History Main / MythicalMotifs

** In his monstrous form, Emperor Belos has quite a bit in common with a Wendigo:
*** He is a huge, humanoid monster who is horrifically [[LeanAndMean emancipated]]. He even sports a pair of antler-like growths, reminiscent of the deer-like [[SadlyMythtaken pop culture take]] on Wendigos.
*** Wendigos were an AnthropomorphicPersonification of greed and starvation, fitting Belos' feasting on palismen to sustain himself and his gradual transformation into a monster by doing so, along with his monstrous form being almost skeletally thin and emaciated-looking. Wendigo are also heavily associated with cannibalism and, while Belos isn't technically a direct cannibal, his predatory modus operandi towards palismen --which are carved from wooden trees grown from the flesh of the dead titan -- and later, [[spoiler:Human Realm wildlife]] is arguably just as disturbing to see. [[spoiler:He even restores his body to full strength by draining Hunter's life essence through his possession, with the ugly-losing scars left behind on the boy making it clear that [[PossessionBurnout extended possession]] would have reduced his body to [[StrippedToTheBone mere bones]].]]
*** Wendigos were [[WasOnceAMan formerly human]], but became cannibalistic monsters due to their greed and selfishness. [[spoiler:Belos also was just a regular human, but as Luz herself pointed out, in [[HeWhoFightsMonsters his mad pursuit of witch genocide]], he eventually stopped being a human altogether, both [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters figuratively]] and ''especially'' [[HumanoidAbomination literally]].]]
*** As previously said in AnimalMotifs, Belos shares a bird of prey motif with a lot of the cast. Coincidentally, rather than with deer as pop culture will tell you, Wendigos in the original folklore were sometimes associated with [[OminousOwl owls]], even sharing the same term in some Native American dialects.
*** Wendigos originate from Native American legends, [[spoiler:and Philip started out living in America.]]
*** Wendigo habitats are usually considered to be dark caves or woods where they make their lairs and hunting grounds. [[spoiler:Several important revelations about Philip's true nature are revealed whilst inside of darkened cave formations like the inside of the Titan's skull, and Luz and Hunter discover his true psychotic nature whilst inside the darkened and twisted woods of his mindscape, where he possesses a HomeFieldAdvantage that almost renders them powerless before him.]]
*** Some legends state that Wendigos fear or are vulnerable to fire, because their hearts are made of Ice. Though subtle, Belos has demonstrated an aversion to fire throughout the series, most noticeably, in "King's Tide" his confidant and calm demeanour briefly falters when Luz nearly hits him with a fireball, and his suppressed [[RedRightHand facial disfiguration]], which is demonstrated to be tied to his emotions, is shown to have [[GlamourFailure slightly broken]] as a result. Having a 'heart of ice' also neatly describes Belos' [[TheSociopath true nature]] quite accurately.
** Additionally, Belos also has some points in common with the native American depiction of a Skin Walker.
*** Skin Walkers were shapeshifting beings that were thought to be created when a benevolent medicine man abused the indigenous magic of the land for evil purposes, and in turn gained mystical powers to be used for evil purposes. Though varying from tradition to tradition, one common power was the ability to turn into or possess animals or people. [[spoiler:This fits with how Philip abused the native Glyph magic of the isles for his own purposes and gradually turned into a monstrous form that needed to [[{{Glamour}} forcibly disguise itself]] into a human form in keeping with his delusional perceptions of his own humanity. Whilst deceiving Luz and Hunter within his mindscape his inner self makes extensive use of shapeshifting to appear either as a benevolent guide or to underscore his revelation to Luz about his true identity as Philip Wittebane. Once trapped on Earth, Philip reconstitutes his body by possessing and feeding on the life-force of both animals and eventually Hunter.]]
*** It was believed that anybody could become a Skin Walker if they committed some sort of deep-seated taboo. [[spoiler:Philip's near-biblical SiblingMurder of Caleb, down to getting his own '[[RedRightHand Mark of Cain]]' from holding tightly to the FantasticRacism of witches that turned him murderous towards his brother for 'betraying' him for them, would fit that criteria.]]
*** It was believed that Skin Walkers were near-impossible to kill, unless with a bullet or knife dipped in white ash, and Belos' current form has proven to be capable of surviving [[LudicrousGibs physical trauma]] that would have killed a normal man easily.
** [[Characters/TheOwlHouseLuzNoceda Luz Noceda]]
*** Witches. She is a massive fan of them because of the Azura book and initially her main goal in the Boiling Isles is to become a real one. As the series progresses she slowly turns into a CuteWitch, and throughout Season 3 she wears a witch costume, which even influences her [[SuperMode Titan form]] with a witch hat and longcoat.
*** Demons as well. Luz is big fan of them in general and gets along with [[DarkisnotEvil the non evil ones]]. Angels might also count since traits of both are in her Titan form, having [[HornedHumanoids horns]], claws, a darker color scheme, but also uses [[LightEmUp Light Glyphs]], and a glowing orb above Luz that acts like a [[HolyHalo halo]].
*** InUniverse, she is associated with the titans. King, one of her closes companions/little brother [[AngelUnaware is in fact one]] and the Boiling Isles Titan himself is rather fond of her. It became even more prominent in her Titan form, having many traits of the titans themselves.

