History Myth / BrazilianFolklore

The Caipora can be depicted as either male or female, always [[HorseOfADifferentColor riding a peccary]] and carrying a [[BladeOnAStick spear]]. The Curupira, meanwhile is always male, has [[FieryRedhead fiery red hair]] or literal FlamingHair and has his feet backwards, confusing any who would try to track down his footprints (often leading them to traps).

** OurWerewolvesAreDifferent: The Lobisomem ("wolf-man") comes from the Iberian version of the werewolf and has a few differences from European and Hollywood versions. For starters, it traditionally doesn't become a wolf per se, but farm animals, like [[WerewolvesAreDogs dogs]], pigs, and mixtures between them, which in a few tales is said to depend on the animals that rolled on the land in which he wallows during his transformation. They come from a curse suffered by the seventh boy of six children of consecutive gender, and aren't harmed by silver bullets, but by iron and other artefacts. They also don't turn in full moons, but at every Thursday to Friday night, having to pass through seven crossroads, cemeteries an/or parishes until the first cock crowing, when they go back to human form. They eat guava fruit, animals and garbage, and normally only attack and drink the blood out of those on their path, though they will also actively target and attack unbabtized babies, and thus, pregnant women.

As with most myths and legends, Brazilian folklore reflects several aspects of the country's history and culture. As such, many myths have roots in European legends (mainly from Portuguese folklore, but immigrants from Spain, Poland, Germany, Italy etc. have also greatly contributed to them), African mythologies (including, but not limited to Myth/YorubaMythology) and various Native-Brazilian mythologies (including, but not limited to Myth/TupiGuaraniMythology). In fact, a lot of Brazilian folkloric entities started out as gods or beings from Native mythologies that morphed into different tales over time, by absorbing multiple influences. Other stories are old wives' tales and UrbanLegends. Keep in mind that many of these legends have several regional variations, so don't always expect a single coherent narrative. Plus, like every national folklore, it also encompasses traditions, festivals, culinary, games, dances, sayings, superstitions, tongue-twisters, riddles etc., but for the purpose of this page, tales from oral tradition will be more focused on.

Brazilian folklore is a collective of legends, folk tales and oral traditions from UsefulNotes/{{Brazil}}. While the earliest tales of Brazilian folklore date from before the beginning of the Portuguese colonization of the country in 1500, it has only been formally studied since around the middle of the nineteenth century. Between most important folklorists, the anthropologist Luís da Câmara Cascudo might be the most famous; a large portion of what it is academically studied about the country's culture nowadays is thanks to his research in the 20th century, which is why you might see his name more times on the page.

Some versions say the leg is from the Devil himself, getting out of Hell to harm the living. Others say it was the leg of a cruel man who kicked his own mother to death, and after his own, his leg continued to torment people at night. Curiously, the myth reportedly came from a joke in the radio station of the city during the 1970's, in which a guard finds out [[BedroomAdulteryScene a hairy leg coming from under the bed of his wife]]. When the man questions his spouse, who was on the bed, she explains that the leg was autonomous and went down there by itself. The joking report ended up being interpreted as a monster by the population after catching on, and, with time, gained its own specific characteristics, social roles and identity in oral tradition, until it eventually became a plain full urban legend of its own. To this day, the Leg is rather famous in Recife, inspiring many Livros de Cordel/String Books [[note]] a popular literary genre, many times encompassing oral stories written in rhymes. Common in the Northeast region [[/note]] and even a graphic novel.

Curiously, Ana Jansen did exist in real-life during the nineteenth century, [[HistoricalVillainUpgrade but she wasn't as cruel as the urban legend says]], being in fact nowadays seen as ahead of her time due to breaking patriarchal paradigms. Also called Donana, she was expelled from home by her father when she got pregnant, as the father wasn't known, but then had an affair with colonel Isidoro Pereira, the richest man of the province in the time. When he eventually died, she assumed his production of cotton and sugar cane and became the most successful entrepeneur of the region, being called "Queen of Maranhão". While she ''did'' own more slaves than anyone else in the time, there is no evidence suggesting she was ''particularly'' more severe than other slaveowners, and the rumors about her supposed wickedness started with the bigotry of people [[ValuesDissonance not accepting that a woman and a single mother could have such political and economic power alone]].

