15 Famous Folks from Popular Folklore

🦄 Unicorn

The first creature is the most current mythical animal. Pop culture, children’s toys, movies, music, and so many more spheres of entertainment and fashion have the unicorn. But, is 🦄 as magical as we’ve made it?

Spotlighting one of the world’s most famous and most loved fictional universes, there is power in unicorn blood. You wouldn’t get the reference if you’re not a potter head because 🦄 is prominently mentioned in Harry Potter. Where, not only the animal is precious, but its blood in particular. The silvery cream of metallic unicorn blood has the power to extend one’s life if consumed according to this fictional legend.

Although the presence of unicorns as magical beings is a debatable subject, the very existence of these animals is a solid fact. Yes! Unicorns did walk the earth at some point in the past. Like dinosaur fossils, we have unicorn fossils supporting this claim.

🧜‍♀️ Mermaids

Rowing forward to the next favorite mythical theme of all time; mermaids. The 21st-century evolution has pushed us to some amount of sanity and hence we have 🧜‍♂️ Mermen and 🧜 Merpersons. (because it’s sexist to think only gorgeous mermaids existed).

Though the proof of merpeople being real people is slim and has been validated only by a few sightings, this fantasy theme has made it to the mainstream world because of the colorful stories, folktales, and legends about them. Which means, we do pay attention.

🐉 Dragons

The last time we saw dragons was at Dragonstone, ridden by a silver-haired queen. They breathed fire on command and were quite cool. But did they actually breathe the same air we do? If they didn’t, how are we so inspired by them?

History only provides fictional anecdotes of these fire-breathing lizards. Sadly, they don’t account for anything tangible. However, different species of exotic lizards could be the plausible inspiration that sparked so many urban legends, cultural stories, and pop culture alike.

Like everything else in the world, dragons too have occidental and oriental versions. Strange, but true. While the eastern or Chinese dragon is more fierce and wild in appearance, the western or European dragon is docile. Or tamable in other words. And this emoji represents both, along with its 🐲 Face.

🧚 Fairies

Lean little creatures with wings and a cute dress is a pretty picture for a fairy. But if they really did exist, they would be nothing like that, because fairies don’t have human standards for beauty. They have real standards.

Since humans are the ones using emojis, 🧚 Gender-Neutral Fairy and 🧚‍♂️ Male Fairy have been introduced to broaden our pre-held gender-biased understanding of fairies and to be fair, of humans too.

Though there is a subjective possibility that fairies exist, their companionship is said to be savored only by someone who is spiritual because 🧚 are believed to be spiritual beings.

All fairy emojis represent different types of fairies too. Modern fairies are of three types; trooping fairies, domesticated fairies, and solitary fairies. These classifications add to the traditional fairy divisions.

👹 Ogres

This terrifying creature is a Japanese mythical character called Oni the Ogre. Pretty much the only dude with a personalized name on this list.

Oni is an ogre/troll/monster often appearing as an evil and negative character in Japanese folklore. However, legend also has it that this not-so-friendly Shrek has come to signify protection in recent times.

Mostly against evil. Ironic? Well, isn’t everything?

Albeit Oni is a Japanese character, it has roots in Buddhism and Hinduism as well. The word “Oni” translates to anything ‘hidden’ given that these guys love hiding, only to scary the guts out of others.

There are beliefs also about people becoming Oni, Rakshasa (as per Hinduism), or anything monstrous in the afterlife if they lead a notorious earthly life.

👺 Goblin

Firstly, this is not your average goblin. It’s the frightening Tengu, a Chinese folklore-inspired character. Like Oni, Tengu is also believed to have transitioned from being evil and terrorizing to good and protective.

An interesting fact about Tengu is that it was initially a merged creature made half human and half bird. Nonetheless, the original idea of this creature was a bird of prey that eventually evolved into the present human form bearing 🤥 Pinocchio’s Nose.

Tengu also has its share of appearances in traditional folk tales such as Japanese, Indian, Buddhist, and Jain.

🧞 Genie

Yes, genies were mythical creatures before Will Smith stole the show.

Genies are a fantasy and mythological part of Arabic folklore. 🧞 has played a significant role in the famous Disney cartoon Aladdin, which was probably the defining moment for Genie. It’s the one that created massive ripples throughout pop culture.

If you’re talking about someone who just grants wishes like no one’s business, then that’s a genie right there. It could someone’s grandpa too. A genie has moved from a myth to a very grounded reality given the relatable and humane features of this character.

The gendered variants of the genie are – the 🧞‍♀️ Female Genie and the 🧞‍♂️ Male Genie.

🔱 Trident Emblem

🔱 is not a character per se, but a mythological weapon, known as Poseidon’s Trident or Neptune’s Trident in Greek and Roman mythology respectively. 🔱 is essentially the staff of the God of the Seas.

Greek and Roman myths are clubbed to serve as “classical mythology”. Cause the rest of us have nothing going that far back in time.

So speaking apart from classical mythology, 🔱 is also revered as the weapon of the Hindu deity, Lord Shiva. In this Indian context, the weapon has a new name; the Trishula, the weapon of the God of Destruction.

