Mythology

Aufhocker

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Tradition: German Mythology
Alternative Names: Huckup, Aufhocker
Category: Goblin

The Myth

The Aufhocker, also known as the Huckup, is a dangerous shapeshifting spirit in German folklore. Its appearance is unpredictable, as it can take the form of a goblin, a beautiful woman, a dead person, or various animals. The name Aufhocker means “leap upon,” referring to its habit of suddenly jumping onto the backs of unsuspecting victims. It is often described as a pressure spirit or perching spirit, weighing down those unfortunate enough to encounter it.

The Aufhocker commonly attacks lone travelers, old women, and people believed to deserve punishment, such as thieves and criminals. Its attacks frequently occur in isolated or ominous places, including bridges, crossroads, springs, forests, hollow paths, and cemeteries. Once it leaps onto a victim’s back, it becomes impossibly heavy, forcing the unfortunate traveler to struggle beneath its growing weight. No matter how hard the victim tries, the creature cannot be shaken off or killed. Its weight increases with every step, and its victims may eventually die from exhaustion. According to some versions of the legend, a person can escape if they manage to reach home before the spirit kills them.

In more violent accounts, the Aufhocker does not simply exhaust its victims but tears out their throats. This version is associated with vampirism, giving the creature a more explicitly predatory nature. Sunlight and church bells, traditionally associated with protection against vampires, have been suggested as possible defenses against it. However, the legends do not provide a single, universally established method of defeating the creature.

The Aufhocker has also been interpreted as a symbol of emotional burdens that cling to a person no matter how desperately they try to escape them. Like the spirit weighing down a traveler’s back, painful memories and unresolved experiences can become increasingly difficult to carry. In some interpretations, the old woman targeted by the creature represents time itself and the fear of growing older, with accumulated memories becoming a burden that cannot be discarded. Other interpretations connect the legend to night terrors. Similar beings appear in other European traditions, including the Ganipote in the French region of Charente-Maritime and the Uhaml in formerly German-speaking parts of Bohemia.

Sources

“Aufhocker.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Accessed October 17, 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aufhocker

Ponaturi

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Tradition: Māori Mythology, New Zealand Mythology
Alternative Names: —
Category: Goblin

The Myth

The Ponaturi are hostile, goblin-like creatures who dwell beneath the sea during the day and return to shore each evening to sleep in their house, Manawa-Tāne. They dread daylight, which is fatal to them. This weakness plays a central role in the stories of the Māori heroes Tāwhaki and Rātā, whose families suffer at the hands of these dangerous beings.

In the story of Tāwhaki, the Ponaturi kill his father, Hemā, and carry away his body. They also capture his mother, Urutonga, forcing her to serve as the doorkeeper of Manawa-Tāne. Seeking revenge, Tāwhaki and Urutonga block every opening in the house, making the Ponaturi believe that night still surrounds them. They then suddenly allow the sunlight to enter. Deceived by the false darkness, the creatures are caught by the fatal rays of the sun and destroyed.

The Ponaturi also appear in the story of Rātā, who seeks to recover his father’s bones after the creatures carry them away. The Ponaturi use the bones to keep time while practising their magical arts. Rātā hides himself, learns their incantations, and masters a more powerful spell called Titikura. He then attacks the creatures, kills their priests, and recovers the bones. The surviving Ponaturi regroup and pursue him, but Rātā and his warriors use their strength and powerful incantations to defeat them, killing a thousand of their number.

In another version of the Tāwhaki story, the grey mullet, known as the kanae, accompanies the Ponaturi when they emerge from the sea and enter Manawa-Tāne. Tāwhaki and his companion Karihi kill the creatures to avenge Hemā, but the mullet escapes by repeatedly leaping until it reaches the sea again.

A related tale concerns Ruapupuke, whose young son is drowned and taken by Tangaroa, the sea deity, to the bottom of the ocean. There, the child is transformed into a carved figure placed above the doorway of Tangaroa’s house. Ruapupuke descends into the sea to find him and encounters Hinematikotai, who explains that the inhabitants return at sunset and that daylight will kill them. Ruapupuke waits for their return before allowing the light to enter, destroying the inhabitants and burning their house. He takes some of its carvings back to the human world to serve as models for human carvers. Although this account does not explicitly call the inhabitants Ponaturi, it presents a similar pattern of sea-dwelling beings destroyed by exposure to daylight.

