History Myth / AfricanMythology

The HollywoodHistory version of this are DarkestAfrica and AncientAfrica.

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%% PLEASE DON'T ADD ANYMORE EXAMPLES HERE. THE TROPES BELOW WILL BE MOVED TO THEIR SPECIFIC MYTHOLOGY PAGE AND CUT FROM HERE
!!Tropes:
* TheAlmightyDollar:
** Libanza was the Bangala god of wealth and his title is “The Rich One”.
* TheBlacksmith: Yoruba mythology has Ogun, a particularly fiery deity whose favorite libation is burning rum.
* BoltOfDivineRetribution:
** Yoruba tradition plays with it. Shango could fry his enemies with lightning but is most known for throwing it at people [[GiveMeASign destined to follow his path.]] He was once a man gifted with the power to wield lighting who shared it with other Orishas after being promoted to their ranks, but because of this, each one of them has a stronger association with something else. Jakuta's [[RocksFallEveryoneDies meteorites]] are what are really associated with divine retribution.
* BrotherSisterIncest: The Bangala god Libanza and his wife Nsongo are siblings.
* CameBackStrong: In Yoruban mythology and Santeria, Shango. He was an ordinary king until he hanged himself and became one of the most powerful (and popular) Orisha. His salute means "the king is not hanged".
* EldritchAbomination: Nyname of the Ashanti is pretty eldritch in form, the sun is merely one of his eyes. Ngula, who gave birth to him, was created by him before she did so. [[MindScrew She is somehow both his mother and daughter]]. He is a very nice guy so it is hard to call him an abomination. His response to being struck repeatedly by an old woman was to not come back to Earth rather than strike back.
* EverybodyHatesHades: Averted with Libanza. People thought he was a great guy and wanted to join him in the underworld when they died.
* GirlsWithMoustaches: The Yoruba goddess Oya is said to sprout a beard before going to battle.
* GodOfEvil: Likundu was the Bangala god of evil. His titles are “Ndoki” or witch and “Ekundu” the red sorcerer.
* TheHeart: The Bangala deity Jakomba was the god of human thoughts, morality, and hearts.
* HollywoodChameleons: In the mythology of Nigeria's Yoruba people, TopGod Olorun has a chameleon messenger named Agemo. When Olorun granted Obatala permission to create solid land, a powerful water deity named Olokun (who may be male or female, depending on the version of the mythology) was not happy due to the reduction of their territory. So they challenged Olorun to a weaving contest, hoping to prove themselves the more regal deity, and thus more worthy of being leader of the gods. Olorun sent Agemo to compete in his place, and Agemo copied the color of every outfit Olokun made. Olokun submitted to Olorun's authority, under the logic that if Agemo was their equal, then Olorun must be their superior.
* HumanSacrifice: Bangala men would have their slaves and wives killed to join them in Libanza’s splendid underwater abode after death.
* ImpossibleTask:
** In the mythology of the Akan people of West Africa, the sky god Nyame owned all the stories on Earth. When Anansi the trickster spider offered to buy them, Nyame set a price of four dangerous and/or elusive creatures: Onini the Python, Osebo the Leopard, the Mboro Hornets, and Mmoatia the fairy. Anansi managed to capture all of them through trickery and guile, and Nyame keeps his bargain, [[JustSoStory which is why we have stories]].
* JustSoStory: The Bangala say the sun and moon are lovers. They visit each other every month and the moon vanishes in that time.
* LivingShadow: In Nigeria, the Yoruba people believe that a person has at least three spiritual beings. One of them is the Ojiji, a shadow that follows its owner and awaits their return in heaven when they die.
* LordOfTheOcean: In Yoruba belief, the orisha Olokun is described as the King of the Oceans. He has rulership over all other water deities and is usually thought of as having an AmbiguousGender, being depicted as male, female, or androgynous (in acknowledgement of the fluid nature of water). Occasionally, the title of sea deity is given to his daughter Yemoja instead.
* SneakySpider: The West African god Anansi is a largely benign spider trickster who supposedly collected every story in existence from a bargain with the gods, and is known for outwitting larger and stronger creatures with some of the legends [[DidYouJustScamCthulhu having him even outsmarting the deities]].
* TricksterGod: Anansi the Spider is often known as the god of stories/knowledge because he tricked sky god Nyame into selling him every story that was ever told. The price was the capture of [[ImpossibleTask four dangerous and/or elusive creatures]] and Anansi promised to deliver ''five''. Many Anansi tales show him being the clever one, and tricking someone else, but many also show Anasi being tricked, if you are clever enough yourself.