** Zuko has an animal motif in the theme of dragons, creatures associated with [[ElementalPowers fire]]. However, his motifs were of two dragons, one blue and one red, representing the dual aspect of his nature. The dragons also refer to his Uncle Iroh, the Dragon of the West [[spoiler:who protected the last of the dragons, from whom Zuko and Aang later learn the true source of Fire Bending from.]]
** Zuko's sister, Azula, is also associated with the blue dragon.

** Sugilite, the fusion of Amethyst and Garnet, produces a dragon-shaped aura when she is formed.

** [[Characters/TheOwlHouseLuzNoceda Luz Noceda]

** The series' original protagonist, [[TheHero Kazuma Kiryu]], has a dragon motif, specifically the ''ouryuu'', also known as the Yinglong or "responding dragon", hence the series' name. He has a silver dragon tattoo on his back, has a tendency to come to blows with [[TigerVersusDragon characters with tiger motifs]], and is portrayed as powerful and [[RatedMForManly manly]], but also as a wise WarriorPoet. The ''ouryuu'' was also said to have been banished from heaven after committing a murder, mirroring Kiryu being arrested and expelled from the yakuza after taking the fall for a murder in [[VideoGame/Yakuza1 the first game]]. [[spoiler:Also, his boss fight in ''VideoGame/YakuzaLikeADragon'' has him be weak to Ice elemental attacks, as that is the weakness of dragons in ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'']].

* The Ordo Hydra, another conspiracy group, in the ''Literature/InquisitionWar'' trilogy by Ian Watson ( a series of Warhammer 40000 novels). They are a secret group in the already secret group of the Ordo Malleus who are already part of the "mostly ignored of by the general population" group, the Inquisition. They are really secretive.

* In ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' the Targaryen have a three headed dragon as their coat of arms. The dragon heads represented Aegon, and his sisters, as well as their three dragons. House Stark has a direwolf as their sigil, while House Manderly has a Merman. The old Ghiscari Empire had the Harpy as their sigil, the cities of Slaver's Bay kept it as their heritage.
* Mayland Long (Oolong) from ''Literature/TeaWithTheBlackDragon'' by Creator/RAMacAvoy.

** In his monstrous form, [[Characters/TheOwlHouseEmperorBelos Emperor Belos]] has quite a bit in common with a Wendigo:

** The series' original protagonist, [[TheHero Kazuma Kiryu]], has a dragon motif, specifically the ''ouryuu'', also known as the Yinglong or "responding dragon", hence the series' name. He has a silver dragon tattoo on his back, has a tendency to come to blows with [[TigerVersusDragon characters with tiger motifs]], and is portrayed as powerful and [[RatedMForManly manly]], but also as a wise WarriorPoet. The ''ouryuu'' was also said to have been banished from heaven after committing a murder, mirroring Kiryu being arrested and expelled from the yakuza after taking the fall for a murder in [[VideoGame/Yakuza1 the first game]]. [[spoiler:Also, his boss fight in ''[[VideoGame/YakuzaLikeADragon Like a Dragon]]'' has him be weak to Ice elemental attacks, as that is the weakness of dragons in ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'']].

** The series' original protagonist, [[TheHero Kazuma Kiryu]], has a dragon motif, specifically the ''ouryuu'', also known as the Yinglong or "responding dragon". For one, the series' Japanese name, ''Ryu ga Gotoku'', translates to "Like a Dragon" in English. He also has a silver dragon tattoo on his back, has a tendency to come to blows with [[TigerVersusDragon characters with tiger motifs]], and is portrayed as powerful and [[RatedMForManly manly]], but also as a wise WarriorPoet. The ''ouryuu'' was also said to have been banished from heaven after committing a murder, mirroring Kiryu being arrested and expelled from the yakuza after taking the fall for a murder in [[VideoGame/Yakuza1 the first game]]. [[spoiler:Also, his boss fight in ''[[VideoGame/YakuzaLikeADragon Like a Dragon]]'' has him be weak to Ice elemental attacks, as that is the weakness of dragons in ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'']].

* Many characters in ''VideoGame/{{Yakuza}}'' have symbolism based around certain mythical creatures, usually signified by a tattoo on their body:

* ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil'': Whether this is intentional or not is up to debate, [[Characters/StarVsTheForcesOfEvilStarButterfly Star Butterfly, The Underestimated]] has a lot of similarities to Loki from Norse Mythology.
** In Norse Mythology, Loki was a god who overcame problems through cunning and in modern tellings, Loki is depicted as morally superior to the Aesir, who are depicted as corrupt and immoral. In the myths, he was Odin's blood brother and the mother of the eight-legged horse Sleipnir. The format of Loki's myths is that he's blamed for something and the gods force Loki to fix it for them. In the Ragnarok prophecy, Loki is against the gods by siding with his children as they bring about the end of the world.
** In the series, Star is a mewman of noble birth who overcame problems by using magic haphazardly. When Star learns of Mewni's history, she becomes morally superior to the Butterfly family, who annexed the monsters and attempted a race war multiple times. Due to being part of this family, the monsters hold her and her family accountable for the actions of their ancestors and the mewmans force the Butterfly queens to do everything for them. In the end, Star turns against the mewmans as she and her friends and family trigger armageddon through the destruction of magic.

