Genres:Autobiography: Essentially the same as a biography, with the exception that the story is written

by the person who is the subject of the story.Adventure: A story about a protagonist who journeys to

epic or distant places to accomplish something. It can have many other genre elements included within

it, because it is a very open genre.Action: A story, similar to Adventure, but the protagonist usually takes

a risky turn, which leads to desperate situations (including explosions, fight scenes, daring escapes, etc.).

Action and Adventure are usually categorized together (sometimes even as "action-adventure") because

they have much in common, and many stories fall under both genres simultaneously (for instance, the

James Bond series can be classified as both).Superhero: A modern story about a person or creature

who possesses supernatural or superhuman abilities. Often, they use their abilities to protect or avenge

others; hence the "hero" portion of the term. It should be noted that while the genre is reasonably common

and broadly-definable (it can include science fiction, fantasy or both for instance), the term "superhero" is

in fact technically a trademark (owned jointly) of DC Comics and Marvel Comics, who between them coined

the term; thus, many games and stories that are not owned in part by either company often refer in-story

and often in-title to their characters as "heroes" or other stand-in terms meant to imply their superhuman

nature (examples of the former usage include the television series Heroes and the video game City of

Heroes; an example of the latter is The Incredibles, which refers to its superheroic characters as "supers").

The genre should not be confused with heroic mythology or folkloric tales, as older, traditional folk

characters such as Hercules or Robin Hood generally are not considered to fall under the "superhero"

genre.Military: A story about a war or battle that can either be historical or fictional. It usually follows

the events a certain warrior goes through during the battle's events.Swashbuckler: A story about a

protagonist who gets into risky situations. In the story, the protagonist is usually in fights against villains,

using weapons. The single-handed sword is most commonly used by the protagonists in this genre.

Martial arts film: A story characterized by extensive fighting scenes employing various types of martial

arts. Science fiction: A story about technology or the future. It generally includes or is centered on the

presumed effects or ramifications of computers or machines, travel through space, time or alternate

universes, alien life-forms, genetic engineering, or other such things. The science or technology used

may or may not be very thoroughly elaborated on; stories whose scientific elements are reasonably

detailed, well-researched and considered to be relatively plausible given current knowledge and technology

are often referred to as hard science fiction. Owing to the wide breadth of the genre, it very commonly has

elements from other genres, such as action, comedy, alternate history, military or spy fiction, and fantasy

mixed in, with such combinations often forming new major subgenres in their own right (see below).Punk:

An umbrella term, and suffix, for several Science Fiction subgenres, normally categorized by distinct technologies

and sciences. The themes tend to be cynical or dystopian, and a person, or group of people, fighting the

corruption of the government.Steampunk: A story that takes place around the time steam power was first

coming into use. The industrial revolution is a common time frame which steam punk stories take place in,

and the steam technology is often actually more advanced than the real technology of time (for instance,

Steam Detectives features steam-powered robots).Biopunk: A story that is about genetics and biological

research (often falling under the horror category). It focuses on some harmful effects characters have

created when they change an animal's code to (unintentionally) create a violent monster.

Fantasy: A story about magic and supernatural forces, rather than technology, though it often is made to

include elements of other genres, such as science fiction elements, for instance computers or DNA, if it

happens to take place in a modern or future era. Depending on the extent of these other elements, the

story may or may not be considered to be a "hybrid genre" series; for instance, even though the Harry

Potter series canon includes the requirement of a particular gene to be a wizard, it is referred to only as

a fantasy series.Science fantasy: A story with mystical elements that are scientifically explainable, or

which combines science fiction elements with fantasy elements. It should be noted that science fiction

was once actually referred to under this name, but that it is no longer used to denote that genre, and

has somewhat fallen out of favor as a genre descriptor.Sword and sorcery: A blend of heroic fantasy,

adventure, and frequent elements of the horrific in which a mighty barbaric warrior hero is pitted

against both human and supernatural adversaries. Robert E. Howard, creator of Conan the Cimmerian,

Kull of Atlantis, the Pictish king Bran Mak Morn, etc. is generally acknowledged as the founder of the

genre, chiefly through his writings for Weird Tales and other 1920s and 30s pulp magazines.

High fantasy: A story that takes place in a completely different world or universe, having different

races, traditions and even religions. Often, there aren't any real world events that tie into the story.

The best known example of high fantasy is probably The Lord of the Rings.Romance: A story about

character's relationships, or engagements. It's a story about character development, rather than

adventures. Crime fiction: A story about a crime that is being committed or was committed. It can

also be an account of a criminal's life. It often falls into the Action or Adventure genres.Mystery: A

story about a detective or person who has to solve a crime that was committed. They must figure

out who committed the crime and why. Sometimes, the detective must figure out 'how' the criminal

committed the crime if it seems impossible. Murder mystery: A mystery story which focuses on one

type of criminal case: homicide. Usually, there are one or more murder victims, and the detective

must figure out who killed them, the same way he or she solves other crimes. They may or may

not find themselves or loved ones in danger because of this investigation; the genre often includes

elements of the suspense story genre, or of the action and adventure genres.Comedy: A story that

tells about a series of funny or comical events, intended to make the audience laugh. It a is very

open genre, and thus crosses over with many other genres on a frequent basis.Comedy of manners:

A film satirizes the manners and affectations of a social class, often represented by stock characters.

