WENDIGO/WINDIGO

  The Wendigo (also Windigo, Wiindigoo, and numerous other variants, since the word appears in many different Native American languages and dialects) is a spirit in Anishinaabe mythology. It has also become a stock horror character much like the vampire or werewolf.

Etymology

  The word “Wendigo” (pronounced wehn-dee-go) comes from the Native American Algonquian language, meaning “evil spirit that devours mankind.” Other names include Windigo, Witiko, Weedigo, Weeghtako, Weeghteko, Weendigo, Wee-Tee-Go, Weetigo, Wehndigo, Wehtigo, Wendago, Wenigo, Wentigo, Wentiko, Wetigo, Whit-Te-Co, Whittico, Wiendigo, Wihtigo, Wiitiko, Windago, Windiga (possibly a female version), Windagoe, Windagoo, Windego, Wi’ndigo, Windikouk, Wintego, Wintigo, Wi’ntsigo, Wintsigo, Wi’tigo, Wittako, Wittikka, and Wihtikow (seeing any similarities here?). Tribal names for the creature include Atcen, Atschen, Cheno, Djenu, Ithaqua, Kokodje, Kokotsche, Outiko, and Vindiko.

History

  Exactly how and when the first Wendigo came to be is lost to history and legend. But ever since that time, the Wendigo has haunted the Great Lakes woodland and the cold forests of Canada for hundreds of years. Among all creatures in Native American legend, the Wendigo is the most feared and powerful. The Wendigo was once a man that broke a tribal taboo and ate human flesh. A malignant spirit possesses the cannibal, and the Wendigo is born.

  How does one become the Wendigo? There are numerous ways among the Native American people, but the most common method is for a man to willingly engage in cannibalism. Hunters, campers, and hikers (not necessarily Native Americans) most often travel with a companion, someone with whom they are good friends and are able to trust. Although a rarity, when these people become hopelessly lost and eventually run out of supplies, they inevitably turn on each other. Morality has no part of nature’s law. In the end, only the strongest live and kills the other. The victor then feasts on the flesh of the corpse. This heinous, blasphemous act is all that is needed to summon a malevolent spirit of the forest.
  The spirit forcibly possesses the cannibal’s body, forcing the human soul out. The moment the cannibal is touched by supernatural forces, he is overcome by extreme nausea and pain. He starts vomiting uncontrollably, for hours at a time. Eventually, the cannibal loses enormous quantities of blood, and inevitably dies. However, the body undergoes a terrifying transformation. The body grows in strength and height, growing a thick coat of white fur. The human’s strength and weight increases greatly, gaining supernatural powers in the process. The head takes on the features of a predatory beast, including the growth of prominent fangs and sharp teeth. The fingernails and toenails grow into sharpened talons, completing the transformation. The cannibal is then resurrected by the evil spirit, no longer a man, but a bloodlusting beast known as the Wendigo.
  Although cannibalism is the most common and potent method, one can become the Wendigo through other means as well. Another common means is when a tribe is faced with a dire threat, a brave warrior prays to an evil spirit of the forest. The spirit agrees, possessing the warrior and transforming him into the Wendigo. This new form possesses more than enough power to deal with the threat, and after eliminating it, the warrior-turned-monster flees into the forest, never to be seen again.
  The Wendigo’s spirit has been known to jump from body to body as its own body wears out, and possessing an individual causes them to become the beast. Dreaming of the Wendigo is another method, probably caused by possession during the night. Like other supernatural beings, the Wendigo is able to infect humans by biting them, causing the victim to become another Wendigo. A sorcerer’s curse will bring the transformation on as well.
  However, there are depraved individuals who are willing to become monsters. They start by fasting for days at a time, and then journey into the forest. There, they offer their flesh to the Wendigo. Instead of devouring them, the Wendigo may decide to adopt the human as one of its own children. Over time, they become hairy, start to grow claws and fangs, develop a craving for raw human flesh, gain supernatural abilities, and become a Wendigo themselves (although these individuals are weaker than the monster that adopted them).
The Native Americans once feared (and still do) the Wendigo so much that small groups of brave, armed men once actively hunted the beast in the past. One, a Cree Indian by the name of Jack Fiddler, had claimed to have killed fourteen Wendigoes during his lifetime. He and his son, Joseph, were tried for the murder of a Wendigo-possessed woman on October 7, 1907. Both men pleaded guilty for the crime, explaining that the unfortunate woman had been possessed by the Wendigo’s spirit. On the verge of completing the transformation, the Fiddlers killed her with silver bullets, which they said had to be done before she turned on the tribe. As one can imagine, the judge and the jury were probably more than a little skeptical of the idea of the alleged “possession” of the woman.
  In the end, the Wendigo is notoriously difficult to destroy, nearly impossible to escape, and will sooner or later devour its chosen victim. Its howl echoes throughout the surrounding area for miles, turning the blood of those who hear the Wendigo’s cry into ice. Not a monster that one could encounter and hope to survive.

