouth. This legend is said to explain why certain wives eat very little, and it goes that the second mouth eats twice as much as the regular one. When unfed, the mouth can hurt the woman and scream, and when fed, it can still mumble hateful things.
  • A Ghoul (11)
  • A Kappa (12)
  • A Futakuchi onna (13)

Oceania

Any suggestions of scary monsters from Oceania? Please exclude the Drop Bear…

Antarctica

Ningen: Mostly present in Japan, the legend of the Ningen places a humanoid form living in the waters around Antarctica. Completely white and measuring between 20 and 30 meters, it has eyes and a mouth, as well as arms, legs and fingers. It has been sighted many times by crew members and scientists since the 1960s, and it has once been mistaken for a submarine before disappearing from the radars. There is currently nothing that proves that the Ningen is a hoax, but the fact that most sightings happen at night make concrete proofs (pictures) hard to obtain. Many explanations are out there, but none is set in stone

  • A Ningen (14)
  • A Ningen (15)

References:

Sources for pictures:

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