[[caption-width-right:350:[[FridgeLogic if you are wondering where is her tack,]] some versions say she does have a head, but it is obscured by the flames]]'''Mula-sem-cabeça (Headless Mule)''': If a woman gets romantically involved with a priest, she is turned into a headless mule, also called ''Burrinha-do-Padre'' (little female donkey of the priest) or simply Burrinha, either immediately or after she dies. The animal has a flame coming out of the hole in its neck and wanders the countryside haunting whoever it finds with its powerful kicks and sharp hoofs.

'''Onça-Boi (Jaguar-Ox)''': A man-eating jaguar from Acre and Amazonas with hooves on its feet instead of paws, similar to those of a cow, who leaves round footstrips on its path. Sometimes it is also said to have horns.

'''Onça-da-Mão-Torta (Crooked-Hand Jaguar)''': A supernatural jaguar of the savanah of Goiás, that is bridled like a tiger instead of spotted and whose front pawn is deformed. It is said to be the wandering spirit of an extremely wicked cowboy who only died of old age. After his death, the creature started to be sighted around the region, haunting the woods. Its skin is impenetrable to any shot.

* The Brazilian Creator/{{Netflix}} series ''Series/InvisibleCity'' is basically about local folklore, with focus on Saci, Iara, Cuca, Curupira, Tutu and the Boto, all reimagined in a [[UrbanFantasy more modern and urban]] way. The second season introduced the Headless Mule, Matinta-Perera, a Barn-Owl (an owl said to spread bad omen in some regions) and the siblings Cobra Norato and Maria Caninana.

* The Brazilian Creator/{{Netflix}} series ''Series/InvisibleCity'' is basically about local folklore, with focus on Saci, Iara, Cuca, Curupira, Tutu and the Boto, reimagined in a [[UrbanFantasy more modern and urban]] way.

** The Good Friday is seen as the darkest period in folklore, and by extension, the Lent. Since Jesus was crucified on that day, folk belief sees this date as when God is absent from Earth, only returning during His ressurection on the Easter Sunday. Thus, during the period of the Lent, werewolves and headless mules are sometimes said to get stronger, more bloodthirsty, and their transformations happen everyday instead of just every Friday, souls get lost on the way to the Afterlife and hauntings become more common.

* TrickedToDeath: One folk tale has a hunter surviving an encounter with the Curupira in this way: when he was getting out of the forest after a hunt, the Curupira suddenly appeared and requested his heart as a price. The hunter got behind a tree and stealthly used a knife to cut out the heart of a monkey he had hunted earlier, giving it to Curupira as if it was his. The hunter asked for Curupira's heart in return, and the woods guardian, thinking it to be fair, used the same knife to open his chest, [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome only to drop dead on the ground]]. Unusually for the trope, however, [[RessurectiveImmortality the Curupira actually survives]], and is accidentally woken up intact and well later on when the hunter returned, who was planning to take out and sell his teeth. Curupira was impressed with the hunter's cunning, and gifted him an arrow that could kill anything, under the condition he would never tell anyone who he got the gift from.

It should also be noticed that Brazilian population is composed by christians (87% of people), non-religious (8%), kardecists (2%) and others (3%), the latter including afro-brazilian religions such as Umbanda and Candomblé. Therefore, it is complicated to say if there is a specific "Brazilian mythology", only that there is a folklore, with myths influenced by an extremely diverse collection of interacting cultures from across the globe.

