Several Malaysian legendary creatures.
Malaysian mythology is a diverse mix of influences- the original animism of the islands, then Buddhism and Hinduism from the 1st century onward, then finally Islam from the 14th century onward. As such, folk religion is a blend of numerous different belief systems, with people seeing little problem intergrating them into a more-or-less cohesive whole.
Tropes from Malaysian mythology:
- Animal Stereotypes: Malaysian fables frequently star an animal called a mouse-deer, regarded as heroic and skilled at overcoming obstacles.
- Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!: The weakness of the toyol is that they can be easily distracted with coins, marbles, buttons, toys or sweets.
- Bigfoot, Sasquatch, and Yeti: The Orang mawas, a 10-feet tall jungle-dwelling ape. Santu sakai are now often regarded as such.
- Blob Monster: The orang minyak (oily man) is a cryptid made of crude oil, who can shape-shift between human and oily man form. It has been depicted in numerous Malaysian films and at least one Hong Kong production.
- Blood Magic: A variant of Familiar referred to as a polong can be conjured by keeping the blood of a murderer in a jar and chanting spells over it for seven to fourteen days. Once created, it has to be fed on blood from its master`s neck.
- Cannibalism Superpower: One of the proposed ways to become a weretiger is to drink a potion made of a corpse`s innards.
- Cultural Translation: Common in Malaysian versions of Hindu epics such as the Ramayana, with priests becoming Malay shamans.
- Familiar: Ghosts often function as this, taking the form of animals, being kept in jars, offered food and attacking people the sorcerer dislikes. They are commonly compared to shikigami in that they are a spirits belonging to a person and passed down through the family line.
- Fetus Terrible: The toyol is a demon born from an aborted or stillborn child, who harbors a grudge on humans but can be controlled by the sorceror or witch who summons it.
- Fingore: Legends tells of the pelesit, a tiny vampire who sucks blood not from necks, but from the fingers of it's victims. With the help of it's sentient cricket pet, no less!
- Frazetta Man: The santu sakai in more traditional depictions- a race of hairy, degenerate mountain dwellers who descend after heavy rainfall to raid villages and kidnap people to eat.
- The Great Serpent: Malaysia's equivalent to having a Stock Ness Monster is often depicted as serpentine beasts:
- The myth of Tambuakar, a large, black, water serpent monster dwelling either in Sabah's Papar river or Sarawak's Balleh river. Said monster allegedly Was Once a Man - specifically, a ruthless river-king - who continues living after death as a gigantic aquatic snake.
- The Nabau serpent from Iban (a tribe from East Malaysia) mythology some 100 feet in length. Allegedly, seeing the Nabau can bestow fortune, and consuming it's scales can grant Super-Strength. It was allegedly sighted as recently as 2009
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- Hoist by His Own Petard: How to defeat a puaka, a pig demon with a razor-sharp tongue. When running across a stream, the puaka will attempt to lick up the water on itself and in the process will slice itself to pieces.
- Our Banshees Are Louder: The Lang Suir, ghosts of mothers who died in childhood who perform this role in Malay culture. They can fly and turn into owls, eat fish and be turned into humans by plugging the whole in the nape of their neck.
- Our Elves Are Different:: The Orang Bunian, a race of beautiful but invisible people with a society parallel to that of humans.
- Our Ghosts Are Different: Ghosts are referred to as hantu, usually function as Familiars, are frequently kept in jars and eat food. Some specific variants:
- Bajang, vampiric ghosts of stillborns in the form of polecats who eat milk and eggs and are blamed for pregnancy difficulties and the death of children.
- Hantu Raya, superhumanly strong doppelgangers of their master.
- Pelesit, ghosts of stillborns in the form of crickets who eat saffron rice.
- Pontianak vampiric ghosts of mothers who died in childbirth who appear as hideous women with long fingernails and like Lang Suir can be turned into humans by plugging the hole in the nape of the neck.
- Toyol, thieving ghosts of babies who appear as naked babies and can be distracted with coins, marbles, sweets, toys or buttons.
- Our Goblins Are Different: In modern representations toyol are often given pointed ears, large fangs and brown or green skin.
- Our Vampires Are Different: Penangalannan, witches whose head detatches at night, entrails dangling as it flies off to look for victims. It can be killed by burning the body, stuffing the insides with glass or exposing it to sunlight.
- Our Werebeasts Are Different: The Santu Sakai, a degenerate tribe living in the highlands who can turn into apes with huge mouths and spiked underarms.
- Weretigers (referred to as Harimau Jadian) can be created through a variety of means, from chanting a spell while wearing a tiger skin to drinking a broth made from a corpse`s entrails. They are usually heroic and help to protect crops.
- The Phoenix: Close enough, but Malay legends tells of the Cenderawasih, a mythical bird from the heavens who feeds on dews and clouds, and never need to land. Allegedly the Cenderawasih have gold-feathered heads, four wings, two dangling tails, and emits an aura of beauty so powerful it will stun the eyes of any mortal who looked upon it.
- Power Perversion Potential: One of the stated uses for the hantu raya (a ghost that is physically identical to its master) is adultery, with it posing as the sorcerer while its master is off sleeping with another man`s wife.
