Papinijuwari

Papinijuwari

Region of origin: Northern Australia

In Tiwi folklore, the Papinijuwari were a race of cycloptic giants who lived in a hut at the end of the sky. They carried clubs and torches, and it was believed shooting stars were actually the giants on the move through the sky. Looked down up even by other giants and malevolent creatures, the Papinijuwari were ghoulish creatures who fed on the flesh of the dead and drank the blood of the sick, attracted to victims by the smell of the disease. They were capable of rendering themselves invisible and also changing size, able to shrink down and drink the blood from the inside.

[Sources referenced: X ]

Porotai

Porotai

Region of origin: New Zealand

Belonging to the class of fair folk who go by various names across different Maori tribes’ legends, the Porotai were two-faced creatures made of half-stone and half-flesh. Existing away from mankind, they were said to live in the forests, invisible to humans, and would have to pick up and find a new location to live if their current settlement was ever discovered.

Originally posted on Tumblr on September 26, 2016

Ojáncanu

Ojáncanu

Region of origin: Cantabria, Spain

A malevolent, cyclopic giant, the ojáncanu were a major figure of evil and destruction in Cantabrian folklore; leveling forests and buildings, tearing up the landscape and stealing livestock and children. As they were cruel and brutish they were at odds with and opposed by the anjanas, the benevolent Cantabrian fae folk. However, it was said once every hundred years a “good” ojáncanu, particularly kind and graceful, would be born. An ojancánu could be killed by removing the one white hair from its beard.

Originally posted on Tumblr on July 23, 2016

Gashadokuro

Gashadokuro

Region of origin: Japan

A giant skeleton between 75 to 100 feet tall, the gashadokuro is more malevolent than most yokai, with their origins tied to areas afflicted by a great loss of life; often being born from the angry spirits of victims of war or famine. It will grab people to bite their head off and drink their blood, but only as a purely violent act and not as sustenance. It instead gets its energy from the souls that formed it and will in time effectively burn itself out. Otherwise it is largely invincible, able to be warded off but not destroyed. It can turn invisible but is given away by the sound of its rattling bones and a loud ringing in its intended victim’s ears.

Originally posted on Tumblr on June 24, 2016

Buggane

Buggane

Region of origin: Isle of Man

Ogre-like boggarts from the Isle of Man, bugganes were brutish but generally solitary creatures, content to live away from in burrows and ruins unless disturbed (or, like people, some were just jerks looking to pick a fight), at which point they could use their great strength to mete out destruction. To this end, fairies would use bugganes as hired muscle to enact punishment on mortals who had somehow offended them.

Originally posted on Tumblr on June 22, 2016

Ysätters-Kajsa

Ysätters-Kajsa

Region of origin: Närke, Sweden

A wind-troll who lived in the plains and mountains around the Närke province, Ysätters-Kajsa was a good-natured but mischievous presence in the lives of nearby villagers. Weather events from building up high snowdrifts or heavy fogs making travel difficult to simply winds blowing off a hat were written off as her making trouble but she was never treated as anything but a playful neighboring spirit. When the winds met and created whirlwinds on the open plains of Närke, it was said Ysätters-Kajsa was out in the middle of them, dancing.

Originally posted on Tumblr on May 5, 2016

Am Fear Liath Mòr

Am Fear Liath Mòr

Region of origin: Ben Macdui, Scotland

“The Big Gray Man” of the Scottish highlands, sightings of this figure on the mountain trails of Ben Macdui stretch back into the 1800s. Tales of it being around for as long as they have, it’s picked up more supernatural qualities attributed to it than many similar creatures, including a supposed height ranging from ten to thirty feet (some classifying it as a giant rather than a proper hominin), the ability to create foggy conditions which always seem to accompany it and causing distressful, paranoid or even suicidal emotions in the people it encounters. It, and the wide variation of specifics between sightings, has largely been explained away as being a Brocken spectre, an optical illusion of a figure caused by the sun casting a shadow of the observer on the surrounding fog.

Originally posted on Tumblr on March 22, 2016

Căpcăun

Căpcăun

Region of origin: Romania

A massive brutish creature personifying evil, his primary role in stories was kidnapping children and princesses in order to eat them. The name also had connotations with leaders of foreign armies representing threats from outside forces but these days it seems to be generally synonymous with ogres since trying to research it just returned a bunch of Romanian sites talking about Shrek.

Originally posted on Tumblr on March 7, 2016

Fachen

Fachen

Region of origin: Scotland and Ireland

A type of ugly, violent giant with half a body that roamed the highlands causing terror and destroying the landscape with the chain it carries.

Originally posted on Tumblr on December 23, 2015

Nuckelavee

Nuckelavee

Region of origin: Scotland

The Nuckelavee is an extremely evil water spirit of Orcadian mythology, whose appearance changes on land to that of a giant skinless centaur monstrosity whose breath can destroy crops and spread disease. He is generally considered to be The Worst.

Originally posted on Tumblr on September 19, 2015