The plot of the comedy is often concerned with an illicit love affair or some other scandal, but is

generally less important than its witty dialogue. This form of comedy has a long ancestry, dating back

at least as far as Shakespeare's Much Ado about Nothing.Parody: A story that mocks or satirizes other

genres, people, fictional characters or works. Such works employ sarcasm, stereotyping, mockery of

scenes, symbols or lines from other works, and the obviousness of meaning in a character's actions.

Such stories may be "affectionate parodies" which merely mean to entertain those familiar with the

source of the parody... or they may well be intended to undercut the respectability of the original

inspiration for the parody by pointing out its flaws (the latter being closer to satire).Horror: A story

that is told to deliberately scare or frighten the audience, through suspense, violence or shock. H. P.

Lovecraft distinguishes two primary varieties in the "Introduction" to Supernatural Horror in Literature: 1)

Physical Fear or the "mundanely gruesome" and 2) the true Supernatural Horror story or the "Weird Tale."

The supernatural variety is occasionally termed "Dark Fantasy," since the laws of nature must be violated

in some way, thus qualifying the story as "fantastic."Survival Horror: A horror story about a protagonist

who is put in a risky and life threatening situation that he or she must endure, often as a result of things

such as zombies or other monsters, and the rest of the plot is how the hero or heroes overcome this.

Thriller: A story that is usually a mix of fear and excitement. It has traits from the suspense genre and

often from the action, adventure or mystery genres, but the level of terror makes it borderline horror

fiction at times as well. It generally has a dark or serious theme, which also makes it similar to drama.

Further information: List of mythologies

American folklore:Jersey Devil-The Jersey Devil, sometimes called the Leeds Devils, is a legendary creature or cryptid said to inhabit the Pine Barrens in southern New Jersey. The creature is often described as a flying biped with hooves, but there are many variations. The Jersey Devil has worked its way into the pop culture of the area, even lending its name to New Jersey's team in the National Hockey League.Origins There are many possible origins of the Jersey Devil legend. The earliest legends date back to Native American folklore. The Lenni Lenape tribes called the area around Pine Barrens "Popuessing", meaning "place of the dragon". Swedish explorers later named it "Drake Kill", "drake" being a Swedish word for dragon, and "kill" meaning channel or arm of the sea (river, stream, etc.).The most accepted origin of the story as far as New Jerseyians are concerned started with Mother Leeds and is as follows:

"It was said that Mother Leeds had 12 children and, after giving birth to her 12th child, stated that if she had another, it would be the Devil. In 1735, Mother Leeds was in labor on a stormy night. Gathered around her were her friends. Mother Leeds was supposedly a witch and the child's father was the Devil himself. The child was born normal, but then changed form. It changed from a normal baby to a creature with hooves, a horse's head, bat wings and a forked tail. It growled and screamed, then killed the midwife before flying up the chimney. It circled the villages and headed toward the pines. In 1740 a clergy exorcised the demon for 100 years and it wasn't seen again until 1890." "Mother Leeds" has been identified by some as Deborah Leeds[1]. This identification may have gained credence from the fact that Deborah Leeds' husband, Japhet Leeds, named twelve children in the will he wrote in 1736,[2] which is compatible with the legend of the Jersey Devil being the thirteenth child born by Mother Leeds. Deborah and Japhet Leeds also lived in the Leeds Point section of what is now Atlantic County, New Jersey[3], which is the area commonly said to be the location of the Jersey Devil story.

Some skeptics believe the Jersey Devil to be nothing more than a creative manifestation of the English settlers. The aptly named Pine Barrens were shunned by most early settlers as a desolate, threatening place. Being relatively isolated, the barrens were a natural refuge for those wanting to remain hidden, including religious dissenters, loyalists, fugitives and military deserters in colonial times. Such individuals formed solitary groups and were pejoratively called "pineys", some of whom became notorious bandits known as "pine robbers". Pineys were further demonized after two early twentieth century eugenics studies depicted them as congenital cool dudes and criminals. It is easy to imagine early tales of terrible monsters arising from a combination of sightings of genuine animals such as bears, the activities of pineys, and fear of the barrens.Outdoorsman and author Tom Brown, Jr. spent several seasons living in the wilderness of the Pine Barrens. He recounts occasions when terrified hikers mistook him for the Jersey Devil, after he covered his whole body with mud to repel mosquitoes.

