Thread "What sort of legendary monsters reside at your place?" in forum "Comic Talk and General Discussion *"

Posted at 2:08PM, Aug. 15, 2009

Yes, in Oz we wave the Rainbow Serpent, or "Woggle".
It's a gigantic, massive, monstrous snake with rainbow coloured scale and usually a black head. It's believed in by almost all the different aboriginal language groups. Sometimes it's size is super massive (planetary), but usually it just gets as big as something like a mountain (when it was making rivers and other geological features), and sometimes it's as small as an aircraft runway.
The Rainbow serpent was responsible for creating Australia and all the land features during the Dreamtime. It's the most sacred creature/god that there is to native Australians.

Great… read about him in a Wiki article. And I find him interesting (given my fear of snakes).

I wonder how he would fare if he ended up fighting JÃ¶rmungandr (the giant snake from Norse Mythology, child of Loki, etc…)

Posted at 7:08PM, Aug. 15, 2009

man, it's really cool learning about all these creatures. hell i might have to rip you guys off.

well there's nothing i'd call legendary here, but it does have it's ghost stories. i looked some up. there's supposed to be the ghost of an indian cheif that runs throught the woods howling, and there's supposed to be a colonial lady with a gun that shows up in some of the windows around town. then there's supposed to be a bird that turns into a lady under ceratin conditions at night at the dam up the road. this is a colonial type town so everyone's got stories. hell i just try not to get eaten by bears.

Posted at 9:08PM, Aug. 15, 2009

There's the Bunyip or Yowie. No one knows for sure just what that thing is supposed to look like or what it does… They say it lives in secret quiet places in the deep bush, or under the waters of billabongs. They probably kill you by drowning or something. Some say they're like a dragon, some say they're a big hairy ape-man.

Bunyips and yowies are different things.

Bunyips live in the water and have many different descriptions of their physique. The only consistency about them is that they are lake monsters.

Yowies are the hairy ape men who live in the bush.

Australia also has the platypus and the black swan, both were treated as fictional creatures by the early European settlers.

Posted at 11:08PM, Aug. 15, 2009

Bunyips and yowies are different things.

From all the old stories I've heard, they were different names for the same thing, only later codified into different creatures. "Bunyip" from most reliable accounts is probably a European name for it, or heavily Euopeanisd version of the original. Originally there were stories of it in all sorts of environs.

As best as I can work out, it's more like regional and language group differences rather than an entirely different myth.

Like Pixies and Piskies etc in England… among other things.

I wonder how he would fare if he ended up fighting JÃ¶rmungandr (the giant snake from Norse Mythology, child of Loki, etc…)

He's pretty bussy biting his tail and nibbling at the roots of the world tree and waiting for Ragnarock when he can fight Thor…
The Rainbow Serpent is a full on god though, and not just that but creator god. hmm… Jormangand is more like a demon, a big, ultimate destroyer demon. Both are pretty elemental as well. Interesting match up.

————-
You know everyone's fave prototype vamp: Dracula.
That dick was just a late 19th C pop fiction creation and not even the main one from that era. That title goes to another vamp:
Varney the Vampire was the king of the fiction vamps in the 19th C with heaps of stories and the mythology therein.
After Varney's era of fiction popularity ended there was Wagner the Werewolf.

Posted at 12:08AM, Aug. 16, 2009

In and around San Antonio, I am unaware of 'local monsters', however…there are ghost stories abound. Like the ghost children on the train tracks who supposedly push cars off of them if someone parks there. (it's been debunked several times, but that doesn't stop teens and tourists from sprinkling flour on their rear-windows and parking their cars over the tracks on neutral to watch it move.) There's also a 'donkey-man' ghost who apparently haunts a local farm. It's said that he was a freak of nature, and beat to death by locals…Anyway, that's all I can think of.

