Tradition / Region: Russian Mythology
Alternate Names: —
Category: Bogeyman, House dweller, hunchback
The Myth
Baga is one of the frightening figures used in children’s horror stories in the Russian countryside. Like many such beings, it belongs to the group of bogeymen invoked to scare children into obedience.
In the folk beliefs of the Nizhny Novgorod province, Baga is described as hunchbacked, a detail that sets it apart from other similar scare-figures such as the bogeyman or vova. Beyond this, little is said about its appearance or actions.
Baga does not appear in long legends or heroic tales. Its role is practical and immediate: a threat spoken aloud to warn children away from misbehavior or dangerous places. The creature’s power lies in fear itself, not in deeds or stories.
Like many rural bogeymen, Baga exists more as a warning than a character—an unseen presence shaped by imagination, meant to keep children cautious and obedient.
Gallery
Sources
Bestiary.us contributors. (n.d.). Eterari. In Bestiary.us, from https://www.bestiary.us/eterari/
Interpretive Lenses
Religious Readings
- Christian Ascetic Deep Dive
Philosophical Readings
- Nietzschean Deep Dive
Psychological Readings
- Jungian Deep Dive
Esoteric Deep Dive
- Hermetic Deep Dive
Political / Social Readings
- Marxist Deep Dive
Other
- How to Invite The Baga