The Wendigo in Native American mythology

  In the mythology of the Algonquian-speaking tribes of :Category:Category:North American mythology|Native Americans, the Wendigo is a malevolent legendary creature|supernatural creature. It is usually described as a giant with a heart of ice; sometimes it is thought to be entirely made of ice. Its body is skeleton|skeletal and deformed, with missing lips and toes. According to Native American mythology, it can be killed by shattering its heart of ice.
  The first accounts of the Wendigo myth by explorers and missionaries date back to the 17th century. They describe it rather generically as a werewolf, devil, or cannibal. The Wendigo was usually presumed to have once been human. Different origins of the Wendigo are described in variations of the myth. A hunter may become the Wendigo when encountering it in the forest at night, or when becoming possessed by its spirit in a dream. When the cannibalistic element of the myth is stressed, it is assumed that anyone who eats corpses in a famine becomes a Wendigo as a result. The only way to destroy a Wendigo is to melt its heart of ice. In recent times, it has been identified with sasquatch or bigfoot by cryptozoologists, but there is little evidence in the indigenous folklore for it being a similar creature.
  Perhaps this myth was used as a deterrent and cautionary tale among northern tribes whose winters were long and bitter and whose hunting parties often were trapped in storms with no recourse but to consume members of their own party. It could be indicative of starvation that the Wendigo is said to consume moss and other unpalatable food when human flesh is unavailable. Its physical deformities are suggestive of starvation and frostbite, so the Wendigo may be a myth based on a personification of the hardships of winter and the taboo of cannibalism.
  Actual Wendigo murder trials took place in Canada around the beginning of the 20th century. The anthropologist Morton Teicher has described the alleged clinical condition of believing oneself to be a Wendigo, which he calls Windigo Psychosis (note the spelling in this context: Windigo, rather than Wendigo).
  In some stories a Wendigo will follow a lone wanderer for a long time. When the prey becomes suspicious and turns around the Wendigo always manages to get out of sight by hiding behind a tree. After a while the followed person starts to become hysterical and runs until he makes an error. The Wendigo then strikes. If someone actually survives a Wendigo attack they get the Wendigo-fever: after a night of nightmares and pain in their legs, Wendigo-fevered people strip themselves naked and run into the forest screaming.
The most comprehensive resource on the Wendigo is John Robert Colombo's anthology. It contains stories and poems on the Wendigo, many inspired by Blackwood's.

Description/Morphology

  The Wendigo is a terrifying beast. But because they are so swift, it is extremely difficult to get a good look at the monster. Most are tall, have long limbs, and are extremely thin (because they are always hungry). Most have no hair at all, but those that dwell in extremely cold climates can sometimes be found with snow-white, gore-stained fur or matted, bloody hair. Its maw is filled with sharp yellowed fangs, and its hands and feet end in razorlike talons. The Wendigo’s twisted lips are flecked with blood, and their long tongues are a disgusting dark blue. Its eyes are one of its most frightening aspects, which range in color from glowing red to bright yellow.

