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Cuchivilu

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Tradition: Chilean Mythology
Alternative Names: Cuchi Vilu, Pig-Snake
Category: Pig

The Myth

The Cuchivilu is a monstrous creature associated with Chilean mythology and Mapuche-influenced traditions. Its name combines cuchi, meaning “pig,” and vilu, meaning “snake.” It is described as a grotesque hybrid with the plump, bristly body and tusked head of a pig, joined to a long, powerful serpent-like tail. Its dark, slimy skin and coarse, matted fur help it blend into the muddy waters of rivers and coastal environments, while its small eyes are said to glow faintly in the darkness.

The Cuchivilu typically inhabits rivers and coastal waters but can also leave the water to pursue intruders on land. It is particularly hostile toward humans, especially fishermen, whom it regards as trespassers in its territory. According to the accounts, it attacks boats and tears apart fishing nets, sometimes capsizing vessels. Its guttural grunts echo across the shores as a warning to those who approach too closely. The creature is also associated with the contamination of waterways and shorelines, making the affected waters dangerous for bathing.

People who bathe in water believed to have been contaminated by the Cuchivilu are said to develop a painful, persistent rash that may worsen over time and leave permanent scars. Although the illness is not described as fatal, its disfiguring effects make the creature feared by local communities. Some accounts claim that the Cuchivilu originated after the colonial period and was formed from the souls of pigs and wild boars, embodying filth, anger, and vengeance against human intrusion.

Despite occasional modern reports of sightings, including claims from teenagers in Chonchi in southern Chile, there is no scientific evidence that the Cuchivilu exists. Its legend remains associated with the waters and fishing communities of Chile, where its unusual combination of pig and serpent characteristics distinguishes it from other supernatural creatures.

Sources

“Cuchivilu.” Cryptid Wiki. Fandom. https://cryptidz.fandom.com/wiki/Cuchivilu?utm_source=chatgpt.com

Gloson

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Tradition: Swedish Mythology
Alternative Names: Gluffsoen, Glosoen, Glopsuggan, Luffesoen, Ghost Pig, Razorback Sow
Category: Pig

The Myth

Gloson is a terrifying supernatural sow known primarily from southern Sweden, where hundreds of accounts describe ghostly pigs and other pig-shaped beings. She is usually depicted as a large, pale pig with glowing red eyes and a back as sharp as a sawblade. Some stories describe her body as covered in a hundred eyes shining like sinister flames, while others portray her with several piglets accompanying her. In rarer accounts, Gloson has a human-like body with a pig’s head and long, sharp tusks. She is especially associated with årsgång, or the “year walk,” a dangerous folk divination ritual traditionally performed around Christmas or New Year to gain knowledge of the coming year and the hidden supernatural world.

During the year walk, Gloson appears as a supernatural obstacle attempting to prevent the participant from completing the ritual. She often charges directly at the walker, trying to pass between their legs and split them in two with her razor-sharp back. In other accounts, she carries her victim away on her back for a journey lasting anywhere from seven weeks to three years, leaving the rider confused, insane, exhausted, or dead. Even a slight touch could bring serious illness or death. Some stories describe Gloson carrying a rune stick, scroll, or book in her mouth. A successful year walker who managed to seize this object could supposedly use it to learn sorcery.

Various methods of protection were believed to work against Gloson. A person could cross their legs as a reminder of the holy cross, offer the sow specially prepared objects such as magical nuts that were seven years old, throw a fishing net over her, or use knowledge of the black arts. The encounter usually occurred near a church at a significant time of the year, often around midnight or before dawn, after the walker had performed specific ritual movements, sometimes in a counterclockwise direction. Gloson was one of several supernatural threats that tested the year walker’s resolve and sensitivity to the unseen world.

One early account connected with the year-walk tradition appears in Petter Rudebeck’s Antiquities from Småland, published between 1697 and 1700. Rudebeck describes a supernatural old man on horseback, surrounded by flames and carrying a rune-inscribed stick in his mouth, who appeared to someone who had performed the year walk annually for seven years. Later accounts more explicitly describe a ghostly sow carrying similar objects and challenging the ritual participant. Although some interpretations connect Gloson with the boar Gullinbursti of Norse mythology or with pre-Christian fertility rituals, these connections remain theories. The legends portray Gloson as a dangerous and unpredictable force that embodied the risks of seeking forbidden knowledge and glimpsing the future.

