What's your favorite Cryptid/ monster etc?

[Acid Lamp]

Chupacabra? Bigfoot? Goblins or maybe the infamous Mongolian Death worm? What legendary critter/ being is your favorite? I'm always looking for interesting creatures to sculpt, so I thought what better forum than the dope to learn about strange stuff from around the world.

[MegaBee]

Originally Posted by Acid Lamp

Chupacabra? Bigfoot? Goblins or maybe the infamous Mongolian Death worm? What legendary critter/ being is your favorite? I'm always looking for interesting creatures to sculpt, so I thought what better forum than the dope to learn about strange stuff from around the world.

El Chupacabra, with Spring-Heel Jack coming in a close second. The Mothman is third.

[Acid Lamp]

Spring heel jack is pretty cool. I hadn't thought of him in ages.

[Wile E]

I used to be pretty fond of the Loch Ness Monster but I had a co-worker who was always talking about el chupacabra and that got me interested in it. Plus it's fun to say.

[Sailboat]

Whatever vocalized "the Bloop".

[Acid Lamp]

Originally Posted by Sailboat

Whatever vocalized "the Bloop".

The bloop is bigger than my house. I don't think there is enough AB foam in the world to sculpt that likeness. Besides everyone knows that was Cthulhu farting in his sleep.

[blondebear]

Mokele-mbembe

[Gagundathar]

Another vote for the Loch Ness Monster.

[Colibri]

Mokele-mbembe, a dinosaur-like creature that lives in a lake in the Congo.

Also, the Mapinguari of South America.

[StusBlues]

For a good long time, I was convinced the 1896 Giant Octopus was probably the real deal--it was reasonably well-researched, and there wasn't a smoking gun debunking it. Then a nearly-identical specimen washed ashore in Chile. Analysis showed it was essentially a gutted whale. More precise analysis of the 1896 specimen suggested the same thing.

Alas, a beautiful theory butchered by ugly fact.

ETA: We have the homegrown Alkali Lake Monster out here in Nebraska if you want to get exotic.

[Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor]

The Giant Eagles/Thunderbirds of North America.

[Acid Lamp]

Originally Posted by Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor

The Giant Eagles/Thunderbirds of North America.

ooooh! Now that has potential...

[Jormungandr]

La Llorona, which my mother claimed she and her friends heard outside a restaurant in Texas, located near the Rio Grande, before she got married.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Llorona

[Floater]

A friend of mine has told me that he, when he was a boy scout, had camped by Loch Ness, but none of the scouts had seen a single trace of Nessie. We attributed it to the fact that they were too young to drink whisky.

[Nava]

Only one?

From the Legend of St Michael at Aralar, the dragon (which is described as "an enormous lizard" and never pictured with wings) and Basajaun ("the lord of the forest"), who sort'a looks like the Bigfoot/Yeti gang but speaks perfectly fine Basque (mind you, the one in that story isn't real, but an enemy of the main character in disguise). In this legend, St Mike does not kill the dragon (who is the Devil coming to torture Teobaldo de Goñi) but shoo him away: I like that detail.

From Galician legends, both the duende (gnome/fae) called Agujero and A Santa Compaña. A Santa Compaña (the holy company/squadron/partnership) may a cristianization of the Celtic Wild Hunt and/or of banshees: it's formed by condemned souls, who roam the hills at night moaning their sorrow and who will add to their number anybody who sees them.
The duende has a hole (agujero) in his hand: he likes moving things around the house, but he also has an irresistible impulse to pick things up, so by dropping some flour on the floor, you can keep him busy all night (as the flour keeps falling through his hand) and thus prevent him from being able to move your items around.

From Catalan legend, Comte Arnau. This man was a very cruel lord, and completely obsessed with hunting. Any peasants who could escape his lands, did; he killed his wife by knocking her over when she was standing on the stairs before his castle, begging him not to go hunting on Good Friday; he would hunt down men when other big prey were not available. When he died, St. Peter told him "well, you certainly can't get into Heaven, as your sins are darker than the blackest night" and the Devil said "but your wife, for some reason, insists in loving you, and her love prevents me from dragging you into Hell, where you belong". He now races across the sky on stormy nights, astride a fiery steed, chasing the storm clouds and throwing spears of lightning at anybody stupid enough to be outside at such times.

One thing I like about knowing my share of Spanish legends is that they're exotic for people from Elsewhere

[MegaBee]

I just remembered one more, a cryptid that haunted my nightmares for years after seeing Dot and the Kangaroo... the bunyip.

[CandidGamera]

No love for Mothman? Local cryptid makes good..

