The official Wendigo thread for Wendigo chat

Odradek

Oh my burning feet

Tachyon

Y'know i barely ever hear about the Wendigo

Monstropedia claims it's a stock horror character like the vampire or the werewolf, but outside the internet i never hear or see anyone or anything referencing them

i'm wondering if maybe the monsters that are iconic over here are ones that interested the victorians for the most part

Obā-san

the wendigo is an algonquian legend so it kinda makes sense that you would not hear about it as much over there

Tachyon

well that was my thinking

but it doesn't necessarily follow, there's all kinds of iconic Greek monsters that are famous here, plus there's the whole zombie thing which is definitely a more recent import via American pop culture

Odradek

Well part of the appeal of the Wendigo is that it's a homegrown monster, and there's enough vagueness and difference in the legends due to it being part of the mythology of several distinct tribes that you can just sort of do whatever with it.

Sort of like the ever-present Indian Burial Ground as a justification for weird shit.

Odradek

It's not at vampire or werewolf levels of popular though.

Tachyon

the Indian burial ground is more iconic over here but i feel like that's more a fear from the psyche of the colonizer than the colonized

no offence

which, actually, would explain why it's better known over here, perhaps

Odradek

In the book version of Pet Sematary, a Wendigo was said to have cursed the land where the titular Pet Sematary was.

Thus giving us both at once.

Odradek

• A Wendigo is often referred to and hinted at in Twin Peaks, but we never see it clearly.

Speaking of.

TvTropes, I have seen every episode of Twin Peaks, and at no point does anyone use the word "Wendigo". Furthermore, the series takes place in the Pacific Northwest, which makes it literally the width of a continent away from the Native American tribes that believed in the Wendigo.

Tachyon

delete it then

Odradek

the login system is down.

I was going to otherwise

Tachyon

fair

Tre

This is a Wendigo.

Anonus

My mind goes to the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic conception of Wendigoes (manifestations of anger and hatred, horses made of cold air that turn things to ice)

Corvina

Odradek said:

Well part of the appeal of the Wendigo is that it's a homegrown monster, and there's enough vagueness and difference in the legends due to it being part of the mythology of several distinct tribes that you can just sort of do whatever with it.

Sort of like the ever-present Indian Burial Ground as a justification for weird shit.

Speaking of the IBG, Pike Place Market was built upon a Duwamish graveyard