Adaptation A: Investigating Creatures to Adapt

  I have considered an alternative in creature design. So today I looked into a number of legendary creatures I could make into something for a project. I am still discovering what I might enjoy most but I have come to a couple of conclusions. I kept some rules for myself to keep the project interesting: Nothing from East Asia, nothing too humanoid, and nothing that would be too publicly known. Although the last one how well-known it is depends on what part of the world you live in.

  The following are creatures I have taken some consideration in:

Alkonost

• Region of origin: Russia
• Key physical characteristics: head of a woman, body of a bird
• Key behavioral characteristics: evasive, largely benign, lays eggs on beaches then rolls them to sea
• Key abilities: Hypnotic voice; can sing beautifully and entrance travelers into turning back and forgetting them. When their eggs hatch ,the act of hatching creates thunderstorms

Adlet

• Region of origin: Hudson Bay
• Key physical characteristics: Legs of a dog, body of a human, taller than Europeans
• Key behavioral characteristics: aggressive, In conflict with humans.
• Key abilities: Can outrun humans

Chamrosh

• Region of origin: Persia
• Key physical characteristics: body of a dog, head and wings of a bird
• Key behavioral characteristics: Benevolent, said to have gathered the seeds of a great tree and cast them across the world
• Key abilities: Uncertain, powerful wings

Chiccan

• Region of origin: Yucatan Peninsula, Central America
• Key physical characteristics: four giant water-dwelling reptiles
• Key behavioral characteristics: Live in lakes that correlate to the four cardinal directions
• Key abilities: their thrashing stirs the lakes to send water to the sky, the water is returned to earth as rain by other gods 

Colo Colo

• Region of origin: Chile
• Key physical characteristics: varies, common elements are of rats, snakes, feathers and other reptiles
• Key behavioral characteristics: feeds off human saliva, lives under a person's house, has the call of a wailing infant
• Key abilities: Those who are fed from by Colo Colo feel regularly exhausted, thoutr to bring disease, draining power can kill

El Pollo Maligno (Evil Chicken)

• Country/culture of origin: Colombia, South America
• Key physical characteristics: A chicken, large enough to devour humans
• Key behavioral characteristics: feeds on human flesh, malicious towards hunters
• Key abilities: Haunts hunters, driving them deep into wooded areas where they become its prey.

Encantado

• Region of origin:Amazon Basin
• Key physical characteristics: pink river dolphins that can transform into humans with blowholes on the crown
• Key behavioral characteristics: Playful, like attending fiestas, seducing women, wear hats to cover their blowholes when in public
• Key abilities: Shapeshifters, entrancers, can cast illnesses on people, can transform at dawn or dusk

Wolpertinger

• Region of origin: Bavaria, Germany
• Key physical characteristics: body made up of wings, fangs, tails and antlers of various animals all connected to a small mammal's body, often a rabbit.
• Key behavioral characteristics: Unknown
• Key abilities: None known, presumably some inherited from the animals it takes parts from
• Related story from late 19th century Sweden of Skvader, a rabbit-like winged creature hunted by one particular man who hunted it north of Sundsvall.

  There were a number of creatures upon my examination that didn't look strange enough or had quirks that I felt were inappropriate for a broad audience or contained some particularly gruesome facts about them. So far however I think my most confident inspirations are the Akanost, Colo-Colo and Chiccan.