[BaneSidhe]

Originally Posted by Acid Lamp

The bloop is bigger than my house. I don't think there is enough AB foam in the world to sculpt that likeness. Besides everyone knows that was Cthulhu farting in his sleep.

Thank Og I'm not the only person who said this!

My fave? Mothman all the way, baby!

[FriarTed]

Loch Ness Monster~ the lore goes back centuries.

[Cornelius Tuggerson]

Tree octopuses and capybaras are my personal favorites.

[Khadaji]

I love them all and have since my youth. But I still harbor hopes that they may find a Bigfoot.

[DCnDC]

The Goatman.

[enipla]

Originally Posted by Khadaji

I love them all and have since my youth. But I still harbor hopes that they may find a Bigfoot.

We are the only house near the end of a very dark dead end road way up in the mountains.
Sasquatch, you bet your boots.

[Bridget Burke]

I'm fond of the Big Cats of the British Isles. And the Other Lake Monsters.

There are supposedly Big Feet (Bigfoots?) in Texas!

Moth Man scares me but I liked the book. An influence on X-Files?

Note: Chucabras is singular, from the Spanish verb chupa (sucks) & the noun cabras (goats). For comparison, see Matamoros (Moor Killer) & chupabrandies (seen in an ad for a Border dive).

[MegaBee]

Originally Posted by Bridget Burke

Note: Chucabras is singular, from the Spanish verb chupa (sucks) & the noun cabras (goats). For comparison, see Matamoros (Moor Killer) & chupabrandies (seen in an ad for a Border dive).

Interesting. What's the plural, and is el chupacabras correct?

[Bridget Burke]

Originally Posted by MegaBee

Interesting. What's the plural, and is el chupacabras correct?

El chupacabras is correct, unless you know that particular little beastie is a female; in which case she would be La chupacabras.

The plural form stays the same but is preceded by the plural article: Los chupacabras. Or Las chupacabras, for a bunch of female goat suckers!

[NDP]

Originally Posted by Nava

From Catalan legend, Comte Arnau. This man was a very cruel lord, and completely obsessed with hunting. Any peasants who could escape his lands, did; he killed his wife by knocking her over when she was standing on the stairs before his castle, begging him not to go hunting on Good Friday; he would hunt down men when other big prey were not available. When he died, St. Peter told him "well, you certainly can't get into Heaven, as your sins are darker than the blackest night" and the Devil said "but your wife, for some reason, insists in loving you, and her love prevents me from dragging you into Hell, where you belong". He now races across the sky on stormy nights, astride a fiery steed, chasing the storm clouds and throwing spears of lightning at anybody stupid enough to be outside at such times.

One thing I like about knowing my share of Spanish legends is that they're exotic for people from Elsewhere

The story about Comte Arnau is another variation of the Wild Hunt myth.

My choices: the Jackalope and its Continental cousin, the Dahu.

[Colibri]

Originally Posted by NDP

My choices: the Jackalope and its Continental cousin, the Dahu.

The Dahu sounds like it's more closely related to the Sidehill Gouger (or Sidehill Dodger) than the Jackalope.

Of North American legendary critters, my favorite is the Squonk, closely followed by the Gumberoo.

[NDP]

Originally Posted by Colibri

The Dahu sounds like it's more closely related to the Sidehill Gouger (or Sidehill Dodger) than the Jackalope.

You're correct. There is a closer connection between the Sidehill Dodger and the Dahu. In any case, I only related the Jackalope with the Dahu because they both have horns and are fairly recent tongue-in-cheek mythological creations often used by locals to dupe gullible tourists.

[sitchensis]

The Southeast AK native tradition of the Kushtaka, an otter person who is also a shape shifter. The Kushtaka will lure you to the water by shape shifting and calling out as a loved one drowning. As you try and save the person they will take you away and change you into a Kushtaka, or kill you.

(My apologies to any Alaskan Natives for simplifying/butchering your individual oral histories)

[Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor]

Originally Posted by NDP

The story about Comte Arnau is another variation of the Wild Hunt myth.

My choices: the Jackalope and its Continental cousin, the Dahu.

Originally Posted by Colibri

The Dahu sounds like it's more closely related to the Sidehill Gouger (or Sidehill Dodger) than the Jackalope.

Of North American legendary critters, my favorite is the Squonk, closely followed by the Gumberoo.

You two sound like potential furr-bearing trout fans.

[Acid Lamp]

These are great! I hadn't heard of a few of these.

[Khadaji]

Originally Posted by Acid Lamp

These are great! I hadn't heard of a few of these.

You need to watch more of the Bad Science Channel (or as they call themselves, The History Channel.) They often have an entire day devoted to Cryptid shows. Lord knows how it relates to History. (Still, I confess that I watch them.)

