10 Myths and Legends about Strange Creatures from Latin America

Most likely you’ve read some stories about Medusa or vampires; but, do you know any legend that has its origin in Latin America? From Mexico to Chile, many communities know and fear legends about beings that live on our continent. The stories are part of an oral tradition and serve to warn friends and family about the beasts and spirits that live among us. Many of them have been around for a long time and are already an important part of our continent’s culture.

Today the awesome.club wants to share with you a list of strange beings present in the culture of some Latin American countries. Check out!

The name Yacuruna, also known as the water demon because it lives in the depths of rivers and lakes in the Amazon Jungle, means “water man” in Quechua. Locals say he sleeps during the day with one eye open, and at night he patrols the jungle using a black alligator as a canoe and a snake as a necklace. They also say that he is responsible for the disappearance of people in the Amazon.

According to legend, Yacuruna manages to transform himself into a very attractive man to capture his victims, who are usually women. However, people who have seen him in his real form claim that he is a hairy man with deformed feet. In addition, he has an even more terrifying feature: he can rotate his head backwards.

This being is a strange creature that roams the Peruvian Jungle at night and lets out a frightening whistle. Some say that if the emitted sound is too sharp, people in the village or the house will be very unlucky, which can mean tragedy, illness or even death.

No one really knows what he looks like. Some people have described him as a bird, while others claim he looks like a witch. However, everyone agrees with the idea that it is not an evil creature, but a reflection of the spirit of the person it is with. That is, if the person is bad, Tunche will make the person pay for their injustices; on the other hand, a good-natured person will soon know that he has nothing to fear.

According to legend, a punishment will be given to couples with 6 children, who bring a seventh child into the world – the seventh being a male. That, in turn, will transform into the Luison, a creature resembling a black dog; a kind of wolf man with huge ears (the figure makes reference to Guarani mythology and has similarities with the European legend of the Werewolf). However, this being does not transform only on full moon nights, but every Friday at midnight and sometimes on Tuesdays as well.

When this happens, he goes out into the streets and scares various animals until dawn, eats the remains of food he finds and makes a mess of tombs in cemeteries.

Perhaps this is one of the most well-known and terrifying legends that exists in Mexico. The account originated centuries ago, with the founding of the Viceroyalty of New Spain, and tells the story of an indigenous woman who fell in love with a Spanish nobleman with whom she had 3 children. Unfortunately, the European never wanted to meet the children and he didn’t want to marry her either.

This drove the poor woman insane, and she ended up drowning her 3 children in a river. When she realized what she had done, she took her own life. They say that guilt and pain do not let her rest and, therefore, she wanders around desperately, screaming for her children and dressed in white.

If there is a truly evil female spirit, it is Tunda. They say that she was a woman who suffered a lot at the hands of her husband and, therefore, decided to take revenge on men. It lives in tropical forests in southern Colombia and northern Ecuador, and its most distinguishing feature is its wooden leg.

People say that in order to capture the victim, she eliminates her monstrous aspect and transforms into an ordinary person, who usually looks like someone the victim knows. She steals naughty, unbaptized children and seduces unfaithful men and young men, causing them to enter a kind of trance. Afterwards, she feeds them shrimp and keeps them kidnapped in the wild to eat them. To save a kidnapped man, it is necessary to enter the forest in a group and accompanied by a priest.

The Pombero is a famous creature in the Guarani legends of Paraguay, and it is also known in some parts of Argentina and in the south of Brazil. And his name means “man of the night” in Guarani. This creature is responsible for ensuring that the fauna and flora are not threatened, that the trees are not cut down and that only the animals that will serve as food for the families are sacrificed.

It is common for communities to ask the Pombero to take care of the crops and to protect the animals. In return, they offer him tobacco and honey. But this does not happen voluntarily. If a family forgets, it wreaks havoc in their home and is capable of leaving its victim without a voice.

During the 1990s, a strange phenomenon happened in Puerto Rico: some goats were found dead, without a drop of blood on their bodies and with small holes in their necks. And some of the animals were even found missing some of Organs internal organs.

Many people thought that the culprit was a being that walked on two legs, had gray or green fur, thorns on its back, tail and wings to flee quickly. He was called Chupacabra. This creature, responsible for systematic attacks on rural animals, would also have existed in Florida, Nicaragua, Chile, Mexico and Brazil.

They say he looks like a calf with green fur and has a horn on his head like a unicorn. In addition, people defend the idea that this being is born from the depths of the earth.

The horn bone is so valued that in the past the local healers of Chiloé, the machisused part of it in their potions and in their remedies against diseases, although the dose had to be very controlled, as a large amount could affect the patient and leave him with intense headaches or drive him to madness.

The origin of this legend goes back to the story of a proud and ungrateful young woman who fell in love with a Spaniard who invited her to a party. Her parents, who she treated with contempt, would not let her go and the young woman, completely angry, tried to hit her mother, but was stopped by a hand that cast a spell transforming her into an evil spirit.

This ghost presents itself as a beautiful woman to men who ride a horse or a car alone at night. Once they pay attention to her, her face turns into a terrifying, stinking skull. The image is so frightening that its victims die of a heart attack. When that doesn’t happen, she kisses and kills the victim.

The story of this legend relates to very ancient times when a young man murdered his father and turned into a specter that roams the plains. Some people say that his presence brings a noise that means tragedy and death. Others say that when he appears, he starts counting the pieces of bones in his bag. According to this second group, the most dangerous thing is when it appears without making any noise. When that happens, someone wakes up lifeless.

He often appears to womanizing and drunk men, but he also likes to appear to innocent victims. From men who drink heavily, he sucks the alcohol, and from womanizers, he pulls out the bones and puts them in the same bag where he keeps his father’s bones.

Which of these figures do you think is the most terrifying? Here in Brazil we have many other legends, which ones do you know? Share in the comments.