Sources

“Gloson: The Swedish Ghost Pig That Will Cleave You in Half.” Folklore Thursday. https://folklorethursday.com/folktales/gloson-the-swedish-ghost-pig-that-will-cleave-you-in-half/?utm_source=chatgpt.com

Lobisomem

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Tradition: Brazilian Mythology
Alternative Names: Werewolf, Brazilian Werewolf
Category: Pig

The Myth

The Lobisomem is a supernatural creature found in Brazilian and wider South American traditions. It is most commonly described as a werewolf, resembling the wolf-like shapeshifters known from other cultures. However, some Brazilian accounts portray it as a ball of fire or an unusually large pig. In human form, it appears much like an ordinary person, except for slightly pointed ears and pale, yellowish skin.

There are several explanations for how a person becomes a Lobisomem. One may be transformed after being bitten by one or coming into contact with its blood. In some traditions, the curse falls upon the seventh son in a family, although it can supposedly be prevented by having an older brother serve as his godfather. Another version claims that the first male child born to parents who already have seven daughters will undergo his first transformation on his thirteenth birthday. The condition may also be understood as a punishment for incest, concubinage, or a woman’s sexual relationship with a priest.

The Lobisomem’s transformation takes place at night, although accounts differ over its timing. Some traditions claim that it transforms every night during a full moon, while others maintain that the change occurs only on Fridays when the moon is full. In its transformed state, the creature typically attacks travellers and animals encountered along roads after dark, making it a feared presence in the Brazilian countryside.

Sources

“Lobisomem.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Accessed October 31, 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lobisomem

Bingfeng

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Tradition: Chinese Mythology
Alternative Names: 并封, 並封, Pingfeng, Pingpeng (屏逢, 屏蓬)
Category: Pig

The Myth

Bingfeng is a strange creature from Chinese mythology described in the Classic of Mountains and Seas (Shanhaijing). According to the Classic of the Regions Beyond the West, it lives east of the Land of Wuxian. It resembles a pig but has two heads, one at the front and one at the back, and its body is black.

The creature is also associated with Pingfeng, another unusual beast mentioned in the Great Wilderness of the West section of the Shanhaijing. The scholar Yuan suggested that Bingfeng and Pingfeng originally shared a name meaning “joined” or “combined,” referring to creatures whose bodies or heads are joined together. This interpretation connects Bingfeng with other mythological animals possessing two heads, including two-headed snakes and birds, which were understood as strange, transformed beings.

One commentary on the Shanhaijing, attributed to Guo Pu, interprets Bingfeng as a totemic image made from the dried remains of two pigs with their heads joined together. A two-headed pig also appeared in the illustrated publication Dianshizhai Pictorial during the Qing dynasty. The creature was later included in Shigeru Mizuki’s Illustrated Book of Chinese Yokai, preserving its place among the unusual beasts of Chinese mythology.

Sources

“Bingfeng” (并封). Chinese Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Accessed October 27, 2026. https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%B9%B6%E5%B0%81?utm_source=chatgpt.com

Reicho

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Tradition: Japanese Mythology
Alternative Names: 霊猪, Divine Boar, Sacred Boar
Category: Pig

The Myth

Reicho, meaning “Sacred Boar” or “Divine Boar,” refers to the boars associated with the Japanese statesman Wake no Kiyomaro and worshipped as divine messengers. At Gōō Shrine in Kyoto, stone boars stand in place of the guardian dogs commonly found at Shinto shrines. Images of sacred boars can also be found at other shrines connected with Kiyomaro, including Wake Shrine in Wake, Okayama Prefecture, and Adachi Myōken Shrine in Kokura, Kitakyushu. These traditions commemorate legends in which wild boars came to Kiyomaro’s aid during times of danger.

According to the Shoku Nihongi, Kiyomaro fell into conflict with the powerful monk Dōkyō and incurred the anger of Empress Shōtoku, who had placed great trust in Dōkyō. He was stripped of his name, renamed Himebe no Kegamaro, and exiled to Ōsumi Province. Dōkyō also sent assassins to kill him, but a thunderstorm prevented their attempt. After the empress died and Dōkyō lost his influence, Kiyomaro was rehabilitated under Emperor Kōnin and appointed governor of Buzen Province. Later, when Kiyomaro was unable to stand because of an affliction affecting his legs, he travelled by palanquin to worship the Hachiman deity in Usa District. A herd of approximately three hundred wild boars appeared, formed a procession, and guided him along more than ten ri of the journey before disappearing into the mountains. Witnesses were astonished, and Kiyomaro was reportedly able to stand and walk again on the day he visited the shrine.