[[PinocchioSyndrome Norato wanted to become human]], but for this, he would need someone to pour three drops of breast milk in his mouth and pat his head with iron while he was sleeping. The problem is that most people were scared of Norato. Until one day, the snake met and befriended a soldier, who completed the ritual. Norato became a man, burned away his snake hide and lived the rest of his days among humans.

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'''Dama da Meia-Noite (Midnight Lady)''': Also called Lady/Woman in White, she is the Brazilian version of the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Lady White Lady]], similar to the Mexican La Llorona. She is the [[OurGhostsAreDifferent ghost]] of a young woman who died tragically of childbirth or violent causes, wandering around empty desert streets at night dressed in a long red or white dress or sleeping gown. She often appears in the dead of the night, lures bypassing men and asks them for a car ride to her home. Charmed, they comply, but when she says to stop the car, only a high wall is seen. The Lady says “This is where I live…”, and the man notices he stopped right next to a cemetery. Before he can say anything, the Lady disappears.

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The discrepance between those two myths may have been caused simply by multiple tribes having different beliefs, but may also have been caused by mistranslation, where, according to some sources, the scary spirits were actually called "Angas", which means souls (refering to {{Vengeful Ghost}}s) as opposed to the {{Nature Spirit}}s called Anhangás.

'''Cuca''': The Cuca is a Brazilian variation of the legend of the Coco or Coca from the Iberian Peninsula. She is known as a witch that kidnaps children, and is depicted as an old hag, sometimes with an alligator head, and hawk-like claws in her fingers.

The Cuca was popularized by Monteiro Lobato's 1921 book [[Literature/SitioDoPicapauAmarelo "O Saci"]]. The alligator headed version was created by the book, and its popularity made it the most recognizable depiction of the monster by far.

* ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'': Behemoth is a kaiju resembling the cross of a wooly mammoth, a ground sloth and a primate who is also called "Mapinguary" in the novelization of the movie, implying he was the one that inspired the myth.

* ''ComicBook/MonicasGang'' occasionally features one of these characters. Mostly in the Chico Bento (Chuck Billy in English) stories.
* Monteiro Lobato's ''O Saci'' from the ''Literature/SitioDoPicapauAmarelo'' book series is largely responsible for popularizing the Cuca in Brazil. Other folkloric beings, including the titular Saci, are also featured. TV adaptations of his work, in which the Cuca and Saci became recurring characters, helped to popularize the myths even more.

* Ziraldo's comic book series ''A Turma do Pererê'' (Perere's gang) features a Saci as one of the main characters.

* KillerGorilla: The Arranca-Língua (Tongue-Ripper) is an enormous and monstruous ape from the Midwest region, especially Goiás. It has a taste for tongues, ripping them off cattle and sometimes even humans to eat, especially the ones of cattle thieves. A theory for the possible origins of the myth is that a surge of foot-and-mouth disease would've destroyed the cattle's tongue tissue, making them fall off and explaining the corpses of oxen lacking them. Regardless, the image of the ferocious gorilla was integrated into popular lore, and even nicknamed "Brazilian Film/KingKong".

* KillerGorilla: The Arranca-Língua (Tongue-Ripper) is an enormous and monstruous ape from the Midwest region, especially Goiás. It has a taste for tongues, ripping them off cattle and sometimes even humans to eat. The legend was even nicknamed "Brazilian Film/KingKong". A theory for the possible origins of the myth is that a surge of foot-and-mouth disease would've destroyed the cattle's tongue tissue, making them fall off and explaining the corpses of oxen lacking them.

** Due to the connection with Christ's crucifixion, most hauntings and monsters appear on Fridays. People working on Sundays may also be punished, such as hunters being castigated by the Curupira or eaten by the Mapinguari.

* NonIndicativeName: Lobisomem means "Wolfman" in Portuguese, but it actually usually becomes a large dog, a pig or a mix between both. Versions showing the Lobisomem as a wolf only came to be with modern portrayals of werewolves in media.