*** Wendigos were an AnthropomorphicPersonification of greed and starvation, fitting Belos' feasting on palismen to sustain himself and his gradual transformation into a monster by doing so, along with his monstrous form being almost skeletally thin and emaciated-looking. Wendigo are also heavily associated with cannibalism and, while Belos isn't technically a direct cannibal, his predatory modus operandi towards palismen --which are carved from wooden trees grown from the flesh of the dead titan -- and later, Human Realm wildlife is arguably just as disturbing to see. He even restores his body to full strength by draining Hunter's life essence through his possession, with the ugly-losing scars left behind on the boy making it clear that [[PossessionBurnout extended possession]] would have reduced his body to [[StrippedToTheBone mere bones]].
*** Wendigos were [[WasOnceAMan formerly human]], but became cannibalistic monsters due to their greed and selfishness. Belos also was just a regular human, but as Luz herself pointed out, in [[HeWhoFightsMonsters his mad pursuit of witch genocide]], he eventually stopped being a human altogether, both [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters figuratively]] and ''especially'' [[HumanoidAbomination literally]].

*** Wendigos originate from Native American legends, and Philip started out living in America.
*** Wendigo habitants are usually considered to be dark caves or woods where they make their lairs and hunting grounds. Several important revelations about Philip's true nature are revealed whilst inside of darkened cave formations like the inside of the Titan's skull, and Luz and Hunter discover his true psychotic nature whilst inside the darkened and twisted woods of his mindscape, where he possesses a HomeFieldAdvantage that almost renders them powerless before him.
*** Some legends state that Wendigos fear or are vulnerable to fire, because their hearts are made of Ice. Though subtle, Belos has demonstrated an aversion to fire throughout the series, most noticeably, in 'King's Tide' his confidant and calm demeanour briefly falters when Luz nearly hits him with a fireball, and his suppressed [[RedRightHand facial disfiguration]], which is demonstrated to be tied to his emotions, is shown to have [[GlamourFailure slightly broken]] as a result. Having a 'heart of ice' also neatly describes Belos' [[TheSociopath true nature]] quite accurately.

*** Skin Walkers were shapeshifting beings that were thought to be created when a benevolent medicine man abused the indigenous magic of the land for evil purposes, and in turn gained mystical powers to be used for evil purposes. Though varying from tradition to tradition, one common power was the ability to turn into or possess animals or people. This fits with how Philip abused the native Glyph magic of the isles for his own purposes and gradually turned into a monstrous form that needed to [[{{Glamour}} forcibly disguise itself]] into a human form in keeping with his delusional perceptions of his own humanity. Whilst deceiving Luz and Hunter within his mindscape his inner self makes extensive use of shapeshifting to appear either as a benevolent guide or to underscore his revelation to Luz about his true identity as Philip Wittebane. Once trapped on Earth, Philip reconstitutes his body by possessing and feeding on the life-force of both animals and eventually Hunter.
*** It was believed that anybody could become a Skin Walker if they committed some sort of deep-seated taboo. Philip's near-biblical SiblingMurder of Caleb, down to getting his own '[[RedRightHand Mark of Cain]]' from holding tightly to the FantasticRacism of witches that turned him murderous towards his brother for 'betraying' him for them, would fit that criteria.

* ''Fanfic/TheTriforceTrilogy'' makes ''extensive'' use of mythological parellels in its story, reflecting the epic scale on which this occurs.

** Terezi has dragons. Her lusus is an unhatched dragon, she decorates her home with dragon scales and collects dragon plushies, and her Ancestor rode a full-sized dragon.

* The title character of ''Webcomic/DecryptingRita'' has dragons, primarily evident with Rita-1 (who dates Carol-1 in a dragon-like chassis) and Rita-3 (who ''is'' a dragoness).

** The most obvious is Kurama having a connection to {{Kitsune}} as the guy actually ''was'' a kitsune in his former life before being reincarnated into a human. Kurama is quiet, secretive, cunning, and wise, with a feminine nature and appearance.

Supertrope to IcarusAllusion. Works that make use of several mythological canons at a time might also be working with CrossoverCosmology or FantasyKitchenSink.

*** For Link, it's [[Myth/NorseMythology Geri and Freki]], Odin's loyal wolves. As a master of the Wolf Spirit, Link encompasses both negative and positive aspects that Geri and Freki embody. He's prone to extreme anger and violence against the Yiga, but he's also headstrong, brave, and above all loyal to his companions.