  The lore on this beast is enormously diverse, all of which emphasize its size. The Wendigo is so big that the human mind is unable to fully comprehend it, and the beast’s sheer size is enough to make the human heart stop. The Wendigo is a hideous, abhorrent beast. Its gigantic maw is filled with needlelike teeth, made all the more disturbing by its lack of lips (some say that the creature’s hunger is so great that it devoured its own lips!)
  Although vaguely human in appearance, it is nonetheless what most would call terribly deformed. Its enormous eyes are yellow and protuberant like an owl’s (although some say that the eyes are pushed deep into the sockets, and all that one can see is the terrible yellow glow). They are far larger than human eyes, and are said to roll about in blood. It has massive, pawlike hands that end in talons that are a foot long, while the beast’s feet are said to be three foot in length and have but a single toe, tipped with a daggerlike nail. These the Wendigo uses to slash and tear at its victims. Some legends say that the Wendigo may be missing toes, due perhaps to frostbite.

Behavior

  The Wendigo is a purely anthropophagous beast, hungering for human flesh. It will go to any lengths to procure this food, no matter the risk or possibility of injury. The Wendigo craves human flesh and is constantly starving for it (indicated by the beast’s lean, wiry frame). The Wendigo is known to have its preferences: the sweet fat of children, the soft skin of women, the course muscles of men (especially warriors and hunters), or the brittle bones of the elderly. In preparation for long winters (when few travelers are out and about), the Wendigo will stash away large pots filled to the rim with human remains in the highest tree branches. On rare occasions, it will take humans alive and hide them away in its lair, allowing the beast to feed whenever it wants. The Wendigo is more intelligent than many humans, and thus understands the value of storing and saving its food. However, it will only resort to this when food is scarce and it becomes desperate.

  Since the Wendigo constantly hungers for human flesh, it wreaks destruction in its pursuit of its chosen prey. It crashes through the forests, all the while uprooting trees, causing game animals to stampede, and causing whirlwinds. The monster is often thought to be the cause of ice storms, tornadoes, and violent winds. All of these weather-related phenomena are believed to signal the Wendigo’s presence.

  When the Wendigo hunts, it stalks the victim for long periods. The chosen victim only has a dreadful feeling of being followed. However, the Wendigo has a sadistic streak. It prefers to terrify its victims before moving in for the kill. When it has had enough of stalking the victim, it lets out a growl or a shriek, which resonates through the forest and terrifies the beast’s prey. They panic, firing weapons haphazardly into the brush as the dense forest closes in on them. Eventually, the intended victim succumbs to insanity, running wildly into the forest with abandon. In such a state, they are easy prey for the Wendigo. The Wendigo has been known to enter cabins and other dwelling, unlocking them from the outside and slaughtering the inhabitants, then proceeding to convert the cabin into its own lair. The Wendigo tends to hibernate for long periods, ranging in length from a few months to years at a time. Once they awaken, they go into a feeding frenzy, and after having eaten enough humans, it retreats to its lair and falls back into hibernation once again.

  The Wendigo inhabits the forests of the Great Lakes and Canada. The dreaded Wendigo King lives near the Windigo River in Quebec. Kenora, Ontario is thought to be the “Wendigo Capital of the World” because so many sightings and incidents have taken place there, and it attracted Wendigoes originally because it used to be tribal grounds, with many Native American settlements scattered throughout the area. Most caves, gullies, and canyons in central Canada will provide shelter for the Wendigo.

  A Wendigo is rumored to live in the Cave of the Wendigo, near Mameigwass Lake in northern Ontario. Any other area named after the Wendigo, such as Windigo River and Windigo Lake in Ontario, is bound to be inhabited by this monster as well. The Wendigo’s territory is vast, stretching from the Canadian Rockies and the Arctic Circle in the north, to the Great Lakes regions and the Dakotas. It reigns supreme across the whole of Canada.

Powers/Weaknesses

  The Wendigo is a supernatural entity of enormous power, the embodiment of insatiable hunger, gluttony, unbridled evil, and the savage predator. Befitting its bestial nature, the Wendigo possesses supernatural strength, speed, endurance, and senses. The beast is able to rip a human apart with little effort, and the Wendigo moves so quickly that it cannot be seen by the human eye. Any wounds that are inflicted on the Wendigo’s body are healed very quickly, although wounds caused by silver tend to heal very slowly. It is invulnerable to most conventional weapons, excluding arms incorporating pure silver. The Wendigo thrives in even the harshest climates, immune to extremes of cold.