* TheAntiGod: Palo religion has Nzambi and Lungombe, though they are technically different aspects of the supreme creator deity. Lungombe is all of the negatives, Nzambi is the positives.
* BackupFromOtherworld: There was once a girl in Congo whose mother had died. Her WickedStepmother refused to feed her, so the child spent her time crying by her mother’s grave. One morning the girl noticed a great tree bearing many pleasant fruits had grown from the grave. The girl lived on this tree until her stepmother demanded her father cut it down. The girl wept by the grave again and the next morning a pumpkin had grown. The girl received a new pumpkin each day until her frustrated stepmother dug it out by the roots. The next day a stream appeared with sweet clear water that nourished the girl. So the stepmother filled the stream with dirt. The girl lamented by the grave again, when a hunter then appeared. He asked to use the fallen tree for arrows, which she agreed to. The arrows were magical and he effortlessly slew a herd of buffalo. He used the profits to pay bride-price and marry the kind girl. Her mother’s spirit had watched over her.

* ABoyAndHisX: Matong of the Tswana was very close to his talking pet bull. They were born on the same day and the bull was the only thing Matong’s mother was able to leave for him. The bull protected him from his wicked uncle, lions, other bulls, and more foes as they journeyed together. Matong was devastated when his bull died. But it left him with instructions on how to be accepted by a new tribe and marry its princess.

* CreationStory: The Tswana say that in the beginning there was a cave called Lowe. The first man Tauetona lived there. The gods made him, his brothers, and the animals. They were told to name everything, so they named their country Taya-Banna or “Origin of Man”. Men lived in peace with the animals but had no wives because the gods put the women on Motlaba Basetsana or “Plain of Women”. The gods sent a chameleon to tell humans they would be immortal but it took too long so they changed their minds, sending the speedy lizard with a message of mortality. The men were sad but were told that they would have children to remember them. Tauetona found the women with the help of a giraffe. So the mother goddess put a magic ointment on the tongues of people to make them speak. The men used their new ability to propose.

* LilliputianWarriors: In Zulu folklore there are the Abatwa, who ride ants and are gravely insulted if you say they are small. They kill humans with venomous spears which can even pierce a boot if they happen to be stepped on. They are probably inspired by exaggerated tales of extremely venomous ants.

* MixAndMatchCritters: The Grootslang is a creature from South African folklore that resembles a cross between an elephant and a venomous snake (two of the most dangerous animals on the savanna). Though according to its legend, it was technically first; elephants and snakes came from the gods ''splitting'' the other beasts up into the two, realizing they had screwed up in creating something that horrible; they just missed one.
* OurDragonsAreDifferent:
** The Grootslang from African folklore is an enormous monster described as a mix of an elephant and a snake that guards a cave loaded with diamonds. Sounds an awful lot like some kind of dragon, right?
* OurGiantsAreBigger: The Hadza people of Tanzania have stories of giants so large, they put ''elephants'' between their belts and clothes. They also claim that their distant direct ancestors were giants and were the first people to use fire, medicine, and lived in caves, sounding strangely similar to extinct hominids such as ''Homo erectus'' and ''Homo heidelbergensis''.
* OurMermaidsAreDifferent: The [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mami_Wata Mami Wata]][[note]]may or may not be pidgin "Mama Water"; the scholars still quabble whether she ''is'' an import mermaid or autochthon[[/note]] is the African equivalent of the mermaid: Usually female, may have a fish (or serpent) tail, but can also appear in human form to mix with the locals, likes to abduct swimmers or boaters, extremely beautiful... but also very jealous if she should chose you as a partner.
* SinisterStingrays: The Kongamato is a monster from Congolese folklore whose name translates to "one who overturns boats". Because it is described as having a long tail and bat-like "wings", it is often interpreted by cryptozoologists as a [[LivingDinosaurs pterosaur]], but it is most likely an aggressive freshwater stingray.