Not surprisingly, the Jersey Devil legend is fueled by the various testimonials from reputable eyewitnesses who have reported to have encountered the creature, from precolonial times to the present day, as there are still reported sightings within the New Jersey area.

Many contemporary theorists believe that the Jersey Devil could possibly be a very rare, unclassified species which instinctually fears and attempts to avoid humans. Such elements that support this theory include the overall similarities of the creature's appearance (horselike head, long neck and tail, leathery wings, cloven hooves, blood-curdling scream), with the only variables being the height and color. Another factor that supports the cryptozoological theory is the fact that it is more likely that a species could endure over a span of several hundred years, rather than the existence of a single creature living for over 500 years.Some people think the Sandhill Crane (which has a 7 feet wingspan) is the basis of the Jersey Devil stories. The physical descriptions of the Jersey Devil appear to be mostly consistent with a species of pterosaur such as a dimorphodon.

Brazilian folklore:Bestial beast-The Bestial beast (besta fera) is a Brazilian version of a centaur. The name can be translated either as bestial beast or ferocious beast and is often employed in a figured sense to refer to anyone that is exceedingly angered.

According to legend, it is believed that it is the Devil who leaves ###### during full-moon nights.

It has the body of a horse and a human torso. It runs through villages until it finds a tomb, where it disappears. The sound of its hooves is sufficient to terrorise people. A pack of dogs follow it; the Beast whips these, and any other animals it encounters.

According to legend, though terrible, it is not dangerous to people. The tradition says that when somebody sees its face, they go mad for several days, but then recover.Curupira:The Curupira is a male supernatural being which guards the forest in Tupi mythology.

He usually takes the form of a boy with (literally) flaming hair and green teeth. His most startling characteristic, however, is that his feet are turned to face backwards.Its raison d'être is to protect the forest from the destructive habits of man. It happily tolerates those who hunt for food but is infuriated by those who hunt for the pleasure of it and will lay traps and confuse them so that they become eternally lost in the forest. His backward feet, for example, have the effect of confusing hunters who may try to follow his tracks.The Curupira blends many features of West-African and European fairies but was usually regarded as a demonic figure.Puck:Puck is a mythological fairy or mischievous nature sprite. Puck is also a generalised personification of land spirits. Whilst being an aspect of Robin Goodfellow, he is also hob and Will -o'-the-wisp.The Old English puca is a kind of half-tamed woodland sprite, leading folk astray with echoes and lights in nighttime woodlands (like the German and Dutch Weisse Frauen and Witte Wieven and the French Dames Blanches, all "White Ladies"), or coming into the farmstead and souring milk in the churn.

The Old English word occurs mainly in placenames. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the etymology of the name Puck is "unsettled", and it is not clear whether its origin is Germanic (cf. Old Norse puki, Old Swedish puke, Icelandic puki, Frisian Puk), or Celtic (Welsh pwca [1] and Irish púca). Etymology Online[2] is in favour of puck being the English cognate of the Norse puki (and thus the other Germanic variants of puck)[3] and also related to the English word pug.[4] One inference would surmise that a theoretical Proto-Indo-European original for both is earlier than the linguistic split.[5]

According to Paul Devereux, the names of various creatures from Celtic folklore, including the Irish, púca, Welsh, "pwca" or "pwca", could be from the same Celtic family as the term "pixies" (in Cornwall, "Piskies")[6], however "piskie" could be related to the Swedish word "pyske" meaning "small fairy".[7]

Other likely names:

Bosworth and Toller list only "púcel" (puucel) in Old English.[8]

In Friesland, there is a “Puk”

In old German, the “putz” or “butz” is a being not unlike the original English Puck.

In Icelandic a “Púki” is a little devil. “Púkinn” with the definite article suffix "-inn", "The Puck", means the Devil.

The “Puk” (or the Draug) in Norwegian is a water sprite, a supernatural being of evil power.

In modern Cornwall folklore are Buccas, good and bad.

The folklore of Puck was magisterially assembled by William Bell, in two volumes that appeared in 1852[9] that have been called a "monument to nineteenth-century antiquarianism gone rampant."[10]

Since, if you "speak of the Devil" he will appear, Puck's euphemistic "disguised" name is "Robin Goodfellow" or "Hobgoblin",[11] in which "Hob" may substitute for "Rob" or may simply refer to the "goblin of the hearth" or hob. The name Robin is Middle English in origin, deriving from Old French Robin, the pet form for the name Robert (which had cognates in the Old English Hrodberht and Old German Rodbert or Hrodebert, all derived from the Proto-Germanic hrôdberxtas. See Robert). The earliest reference to "Robin Goodfellow" cited by the Oxford English Dictionary is from 1531. After Meyerbeer's successful opera Robert le Diable (1831), neo-medievalists and occultists began to apply the name Robin Goodfellow to the Devil, with appropriately extravagant imagery.