Other versions place the boars’ intervention earlier in Kiyomaro’s life, during his mission to verify an oracle from Usa Hachiman Shrine concerning Dōkyō’s possible accession to the throne, or after assassins had severed the tendons in his legs while he was travelling to give thanks at the shrine. Although the details differ, the stories established a lasting association between Kiyomaro and the boar as a divine protector. From the Meiji period onward, statues of boars were dedicated to shrines connected with him. Boars also appeared on some ten-yen banknotes issued from the Meiji period until before the Second World War, alongside Kiyomaro’s portrait and Gōō Shrine. Certain designs featured boars on the reverse or within the decorative border, leading to the notes being popularly nicknamed “wild boars.”

Sources

“Reicho.” 新版TYZ 妖怪図鑑 (New TYZ Yokai Encyclopedia). https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1073384916.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com

Inoshishi Bakemono

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Tradition: Japanese Mythology
Alternative Names: 猪の化物, Boar Monster
Category: Pig

The Myth

Inoshishi Bakemono, meaning “Boar Monster,” is a satirical yokai-like figure described in Ōmachi Keigetsu’s Eiri Kunwa, published in 1916. It appears among forty-one supernatural figures used to caricature different human temperaments in a section titled Hyakki Chigyō. In an illustration by Hirafuku Hyakusui, the creature is depicted as a boar standing upright on two legs.

Rather than describing a conventional monster, the author uses the Boar Monster as a metaphor for people who pursue a single skill or area of knowledge while remaining ignorant of everything else. A scholar who understands nothing beyond academic learning and a soldier who knows only swordsmanship are both described as examples of this type. The figure embodies reckless, narrow-minded behaviour: like a boar that lowers its tusks and charges blindly forward, such people can cause destruction without considering the consequences.

The author warns that encountering a Boar Monster can leave an entire country, society, household, or individual in ruins. Within a family, such a person might become a son disowned by his parents; outside the home, he might end up in prison. The text also acknowledges that reckless warriors, such as those who charged fearlessly into battle, could sometimes achieve important victories. The Boar Monster, however, represents the destructive extreme of this temperament: a person so consumed by one pursuit and so unwilling to consider anything else that his actions bring disorder wherever he goes.

Sources

“Inoshishi-bakemono.” 新版TYZ 妖怪図鑑 (New TYZ Yokai Encyclopedia). https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1073453373.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com

Tōkō

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Tradition: Chinese Mythology
Alternative Names: 当康, 當康, 當庚, Dang Kang, Yázhū (牙豚), Tusked Pig
Category: Pig

The Myth

Tōkō, also known as Dang Kang, is a mythical beast described in the ancient Chinese geographical text Shanhaijing (The Classic of Mountains and Seas). According to the Eastern Mountains Classic, it inhabits Qin Mountain, a place rich in gold and jade. The creature resembles a pig and possesses prominent tusks. When it cries out, it calls its own name, “Dang Kang,” with its name understood to imitate the sound it makes.

The appearance of Tōkō is considered an auspicious omen. According to the Shanhaijing, when the creature appears, the world enjoys abundant harvests. Its association with agricultural prosperity is also reflected in the interpretation of its name. The Chinese historian of antiquity Itō Seiji suggested that the character kang is connected to the word for rice husks, originally referring to mature, hardened grain. Tōkō may therefore have been welcomed as a wild beast whose arrival heralded a successful harvest.

Knowledge of Tōkō reached Japan through Chinese texts, including the Shanhaijing and encyclopedic reference works. It appears in the illustrated animal section of the Edo-period Morokoshi Kinmō Zui, as well as in picture scrolls depicting strange creatures from the Asian mainland. In the Kaiki Chōjū Zukan (Illustrated Scroll of Strange Birds and Beasts), Tōkō is portrayed with the body of a pig or wild boar and a human face. Although the scroll preserves the creature’s traditional habitat, distinctive cry, and association with abundant harvests, it does not describe its physical appearance in the accompanying text.

Sources

“Dang Kang.” 新版TYZ 妖怪図鑑 (New TYZ Yokai Encyclopedia). https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1073598500.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com

Twrch Trwyth

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Tradition: Welsh Mythology
Alternative Names: Trwyd, Troynt, Troit, The Great Boar
Category: Pig

The Myth

Twrch Trwyth is a monstrous wild boar from Welsh Arthurian mythology, best known from the medieval prose tale Culhwch and Olwen. According to the story, Twrch was originally the son of Prince Taredd, but God transformed him into a swine as punishment for his sins. The beast possessed venomous bristles capable of injuring those who approached it and carried a comb, a pair of scissors, and a razor between its ears. These objects were essential to the tasks imposed on Culhwch by Ysbaddaden, a giant whose daughter Olwen Culhwch wished to marry. To complete the tasks, Culhwch had to obtain the implements from the boar and recruit Arthur and his warriors to help him.