* TopGod:
** Cagn king god to the San people of Southern Africa. He is also TheTrickster in his pantheon.
** Nyname the sky god is king in the mythology of the Ashanti people of Ghana.
** Nana Buluku [[{{Hermaphrodite}} King and Queen]] of the gods in the religion of the Fon people of West Africa. There are also many lesser god monarchs, such as Sogbo who leads the thunder gods.
** In Yoruba tradition, the Orisha, owners of heads, are often translated as gods since they are worshiped like a polytheistic pantheon but they really are not. It is just that God is too powerful and [[YouCannotGraspTheTrueForm defying of description]] for humans to properly worship so a lot of attention is given to Orishas, who take on [[AFormYouAreComfortableWith forms that can be viewed by people directly]], with hope they will act as middlemen to God for humans. Undergods is a more correct term.
** Ala, embodiment of dry land, is very much the same in the Odinani religion of the Igbo people of southern Nigeria. The supreme eternal god appointed her ruler of everything else. She will live and rule until dry land is no longer needed.
** Roog, who is known by different names depending on which group you ask, is king god in the mythology of the Serer people of West Africa.
* RedRightHand: The Imbulu of the Nguni peoples were lizard-people who could take any shape they wanted. But they could never hide their tails which had a mouth at the end with an insatiable hunger for milk.

* ArachnidAppearanceAndAttire: Anansi the Spider.

* FriendlyNeighborhoodSpider: Anansi is a [[TricksterGod divine trickster folktale character]] who is generally the protagonist in his stories, and is usually regarded as benign or even beneficial.
* GiantSpider: Anansi, the West African TricksterGod (later a part of Caribbean folklore due to the slave trade), was depicted either as a spider (his name means "spider"), a man, or [[BreadEggsBreadedEggs a man-sized spider]].

* LoveGoddess: The goddess Oshun from the Yoruba religion.

* OxymoronicBeing: In the Yoruba mythology, the supreme god is composed of three separate entities (Olodumare, Olorun and Olofi) who despite having separate roles are considered the same being. Further adding to the confusion is that unlike Jesus, it/they aren't given any sort of personification, as beyond their roles and names the three supreme being aspects are considered "unknowable" and are properly referred to as an "it" with no gender pronouns, as it is considered the "all-encompassing" aspect of existence.
* ShockAndAwe: Yoruba religion gives us the fearsome Shango, who is based on a real-life West African king that has gained fame for his [[{{Pun}} tempestuous]] personality.

* TheTrickster:
%%** Eshu, a Yoruba (West African ethnicity) deity known for his penchant for causing strife around the world.

* {{Troll}}: The Nigerian trickster god Edshu: In one story, he walks down the road wearing a hat that is red on one side and blue on the other. When people on one side of the road ask "Who's that going by in the red hat?", they get into fights with people on the other side who insist that the hat was blue. The god takes credit for this, saying "Spreading strife is my greatest joy."

** Ikenga is a Nigerian god of personal power and "strength of movement", who is also associated with fortune and wealth.

** Amadioha in Odinani religion can strike you with lightning if he deems you guilty. He can also send bees.

* KillTheGod: In Odinani religion, every god except for the Superior one who is the origin of all things, only exists to serve a specific purpose. One that purpose has been fulfilled they die. In this case "killing" them would be a good thing, as it means you are becoming more self sufficient.

* WarGod: Igbo mythology has two war gods. Ikenga, the proud ram horned (sometimes literal two faced warrior depending on the region) warrior that represents just war for the sake of improvement (his domains were also Achievements and Time). The other is Ekwensu, lord of Chaotic War, tortoises and bargains.

* DivineRanks: Many religions in Sub-Saharan Africa have an [[TheOmnipotent omnipotent]] [[TheMaker creator god]], similar to the Abrahamic God, and other lesser deities that are more like the gods in Greek myth. The former is always distinct from and explicitly superior to the latter.
* EnfantTerrible: Deskaleri the Mysterious was a lad from Mandinka folklore who spoke before he was even born and delivered himself. His brothers considered him an AnnoyingYoungerSibling and beat him up whenever he tried to tag along with them. He disguised himself as a cotton ball, a gourd, and a silver ring which they figured out each time. That was until they visited their aunt who was actually a witch. She rose each night to kill and eat them in their sleep but Deskaleri pretended he had to pee or fend off mosquitoes, or drink water to keep her at bay through the night. In a frustrated rage she chased the brothers. Deskaleri threw charms at her which made a forest, mountain, and sea to slow down the ravenous she-demon. They climbed a tree to escape so the witch threw palm nuts to get them down. Deskaleri was the only one not tied up in her bag so he threw a palm nut at her and they switched places. The boys made a fire and cast the witch into it by shaking the tree. They returned home singing Deskaleri’s praises.