Sources

“Ponaturi.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Accessed October 17, 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ponaturi

Drak

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Tradition: German Mythology
Alternative Names: Drâk, Dråk, Drakel, Fürdrak, Drake, Drache, Plon
Category: Goblin

The Myth

The Drak is a shape-shifting household spirit that most often appears as an animal, although it can also take the form of a small humanoid figure. When humanoid, it may resemble a little man wearing a red cap and red jacket. Animal forms are far more common and include black or dark-brown cats, kittens, black chickens, roosters, hens, partridges, gray hawks, owls, jackdaws, calves, hares, snakes, and even black ants. Some accounts describe it as a wet chicken, a fiery red snake without wings, or a three-legged or burning hare. A particular form, the Drachenhuhn, or dragon chicken, can lay thalers or silver eggs, sometimes producing two silver eggs in a single day.

The Drak’s appearance often changes between day and night. During the day, it may appear as an ordinary animal, while at night it can assume the form of a Kobold or reveal itself as a fiery apparition. It is frequently seen flying through the darkness as a shooting star, meteor, will-o’-the-wisp, or flash of lightning. Other reported forms include a pillar of fire, a glowing ball with a fiery tail, a burning broom, a fiery lump, a flaming sack of grain, and a blazing pole resembling a haystack. Some manifestations combine animal features with fire, such as a fiery cat or chicken, a snake with a glowing tail, or a being with an enormous fiery head and a long, dark-blue tail. The Drak is also associated with a foul, infernal smell of sulfur.

Wherever the Drak flies, fires may break out and everything in its path may burn. Its appearance is therefore regarded as an omen of a destructive firestorm. The spirit can also turn against the person it serves: if its owner mistreats it, the Drak may burn down the owner’s house. Its fiery nature is reflected in several regional names referring to shooting stars, long or short tails, and glowing trails of fire.

The Drak is often identified with the German Kobold or the devil, and these beings may also be used as alternative names for it. Despite sometimes being called a Drache, meaning dragon, it has little in common with the conventional reptilian monster. In Lusatian folklore, a related being called the Plon is said to possess seven heads. Together, these traditions portray the Drak as an unpredictable supernatural creature that can bring wealth through unusual eggs, serve as a household spirit, or appear in the night sky as a dangerous harbinger of fire.

Sources

“Drak (mythology).” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Accessed October 17, 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drak_%28mythology%29#Nomenclature

Shikome

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Tradition: Japanese Mythology
Alternative Names: Yomotsu Shikome, Ugly Women of Yomi
Category: Goblin

The Myth

Shikome are hideous female demons who serve the inhabitants of Yomi, the Japanese land of the dead. They resemble ugly human women but often possess beast-like features, including claws, paws, pointed ears, and patches of furry hair. They typically have long black hair, sagging, misshapen breasts, and wide, twisted smiles. Despite their frightening appearance, Shikome spend considerable effort trying to make themselves beautiful. They apply thick white makeup, blacken their teeth, and wear elaborate, multi-layered kimono. Their excessive grooming only emphasizes their ugliness, making them grotesque figures in Japanese folklore and art.

Shikome are dangerous servants of the underworld, known for their incredible speed and ravenous appetites. They can reportedly leap a thousand ri in a single bound and devour food at astonishing speed. Their pursuit of fleeing victims is relentless, although their hunger can sometimes be exploited to delay them. They appear in numerous yōkai picture scrolls and have influenced depictions of other supernatural women whose unattractive appearances satirize beauty and fashion.

The most famous account of the Shikome appears in the ancient Japanese myth of Izanagi and Izanami. After his wife Izanami died in childbirth, the grieving god Izanagi descended into Yomi to bring her back. Izanami explained that she had already eaten the food of the dead and could not simply return to the world of the living. She asked him to wait while she sought permission to leave, making him promise not to bring light into the underworld.

Unable to endure the wait, Izanagi entered the palace of the dead and used a broken-off comb transformed into a torch to illuminate the darkness. He discovered that Izanami’s body had rotted, her flesh was covered in maggots, and she had become a horrifying sight. Enraged that he had broken his promise, Izanami ordered her servants, the Yomotsu Shikome, to capture him. As the demons pursued him, Izanagi threw down his woven headdress, which transformed into a vine of grapes. The Shikome stopped to devour them, allowing him to escape temporarily. When they resumed the chase, he broke the teeth from his comb and scattered them, whereupon they transformed into bamboo shoots. The hungry demons stopped again to eat.

These delays gave Izanagi enough time to reach the entrance to the underworld. He rolled a great boulder across the passage, sealing the entrance and trapping Izanami and the Shikome in Yomi. The episode establishes the demons as swift and relentless pursuers whose appetite can nevertheless distract them, making them formidable servants of the realm of the dead.