If you had the knack, Puck might do minor housework for you, quick fine needlework or butter-churning, which could be undone in a moment by his knavish tricks if you fell out of favor with him. "Those that Hob-goblin call you, and sweet Puck, / You do their work, and they shall have good luck" said one of William Shakespeare's fairies. Shakespeare's characterization of "shrewd and knavish" Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream may have revived flagging interest in Puck.[12]

According to Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898):

[Robin Goodfellow is a] "drudging fiend", and merry domestic fairy, famous for mischievous pranks and practical jokes. At night-time he will sometimes do little services for the family over which he presides. The Scots call this domestic spirit a brownie; the Germans, kobold or Knecht Ruprecht. Scandinavians called it Nissë God-dreng. Puck, the jester of Fairy-court, is the same.In English literature

Main article: Puck (Shakespeare)

Puck, also known as Robin Goodfellow, is a character in William Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream, whose nature has been so clearly fixed in the English-speaking imagination that, as Katherine Briggs has remarked,[13] "it no longer seems natural to talk as Robert Burton does in the Anatomie of Melancholy of a puck instead of 'Puck'". The audience is introduced to Puck in Act II Scene I when Puck encounters one of Titania's fairies. She recognizes Puck for

that shrewd and knavish sprite

Call'd Robin Goodfellow: are not you he

That frights the maidens of the villagery;

Skim milk, and sometimes labour in the quern

And bootless make the breathless housewife churn;

And sometime make the drink to bear no barm;

Mislead night-wanderers, laughing at their harm?

Those that Hobgoblin call you and sweet Puck,

You do their work, and they shall have good luck:

Are not you he?

It is Puck's mistaken doings that provide the convolutions of the plot.

Aside from Shakespeare's famous use of Puck, many other writers have referred to the spirit as well. An early 17th century broadside ballad, "The Mad Merry Pranks of Robin Goodfellow"—which is so deft and literate it has been taken for the work of Ben Jonson—describes Puck/Robin Goodfellow as the emissary of Oberon, the Faery King, inspiring night-terrors in old women but also carding their wool while they sleep, leading travellers astray, taking the shape of animals, blowing out the candles to kiss the girls in the darkness, twitching off their bedclothes, or making them fall out of bed on the cold floor, tattling secrets, and changing babes in cradles with elflings. All his work is done by moonlight, and his mocking, echoing laugh is "Ho ho ho!"

Robin Goodfellow is the main speaker in Jonson's 1612 masque Love Restored.

John Milton, in L'Allegro tells "how the drudging Goblin swet / To earn his cream-bowle duly set" by threshing a week's worth of grain in a night, and then, "stretch'd out all the chimney's length, / Basks at the fire his hairy strength." Milton's Puck is not small and sprightly, but nearer to a Green Man or a hairy woodwose. For followers of neo-Pagan imagery, sometimes the influence of Pan imagery has now given Puck the hindquarters and cloven hooves of a goat. He may even have small horns.

Goethe also used Puck in the first half of Faust, in a scene entitled "A Walpurgis Night Dream", where he played off of the spirit Ariel from The Tempest.

Kipling's Puck of Pook's Hill, painted by Arthur Rackham

Puck's trademark laugh in the early ballads is "Ho ho ho."[14] In modern mythology, the "merry old elf" who works with magical swiftness unseen in the night, who can "descry each thing that's done beneath the moone", whom we propitiate with a glass of milk, lest he put lumps of coal in the stockings we hang by the hob with care, and whose trademark laugh is "Ho ho ho"—is Santa Claus.

In Rudyard Kipling's Puck of Pook's Hill (1906), Puck, the last of the People of the Hills and "the oldest thing in England", charms the children Dan and Una with a collection of tales and visitors out of England's past.

Puck plays a central role in Mark Chadbourn's fantasy sequence, "Kingdom of the Serpent", comprising the novels "Jack of Ravens", "The Burning Man", and one yet to be published. Puck manipulates the heroes in an epic battle between good and evil over two thousand years of human history.

Pan, a Puck-like entity, is also a main character in Tom Robbins' novel Jitterbug Perfume.

The children's theater play Robin Goodfellow by Aurand Harris is a retelling of A Midsummer Night's Dream from the point of view of Puck.

[edit]Modern references

The Puck who appears in Neil Gaiman's The Sandman is close to the idea of Puck as a trickster and maker of mischief.

In Susanna Clarke's short story, "The Ladies of Grace Adieu," Robin Goodfellow appears as a mischievous yet caring servant to Auberon.

In Orson Scott Card's novel Magic Street, we meet Puck, Queen Titania, and Oberon in a modern, urban setting.

In Rob Thurman's novels, Nightlife and Moonshine, Robin Goodfellow and Hobgoblin are two separate beings, both remnants of the near-extinct race of pucks. In the novels, they are reimagined in a modern setting, the former as the slick owner of a car dealership, the latter as the owner of a seedy nightclub.In Raymond E. Feist's novel, Faerie Tale, Puck is a fey being in the faerie court and is portrayed as a jester of sorts, and stays true to the mythology of him as a trickster. At times throughout the novel he is referred to as Puck, Putz, and Aerial, and assists the main characters to prevent a great evil (King Oberon) from seizing global power over humanity.

