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.
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.
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.
A few years ago, but evidently after that post, I realized Arnau might be a corruption of Cernunos/Herne and so linked to the Santa Compaña.
Since this thread has been revived, I’ll add my favourite: the banshee, probably for the whole keening thing which makes it / her a bit extra-creepier. Even the name is cool and evocative. Banshee.
For modern cryptids, I’ll pick the Mothman. Very entertaining stories.
For me it’s gotta be the Australian Drop Bear. Absolutely deadly!
I’m voting for the sea serpent.
The Flatwoods Monster. Can’t beat an alien in a pleated skirt! Yes, it has been featured in many Japanese media, most notably in The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask, but it is of U.S. origin.
Runner-up are the Hopkinsville Goblins. Another U.S. cryptid more famous in Japan.
Yeti.
CRYPTIDS OF NORTH AMERICA. You might also enjoy the books this page references…
Woody Allen described a creature that had the head of a lion, and the body of a lion, but not the same lion.
Another vote for the Flatwoods Monster. I recall, as a kid, reading the story in the newspaper where one of the witnesses claimed it “bounced and floated toward me!” That really gave me the creeps.
An alternate would be Mothman, or from Canada—Ogopogo.
I did come across the interesting theory, in the highly scientific enquiry ‘Alien Dawn’ by Colin Wilson, that the Yeti/Bigfoot/Sasquatch is not actually native to Earth at all, but rather they’re alien visitors to this planet.
It would certainly explain a few things!
My list: In order of likelyhood
The thylacine: may be some still.
Yeti: a type of rare bear, there are two species up there which are rare in the extreme, having a third is not impossible. possibly now extinct.
Nandi Bear: Very likely, possibly now extinct, likely a giant hyena
Mokele-mbembe: per wiki “According to science writer and cryptozoologist Willy Ley, while there are sufficient anecdotal accounts to suggest “that there is a large and dangerous animal hiding in the shallow waters and rivers of Central Africa”, the body of evidence remains insufficient for any realistic conclusions to be drawn on what the Mokèlé-mbèmbé may be.” and i concur except it is now possibly extinct.
Chucabras: They found a coydog with mange that fit all the descriptors. Ok, but not a unknown species.
Bigfoot: Hoax.
LochNess Monster: Hoax.
The Six Million Dollar Man had an episode in which Bigfoot was an alien robot.
I think they’re on to something.
Oh, I haven’t bought a copy of Fortean Times in about eight years, but I do have a collection of the magazine spanning from 1990 to 2008! Fun stuff!
My favorites are :
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Bigfoot
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Mothman
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Beast of Bray Road