Tradition: Australian Mythology
Alternative Names: Whowie
Category: Frog
The Myth
The Whowie is a gigantic and terrifying monster from southeastern Australian Aboriginal mythology. It resembles an enormous goanna, around seven metres long, with a huge frog-shaped head and six powerful legs. It lives in a vast cave on the banks of the Murray River, whose passages extend deep beneath the ground. The creature’s heavy trampling along the riverbanks is said to have formed the sandhills of the Riverina district.
Despite its enormous size, the Whowie moves slowly and is exceptionally stealthy, making it a deadly predator. It can kill and devour an entire tribe in a single meal, and its attacks brought misery and terror to the people living in the surrounding lands. For a long time, the tribes suffered under the monster’s constant threat.
Eventually, the water rat tribe decided that the Whowie had to be destroyed. They instructed the surrounding tribes to gather spears, stone axes, waddies, and great bundles of sticks. When the Whowie was deep inside its cave, the people piled the sticks at the entrance and set them on fire, filling the cave with smoke. After seven days, the blinded and disoriented monster finally emerged. The assembled tribes attacked it with their weapons and killed it, freeing the land from its terrible menace.
Sources
“Whowie.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Accessed October 14, 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whowie