* TrickedToDeath: One folk tale has a hunter surviving an encounter with the Curupira in this way: when he was getting out of the forest after a hunt, the Curupira appeared and requested his heart as a price. The hunter got behind a tree and stealthly used a knife to cut out the heart of a monkey he had hunted earlier, giving it to Curupira as if it was his. The hunter asked for Curupira's heart in return, and the woods guardian, thinking it to be fair, used the same knife to open his chest, only to drop dead on the ground. Unusually for the trope, however, the Curupira actually survives, and is accidentally woken up intact later on when the hunter returned, planning to take and sell his teeth. He was impressed with the hunter's cunning, however, and gifted him an arrow that could kill anything, under the condition he would never tell anyone who he got the gift from.

'''[[OurZombiesAreDifferent Corpo Seco (Dry Body)]]''': A man who was so evil during his lifetime that neither God nor the Devil would take him, and even the earth rejected him. One day he leaves his grave, his body dried and thin, but never decomposing, with long hair and nails. The Dry Body is doomed to wander and haunt the living whenever night falls. During daytime, they hide inside caves and passer-bys can sometimes hear their bone-chilling screams.

Despite its popularity, the legend is most likely a [[NewerThanTheyThink modern reinterpretation]] of the myth, since it is believed Iara has roots in the European legends of mermaids brought during Portuguese colonization, instead of native culture alone, as her first stories only appeared around the seventeenth century (opposed to Curupira, for example, who appears in the first Portuguese documents). Iara, therefore, would have come from European legends united with indigenous culture, without a particular origin story. Native people did have a man-eating river creature called Ipupiara, but different from Iara, they were monsters with fur and whiskers that used violence instead of seduction to devour their victims.

Most notably, the lobisomem traditionally doesn't become a wolf[[note]]different from Portugal, there aren't true wolves in Brazil (although there are similar canids, such as the Maned Wolf)[[/note]], but farm animals, sometimes explained to be the ones that wallowed in the crossroads in which he transforms on. It is often said to take shape of a [[BewareOfViciousDog large dog]], but several versions also describe it as being similar to a pig, or a mix between both animals. It has [[RedEyesTakeWarning red eyes]], [[DarkIsEvil black fur]], long ears, [[EvilSmellsBad putrid odor]] and front legs shorter than the hind ones, as if he still retained his humans proportions. Other stories telling about werewolves with the appearance of donkeys, bulls, rams and mixes between all of these animals also aren't unheard of; the more different animals that make part of the beast's appearance, the more powerful the werewolf is. It should be noticed, however, that this is more restricted to traditional rural tales, and more modern and urban myths have been influenced by the European and Hollywood versions. In human form, the lobisomem is weak, pale and often ill, possessing eye bags and husky elbows due to the position they walk in on their beast form.

'''Princesa Encantada de Jericoacoara (Enchanted Princess of Jericoacoara)''': A tale from the city of Jericoacoara, Ceará. It is said that, in a cave under the city lighthouse, blocked by an iron gate, there is an enchanted city full of riches inhabited by a beautiful princess, who was cursed to [[BalefulPolymorph turn into a serpent of golden scales, having only her human head and feet]]. The only way to [[CurseEscapeClause disenchant]] the princess is by making a human sacrifice at the iron gate, making it open. With the blood, the person should then paint a cross at the back of the serpent, ending her curse, to which she would appear surrounded by endless treasure and marry the responsible for breaking the spell. Because of the high price, however, no one never attempted to make the ritual; thus, the part-woman and part-serpent princess keeps awaiting in her city full of treasures.

Folklorist Câmara Cascuro suggests the correlation of the river dolphins with sexuality and seduction has connection to European roots: the blowhole of cetaceans looks similar to the glans penis, and the movement of dolphins next to the ships could be compared with the act of coitus; moreover, dolphins were associated with the LoveGoddess [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Aphrodite]]. However, it should be noticed Botos most likely already had had association with the supernatural in local cultures before conflation with European beliefs.