  The Wendigo’s senses of sight, smell, and hearing are greatly enhanced, comparable to those of many predatory animals. The Wendigo can see clearly in total darkness, and it may have some kind of infrared vision, enabling it to see its prey by detecting its bodily heat emanations. Once the Wendigo has its prey’s scent, it is able to follow it swiftly and precisely, no matter how far away the victim may be. It’s hearing is so keen that it can hear the pounding of its fear-filled victim’s heart, which causes the beast’s own heart to pound with joy and anticipation.

  Besides sheer strength and animalistic ferocity, the Wendigo is armed with formidable array of weaponry: its dreaded claws and fangs. The beast’s claws have been described as icicles, reflecting its utter dominion over its freezing territory. These talons are designed for ripping through flesh with the slightest touch, and one swipe from the Wendigo’s powerful claws can disembowel or decapitate a human. The beast’s mouth is filled with long, needle-sharp fangs, made for slicing through flesh and sinew, as well as for breaking bones. The Wendigo’s fangs can easily puncture a human skull. Far from being a stupid beast, the Wendigo has a man’s intelligence and cunning, as well as the predatory instincts of an animal. It is mystically attuned to every single tree, bush, rock, hill, or cave within its territory (which can be considerably vast). The Wendigo uses this advantage to stalk its victims for hours on end, never being seen or heard unless the monster chooses to reveal itself by means of a growl or a shriek. There is no way to hide from the Wendigo, and it will not stop hunting until the victim’s broken, mutilated body lies at its clawed feet.

  The Wendigo excels in stealth, and it is said that the Wendigo moves on the wind and breezes in utter silence. It can fill the air with an eerie, haunting siren by forcing the air through its blood-flecked lips. The Wendigo is able to mimic human voices, which are most often cries for help. The beast’s roar is utterly terrifying, and the fear it inspires cuts to the bone. When the freezing winds rise, it is said that the Wendigo’s howls can be distinguished from the moan of the wind, letting people nearby know that a monster lurks in their midst. For its prey, these warnings occur far too late to make any appreciable difference. Among the Wendigo’s host of supernatural abilities, the Wendigo Fever is perhaps the most feared. It is a terrible curse, overtaking the mind and body of the unfortunate victim. The first symptom of the curse is a strange scent, detectable only to the intended victim. After absorbing this disturbing odor, the victim experiences a long night of weeping and horrifying nightmares. Upon awakening, the victim experiences a burning pain in the legs and feet, which becomes so intense that the victim runs into the forest, shrieking like a maniac, and discarding clothing and shoes all the while. Most of the curse’s victims never return, although those who do return are irrevocably insane from their experiences of the curse and the Wendigo itself. It is thought that most of the curse’s victims are devoured by the Wendigo.

  The Wendigo, although a dire threat to mankind, shares a close kinship with the forest’s wildlife, mainly predatory animals (such as the wolf, bear, raven, or eagle). The beast willingly shares its kills with these companions, and these animals have been known to travel with the Wendigo. As the Wendigo grows older, its powers over nature increase exponentially. The beast becomes a shaman, extremely adept in the dark arts. With this power, the Wendigo can manipulate the weather, creating storms of terrifying strength, and the beast can summon the midnight darkness hours before sunset. The Wendigo may summon dangerous beasts from the deepest, darkest reaches of the forest and command them to attack its enemies, traverse enormous distances in the blink of an eye, and heal any wounds instantaneously (although injuries inflicted by silver may take longer to heal).

  Despite the beast’s immeasurable amount of power, there are ways to protect oneself from the Wendigo. If one is hunting this creature, a fire must be kept burning at all times. This will deter the Wendigo from attacking, but only for so long. If burned, the wounds will quickly heal and will only make the beast angry.

Any means of mystical protection should be employed (amulets, protective spells, fetishes, and charms), as these things hold power over the Wendigo. Headphones or earplugs must be used to block out the beast’s maddening shrieks. However, one’s surest defense and greatest chance of survival during the Wendigo’s attack is a firearm loaded with silver bullets, and a silvered blade (such as a sword or a knife). The Wendigo cannot be hurt or killed by conventional methods or weapons, including blades or firearms. However, silver is lethal to the Wendigo. Silver bullets or a pure silver blade (or silvered steel) can cause the Wendigo great pain and can even kill the beast.