In Pamela Dean's Tam Lin (a modern retelling of the Scottish faerie ballad), the character of Robin Armin is implied to be Puck; he used the same name while performing as a singer and actor for The King's Men, and was the inspiration for the Shakespearean Puck and several other comic characters, but he and the others of his troupe were unsuccessful in luring the Bard off to the Fair Lands.

In the animated series Gargoyles, Puck is a traditional Trickster and an important supporting character. During the long exile from Avalon, Puck comes across Queen Titania in the human guise of Anastasia Renard. He also meets a man named Preston Vogel in Anastasia's employ. Amused with the behavior of the mortal, Puck decides play the straight man for a while, and reinvents himself as Owen Burnett.

In Mercedes Lackey's novel The Wizard of London Robin Goodfellow/Puck steps in to play himself in a boarding school's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream when no one suitable can be found for the part. He reappears throughout the novel mainly in his friendlier aspect, but becomes extremely dangerous when crossed.In Michael Buckley's New York Times bestselling series, The Sisters Grimm, Puck appears as a main character, a faerie tale creature called an Everafter. He is described as smelly, rude, and obnoxious, and delights in playing mean pranks on the unsuspecting Grimm family. Puck prides himself as a "villain of the worst sort," but grudgingly plays the hero when the Grimms (whom he secretly cares about) are in danger. As the series progresses, he becomes more outwardly romantically interested in the main protagonist, Sabrina Grimm.Leshy:The Leshy or Lesovik is a male woodland spirit in Slavic mythology who protects wild animals and forests. There are also leshachikha/leszachka (wives of the leshak) and leshonky (childrens of the leszy). He is roughly analogous to the Woodwose of Western Europe and the Basajaun of the Basque Country.Name forms and etymology

The Leshy is known by a variety of names and spellings including Lesiy, Leshii, Leszi, Lesovik, etc.

Main name forms:

Lešy (Czech: Leszi, Polish: Leszy, Russian: Ле́ший, Belarusian: Лешы, Serbian: Лешиј)

Lesovik (Russian: Лесови́к, Ukrainian: Лісовик, Belarusian: Лесавік, Serbian: Лесовик)

Lesovy (Czech: Lesovij, Russian: Лесово́й, Serbian: Лесовој)

Lesny mužik/ded (Czech: Lesní mužík, Slovak: Lesný mužík Belarusian: Лясны дзед), meaning "forest man" or "old forest man"

Lešak (Russian: Леша́к, Serbian: Лешак)

Lesnik (Russian: Лесни́к, Serbian: Лесник)

Lesun (Russian: Лесу́н, Belarusian: Лясун)

These names came from common Slavic les (proto-Slavic *lěsъ) — "forest", and mean "he of the forest".

[edit]Description A leshy usually appears as a tall man, but he is able to change his size from that of a blade of grass to a very tall tree. He has hair and a beard made from living grass and vines, and is sometimes depicted with a tail, hooves and horns. He has pale white skin that contrasts with his bright green eyes. He is sometimes considered akin to the devil. A leshy has a close bond with the Gray Wolf, and is often seen in the company of bears as well. He is the Forest Lord and carries a club to express that he is the master of the wood.

[edit]Abilities He is said to have the ability to shapeshift into any form, animal or plant. When he is in human form, he looks like a common peasant, except that his eyes glow and his shoes are on backwards. In some tales he appears to visitors as a large talking mushroom.[citation needed] He can also vary in size; shrinking himself to the height of a blade of grass when moving through open fields, or grow to the size of the tallest trees when in the forest If a person could befriend a leszy, the latter would teach them the secrets of magic. Farmers and shepherds would make pacts with the leshy to protect their crops and sheep. The leshy had many tricks, including leading peasants astray, making them sick, or tickling them to death. They were also known to hide the axes of woodchoppers. Leshy is a terribly mischievous being, he had horrible cries, but could imitate voices of people familiar to wanderers & lure them back to his caves, where he would tickle them almost to death, he removes signs from their posts. Lechies isn't always evil, though he enjoys misguiding humans & kidnapping young women he is also known to keep grazing cattle from wondering too far into his forests and getting lost. Sometimes cow herders will make pacts with Leshy by handing him their cross from around their neck and sharing communion with him after Christian church gatherings, these pacts are said to give the cowsmen special powers.[edit]Dictionnaire Infernal Lechies is a demon or spirit in the Dictionnaire Infernal. There he is a Slavic forest being, similar in nature to the Polevik sprites. He protects the birds, trees & animals of the forest, he appears in the shape of a human with blue skin, 2 great horns and green hair, a long green beard across his face carrying a club or whip indicating his mastery of the forest.Should one ever encounter Lechies one must thwart him immediately by turning all your clothes inside out and backwards, placing your shoes on the opposite feet, the sign of the cross often works, but in the worst case should the Lechies torment you set the forest ablaze behind you and don't look back, he will be so concerned with putting out the fire he will forget why his mischief fell upon your poor soul.[edit]Modern cultural depictions A benevolent leshy appears first as a peasant, and then as a gigantic demon-like creature in the comic book miniseries heckchild: Darkness Calls by Mike Mignola and Duncan Fegredo.In the fictional Shin'a'in culture of Mercedes Lackey's Valdemar books, they use the word leshy'a to refer to spirits or ghosts.In Sierra's 1993 role-playing game Quest for Glory IV the Hero encounters a Leshy in the forest who offers game clues in reward for solving riddles.In the MMORPG Final Fantasy XI, the Leshy is a monster that appears as a giant, vaguely humanoid and mobile tree.