🧝 Elves

The only difference between fantasy and mythology is religion. Every mythological creature listed here has a reference in religious texts or scriptures. Although elves mostly have a Christian origin and a base, other religions have elves as well. They’re secular.

🧝 represents German mythology. Norse, and Scandinavian folklore to be precise. Elves were first addressed in these folktales as mythological beings. However, not all elves are make-believe. Some say 🧝 exists even to this day somewhere in Iceland. Only not in the same dimension. It’s a complicated story.

🧛 Vampires

Yep, vamps are mythical.

🧛 is said to be “Mediterranean” by origin. But the exact folklore that formerly mentioned the vampire is the European folklore. Southern and Western Europe, North Africa, and the places surrounding the Mediterranean sea seem like a good place to start.

Even within the Mediterranean space of the original vampire, there are tons of versions of the same story. Here’s one of them.

The legendary story of the first vampire began with a man called "Ambrogio", who's course of becoming an immortal bloodsucker varies in different texts.

So, Ambrogio pissed off the Sun God, better known as "Apollo" by falling in love with one of his "virgins". This pushed the god to curse the poor lover boy with skin that would burn in broad daylight. Quite smart. This way, he'd never have to see his face again. 

Apollo's curse sent a massive chain reaction of curses that repeatedly mutated Ambrogio in more ways than one. Thus making Ambrogio a certified vampire. But, his lover, Selene; Apollo's "maiden", is still mortal. She's aging, he isn't. It's tragic. 

In this long-distance relationship between the two lovers, Goddess Artemis intervenes and pities Ambrogio, again (after he had pissed her off the first time for being disloyal). She allows him to give Selene the "bite of immortality", aka the vampire bite.

Now, both Ambrogio and Selene are vamps, but they'd have to worship Artemis and no one else (it's funny how Narcissus is the only one with issues). So the main criterion for worshipping Artemis, is abstinenece. So, Ambrogio vowed to never touch Selene, have her kids, or get physical with her. And so did she. 

Selene became the first female vampire and turned into the Goddess of the Moon. Ambrogio continued as a vampire. He can survive out in the open only in Selene's presence, because during the day we have Apollo. The two share an everlasting but metaphorical relationship because Selene can only touch Ambrogio through moonlight. And vice versa.
So he stays up all night just talking to the moon.

And that’s the sweet story of the first vampire. Though concise, it conveys the necessary.

👻 Ghosts

Ghosts are some of the most infamous mythological creatures out there. Many religions have profound mentions of ghosts and ghostly beings such as satan, the devil, demons, etc.

It’s so real that many religious people actually believe ghosts exist. Heck, we all do. It’s one of the broadest and the best entertainment genres after all. We have festivals celebrating them as well!

👼 Baby Angel

👼 may seem like the description of an “innocent” baby or an “angelic child”, but it’s far more than just that. It is quite strange that there’s only a “baby angel” emoji and not an adult angel emoji. Could be because babies are angelic. But let’s keep our feet on the ground for now.

The 👼 Baby Angel emoji can be a description of classical mythical characters like Cupid, Eros (the Greek version of Cupid), and Cherubs, which are often but wrongly used interchangeably with Cherubims from the Bible. Cupid and Cherubs have a lot in common. But Cherubims exponentially differ from the two in the way they look, their philosophies, and their purposes.

🐺 Werewolves

Yes, we know that’s just a wolf, but at this point, we’re taking liberties for the sake of mythology.

Werewolves and vampires have a lot in common. They both kill humans unless they’re in love with one. Anyhoo. Werewolves aren’t believed to be allergic to the sun, that’s werewolf one and vampire zero. But, werewolves are mortals. They die just like humans because this mythical being is a shapeshifting human. A human that turns into a werewolf supposedly on a full moon night. So, they age and die as well. That makes werewolves one, and vampires, a hundred.

☃️ Yeti

Aww, is that a snowman named Yeti? Nah. We wish.

This section talks about the terrifying and abominable snowman, the Yeti. This mythical creature found up in the Himalayas, is believed to be a real threat by many people in the locality. There are few personal accounts, both positive and horrifying proving the Yeti’s existence.

The backstory of this Himalayan folktale character seems to be embedded in large snow footprints. The Yeti is a large 🦍 Ape like creature much like the 🦶 Big Foot but covered in snow (pardon the emoji-play). Apart from trails, there have been stories about the Yeti flying too. It’s more of a ghost than an ape, tbh. Besides, the Yeti kills. Humans and animals too.

🧟 Zombies

The best is always saved for the last.

Zombies are generally associated with the apocalypse. A dystopian horror, but fantasy nonetheless. Here’s the bone-chilling fact; they’re mythological. Sure, human zombies may remain as myths, but other zombies live.

Many European and Asian folktales across the world have references to these mindless and brainless monsters who are actually just undead humans. If not for folklore, zombies have been popularized through TV shows and series as well. GoT and the Walking Dead anybody? There are tons of zombie games too.