History Main / TheMothman

* ''ComicBook/BigfootBill'': The title character and main antagonist of ''Shadow of the Mothman''. He was created by a group of scientists referred to as the "Bald Men", and was captured and taken to the Crypto Zone to be held captive. He can [[{{Seer}} look into the future]], cause fear among his victims, [[EmotionEater and absorb their fears to get stronger]]. He also has a [[NightmareFuel very frightening appearance]].

* The title character and main antagonist of ''ComicBook/BigfootBill'': Shadow of the Mothman. He was created by a group of scientists referred to as the "Bald Men", and was captured and taken to the Crypto Zone to be held captive. He has the abilities to [[{{Seer}} look into the future,]] cause fear among his victims, [[EmotionEater and absorb their fears to get stronger.]] He also has a ''[[NightmareFuel very frightening appearance!]]''

Mothmen, due to their association with the Silver Bridge collapse, as often linked with disasters. Typically, their appearance will be treated as a sign or omen of some imminent calamity in the coming future. Mothmen rarely do anything themselves to hinder the event or speed it along: indeed, their motives are almost always deliberately mysterious. They watch from the sidelines, observing seemingly random people and quietly vanish after the disaster invariably comes to pass. They do not usually communicate with people, but those they observe may be stricken with nightmares relating in some form to the future tragedy. Their motives are often unclear at best -- they may be actively trying to cause the disaster, they may be trying to warn people of their imminent danger, or they may simply be passive watchers, come to observe the calamity for reasons of their own.

* ''WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce:'' Big Chill is explicitly modelled after Mothman, being a large humanoid moth-like alien. Though he is notably blue rather than black.

* Alleged sightings of Mothman have occurred at other sites of large-scale disaster and tragedy in the years since the original Point Pleasant incidents. A notable instance of such was at the World Trade Centre in the days before the September 11th Attacks.

* ''[[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0810856/ Eyes of the Mothman]]'' is a documentary about the Mothman and Point Pleasant, but it goes far beyond what most works about the creature do. For example, it deals with Chief Cornstalk and his brutal murder while in prison by drunken townsfolk, and the idea that the Mothman is a sandhill crane that was mutated into a giant by the local chemical plant. It also talks about the scope of the tragedy of the Silver Bridge collapse, how it affected the small town (every single kid knew at least one other classmate who died on the bridge), and how it prompted then-President UsefulNotes/RichardMNixon to inspect and reinforce all bridges across the United States.

* ''Film/TheMothmanProphecies'' is a dramatized version of both the real life event and the novel of the same name. The main characters are vexed by dreams, omens and mysterious phone calls stating cryptic hints that about upcoming disaster, alongside visits by the Mothman. An early omen -- a casualty list for Denver -- comes true after an airplane crash there. Following omens hint at a disaster approaching the Ohio river, which eventually reveals itself as [[spoiler:the historic Silver Bridge collapse]].

Subtrope of OurCryptidsAreMoreMysterious and WingedHumanoid. See also LovecraftCountry, an area close to the mothmen's West Virginian homeland, and MacabreMothMotif. They may also be linked to TheGreys, because few cryptids aren't. See also Franchise/TheSlenderManMythos, for a very similar creature.

The mothman is a relatively recent addition to the popular consciousness, first emerging in 1967 from the association of sightings of a winged humanoid figure with a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_Bridge disastrous bridge collapse]] later that year. In part due to media popularization in the years after the disaster, some came to see a causal link between the sightings of the entity dubbed the Mothman and the collapse.

Subtrope of OurCryptidsAreMoreMysterious and WingedHumanoid. See also LovecraftCountry, an area close to the mothmen's West Virginian homeland, and MacabreMothMotif. They may also be linked to TheGreys, because few cryptids aren't.

* ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim:'' Though the Mothman itself never appears, "Agent Mothman" is [[HeroAntagonist Dib]]'s code name in the [[WhoYouGonnaCall Swollen Eyeball Network]].

* The Mothman's legend originates from a series of bizarre incidents in 1967. In the year leading up to the collapse of the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_Bridge Silver Bridge]] in Point Pleasant, West Virginia in December 15, 1967, multiple people in the area reported encounters with an indistinct, humanoid or birdlike figure with large wings and glowing eyes, as well as nightmares of drowning people. A [[https://imgur.com/a/F7VG5qR famous picture]] also showed a grainy, indistinct figure resembling a winged humanoid figure perching on the bridge shortly before it collapsed. While most believe the flying figures were misidentified sandhill cranes or herons -- which can both grow a lot larger than people assume -- the myth gained enough popularity in conspiracy and ufology circles to persist afterwards and eventually make its way into mainstream popular culture.

Mothman sightings decreased sharply afterwards, but the occasional incidents and resurgences in media eventually led to a formalization of the current mothman myth. In modern popular culture, the mothman is typically depicted as an entity with the characteristics of a human and a moth or butterfly, either as a full-on insect-like humanoid or as an indistinct shape with the silhouette of large, mothlike wings--all of this in spite of the fact that reports of the creature described it as more closely resembling a vaguely humanoid [[FeatheredFiend bird]] than an insect. Enormous, glowing eyes are also a common feature, as the original sightings often reported otherwise indistinct figures with large, luminous eyes standing out against the gloom. The creature may not always have a distinct head, instead simply having a rounded torso marked by two glowing, lamplike eyes.

Mothman sightings decreased sharply afterwards, but the occasional incidents and resurgences in media eventually led to a formalization of the current mothman myth. In modern popular culture, the mothman is typically depicted as an entity with the characteristics of a human and a moth or butterfly, either as a full-on insect-like humanoid or as an indistinct shape with the silhouette of large, mothlike wings. Enormous, glowing eyes are also a common feature, as the original sightings often reported otherwise indistinct figures with large, luminous eyes standing out against the gloom. The creature may not always have a distinct head, instead simply having a rounded torso marked by two glowing, lamplike eyes.

[[caption-width-right:350:[[http://www.daviddeen.com/index_htm_files/326.jpg Image]] by [[http://www.daviddeen.com/ David Deen]].]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/39b95f1dd9cb026c458fc53934804d1d.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''Statue of Mothman'' in Point Pleasant, West Virginia, U.S.A.]]

The mothman is a relatively recent addition to the popular consciousness, first emerging in 1967 from the association of sightings of a winged humanoid figure with a disastrous bridge collapse later that year. In part due to media popularization in the years after the disaster, some came to see a causal link between the sightings of the entity dubbed the Mothman and the collapse.

[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]

* ''Podcast/TheAdventureZoneAmnesty'': A major figure in the third arc, which is suitably set in West Virginia. He is conflated with the similar figure of Indrid Cold and calls the protagonists up on multiple occasions to warn them of upcoming disasters. However, he himself isn't their cause -- he's simply able to see potential futures, and trusted the Pine Guard to take care of some particularly bad ones.

The mothman is a relatively recent addition to the popular consciousness, first emerging in 1967 from the association of sightings of a winged humanoid figure with a disastrous bride collapse later that year. In part due to media popularization in the years following the disaster, some came to see a causal link between the sightings of the entity dubbed the Mothman and the collapse.

These mysteries may not be actually resolved in the works they appear in -- indeed, their mysterious and frustratingly inscrutable natures may be actively played up to increase the aura of suspense and mystery around these entitles, or to unnerve both the characters and readers.