Australian folklore:Lyrebird-A Lyrebird is either of two species of ground-dwelling Australian birds, most notable for their superb ability to mimic natural and artificial sounds from their environment. Lyrebirds have unique plumes of neutral coloured tailfeathers.

Lyrebirds are among Australia's best-known native birds, even though they are rarely seen in their natural habitat. As well as their extraordinary mimicking ability, lyrebirds are notable because of the striking beauty of the male bird's huge tail when it is fanned out in display; and also because of their courtship display.Species

There are two species of lyrebird:

Superb Lyrebird or Weringerong (Menura novaehollandiae) is found in areas of rainforest in Victoria, New South Wales and south-east Queensland, as well as in Tasmania where it was introduced in the 19th century. Females are 74-84cm long, and the males are a larger 80-98cm long — making them the third-largest passerine bird after the Thick-billed Raven and the Common Raven. Many Superb Lyrebirds live in the Dandenong Ranges National Park and Kinglake National Park around Melbourne, the Royal National Park and Illawarra region south of Sydney and in many other parks along the east coast of Australia as well as non protected bushland. Albert's Lyrebird (Menura alberti) is slightly smaller at a maximum of 90 cm (male) and 84 cm (female) (around 30-35 inches) and is only found in a very small area of Southern Queensland rainforest. They have smaller, less spectacular lyrate feathers than the Superb Lyrebird, but are otherwise similar. Albert's Lyrebird was named in honour of Prince Albert, the husband of Queen Victoria. Mimicry A lyrebird's call is a rich mixture of its own song and any number of other sounds it has heard. The lyrebird's syrinx is the most complexly-muscled of the Passerines (songbirds), giving the lyrebird extraordinary ability, unmatched in vocal repertoire and mimicry. Lyrebirds render with great fidelity the individual songs of other birds and the chatter of flocks of birds, and also mimic other animals, human noises, machinery of all kinds, explosions, and musical instruments. The lyrebird is capable of imitating almost any sound — from a mill whistle to a cross-cut saw, and, not uncommonly, sounds as diverse as chainsaws [2], car engines and car alarms, fire alarms, rifle-shots, camera shutters, dogs barking, crying babies, and even the human voice. Lyrebirds are shy birds and a constant stream of bird calls coming from one place is often the only way of identifying them and their presence. The female lyrebird is also an excellent mimic, but she is not heard as often as the male lyrebird [3] [4] [5]. One researcher, Sydney Curtis, has recorded flute-like lyrebird calls in the vicinity of the New England National Park. Similarly, in 1969, a park ranger, Neville Fenton, recorded a lyrebird song, which resembled flute sounds, in the New England National Park, near Dorrigo in northern coastal New South Wales. After much detective work by Fenton, it was discovered that in the 1930s, a flute player living on a farm adjoining the park used to play tunes near his pet lyrebird. The lyrebird adopted the tunes into his repertoire, and retained them after release into the park. Neville Fenton forwarded a tape of his recording to Norman Robinson. Because a lyrebird is able to carry two tunes at the same time, Robinson filtered out one of the tunes and put it on the phonograph for the purposes of analysis. The song represents a modified version of two popular tunes in the 1930s: "The Keel Row" and "Mosquito's Dance". Musicologist David Rothenberg has endorsed this information. [6] [7] [8][edit]An anecdotal example A Lyrebird's tale During the early 1930s, a male lyrebird, called "James", formed a close bond with a human being, Mrs. Wilkinson, after she had been offering food to him over a period of time. James would perform his courtship dance for her on one of his mounds which he had constructed in her backyard — and he would also put on his display for a wider audience, but only when Mrs. Wilkinson was one of those present. On one such occasion, James's performance lasted for forty-three minutes, and included steps to a courtship dance accompanied by his own tune — and also included imitating perfectly the calls of an Australian Magpie, and a young magpie being fed by a parent-bird, a Eastern Whipbird, a Bellbird, a complete laughing-song of a Kookaburra, two Kookaburras laughing in unison, a Yellow-tailed Black-cockatoo, a Gang-gang Cockatoo, an Eastern Rosella, a Pied Butcherbird, a Wattle- bird, a Grey Shrike-thrush, a Thornbill, a White-browed Scrubwren, a Striated Pardalote, a Starling, a Yellow Robin, a Golden Whistler, a flock of parrots whistling in flight, the Crimson Rosella, several other birds whose notes his audience were not able to identify, and the song of honey-eaters (tiny birds with tiny voices), that gather in numbers and "cheep" and twitter in a multitudinous sweet whispering. In order to mimic the honeyeaters' singing faithfully, James was obliged to subdue his powerful voice to the faintest pianissimo, but he contrived, nevertheless, to make each individual note of the soft chorus audibly distinct. Also included in James's performance was his perfect mimicry of the sounds made by a rock-crusher at work, a hydraulic ram, and the tooting of motor-horns. [9][edit]Classification The classification of lyrebirds has been much debated. They were briefly thought to be Galliformes like the broadly similar looking partridge, junglefowl, and pheasants that Europeans were familiar with, but since then have usually been classified in a family of their own, Menuridae, which contains a single genus, Menura.It is generally accepted that the lyrebird family is most closely related to the scrub-birds (Atrichornithidae) and some authorities combine both in a single family, but evidence that they are also related to the bowerbirds remains controversial[citation needed].

