Monsters from African Mythology

1) The Were-hyena

Perhaps the most famous mythical

creature from African mythology is the

were-hyena.

A creature similar but very different to

the famous werewolf.

Just as the werewolf transforms from

human to wolf, were-hyena transforms

from human into hyena

but that's not where the differences end. A were -hyena can also be a hyena that

transforms into a human plus in most

myths were-hyenas are able to transform

at any time and don't need access to a

full moon.

Another difference is that werewolves

are made while wear hyenas are born.

While the werewolf curse is passed

through numerous ways of infection like

a bite, the were-hyena gene is passed on

from generation to generation.

Hyenas and humans have had an imposing

relationship dating back to the early

humans of Africa.

Were-hyenas have a gluttonous appetite

usually solitary creatures that have a

talent for luring people away from their

homes by calling out with human voices.

According to Ethiopian legends the

Buddha were-hyenas were gravediggers

that ate the rotting flesh of corpses

and were forced to transform at night

and then forced to transform back at

dawn.

2) The Grootslang: The Grootslang is a legendary creature

set to dwell in a deep cave

wonder hole or the bottomless pit in

Richardsville South Africa.

The Grootslang is said to take the form

of the humongous serpents with the head

of an elephant with great fangs coming

out of its mouth.

Additional descriptions have the legs of

an elephant coming out of the front and

back of the Grootslang's serpent body.

According to legends the Grootslangs

were one of the first creations of the

gods but the gods made a mistake:

they made the Grootslangs too strong

and smart and extremely cruel;

the grootslangs went on a rampage

destroying and devouring everything in

their path

eventually the gods had enough and

decided to destroy the Grootslangs by

cutting them in half

thus creating the first elephants and

the first snakes.

The legend has it that one Grootslang

was able to get away and then made its

home in the wonder hole.

There it hides hoarding diamonds and

precious jewels while it devours

elephants it lures inside its cave,

anyone foolish enough to enter is never

seen

ever again.

3) The Kongamato:

The Kongamato is supposedly a

pterodactyl-like creature living in the

Congo Zambia and the Angola areas of

Africa. The locals have described it as a

reddish lizard with membranous wings,

sharp jagged teeth in its beak and a

wingspan ranging from 5 to 15 feet.

It is well known for dive bombing the

canoes of the natives and either

capsizing the boats or breaking them

while its diet consists of mostly fish.

The Kongamato will have no problem

attacking humans.

According to legend kongamato will dig

up human graves and eat rotting corpses.

4) The Impundulu:

The impundulu also known as the

lightning bird is a mythical creature

from the tribes of South Africa.

According to legend the Impundulu is a

creature that is able to summon thunder

and lightning with a beat of its wings.

Apparently the creature only shows its

true form to women.

Men only see the impundulu as lightning

in the shape of a bird,

but women see the impundulu as a black

and white hammer cop the size of a

person.

It is also able to transform into a

handsome man allowing it to seduce young

women

As well as being a creature of lightning,

it is also a vampire creature with a

deep love for blood.

When the impundulu is in its bird form

it feeds from other birds; when the

in its human form it feeds

from other humans.

Impundulus are immortal and are passed

down through a witch's family from

mother to children.

The fat of an impundulu can be used for

important healing medicine and the

feathers can be used to track down

another human.

According to legend the only weakness of

an impundulu is fire; a weakness that

many have exploited so that they can

acquire the birds fat and feathers.

5) The kishi:

A kishi is a two-faced creature from

Angola Africa.

At first sight a kishi seems to look like

an extremely handsome man with a

charming personality that lures in any

woman he meets,

but what the women don't realize is that

they are being drawn into a trap

because on the back of a kishi's head

there is another face that lies in

weight;

the face of a hyena that has unbreakable

jaws.

Once the kishi charms a woman it will

usually take its victim to a secluded

place and lean in for a kiss.

When the woman begins to lean in, the

kishi turns around revealing its hyena

face.

The hyena face will then bite into the

woman with its strong jaws.

There is another version of the story

where the kishi will first have a child

with a woman and then eat her after she

has given birth.

Kishi will then take its child away and

teach the ways of human devouring.

6) Aigamuxa: Also called the Bushmen are

creatures of legend from the koi koi

people in South Africa.

The creature is human in appearance. With

the exception of having eyes on its face,

instead the Aigamuxa have their eyes on

the soles of their feet.

Aigamuxa is a man-eating creature that

enjoys hunting travelers in the desert.