** In an African myth, a man tasks his boys with buying enough objects to fill a certain room, to determine who would inherit his farm. The first two boys tried to do it with grain and feathers but failed, while the third son took out a candle and match, filling the room with light.

* ManEatingPlant: While it isn't a part of mainland Africa, the island Madagascar provides one of the earliest documented examples in the "man-eating tree of Madagascar", a fearsome entity that was described in 1881 in the ''South Australian Register'', when the newspaper published an account of a "German explorer Carl Liche" who supposedly had eyewitnessed a HumanSacrifice ceremony of the "Mkodo" people in inner Madagascar. People doubted the "eyewitness account" and it was suspected to be a hoax early on, yet the man-eating tree still found its believers; in 1924 former Michigan Governor Chase Osborn repeated the legend in a book ''Madagascar, Land of the Man-eating Tree''. However, it has since been confirmed that neither Carl Liche nor the Mkodo ever existed, and that the story was fabricated from scratch. The hoax seems to have been inspired by the first scientific description of carnivorous plants in UsefulNotes/CharlesDarwin's book ''Insectivorous Plants'' in 1875.

** African LivingDinosaurs such as the Mokele-Mbembe have been speculated by some cryptozoologists to have been [[DinosaursAreDragons the inspiration for dragons]], as popularized by French cryptozoologist Bernard Heuvelmans in his book ''Les derniers dragons d'Afrique'' (''The Last Dragons of Africa''). Biblical stories of dragons, such as the one of Daniel, as well as the Mushussu have been used as evidence for these claims, with the theory being that they were transported to the Middle East from Africa by merchants or explorers.

* OurWerebeastsAreDifferent: Wereleopards, werehyenas, werejackals and werecrocodiles.

** The hare is often one in African tales. When his stories were brought over by slaves to America, he became Br'er (pronounced "bruh", for "brother") Rabbit / Compe' Lapin.
** The tortoise often played this role alongside the hare with the two being rivals. Of course, the tortoise always came out on top.

* VoluntaryShapeshifting: Various African myths and legends include shapeshifters (almost invariably AlwaysChaoticEvil cannibalistic witches and shamans) who take the forms of lions, leopards, hyenas, jackals, crocodiles, snakes, bats, dogs, pigs, water buffalo, geese, grasscutter rats, wildcats and sharks. They use these shapes to kill and eat people, dig up graves, destroy crops, and other heinous acts.

** Dedun was one of the few Nubian gods remembered from AncientAfrica. Dedun was associated with the lucrative trade of incense, and so is remembered as a god of wealth and prosperity.

* GiantSpider: Anansi, the West African TricksterGod (later a part of Caribbean folklore due to the Slave Trade), was depicted either as a spider (his name means "spider"), a man, or [[BreadEggsBreadedEggs a man-sized spider]].

** The tortoise often played this role alongside the hare with the two being rivals. Of course, the tortoise always came out on top. After all, where did you think ''The Tortoise and the Hare'' came from?

** FriendlyNeighborhoodSpider: Anansi is a [[TricksterGod divine trickster folktale character]] who is generally the protagonist in his stories, and is usually regarded as benign or even beneficial.
** GiantSpider: Anansi, the West African TricksterGod (later a part of Caribbean folklore due to the Slave Trade), was depicted either as a spider (his name means "spider"), a man, or [[BreadEggsBreadedEggs a man-sized spider]].
** SneakySpider: The West African god Anansi is a largely benign spider trickster who supposedly collected every story in existence from a bargain with the gods, and is known for outwitting larger and stronger creatures with some of the legends [[DidYouJustScamCthulhu having him even outsmarting the deities]].

!! The Miombo Woodlands

The historical legends of the Sahel approach something resembling the ChivalricRomance genre. Frequently they concerned the deeds of noble warrior heroes on horseback who lived by a strict code of conduct battling foes. Other times they surrounded the adventures of bold hunters and/or fishermen belonging to organized fraternities who journey into the perilous wilderness.