Lyrebirds are not endangered in the short to medium term. Albert's Lyrebird has a very restricted habitat but appears to be secure within it so long as the habitat remains intact, while the Superb Lyrebird, once seriously threatened by habitat destruction, is now classified as common. Even so, lyrebirds are vulnerable to cats and foxes, and it remains to be seen if habitat protection schemes will stand up to increased human population pressure.[citation needed]Lyrebirds are ancient Australian animals: The Australian Museum has fossils of lyrebirds dating back to about 15 million years ago [10]. The prehistoric Menura tyawanoides has been described from Early Miocene fossils found at the famous Riversleigh site.

East Asian

Chinese folklore:Qilin-The Qilin (Chinese: 麒麟; pinyin: qílín; Wade-Giles: ch'ilin), also spelled Kylin, Kirin, or Kỳ lân (Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese) is a mythical hooved Chinese chimerical creature known throughout various East Asian cultures, and is said to appear in conjunction with the arrival of a sage. It is a good omen that brings rui (Chinese: 瑞; pinyin: ruì; roughly translated as "serenity" or "prosperity"). It is often depicted with what looks like fire all over its body.Name in other languages The Qilin is known in other languages as: Sabitun Sabintu (in Manchu), Hariharipo Hariharimo (in Tibetan), Билигтэй Бэлэгтэй Гөрөөс (in Mongolian), Kỳ lân (in Vietnamese), Girin (in Korean), Kirin (in Japanese) and Keileon (Cantonese).Origins The earliest references to the Qilin are in the 5th century BC book Zuo Zhuan.[1] [2] The Qilin made appearances in a variety of subsequent Chinese works of history and fiction. At one point, however, it became identified with the giraffe, and even today, the giraffe is called a "kirin" by the Japanese, and Koreans. The Qilin became a stylised representation of the giraffe in Ming dynasty. It is known that on Zheng He's voyage to East Africa (landing, among other places, in modern-day Kenya), the fleet brought back two giraffes to Beijing. It is also known that these two giraffes were referred to as "Qilins". The Emperor proclaimed the giraffes magical creatures, whose capture signalled the greatness of his power. The identification between the Qilin and the giraffe is supported by some attributes of the Qilin, including its vegetarian and quiet nature. Its reputed ability to "walk on grass without disturbing it" may be related to the giraffe's long legs. Also the Qilin is described as having antlers like a deer and scales like a dragon or fish; since the giraffe has horn-like "ossicones" on its head and a tessellated coat pattern that looks like scales it is easy to draw an analogy between the two creatures. It is unlikely that giraffes and qilin were regarded as the same creature in pre-modern times however. For example, typical depictions of the qilin have much shorter necks than giraffes. However, the Chinese character 麒 and 麟 both carry Chinese radical 鹿, suggesting that it was originally a type of deer, or perhaps an antelope.[edit]The nature of the beast Although it looks fearsome, the Qilin only punishes the wicked. It can walk on grass yet not trample the blades and it can also walk on water. Being a peaceful creature, its diet does not include flesh. It takes great care when it walks never to tread on any living thing, and it is said to appear only in areas ruled by a wise and benevolent leader (some say even if this area is only a house). It is normally gentle but can become fierce if a pure person is threatened by a sinner, spouting flames from its mouth and exercising other fearsome powers that vary from story to story.

Some stories state that the Qilin is a sacred pet (or familiar) of the deities. Therefore, in the hierarchy of dances performed by the Chinese (Lion Dance, Dragon Dance, etc.), the Qilin ranks highly; second only to the Dragon and Phoenix who are the highest.