  In order to permanently destroy the Wendigo, one must first find the beast. The Great Lakes region and the forests of Canada are prime Wendigo territory. Beware, for the hunter may soon become the hunted. After finding and incapacitating the beast (no easy task, be assured), a silver stake must be driven through the Wendigo’s heart of ice, therefore shattering it. The shards of the Wendigo’s heart must be securely locked in a silver box and buried in consecrated ground (such as a churchyard or a cemetery).

  The Wendigo’s body must then be dismembered with a silver-plated axe, and each piece of the body must be salted and burned to ashes (which must then be scattered to the four winds), or each piece must be hidden in some remote, inaccessible location (i.e. the bottom of a lake, a chasm, the sea floor, or a well). Failure to follow these procedures exactly will inevitably result in the Wendigo’s resurrection, followed by its bloody vengeance. It will hunt down its killer, relishing and anticipating the taste of the hunter’s blood in every single moment. Rest assured, the death that follows will be both slow and painful. The Wendigo will take great pleasure in every single bit of agony it inflicts on its killer before finishing the job and devouring the remains. Beware, as according to some legends, the Wendigo is indestructible.

Windigo Psychosis

  Windigo Psychosis is the medical term given to those people presumed "windigo" (cannibalistic). The term applies to the Algonquin Ojibway, as well as Cree (Witigo). It is hard to pin down any real biological causes, as hunger seems to be the only one. Rather it is more likely that windigo psychosis was a cultural disease. The most commonly known cure for windigo psychosis is bear fat or bear grease.

The Wendigo in literature

• Algernon Blackwood's 1910 Horror fiction|horror story The Wendigo introduced the legend to horror fiction. Blackwood's story eschews the aspect of cannibalism in favour of a more subtle psychological horror; a central theme is that whoever sees the Wendigo becomes the Wendigo (or at least something rather like it). The reader never sees the Wendigo, though we witness the progressive dehumanization of a character who has seen it. Blackwood based his story, he claims, on an actual incident of Wendigo panic in a lonely valley while he lived in Canada. He worked many details of the Native American legend into the story. Blackwood's Wendigo:
  • stalks hunters in the forest
  • can be heard crashing through the trees
  • leaves distinctive tracks
  • has a terrifying voice
  • is associated with insanity
  • eats moss.

However, Blackwood's Wendigo is not a former human, but a primordial pre-human spirit, in keeping with Blackwood's private nature mysticism.

• The Canadian poet George Bowering wrote a poem 'Windigo'. In it, he describes the Wendigo in some detail:

His huge round eyes

bulge out of his head, lidless eyes

rolling in red blood of pain,

always rolling, blood sockets

behind them.

• Ogden Nash wrote a humourous poem about the Wendigo, where the appearance of the Wendigo is characterized with the lines:

Its eyes are ice and indigo!

Its blood is rank and yellowish!

Its voice is hoarse and bellowish!

Its tentacles are slithery,

And scummy,

Slimy,

Leathery!

Its lips are hungry blubbery,

And smacky,

sucky,

rubbery!

As Canadian author Margaret Atwood points out, Nash's description is only partly true to the legend, since the Wendigo does not have blubbery lips, much less tentacles.

• Windigo Psychosis features prominently in Thomas Pynchon's short story "Mortality and Mercy in Vienna" [1]

• In the Cthulhu Mythos created by H.P. Lovecraft and his contemporaries, the Wendigo is another title for Ithaqua the Windwalker, one of the Great Old One|Great Old Ones who seems to be restricted to those parts of the earth that are predominantly cold, favouring Alaska and North America. This is derived, via August Derleth, from Blackwood.

• In Stephen King's novel Pet Sematary, the eponymous graveyard marks the path to another, older burial ground, which in centuries past had been cursed by the Wendigo. Any corpse buried there would be re-animated within the day, but as a cannibal. At one point in the novel the protagonist believes that the Wendigo has passed in front of him in the woods; but it is a foggy night, and he is fortunately unable to see it. The Wendigo is also presumably the form that the God of the Lost takes in Stephen King's The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon.