The legends of the rainforests in Guinea and Congo are much more fantastical and hyperbolic than those probably found anywhere else on the continent. The role of the ancestors is one befitting the gods of Eurasia. Early man shapes the universe while the non-human divinities mostly take a backseat. A common archetype is that of the man who reincarnates as his own son to avenge his killing. Or just as often a boy is born locked into a struggle with his father who despises him. Owning to the material conditions of slash-and-burn horticulture which encouraged polygyny, the relationship between brother-sister and uncle/aunt-nephew/niece was far stronger. As such BrotherSisterTeam is a widespread trope in the mythologies of this area. With brothers often having to protect their sisters and sisters frequently offering SupernaturalAid to their brothers.

The legends of the rainforests in Guinea and Congo are much more fantastical and hyperbolic than those probably found anywhere else on the continent. The role of the ancestors is one befitting the gods of Eurasia. Early man shapes the universe while the non-human divinities mostly take a backseat. A common archetype is that of the man who reincarnates as his own son to avenge his killing. Or just as often a boy in born locked into a struggle with his father who despises him. Owning to the material conditions of slash-and-burn horticulture which encouraged polygyny, the relationship between brother-sister and uncle/aunt-nephew/niece was far stronger. As such BrotherSisterTeam is a widespread trope in the mythologies of this area. With brothers often having to protect their sisters and sisters frequently offering SupernaturalAid to their brothers.

South of the Sahara stretching from Senegal to Sudan lies a belt of semi-arid grassland called the Sahel. The peoples of the western portion have many mythologies, but a few common threads cross through them with the upper Niger River as the likely conduit. Excessive concern with the physical world was thought to loosen the grip humans have on the spiritual domain. Everything physical was often seen as a manifestation of a spiritual reality. Physical reality teemed with symbols which expressed how the divine communicates with the profane. In turn, humans wielded the power of words to communicate the material to the spiritual. The world itself was like a code for humans to decipher and witness. The force permeating and animating the universe is described as something resembling vibration. That is to say the speech humans use was the counterpart of the "speech" or rather vibration which the creator used to bring about the universe. Man takes center stage as the culmination of the world's mysteries, he was created from all things. As such the story of man is the story of the world. It was only when a man achieved full realization as a human called by the Fulani "Neddaaku" or the Bambara "Maayaa" that man could stand in his rightful place.

The story of the world comprised the great cosmogenic myths where godlike ancestors walked the earth, the symbolic myths explaining the hidden nature of reality, and the historical myths concerning the origin of great dynasties. Common beliefs included the idea of a great water goddess being the source of life and death. This idea most likely found its origin in that fact that unborn children come from sacks of water, the relationship of blood with metal betraying a semblance between the river with metals, and that the agricultural peoples of the semi-arid region were absolutely dependent on not only the river but the life giving rains. When the water goddess was not represented as a great mother it was visualized as a massive serpent. The widespread idea of caste systems reflected the notion of special groups of people have unlocked mysteries of nature. Such as the blacksmith turning cold iron into valuable tools with the power of flame, or griots using the power of words to affect the world around them.

The story of the world comprised the great cosmogenic myths where godlike ancestors walked the earth, the symbolic myths explaining the hidden nature of reality, and the historical myths concerning the origin of great dynasties. Common beliefs included the idea of a great water goddess being the source of life and death. This idea most likely found its origin in that fact that unborn children come from sacks of water, the relationship of blood with metal betraying a semblance between the river with metals, and that the agricultural peoples of the semi-arid region were absolutely dependent on not only the river but the life giving rains. When the water goddess was not represented as a great mother it was visualized as a massive serpent. The widespread idea of caste systems reflected the notion of special groups of people have unlocked mysteries of nature. Such as the blacksmith turning cold iron into valuable tools, or griots using the power of words to affect the world around them.

The story of the world comprised the great cosmogenic myths where godlike ancestors walked the earth, the symbolic myths explaining the hidden nature of reality, and the historical myths concerning the origin of great dynasties. Common beliefs included the idea of a great water goddess being the source of life and death. This idea most likely found its origin in that fact that unborn children come from sacks of water, the relationship of blood with metal betraying a semblance between the river with metals, and that the agricultural peoples of the semi-arid region were absolutely dependent on not only the river but the life giving rains. When the water goddess was not represented as a great mother it was visualized as a massive serpent.

The story of the world comprised the great cosmogenic myths where godlike ancestors walked the earth, the symbolic myths explaining the hidden nature of reality, and the historical myths concerning the origin of great dynasties.