In the Qilin Dance, movements are characterised by fast, powerful strokes of the head. The Qilin Dance is often regarded as a hard dance to perform due to the weight of the head, stances and the emphasis on "fǎ jìn" (traditional Chinese: 法勁) — outbursts of strength/power/energy.

[edit]Variations There are variations in the appearance of the qilin, even as seen in a single country such as China, owing to cultural differences between dynasties and regions. [edit]Ming dynasty example A Qilin in the dragon, fish, and ox style of the Ming Dynasty. Note the pair of horns. In the Ming dynasty of China (1368–1644) the Qilin is represented as an oxen-hooved animal with a dragon-like head surmounted by a pair of horns and flame-like head ornaments.[edit]A Qing dynasty example The Qilin of China's subsequent Manchurian dominated Qing dynasty (1644–1911) is a much more fanciful animal. Manchurian depictions of the Qilin show a creature with the head of a dragon, the antlers of a deer, the skin and scales of a fish, the hooves of an ox and tail of a lion. (An image is shown above as a bronze sculpture.)

[edit]In Japan In Japanese, the Qilin is called Kirin. Japanese art tends to depict the Qilin as more deer-like than in Chinese art. Kirin Brewery Company, Ltd. is named after the animal, and the word Kirin has also come to be used in modern Japanese for a giraffe. It is depicted as a dragon shaped like a European-style unicorn, only with a horse's tail instead of a lion's tail.In the Post-Qin Chinese hierarchy of mythological animals, the Qilin is ranked as the third most powerful creature (after the dragon and phoenix), but in Japan, the Kirin occupies the top spot. This is following the style of the ancient Chinese, as Qilin was ranked higher than the Dragon or Phoenix before the Qin Dynasty. During the Zhou dynasty, the Qilin was ranked the highest, the Phoenix ranked second and the Dragon the third.[citation needed][edit]Turko- Mongol Iran In Ilkhanid and Timurid Mongol-Persian mythological miniatures, the buraq was portrayed in a style reminiscent of the Chinese qilin, reflecting the Chinese background of painters who introduced watercolor techniques to Iran and initiated several medieval schools of Persian miniature painting.White Nine Tailed Fox:Huli jing Huli jing (Chinese: 狐狸精; Pinyin: húli jīng; huli means fox, and jing means spirit) in Chinese mythology are fox spirits that are akin to European faeries. Huli jing can be either good spirits or bad spirits. In mythology In Chinese mythology, it is believed that all things are capable of acquiring human forms, magical powers, and immortality, provided that they receive sufficient energy, in such forms as human breath or essence from the moon and the sun.The fox spirits encountered in tales and legends are usually females and appear as young, beautiful women. One of the most infamous fox spirits in Chinese mythology was Daji (妲 己), who is portrayed in the Ming novel Fengshen Yanyi. A beautiful daughter of a general, she was married forcibly to the cruel tyrant Zhou Xin (紂辛 Zhòu Xīn). A nine-tailed fox spirit who served Nüwa, whom Zhou Xin had offended, entered into and possessed her body, expelling the true Daji's soul. The spirit, as Daji, and her new husband schemed cruelly and invented many devices of torture, such as forcing righteous officials to hug red-hot metal pillars.[1] Because of such cruelties, many people, including Zhou Xin's own former generals, revolted and fought against Zhou Xin's dynasty, Shang. Finally, King Wen of Zhou, one of the vassals of Shang, founded a new dynasty named after his country. The fox spirit in Daji's body was later driven out by Jiang Ziya (姜子牙), the first Prime Minister of the Zhou Dynasty and her spirit condemned by Nüwa herself for excessive cruelty. Typically fox spirits were seen as dangerous, but some of the stories in Pu Songling's Liaozhai Zhiyi are love stories between a fox appearing as a beautiful girl and a young human male. In modern Mandarin and Cantonese profanity, the term huli jing is a derogatory expression describing a woman who seduces a married man (i.e., a "home wrecker"). The fox spirit has also been used as an explanatory factor in the incidence of attacks of koro, an ethnic psychosis found in Southern China and Malaysia in particular.[2] There is mention of the fox-spirit in Chinese chan-buddhism. Linji Yixuan (d.866) said: "The immature young monks, not understanding this, believe in these fox-spirits ..." The "fox-spirits" here are voices that speak of The Way, and/or Dharma. They are perceived to be malicious influences that lead the innocent astray. (Source: The Record of Linji, Honolulu 2008, p.218) Species:Kitsune, Kumiho,

Kyo Ryu

Iori Akuma

Terry Ken

Mai Chun-Li

Ryo Dan

Athena Sakura

Leona Guile

Nakoruru Morrigan

Haohmaru Zangief

Akari Felicia

Yuri B.B. Hood

Geese M. Bison

Orochi Iori Evil Ryu