History Myth / YorubaMythology

* HasTwoMommies: Interesting case with Oranmiyan. His father Oduduwa was also his grandfather. His other father was Ogun. His mother was named Lakange. Because Oduduwa was albino and Ogun was pitch black Oranmiyan was black on the left side while white on the right side.
** Shango is sometimes the son of Aganju and Obatala.

* ZeroPercentApprovalRating: King Owodo learned that his wife Esaghlo lied to him about the sacrifical victim and had her executed. He then tried to bring his heir Ekaledheran back from exile by force, but was soundly defeated by his cunning son who had founded a village. The killing of a pregnant woman angered the people of Benin so much they finally deposed Owodo.

* BeautifulSlaveGirl: Lakange was so much so that Ogun claimed her as his WarBride. When Oduduwa learned about this he took Lakange away to be his own wife.

* CreationMyth: In the beginning there was no land, only the sea ruled by Olokun and the sky ruled by Oramfe. Oramfe was already old beyond numbers when he was king. He sent his two sons Obatala and Oduduwa to make the earth. Obatala was given a bag full of arts and wisdom while Oduduwa was given kingship. Oduduwa made Obatala drunk and stole his bag. Oduduwa then sent down his priest Ojumu with a snail shell full of magic sand and a five toed fowl. The fowl kicked and scratched the sand around until land was made, at the center what became the holy city of Ile-Ife.When the land was firm, down came Obatala and Oduduwa. Obatala had to make humans in the cold and darkness until Oramfe sent down the sun, moon, and fire with a vulture. The vulture carried these things on his head and was burned bald.

* DealWithTheDevil: Oshun once wanted a baby very badly. She prayed often until the spirit of the Iroko tree spoke to her. The Iroko said he would give her a beautiful son but claim him as a sacrifice in his seventh year. Oshun thought she could cheat the Iroko and told him sure. Time passed and Oshun had the son. The Iroko reminded her of the deal every time she passed by so she began to avoid him. When the boy was seven years old she had long forgotten about the Iroko tree, only once warning him to stay away from him. One day hse could not find her son and raced in a panic to the tree where she saw him swallowed up by the earth below it. Iroko was finally appeased. Iroko tends to prey on desperate barren women.

* DisguisedInDrag: Shango once wore Oya's dress and used her hair as a wig to disguise himself while on the run from his enemies in Oyo. He stayed silent due to his BadassBaritone until he could take them by suprise

* TheFairFolk: The different beings in this category are known as Imale. Their temperments are as divergent and capricious as nature is.

** Eboras are pitch black hill, swamp, and forest spirits reminiscent of scandinavian trolls in terms of narrative role. Some are benign while some are evil monsters. Sometimes they have multiple heads. Occasionally Ebora is used as a catchall term for spirits.

* KarmicTrickster: In the town of Ishokun there was a farmer who was tormented by [[MischiefMakingMonkey Mischief-Making Monkeys]]. The primates incessantly raided his crops and used magic to cause rain. The farmer made a shelter with his sons and eventually managed to kill some of the monkeys. A seer visited the farmer and his pregnant wife, warning him he should not kill monkeys as they are wise and powerful creatures. Meanwhile the monkeys decided to teach the farmer a lesson by transforming two of their number into abikus. They tormented the farmer and his family by being born then dying repeatedly. The farmer intensified his conflict with the monkeys, but nothing worked. So he visited a babalawo who told him to stop killing monkeys and let them eat freely in his fields. The farmer gave in and the monkeys ended their grudge with him. The next pair of twins born survived and grew up. But they were not ordinary children, they had magical powers like the monkeys they came from. From then on all twins were under the supernatural protection of the god Ibeji.

* MassEmpoweringEvent: The Orishas all asked Orunmila to give them their special abilities. Orunmila did not want any of them to become jealous or claim he gave anyone special treatment. So his friend Agemo the cameleon suggested random chance for a change. Orunmila climbed to the highest parts of Orun and dropped various powers from the edge. The Orishas scrambled to gather the raining magic on earth and everybody felt satisfied with what they got.

* KarmicTrickster: In the town of Ishokun there was a farmer who was tormented by MischiefMakingMonkeys. The primates incessantly raided his crops and used magic to cause rain. The farmer made a shelter with his sons and eventually managed to kill some of the monkeys. A seer visited the farmer and his pregnant wife, warning him he should not kill monkeys as they are wise and powerful creatures. Meanwhile the monkeys decided to teach the farmer a lesson by transforming two of their number into abikus. They tormented the farmer and his family by being born then dying repeatedly. The farmer intensified his conflict with the monkeys, but nothing worked. So he visited a babalawo who told him to stop killing monkeys and let them eat freely in his fields. The farmer gave in and the monkeys ended their grudge with him. The next pair of twins born survived and grew up. But they were not ordinary children, they had magical powers like the monkeys they came from. From then on all twins were under the supernatural protection of the god Ibeji.

* GirlInABox: Inverted. Olagbeno's father and his wizards placed him into a brass ball so a hawk could drop him near the chambers of Irikure unnoticed at night.

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* ZeroPercentApprovalRating: King Owodo learned that his wife Esaghlo lied to him about the sacrifical victim and had her executed. He then tried to bring his heir Ekaledheran back from exile by force, but was soundly defeated by his cunning son who had founded a village. The killing of a pregnant woman angered the people of Benin so much they finally deposed Owodo.
** King Ohen was a secret cripple and had to be carried everywhere. His chief minister discovered this and was killed to hide this knowledge. The minister was very popular and the angry citizens killed Ohen in an uprising.