Sources

“Shikome.” Yokai.com. https://yokai.com/shikome/

Goblin

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Tradition: French Mythology
Alternative Names: Gobelin, Gobelyn, Boggle (related folkloric term)
Category: Goblin

The Myth

Goblins are small, grotesque humanoid supernatural beings found throughout European folklore. They are often depicted as malevolent, mischievous, or demonic creatures, sometimes standing only around 30 centimetres tall. Their appearance varies between traditions, but they may have furry or leathery bodies and the ability to change shape. Depending on the type of goblin, they may resemble a small, shaggy-haired man in ragged clothing, a grotesque monster, or an elusive spirit that can assume animal forms. They are associated with houses, stables, ruins, underground places, and other secluded locations, where they may perform household chores, play tricks, frighten travellers, or even attack and kill people.

In English and Scottish folklore, some goblins resemble brownies, small household spirits that secretly perform tasks such as threshing grain, churning butter, and tending livestock during the night. They may expect simple offerings of milk or porridge left near the hearth. However, these helpful beings can become offended if their work is criticised or if they are given clothing as a gift, sometimes abandoning the household or turning mischievous. More malicious relatives, such as Yorkshire boggarts, attach themselves to particular homes or farms and cause trouble when mistreated. They may shapeshift into animals or objects while playing pranks, spreading illness, or bringing misfortune to the people who live there.

Other goblin-like beings have their own characteristic habits. In Welsh folklore, the púca is a trickster that misleads travellers at night, sometimes taking the form of a goat or horse to lure them from familiar paths and into dangerous bogs. In Irish tradition, the clurichaun haunts cellars and breweries, steals alcoholic drinks, rides barrels as though they were horses, and becomes furious when disturbed. French and Norman folklore features lutins, impish spirits that play in stables, tangle horses’ manes into knots, and sometimes help with nighttime work. Their behaviour often depends on how humans treat them, shifting between helpfulness and mischief.

Some goblins are far more dangerous than these household spirits. The Redcap of Anglo-Scottish border folklore is a squat, murderous creature that inhabits ruined castles associated with cruelty and wicked deeds. Armed with a pikestaff and wearing iron boots, it attacks travellers and soaks its red cap in the blood of its victims. It can be driven away by Scripture or the sight of a crucifix, which causes it to scream and vanish in flames. Other stories describe supernatural markets where goblins offer enchanted or illusory goods to tempt unwary people, turning ordinary exchanges into dangerous encounters with the otherworld.

The word goblin therefore encompasses many different kinds of supernatural beings rather than one creature with a fixed appearance or behaviour. Some are household helpers, others are playful tricksters, and still others are murderous monsters. Across these traditions, goblins inhabit the uncertain boundary between the human world and the supernatural, where an apparently ordinary house, stable, forest path, or ruined castle may conceal a mischievous or dangerous presence.

Sources

“Goblin.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Accessed October 17, 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goblin

Abúhukü

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Tradition: Colombian Mythology
Alternative Names: Abúhuwa (plural)
Category: Goblin

The Myth

The Abúhukü is a monstrous rainforest demon of the Cubeo people of the Colombian Amazon, associated with disease, death, and evil. These nocturnal creatures are described as misty beings from the realm of darkness, with hairy bodies, foul smells, and an extra face on the back of the head. Their bodies are sticky, making it almost impossible for anyone caught in their embrace to escape. Female Abúhuwa have long, pendulous breasts and prefer to prey on men, while males attack women, often killing mothers and abducting their children to raise as their own.

The Abúhuwa kill their victims in horrifying ways. An Abúhukü may cut a hole in a person’s skull and suck out the contents of the body. Alternatively, it rolls its prey in palm leaves and tenderizes the victim before consuming them. Afterward, it leaves behind an empty skin hanging from a tree branch, a gruesome sign of its presence. The creatures are associated with the spirits of dead poisoners, murderers, and men who committed adultery, linking them to human wickedness and the dangers of the supernatural forest.

Children abducted by Abúhuwa are raised by the demons and become cannibals themselves. In the past, the creatures were believed to be far more numerous and allied with a race of evil jaguars that helped them decimate human populations. A series of floods and fires eventually reduced the numbers of both predators, giving humanity a reprieve from their attacks.

Despite their terrifying nature, Abúhuwa are said to be surprisingly stupid and can be outwitted even by children. They eventually became figures in children’s games and nursery tales, with one child playing the role of an Abúhukü in a kind of tag game. Their grotesque appearance makes them less frightening when confronted and mocked. They also have specific weaknesses: smoke from burning capsicum peppers is toxic to them, and burning peppers can drive them away. When an Abúhukü is killed, its body transforms into a sloth.