The Aigamuxa have become extremely

well adapted to running on their hands because of the unique placement of their eyes.

That doesn't mean they won't chase their

prey on foot though.

The best way to escape the Aigamuxa is to

run in a different direction once it

starts chasing you on foot. You will

eventually have to stop and flip on its

hand so its eyes can't find you.

7) The Nandi Bear

Nandi Bear is a creature from folklore

of the Nandi people in western Kenya. It is

described as a huge creature mixed

between a bear and a hyena with red fur

a sloped shaggy back and front shoulders

over five feet high.

It is a dangerous and ferocious creature

with a love for eating livestock and

people by smashing open their heads and

eating their brains. It also enjoys scalping humans.

The Nandi bear is generally nocturnal

and will climb smash and force its way

through barriers and huts to get at its

food.

Sightings of the creature began in the

early 17th century and continued up

until 1998

where the last sighting took place.

8) The Popobawa:

The Popobawa is an evil shapeshifter

that inhabits the island of Pemba off

the coasts of Tanzania.

While Popobawa takes on many forms

ranging from human to animal its

favorite form is a half man-

half-bat-like creature with a single eye.

Popobawa is able to possess humans and

speak through them as well as paralyze

his victims if they stare long enough

into his eye.

The best way to know if someone is a

Popobawa is if they smell heavily of

sulfur.

9) The Tokoloshi from Zulu

mythology in South Africa. These are

small mischievous creatures

that are usually associated with witches

and malevolent witch doctors.

They usually have long bony claws and

are said to have gouged out eyes and

sometimes a hole in their foreheads.

Legend has it that they are sent by evil

witch doctors into people's homes during

the night to cause mayhem.

Tokoloshi's actions could range from

simply frightening its victim to biting

off a person's toes to strangling a

person in their sleep.

The only way to avoid a Tokoloshi is to

have your bed raised high enough off the

ground. With a bed say raised on bricks the

tokoloshi wouldn't be able to reach there

10) The Crocotta:

The Crocotta is a creature from

Ethiopian legend and is the offspring of

a male hyena and a female lioness.

The Crocotta is the size of a donkey with

the backside of a stag, the chest the

neck and tail of a lion, a badger's head,

a horse's mane and cloven hoofs.

Its fur looks somewhat like a spotted

hyena and its mouth opens from ear to

ear showing a dreadful smile of sharp

bony teeth.

The Crocotta also has the ability to

mimic the voices of humans.

it will usually trick a human by calling

out for help using a panicky voice,

Human will then rush to help the

desperate voice only to realize that

they have become a Crocotta meal.

11) The Chipfalamfula:

The Chipfalamfula is a colossal fish

creature from Ranga Bantu legends. Its

complete control over water can either

be favorable towards people by providing

long rains for crops or disastrous by

summoning floods and causing droughts.

Legend has it that the fish is so large

that an entire town lives within its

stomach.

The town has an endless supply of

livestock, is surrounded by land that is

eternally fertile and is filled with

people who are at the peak of happiness.

12) The Nunda/Mngwa:

Nunda/Mngwa is a deadly

mythological cat creature from Tanzania.

It's been described as a leopard with

gray and brindled fur but bigger than

any known lion.

It is famously known as the eater of

people mostly because tales from fishing

villages tell of men and women being

brutally maimed and devoured by the

beast

13) The Adze:

In West Africa the aweh people have a

legend about a blood-sucking creature

that is able to take the form of both an

insect and a human.

The creature's name is Adze and it

becomes a firefly or mosquito when it

takes its insect form.

as an insect adze is able to fly through

keyholes under doors and cracks in the

walls of homes.

Once inside adze will search for a

sleeping human and suck out some of

their blood causing the human to fall

incredibly ill and potentially die.

If an Adze is ever captured in its

insect form it will instantly transform

into its human form.

In Adze human form they gain the ability

to possess other humans.

14) The Inkanyamba

Yamba Zulu people have a legend about

creatures called Inkanyamba.

Giant snake slash eel creatures with the

head of a horse and the ability to

control the weather and fly.

The Inkanyamba are said to live around the

falls in South Africa and

according to legend are incredibly

vicious territorial and are able to

produce terrible storms when angry.

There have been many sightings of two

Inkanyamba fighting in water over

territory causing great destruction in

their wake

during the summer. It's thought that

Inkanyamba migrate causing hail and

storms as they fly away.

Legend also has its that when a male in

Inkanyamba is looking for a mate it will

cause a giant tornado until it finds one.