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Might as well provide this now to get it out of the way.
Anyhow. Mythology. Mythology is awesome. People who know me may be aware that I love mythology. Thus, I shall ramble on and on about it, just because. And there will be dead people! And candy! ...Ok, probably not candy. Cucumbers, though. Yep, definitely cucumbers. And without further ado, I'll just get on with it.
Beware of Sharks Man-Eating Terrorbeasts
Jenny Greenteeth
Originating in English folklore, Jenny Greenteeth is a hag (ok, hag is a pretty broad term, but you try describing a long haired pointy teethed murderer woman. :<) that lives in stagnant waters, such as ponds, lakes, and rivers. As you may have guessed from the use of the term "murderer", she makes a habit of grabbing people (predominately children and the elderly, seeing as they aren't exactly known for their overwhelming strength), and then pulls them underwater to drown them. Presumably, she then eats them or something. Contrary to her name, it's her skin (and by some accounts, her hair), that is green, not her teeth. Also, her hair is sometimes mistaken for algae or duckweed, which is actually a pretty good way to drown, since it masks the depth of the water it's in. As you probably already guessed, Jenny Greenteeth was invented to keep children from mucking around near ponds and getting themselves killed, much like a lot of other water based mythological creatures.
Rusalka
Based in Slavic folklore, there are various interpretations of what rusalki are. In some stories, there are fish-women, that come out into the fields at night, sing and dance to mesmerise men, and then lure them back into the river to their deaths. Kind of like sirens, but less Greek. And with less shipwrecks. Another variation on the tale is that the rusalki are the spirits of women who died (sometimes in a violent manner) before their time, such as those who committed suicide. Specifically, the rusalka is a woman who died in/near a waterway. These too attract men or children (with fruit/singing), and drown them. They may also tickle them to death. Which is an odd way of killing somebody, especially for a ghost/zombie, but there you have it. There are also baby rusalki, unbaptised children who drowned. Like the adult versions, these rusalki aren't always particularly innocent, and will attack living humans. In some regions, they are depicted as ugly women covered in hair. Like yetis I guess. Except not at all like yetis. And sometimes they are demons. Water demon is a bit of an odd phrase, really.
Due to the various accounts of just what the rusalki are in the first place, the descriptions of their appearances also vary. Sometimes, they are depicted as having pale or translucent skin. Sometimes, their eyes are said to glow, whilst, in other stories, they have no pupils. Like Jenny Greenteeth, their hair is said to be long and green (or golden), and wet. ...Yeah, accounts conflict a lot with the rusalki. I'll settle for beautiful ugly pale fishwomen covered in hair but not covered in hair. That tickle and drown you at the same time.
Kappa
Time to make use of that NSFW disclaimer! Anyhow, kappa originate from Japan, and unlike the other two entries are not long haired women. They do still drown and eat people though. Anyways, kappa (not to be confused with κ or ϰ, because that would be dumb) are a type of suijin/sprite (suijin being both the Shinto god of water, and a variety of legendary water creatures), that live in rivers, and most closely resemble scaled small scaled children. Like the rusalki, and Jenny Greenteeth, they were used as the obligatory "Don't go near the water, you will be HORRIBLY KILLED" warning. On top of the kappa's head is an indentation filled with water. If one bows to a kappa, it is obligated to bow too (a polite man eating monster? Why I never!), and the water will spill from the indentation. This paralyses the kappa until the indentation is filled once more, allowing you to escape. Another way to deal with a kappa is to offer it a cucumber, which is their favourite food (next to shirikodama, but we'll come to those in a moment.), and befriend it. Then it won't eat you, because who eats friends? You could also challenge them to a wrestling match and win, but seeing as A) They are excellent wrestlers, and They are supernaturally strong, you'd probably want to go for cucumbers. Or bowing.
Unlike the rusalki and Jenny Greenteeth, they are not always depicted as just drowning/eating people. Similar to the less malevolent of the fairies from other folklore, they are sometimes depicted as pulling pranks, such as looking up kimonos or stealing clothing. Of course, on the other end of the scale, we have the aforementioned man-eating, kidnapping of animals, and the occasional rape.
Ah yes. The man eating. Kappa don't tend to just eat human flesh. Instead, they drown their victims, then search inside their anus for a mythical ball called the shirikodama, which they perceive as a delicacy. (see, I told you I'd get to it!) This part of the myth comes from the fact that the anuses of drowning victims "flare", leading to the idea that a kappa has been searching around for shirikodama.
And there we have it. More than you ever wanted to know about drowning people and mythology. Ask me anything you want about it (not necessarily limited to water creatures), and I'll see what I can give you that I already know. :P
Or don't. Because doing so would be a clear sign of insanity.
Comments
Find me a creature crazier than Popo Bawa, I dare you.
Know any good native american stuff (no Wendigos. That's too easy)?
Hmm, what about this thing?
[obama]Not bad.[/obama]
So, we've got gay rapist bat ogre versus Satanist virgin-raping ghost. Just... wow.
Let's get some revenants up here.
The caveat here is that werewolves and vampires weren't considered separate creatures; some vampires (which is just a word for revenant anyway) also had wolf forms.
Here's a fun part of that myth: if you drunk from water that had fallen into the pawprint of a werewolf, you would become a werewolf yourself upon death.
That is a ridiculously random and arbitrary vector for curse transmission.
Question: If said werewolf dove to the bottom of a well and left a pawprint somewhere, would that make all the well water werewolf curse transmission water?
I don't think anyone's entirely sure on that, amusing a concept as it is.
Although I'd expect not. The idea is that water that fills a pawprint will transmit the curse -- that is, the pawprint has to exist first. That said, there's nothing stopping someone from finding such a pawprint, extracting the water and poisoning a well with it. Or just serving it to someone they dislike.
So in that case all a vampire is is a werewolf that wasn't destroyed correctly
Most mythology is pretty mix-and-match. If you wanted to interpret this narratively for the sake of some kind of story, I'd probably say it'd revolve around the individual creature in question moreso than type.
The way myths change and influence each other is to me almost as interesting as the myths themselves.
^ Is there a name for that creature?
Edit: And I am not 100% sure if it is a proper monster or was invented to support the Slenderman myths. Even with people assuring me it's real I can't be completely certain