The Abúhukü also has a disturbing connection to poison-making. Its armpit hair is considered a potent ingredient in poisons, but obtaining it requires capturing the creature during a lunar eclipse. The hair from its left armpit must be cut with a corn husk, burned to ash, mixed with water into a paste, and left to dry. The resulting substance can be stored in a gourd sealed with beeswax. Through these traditions, the Abúhuwa embody the dangers of the rainforest while also occupying a place in children’s games and beliefs about supernatural poisons.

Sources

“Abuhuku.” A Book of Creatures, November 13, 2015. https://abookofcreatures.com/2015/11/13/abuhuku/

Gwyllion

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Tradition: Welsh Mythology
Alternative Names: Gwyllon
Category: Goblin

The Myth

The Gwyllion are frightening female fairies that haunt lonely mountain roads in Wales. Gloomy and hag-like in nature, they resemble witches or sinister spirits rather than the more benevolent elves of Welsh folklore. They appear to travellers at night or on misty days, causing even those who know the roads well to lose their way. Some Gwyllion utter strange cries and shouts across the mountains, frightening anyone who hears them.

One of the best-known Gwyllion is the Old Woman of the Mountain, a ghostly figure associated with Llanhyddel Mountain in Monmouthshire and Black Mountain in Breconshire. Local tradition held that she was the ghost of a woman who had been regarded as a witch during her lifetime. On Black Mountain, a traveller encountered her walking ahead of him. Whenever he tried to catch up, she remained just beyond his reach, leading him farther from his route until he found himself in a marsh. When she finally gave a cackling laugh, he suspected her supernatural nature and drew his knife. The Old Woman immediately vanished.

Knives and other cutting tools were believed to repel the Gwyllion and other Welsh ghosts and fairies. Travellers who encountered them in the mountains could drive them away by drawing a knife, particularly when the spirits had led them astray. The Gwyllion were also said to visit houses in the parish of Aberystruth, especially during stormy weather. Although people feared them, they provided clean water and welcomed them into their homes to avoid offending the fairy visitors. They took care not to leave knives or other cutting implements near the fireside, where the fairies liked to sit.

Other accounts describe Gwyllion dancing wildly around a traveller on Bedwellty Mountain, accompanied by the sound of a bugle horn and the apparent passage of invisible hunters on horseback. The traveller drew his knife, causing the spirits to disappear. These traditions portray the Gwyllion as dangerous and disorienting supernatural beings, feared for their ability to confuse travellers and disturb isolated communities, yet vulnerable to the protective power attributed to knives and iron.

Sources

“Gwyllion.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Accessed October 17, 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gwyllion

Redcap

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Tradition: Scottish Mythology
Alternative Names: Powrie, Redcomb, Bloody Cap, Robin Redcap
Category: Goblin

The Myth

The Redcap is a malevolent goblin from the folklore of the Anglo-Scottish border, known for its murderous nature and distinctive blood-red cap. It is described as a short, thickset old creature with long, prominent teeth, large fiery-red eyes, and grisly hair streaming over its shoulders. Its thin fingers end in sharp talons like those of an eagle, and it wears iron boots while carrying a pikestaff in its left hand. Its most striking feature is the red cap on its head, which it keeps crimson by soaking it in the blood of its victims.

Redcaps inhabit ruined castles and ancient fortresses, particularly places associated with tyranny, cruelty, and wicked deeds. When travellers seek shelter in these ruins, the goblin attacks them by hurling enormous stones. If it kills someone, it dips its cap in the victim’s blood. Ordinary human strength cannot overcome a Redcap, making it a particularly dangerous presence in abandoned buildings along the border.

Despite its strength and ferocity, the Redcap can be defeated through religious protection. Reciting Scripture or brandishing a crucifix causes the creature to let out a dismal scream before vanishing in flames, leaving behind one of its large teeth. This weakness makes Christian faith a powerful defence against the otherwise formidable goblin.

One famous Redcap is Robin Redcap, the supernatural familiar of William de Soulis, a Scottish nobleman associated with Hermitage Castle. According to legend, Robin Redcap helped his master commit terrible deeds and protected him against weapons. The creature was said to live inside a chest secured by three strong padlocks. In the tale of William de Soulis, the nobleman was eventually taken to Ninestane Rig, wrapped in lead, and boiled to death. Although the story differs from the historical account of de Soulis’s imprisonment and death, it helped establish the Redcap’s association with the dark legends surrounding Scotland’s ruined castles.