The hunt for Twrch Trwyth became a vast undertaking requiring specially chosen hunting dogs, skilled handlers, equipment, and numerous warriors. The most important hound was Drudwyn, the only dog said to be capable of hunting the boar, while Mabon ap Modron was the only person able to control it. Arthur and his companions eventually discovered Twrch and its seven offspring in Ireland. Menw son of Teirgwaedd transformed himself into a bird and flew to the boar’s lair to confirm that the required implements were on its head. When he attempted to seize one, he managed only to pluck a silver bristle. Twrch shook itself violently, scattering venom that wounded Menw.

Arthur’s forces pursued the boar from Ireland into Wales and onward toward Cornwall. Twrch ravaged the countryside, causing numerous casualties as it passed through southeastern Wales. Although Arthur’s warriors attempted to stop it near the mouth of the River Severn, the animal escaped. During its passage through the river, the hunters managed to seize the razor, scissors, and eventually the comb from its head. Twrch then fled toward Cornwall and was finally driven out to sea, still pursued by the hounds Aned and Aethlem. The tale does not reveal what ultimately happened to the beast, leaving open the possibility that it survived. Its hunt is one of the central episodes of Culhwch and Olwen, while an earlier account in the ninth-century Historia Brittonum already associates Arthur and his hound Cavall with the pursuit of a great boar.

Sources

“Twrch Trwyth.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Accessed October 31, 2026.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twrch_Trwyth

Erymanthian Boar

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Tradition: Greek Mythology
Alternative Names: Erymanthian Wild Boar, Erymanthian Boar (ὁ Ἐρυμάνθιος κάπρος), Aper Erymanthius
Category: Pig

The Myth

The Erymanthian Boar was a gigantic, savage beast in Greek mythology, described as shaggy, untamable, enormously heavy, and foaming at the jaws. It inhabited the mountainous wilderness of Arcadia, particularly the wooded heights of Mount Erymanthus and the surrounding valleys and marshes. From its forest refuge, the boar would descend to ravage the groves of Arcadia and devastate the countryside around Psophis, threatening farmers and their lands. Its habitat was also associated with Mount Erymanthus, a region connected with Artemis, the goddess of the hunt and wild animals.

The capture of the Erymanthian Boar was the fourth labour of Heracles, who was ordered by King Eurystheus to bring the animal back alive to Mycenae. Heracles pursued the beast through the wilderness, driving it from its hiding place with loud shouts before forcing it into deep snow. Exhausted and trapped by the snow, the boar could no longer escape. Heracles bound it in chains and carried it on his shoulder to Mycenae, completing his task despite the animal’s size and strength. When Eurystheus saw the hero approaching with the enormous boar, he was so terrified that he hid inside a bronze vessel.

According to one tradition, the inhabitants of Cumae claimed that the tusks preserved in the sanctuary of Apollo there belonged to the Erymanthian Boar, although this identification was regarded as highly improbable. The creature also reflects the danger that wild boars represented in ancient Greek traditions. When Artemis was angered, she could send a devastating boar to ravage a region, as in the story of Meleager and the Calydonian Boar. The Erymanthian Boar thus embodied the destructive power of the untamed wilderness and the challenge faced by heroes who sought to master it.

Sources

“Erymanthian Boar.”

Beast of Dean

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Tradition: English Mythology
Alternative Names: The Beast of the Forest of Dean
Category: Pig

The Myth

The Beast of Dean is a legendary animal said to inhabit the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire, England, an ancient woodland bounded by the rivers Severn and Wye. Tales of the creature appear to have originated in the eighteenth or early nineteenth century. It was reportedly a gigantic wild boar, so powerful that it could knock down trees and hedges, and it became the subject of local attempts to hunt and kill it.

In 1802, farmers from the village of Parkend organized an expedition to capture and kill the beast. Their search was unsuccessful, and they found no animal matching the descriptions. Nevertheless, nineteenth-century accounts describe large populations of wild boar in the forest, with vast herds apparently allowed to forage there during autumn. These reports suggest that the legend may have developed around the region’s real wild boar population, although the existence of the enormous Beast of Dean has never been scientifically established.

The Beast continued to appear in later accounts of cryptozoology, whose proponents sometimes suggested that it was a real but scientifically unknown animal. Wild boar still inhabit the Forest of Dean, but there is no scientific evidence that a creature matching the legendary descriptions ever existed. In 2007, the science-fiction television series Primeval reimagined the Beast as a living gorgonopsid, a prehistoric predator that had travelled from the Permian Period into the modern world through a wormhole.

Sources

“Beast of Dean.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Accessed October 27, 2026.