I love that they end each show with: While science has not been able to prove the existence of <insert Cryptid>, there are still many unexplained facts and we have not disproven them as yet either.

[Attack from the 3rd dimension]

I'm a Nessie and Sasquatch fan myself. Sasquatch has gone so far as to be an Olympic Mascot, so you've got to admire his tenacity and drive, unusual in a retiring cryptid.

I would also recommend The Fortean Times if you are a fan of this sort of thing. If nothing else the strange deaths column keeps me coming back.

[mbh]

the kappa from Japanese folklore.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kappa_(folklore)

[aruvqan]

Originally Posted by Attack from the 3rd dimension

I'm a Nessie and Sasquatch fan myself. Sasquatch has gone so far as to be an Olympic Mascot, so you've got to admire his tenacity and drive, unusual in a retiring cryptid.

I would also recommend The Fortean Times if you are a fan of this sort of thing. If nothing else the strange deaths column keeps me coming back.

I love the Fortean TImes, I actually have a subscription to the magazine =)

[is it really legal in Britain to buy marijuana seeds and magic mushroom spores?!]

I actually read it once a week, Saturday morning. That way I can get the whole week over breakfast =)

I am torn as to which cryptid/monster is my favorite. Monster-wise, I am fond of vampires. I find it interesting that almost every culture has some sort of vampire, whether it sucks out blood or some concept of life essence.

Are Fae considered cryptids? I am fascinated by the whole 'fairy mound, tiny people that are hidden and hard to find' and correlate them to the interesting mound homes found in the islands way up north of Scotland, that may possibly exist in the areas of the now underwater areas formed between Britain and the mainland. If you consider the population were probably much smaller [evidenced by the size of the living quarters] more hunter/gathered/fishermen than farmers, and probably lurked in the perimeters and hid from the larger Celtic and Pictish immigrants it would fit the description of fairies. I would love to get some sort of DNA work done, because you find little dark peoples and larger lighter [blonds and gingers] both in areas where there are a lot of fairies in the folklore [Basque region and British Isles both] It would be interesting to see how the DNA shakes out.

[Freudian Slit]

I like the Grool. And the Lanx is not bad either. If you like potatoes with vampire teeth.

[Malleus, Incus, Stapes!]

Are you asking about general mythology, or just monster-hoax type thingies?

[Acid Lamp]

Originally Posted by Malleus, Incus, Stapes!

Are you asking about general mythology, or just monster-hoax type thingies?

Anything goes.

[Colibri]

If you're talking critters from classical bestiaries, my favorite is the Manticore. It has the body of a lion, a human head with three rows of sharp teeth, and an envenomed tail.

[Malleus, Incus, Stapes!]

Originally Posted by Acid Lamp

Anything goes.

In that case, I've always like the Japanese kitsunes. Shape-shifting foxes, usually beautiful young women. They sometimes forget to hide their tails, though, I think.

[Attack from the 3rd dimension]

Originally Posted by Malleus, Incus, Stapes!

In that case, I've always like the Japanese kitsunes. Shape-shifting foxes, usually beautiful young women. They sometimes forget to hide their tails, though, I think.

If you haven't been reading Usagi Yojimbo, now is the time to start.

[Mangetout]

It's got to be Nessie, for me.

We happened to pass down the entire northern side of Loch Ness at the end of August on our way back from a wonderful week's holiday in the highlands. We stopped for a picnic lunch on the shore and I happened to witness two phenomena that are probably responsible for some of the sightings:

The first was the appearance of submerged rocks a little way out from the shore - because there are no tides and (at least on that day) no large waves, rocks just shy of breaking the surface caused a really unusual-looking side-to-side ripple/wash effect that looked quite a bit like something large flapping back and forth in the water.

The second was the wake of a boat that was travelling the length of the loch. Again, because there were no other waves to speak of, the wake persisted for a good few minutes - and the portion that was travelling directly toward us (that is, that we were viewing perpendicular to the wavefront) looked like a series of humps in motion along the loch. Had I not seen the boat create the wake, I might have interpreted the humps as a group of otters swimming along after each other, or of course, a monster.

I also took some photos of my family sitting on the shore and - I swear this is no lie - in one of them, in the out-of-focus background, there is an object emerging from the water that is highly reminiscent of the classic neck-out-of-the-water Nessie photo.
I didn't see it when I was taking the photo, and it's certainly only a tree root or some such, but it's there. Quite funny really.

[blondebear]

Well, if anything goes, how about the Tarkus?

[Acid Lamp]

Originally Posted by blondebear

Well, if anything goes, how about the Tarkus?

I'm not certain what that is, but the picture is awesome. I've added it to my desktop rotation.