Looking At Folklore Creatures...

 All right, so I've been posting about my paranormal world building and giving out little details here and there. I have yet to get into some of these ancient folklore beings. Now, I can be a very paranoid writer, I like to hold my ideas close to the chest until I get my work put out there. So, I won't be telling anyone which ones I'm using.

I certainly won't stop you from integrating them into your work, by all means. We all have different views on these sorts of creatures and folklore. If I get something wrong, I fully expect to be corrected.

Without further ado, let's get into a few. If these inspire you to write about them, perfect! The more the merrier. Our stories and history, our cultures, should not be forgotten or erased.

So first of all, I'd like to start out with Shapeshifters and Animagus.

ANIMAGUS - Animagus are shapeshifters who can shift into almost any animal form. The only known “side-effect” is through canine blood when an Animagus who can shift into any canine form sires a child, that child has a chance of becoming a Werewolf. Any other Animagus animal forms do not seem to have that ability. 

SHAPESHIFTERS - Shapeshifters are people who can shift into any other living organism shape, be it animal or human. They cannot take on the true shape of any other paranormal/supernatural creature or being. If they attempt to shift into a Werewolf form, there will always be something odd, like a missing tail, no fur, etc. Same with a Witch or Vampire, something about them will be off or missing.

Now, mind you, these are not the actual definitions. Please don't fill my comment section with nerd rage or anything. I wrote these as a way to differentiate the two and to give them faults and flaws so they're not perfect.

Most of my stories are about these beings hiding in plain sight, but with all of the technology today, it's getting more and more difficult. Humans, however, should be able to see unusual stuff, even more unusual than what they're looking at, which is why I add in the faults and flaws.

CADEJO - These dog-like creatures come from Central American folklore. There are black and white. The White Cadejo protects travelers on their nighttime journey, the Black Cadejo will just kill them.

So as with any type of being, you have your balance of good and bad. At least in this case of the Cadejo, you can actually tell what side they're on.

BTSAN - The Btsan are Tibetan sky spirits. They look like hunters riding red horses. Perhaps in this day and age, they might drive red cars or motorcycles. It would be interesting to see what people come up with.

HONGAEK – Korean for “Red Disaster”. A red cloud of fear and confusion that materializes at the scene of suicide, murder, catastrophic/fatal events that bring people bad luck. 

With everything going on in the world today, we don't need any more bad luck, but what can we do. How would you battle something like that?

All right, that's it for now. I hope maybe this sparks some ideas for you. Let me know what you like in the comments.

What creatures and beings are in your folklore? Did I get these right? Drop a comment or find me on Twitter @MelMcC7.