• The 1944 mystery novel Rim of the Pit by Hake Talbot features a windigo as a possible explanation for a murderer who appears to be able to fly.

• In Alan Moore's story "Allan and the Sundered Veil", which accompanied the graphic novel League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Allan Quatermain's body turns into a Wendigo during an astral travel induced by a drug called Taduki.

• In Michael Crichton's The 13th Warrior (originally titled Eaters of the Dead), the Wendigo myth is linked to the Grendel character from Beowulf. Crichton even implies an etymological evolution from 'Grendel' to 'Wendigo.'

• In the juvenile-oriented Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark by Alvin Schwartz ScaryStories|Alvin Schwartz, the Wendigo was described as "attract[ing] victims by calling to them in an irresistible way, then bears them away at great speed, finally sweeps them into the sky, then drops them, leaving them with frozen stumps where their feet once were, As they are carried off, they characteristically scream, '...My fiery feet, my burning feet of fire!'" This quote as well as the other details are taken straight from Blackwood's story.

• Another children's book of scary short stories, Giant, Short, & Shivery, has a short story about a Wendigo. In it, a group of sailors arrive on an island and are met by a native orphaned boy, who warns them of "the thing that's watchin' - watchin' from the trees." Eventually, the Wendigo comes and takes away the cruel captain by grabbing him through the door of their cabin with a giant hand made of snow with ice for fingernails.

• In Alan Sullivans' s short story 'The Essence of a Man', a Wendigo preys upon the mind and will of the protagonist Tom Moore, a Native American. Tom is able to overcome the power of the Wendigo, when another (unnamed) spirit calls out to him.

• In Linda Hogan's Solar Storms, a main character's estranged mother is possessed by the windigo. The characters are Native Americans so the depiction is powerful. When the main character was a child her mother tried to eat part of her face because of the windigo. The mother doesn't overcome the spirit.

  The Wendigo in film and television

  • Due to the prevalence of Native American themes and beliefs in Twin Peaks, some fans have speculated that the main villain Bob (Twin Peaks)|BOB is actually the Wendigo.
  • A creature called Wendigo also appears in episode twelve of the supernatural dramedy television series Charmed under the guise of FBI agent Ashley Fallon, who later attacks Piper Halliwell, which causes the main character to transform into a Wendigo herself. Charmed's Wendigo mixes elements of the original Wendigo myths (e.g. the heart of ice, the causing of fever on the victim and the cannibalistic origin) and werewolves of modern fiction (e.g. transformation in connection with the full moon, aggressivity, losing morality and becoming the creature by means of being scratched). The creature itself was given a look that is a cross between a werewolf and a sasquatch. The defeat of the Wendigo is a quite literal use of the melting of the heart of ice—the creature is killed with a flare gun. After the defeat, Wendigo Piper returned to normal, but ended up naked (the transformation ripped off her clothes) and freezing.
  • Despite the title, the movie Wendigo (film) does not bear much resemblance to the legend, since the Wendigo in this movie was part man, part deer.
    • The movie Ravenous is arguably closer; the term windigo is mentioned by a Native American scout. In that film, a crazed cannibal preys on the staff of a military outpost in the Sierra Nevadas.
  • The werewolf curse in the Ginger Snaps movies originates from the Wendigo.
  • The new WB series Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural has the lead characters encountering a Wendigo in episode 2. Its first airdate was September 20th, 2005. Wendigo behaviours in this episode include cannibalism, a frightening roar, and extreme speed and strength. However, this version also has the ability to mimic other peoples' voices and climb trees. It is also a dark green color and highly flammable. Centuries earlier, this Wendigo had been an Ancient Pueblo Peoples|Anasazi who was on a hunting expedition. The members of the hunting party were starving. One man ate his fellow tribesmen and gained special powers, becoming a Wendigo.
  • In the second season of the Scifi series The Invisible Man, a creature called a Wendigo is encountered in the episode Legends. It was very much like a sasquatch, and Gigantopithecus blackii was referred to as well. The creature was able to make itself turn invisible at will and was a precursor to the government's creation of an invisible man.