Posted at 12:08AM, Aug. 16, 2009

Eh, stop thinking about your own corners of the US as the whole of the area you can talk about! It's a massive country with an ocean liner's worth of myth and legend! :)

What about Wendingos? And Jackalopes? And the ghost of Black Beard? And all the other ghost ships, ghost buffalo in the sky, Mothman, area 51, and whatever else? I'm sure you guys are aware of a lot more ^__^

Posted at 3:08AM, Aug. 16, 2009

What about Wendingos? And Jackalopes? And the ghost of Black Beard? And all the other ghost ships, ghost buffalo in the sky, Mothman, area 51, and whatever else? I'm sure you guys are aware of a lot more ^__^

Yeah. What about Hotel California?

Posted at 6:08AM, Aug. 16, 2009

area 51,

oh yeah, Area 51 is real. They used it during the cold war to develop secret flying machines and cool shit, not aliens though ):. I read it in this article where these two dudes were allowed to talk about what the ydid back in the '50s. They said one of the reasons for all the UFO sightings in Nevada or whatever is because the plane they were testing was shaped like a disc or somethin.

If you google "Area 51", google maps has it pin-pointed. Google doesn't lie.

Posted at 6:08AM, Aug. 16, 2009

I'm pretty sure it's not really called that though.

Posted at 10:08AM, Aug. 16, 2009

Eh, stop thinking about your own corners of the US as the whole of the area you can talk about! It's a massive country with an ocean liner's worth of myth and legend! :)

What about Wendingos? And Jackalopes? And the ghost of Black Beard? And all the other ghost ships, ghost buffalo in the sky, Mothman, area 51, and whatever else? I'm sure you guys are aware of a lot more ^__^

That is true, the subject of the thread did say "Legendary Monsters That Reside at Your Place" which I took to mean "region that you inhabit."
And yeah, the US is a big place with a lot of folklore that's unique to individual regions within the US. I think it's totally fair for me to bring up Sasquatch and let someone from Nevada or Southern California talk about Jackalopes.

Posted at 2:08PM, Aug. 16, 2009

A Jackelope? Is that the guy who climbs the beanstalk and grows antlers? And then is finally shot down by the Giant who straps him to the front of his jeep and mounts him like a trophy?

There was another local legend here called "The White Lady". No idea why she inhabits and old spanish bridge around here though. Then there's those little people who like to go around playing pranks on people. But I'm pretty sure these legends are Spanish imports.

Posted at 2:08PM, Aug. 16, 2009

I'm originally from West Virginia, so… Moth Man I guess.

I don't know of any Virginia monsters. Around here, you get a TON of Civil War ghost stories, though. The surgeon who amputated Stonewall Jackson's arm apparently has been spotted in Richmond carrying the arm in an attempt to return it. There are hundreds of other ghost stories. There's a couple "haunted" hotels in my county, and one room in the plantation house owned by the park where I work is said to be haunted by a female spirit (Civil War era) attached to a wardrobe.

Posted at 9:08PM, Aug. 16, 2009

Not far from where I was living in Colorado before I moved again (still in Colorado, just back in the front range area)there was supposed to be a Sasquatch. Never saw one. Plenty of Moose, though.

Plenty of alleged haunted places, though.

Posted at 7:08PM, Aug. 19, 2009

the douchebag. big muscles, shitty tattoos, bad haircut, tight shirt, sunglasses at night.

Posted at 8:08PM, Aug. 20, 2009

The Wheedle on the Needle. D:

He lives on top of the Space Needle. Used to make it rain 'cause the people here whistled too much… buuuuut, he's kinda calmer now that he's got his earmuffs. :3

…seriously, I thought he was real 'til I was a teenager. |D;

In other words… legendary monsters from children's books live in Seattle. :)

Posted at 8:08PM, Aug. 20, 2009

I live in Louisiana, so I guess the most famous place would be the Myrtle's Plantation in St. Francisville (supposedly haunted by numerous ghosts).

I've been there more than once, and all I can say is that there's definitely some weird things going on there, ghosts or not.