Not every figure called a Redcap is murderous. A tradition from Perthshire describes a more benevolent little man living in a room high inside Grantully Castle, whose appearance or sounds bring good fortune to those who encounter him. In Cornwall, the term was also applied more broadly to fairies wearing scarlet caps, including some benevolent fairy folk. These variants differ from the blood-soaked goblin of the Anglo-Scottish border, whose name is inseparable from violence and the haunted ruins it inhabits.

Sources

“Redcap.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Accessed October 17, 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redcap

Bogle

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Tradition: Scottish Mythology
Alternative Names: Boggle, Bogill, Tatty Bogle, Tattie-Bogle
Category: Goblin

The Myth

The Bogle is a supernatural being from the folklore of Scotland and northern England, particularly Northumberland and Cumbria. It is generally described as a ghostly or goblin-like creature that exists to confuse, frighten, and perplex human beings rather than to help them or deliberately cause serious harm. Its appearance varies between local traditions, and the name is used for several different supernatural beings, including Shellycoats, Barghests, Brags, and the Hedley Kow. In some traditions, even giants are described as bogles.

Bogles are associated with frightening people and disturbing ordinary life through mysterious or unsettling behaviour. They may be heard in the wind or among the trees, where their eerie sounds frighten children. The term has also been used more generally for ghosts and bogeymen, particularly in the Scottish Lowlands, where it remained familiar in children’s speech into the twentieth century.

One notable variety is the Tatty Bogle, also known as the Tattie-Bogle. This creature is associated with potato fields, where it hides among the crops and may attack unsuspecting people or cause blight that damages the potatoes. It is also depicted as a scarecrow, reflecting the use of the word bogle for scarecrows in parts of England and Scotland. In this form, the figure stands in the fields as a frightening presence connected with the protection of crops.

Bogles also appear in stories of supposedly haunted houses. In an account published in the Larne Weekly Reporter on 31 March 1866, strange disturbances at a house in Ballygowan, Northern Ireland, terrified local residents. Objects were thrown through windows and, on one occasion, through the roof. The disturbances reportedly ceased after several months. People blamed the incidents on the use of building materials taken from an older house believed to have belonged to the supernatural “little people.” The account illustrates how the term could be associated with mysterious disturbances attributed to unseen beings.

The Bogle is not a single creature with a fixed appearance or set of powers, but a broad name for frightening supernatural beings in northern British folklore. Whether imagined as a ghost, a goblin, a field-haunting scarecrow, or an unseen presence disturbing a house, the Bogle embodies the unsettling and unpredictable side of the supernatural world.

Sources

“Bogle.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Accessed October 17, 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bogle

El Tata Duende

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Tradition: Belizean Mythology
Alternative Names: Tata Duende, Duenditos
Category: Goblin

The Myth

El Tata Duende, whose name means “Grandfather Demon,” is a sinister goblin-like being in the folklore of Belize, particularly among the Maya inhabitants of the region. He is associated with the forests and is feared for luring children away from safety and stealing them. According to local stories, children are warned never to play marbles at night, as doing so may attract the creature. Once he captures a child, he is said to take their thumbs, leaving behind a disturbing reminder of their encounter with the forest spirit.

El Tata Duende belongs to a wider tradition of duendes, goblin-like beings found in the folklore of Iberia, Latin America, and the Philippines. These creatures are often associated with forests and may be benevolent or malicious depending on the tradition. Duenditos, the smaller and generally less threatening relatives of El Tata Duende, are sometimes said to help lost travelers find their way home. In some Mexican tales, they inhabit the walls of houses and attempt to trim the toenails of untidy children, sometimes accidentally clipping off an entire toe. El Tata Duende, by contrast, is a more dangerous figure whose mischief can have serious consequences.

Despite his frightening reputation, El Tata Duende is also known for his love of music and horses. He is said to play the guitar and ride horses throughout the night, leaving their manes braided after his nocturnal adventures. The commotion caused by his rides can trouble local inhabitants, particularly those whose horses he takes for his nighttime journeys.

According to folklore, El Tata Duende can be tricked because he is neither invincible nor particularly clever. Children may escape him by bending their thumbs behind their palms and showing him their hands. Mistaking them for smaller members of his own kind, he may let them go. Another reported method of driving him away involves leaving a guitar, a bottle of rum, and a mirror near a stable. The creature is expected to play the instrument and drink the rum before looking into the mirror and frightening himself away permanently. These tales portray El Tata Duende as both a dangerous predator and a foolish trickster whose weaknesses can be exploited by those who know how to outwit him.

Sources

“Belize Folklore: Finados.” Chaa Creek Belize Travel Blog, November 2016. https://belize-travel-blog.chaacreek.com/2016/11/belize-folklore-finados/#duenditos-and-el-tata-duende