    Other culture

    • In the MMORPG The Five Pillars, Wendigoes are units summoned by forest-affiliated mages. They have little in common with the traditional Wendigo, as these are benevolent forest spirits. They serve mostly as damage-absorbers, as they have high health and resistance, but low attack power.
    • In the role-playing game Shadowrun, the Wendigo is an ork infected by the HMHVV (Human Meta Human Vampiric Virus). He feeds on human flesh and looks like a white Sasquatch.
    • In the role-playing game Werewolf: The Apocalypse, the Wendigo (World of Darkness)|Wendigo are a tribe of Garou (werewolves) with almost exclusively Amerindian kinfolk. They claim Canada and the northern United States as their homeland, and are locked in the almost hopeless struggle against the encroachment of Wiktionary:Wasichu|Wasichu society and its effects. This same tribe follows the spirit of "The Great Wendigo", a mighty spirit of the winter and the wind who takes the form of a great white wolf and aids his people in their times of need. The spirit is known to be a cannibal spirit, and many garou of the wendigo tribe are likewise reputed by outsiders to have a temptation to eat human (or garou) flesh.
    • In the role-playing game Deadlands Wendigo is one of the main bestiary features and its origins and looks are much like those from Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native American legends- It is very powerful creature looking a bit like Yeti. It is rumored that Wendigos are humans that were lost in the mountains during a blizzard, forced to cannibalize their comrades to stay alive, and because of that terrible sin they are turned into beasts.
    • Wendigos are also featured as monsters in various computer and video games. In the first-person shooter heXen, Wendigos live in arctic environments and they can shoot ice shards from their wrists. The computer role-playing game Diablo II features the Wendigo as a large and weak yeti-like creature, commonly found in grasslands and deserts. In the Warcraft Universe (as seen in Warcraft III and World of Warcraft), a Wendigo is a large and powerful Yeti-like creature found in snowy areas such as Northrend and Northern Lorderon. In Final Fantasy VIII, a Wendigo is a random encounter enemy located just outside of Deling City. Wendigos also appear in Final Fantasy X. They make another appearance in Final Fantasy XI as a skeleton-type creature. Wendigo is also a boss battle in "The Legend of Dragoon".
    • In Marvel Comics, the Wendigo (comics)|Wendigo is created by a curse that may have derived from the Arctic Gods or "Elder Gods". Anyone who eats human flesh while in the Canadian woods becomes a Wendigo. This Wendigo is a huge, apelike being of white fur, without human intelligence. Its strength is great enough to battle Marvel heroes like The Incredible Hulk or Wolverine (comics)|Wolverine. The curse can be transferred from one person to another by a shaman who knows the appropriate spell; the former victim of the curse will not remember what he or she did as a Wendigo.
      • In another reality of Marvel Comics, Earth X, there is a creature that has struck fear into the mutant populace. This variation of Wendigo is not like the rest, typically characterized by only one Wendigo present, but rather forms an army of Wendigo, due to the curse afflicting Multiple Man
    • A Wendigo creature appears in N°8 of Italian western-horror comic book Magico Vento, spelled Windigo.

      References

      • Colombo, J.R. ed. Wendigo. Western Producer Prairie Books, Saskatoon: 1982.
      • Teicher, M. Windigo Psychosis: A study of Relationship between Belief and Behaviour among the Indians of Northestarn Canada. American Ethnological Society: 1960.
      • Blackman, W. Haden. The Field Guide to North American Monsters: Everything You Need To Know About Encountering Over 100 Terrifying Creatures In The Wild. New York: Three Rivers Press. Copyright ©1998 by W. Haden Blackman.
      • Columbo, John R. Windigo: An Anthology of Fact and Fantastic Fiction. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan: Modern Press. Copyright ©1982 John Robert Columbo.
      • Halpin, Marjorie M. Manlike Monsters on Trial: Early Records and Modern Evidence. Canada: ©1980 the University of British Columbia.
      • Irvine, Alex. The Supernatural™ Book of Monsters, Spirits, Demons, and Ghouls. New York: HarperCollins Publishers. Copyright TM & ©2007 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
      • Gilmore, David D. Monsters: Evil Beings, Mythical Beasts, and All Manner of Imaginary Terrors. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press. Copyright ©2003 University of Pennsylvania Press.

(Episode 2 Season 1 "Wendigo" of T.V Series "Supernatural")