Posted at 12:08AM, Aug. 21, 2009

About those little people that like to trick people (especially children around here), now I remember why I don't see them so much anymore… well… other than the fact that I'm not a child anymore (nor do I go into the jungle alone)…

If you've got sprites, brownies, or other faeriefolk, don't ever let them vacation here. X_X

Posted at 5:08AM, Aug. 21, 2009

Just go to the Weird NJ website and you'll find all our beasties and ghosts. Besides the Jersey Devil, NJ also has Moth man, Bigfoot sightings and black panthers (the cat not the terrorists) and the lost towns of South Jersey, the Bomark nuclear missile site, Marlboro mental hospital (which is mostly abandoned now and spooky)

As for Area 51, yes, that is the name. The nickname was "Dreamland" also known as Groom Lake. It was all so secret pilots were often just given the coordinates and contacted the tower at Dreamland and landed. The U-2, SR-71, F-117, B-2 were all tried out there. Since most people have no clue as to idenifying aircraft a boomerrang shape without lights will be the mothership when it's just an F-117. Just like the whole Belgian triangle UFO flap in the late 1980s. Operational testing of the F-117.

Utah has lots of odd things in the sky; the Thunderbird for example. (not the USAF demostration team) A giant bird. Giant flying reptiles like peteradons. Like any western State it also has ghost towns and lost mines.

Posted at 4:08PM, Aug. 24, 2009

Oklahoma is full of great legends. A lot are borrowed from the high concentration of Native American cultures that are here and others are wholly original. My favorite is the Oklahoma Octopus. I'm not kidding. the Oklahoma Octopus is said to be a horse sized fresh-water octopus that inhabits several Oklahoma lakes (chiefly Lakes Oolagah, Thunderbird, Draper, and Tenkiller). Little physical evidence has been found except for a higher than average drowning rate by pull under deaths, some sightings, and the occasional boat of fishermen or swimmer that goes missing. The most credible claim comes from a civil engineer who found an unexplained 5 foot long tentacle in the lake Thunderbird water treatment center's filters. Officials dismissed it as a joke though the tentacle did not match any known species of salt- or fresh-water cephalopod.

We have plenty of bigfoot sightings too, and so many ghost stories you couldn't shake a stick at them. ;-) Another favorite is the nuna-pay. Originally a Comanche belief they are similar to leprechauns in some ways. They normally hide from people and if you see them you are blessed with great luck and will live to a very old age. I've yet to see them.

We also believe in gremlins. These little devils can turn invisible and love to conduct mischief. So many machines and electronics have mysteriously developed and suddenly lost problems here that its not funny. When a device starts to act up its usually appropriate to stamp on the ground or swat at the air next to you to make the gremlins go away.

Posted at 5:08PM, Aug. 24, 2009

This isn't really a "legendary monster. When I was stationed in Ft Lewis, WA, the lake was supposed to be haunted. A swimmer, late at night, would call out for help and splash around, drowning anyone who would swim out to help.

Know the really odd thing? I experienced it to the extent of hearing and seeing someone/something splashing in the water, but when spotlighted, it disappeared. One of my battle buddies radioed in that he was going to assist a trespassing swimmer, so I hauled ass up there. He was getting his boots off and I told him to wait because I had heard the legend. Sure enough, we could hear shouting and splashing, could even see a black form in the water. However, when light was put in the area, it disappeared and so did the shouting.

Another time we were asked to assist state patrol to control traffic because of an accident caused by a bigfoot when it was raining really bad. Not only was it reported on the news, but several, and I mean SEVERAL people were describing the same creature. The story has been told on MonsterQuest as well.

Posted at 6:08PM, Aug. 24, 2009

You're not shitting me with that splashing swimmer are you? Cause that is heaps freaky.

Posted at 6:08PM, Aug. 25, 2009

Nope. It wasn't LOUD or anything, but you could definitely hear it. Almost like it was out quite a ways but the figure could be seen closer than the sound it was making was.

Posted at 11:08AM, Aug. 27, 2009

There's not a lot in Denmark, but back in the middle ages there tons of trolls/giants who apparently had nothing better to do than wander around and throw rocks at churches.

And of course all the norse mythology stuff.

Posted at 11:08AM, Aug. 31, 2009

I live in San Antonio texas over here we have the Chupacabra. I believe it came from the hispanic culture. Chupacabra's are goat suckers….lol. Crazy. I have yet to see one though. : )

Posted at 5:09PM, Sep. 10, 2009

Canada has Sasquatch, but in my hometown we also have the ghost of Poopchuck who killed a busload of kids (the guy, not the ghost).