Damaging Demons Trivia Quiz

Answer: A family member had died or was about to die

Hearing the scream of a banshee in the Irish countryside meant that someone in the family had died or would soon die. Reports of banshees were recorded as early as the 14th century A.D. The name banshee was derived from an Old Gaelic expression "ben síde" which translates to "woman of the fairy mound".

There have been various physical descriptions of banshees. Some people described them as having white dresses with red hair, silver dresses with grey hair or green dresses with white hair. It is said that the eyes of banshees eyes were red from their constant screaming and weeping.

Answer: Mictlantecutli

Mictlantecutli was an Aztec god associated with death and the underworld. He was often depicted as a skeletal being, who often wore a cloak of owl feathers and a necklace made with human eyeballs. Worshipers of Mictlantecutli were said to honor the god of death by offering human sacrifices and engaging in ritual cannibalism.

In Aztec mythology, Quetzalcoatl was the god of creation, who apparently created humans from the shattered bones of ancient beings that he had stolen from Mictlantecutli's underworld. Omeyocan was the Aztec version of heaven. Tenochtitlan was a prominent Aztec city, which was located in the area of what is now Mexico City.

Answer: turtles

The kappa was a demonic Japanese creature of myth that was said to resemble humanoid turtles. Their names are a combination of the Japanese words "kawa" and "wappa", which translate to "river child". The kappa were said to love eating cucumbers and were fans of sumo wrestling.

They apparently had an affinity for attacking people's buttocks and it was said that they could be driven off by a person's flatulence. The kappa may have been used as the inspiration for the Koopas from the "Super Mario Bros" video game franchise.

Answer: Jiangshi

The word nosferatu was popularized in Bram Stoker's famous vampire novel, "Dracula", which was written in 1897. In China, there was a mythological demon known as the jiangshi. Jiangshi were described as reanimated corpses that fed off of the living by draining victims of their life force. Due to the rigor mortis on their bodies, the jiangshi hopped around to get from one place to another.

The jiangshi were mostly active at night and similar to the vampire, hid themselves in dark caves and/or coffins during the daytime.

The earliest mentions of the jiangshi came from the writings of a Chinese scholar named Ji Xiaolan, who lived during the Qing Dynasty.

Answer: skinwalkers

The fabled "yee naaldlooshii" (aka skinwalkers) were Navajo witches who had the ability to transform into and control various animals. They were said to wear the skin of the animals that they preferred to turn into, such as wolves and coyotes. They were also known to be able to possess other humans if eye contact was made with one. Little is truly known about the origin of the skinwalkers even today. Members of the Navajo tribe are reluctant to speak about them as simply mentioning their name may leave that person vulnerable to being attacked by one.

Answer: Kraken

Kraken is the name of a large monstrous squid-like demon from Nordic legends. The kraken was said to inhabit the waters between Norway and Greenland. The legend of the kraken began around the 13th century A.D. when a Norwegian sailor first told the tale of the demonic sea creature. The kraken was first described as resembling a crab, but later depictions tell of it being more of an octopus/squid type of creature. The Seattle Kraken are the second NHL team named for a mythical creature. The New Jersey Devils were named after a legendary animal that is said to inhabit the southern portion of the team's home state.

Tiamat is a deity of the ancient Babylonians, Bahamut is a sea monster from Islamic legend and Fenrir is a wolf-like demon from Norse mythology.

Answer: Australia

The bunyip is the name of a demonic creature that is said to inhabit the internal swamps and waterways of Australia. The legend of the bunyip is believed to have originated with the Aboriginal people of Australia. The name bunyip comes from the Aboriginal Wemba-Wemba language, which translates to "evil spirit".

The bunyip's physical characteristics have been tough to nail down. One newspaper article from the 19th century described it as having the head of an emu and the body of an alligator. Other people have described it as resembling either a dog and/or a seal.

The bunyip apparently loves to kill its victims, especially women and children, by giving them bone crunching hugs.

Answer: Ewe

The Ewe are a group of people from West Africa. Currently the majority of Ewe inhabit the nations of Ghana and Togo, but small populations of Ewe can be found as far east as Nigeria. The Ewe practice a West African version of Voodoo (aka Vodun). The Adze is a demonic creature from Ewe mythology that allegedly takes the form of a firefly in order to sneak into its victim's homes to feast on their blood. The Adze is said to prefer the blood of the innocent, especially children.

The Xhosa and Zulu people inhabit South Africa, while the Hutu people inhabit the nations of Rwanda and Burundi.

Answer: snake

Apep (aka Apophis) was the ancient Egyptian god of chaos. Apep was often depicted in ancient Egyptian artwork as a snake, although some artwork depicted Apep as a crocodile instead. Apep was the archenemy of Ra, the Egyptian god of the Sun. Apep was thought to be the cause of thunderstorms and earthquakes in ancient Egypt. Ra was said to have slain Apep after taking the form of a cat, which may explain why cats were considered a sacred animal in ancient Egypt.

The beetle or scarab was another animal that the Egyptians considered as sacred as it represented the god, Khepri. Anubis, who had the head of a jackal, was the ancient Egyptian god of death and the underworld.

Answer: Yacumama

The yacumama is a large dangerous snake-like creature that allegedly inhabits the Amazon rainforest, specifically in Peru and western Brazil. The name yacumama means "mother of water" in the Quechua language. The yacumama are believed to be 150 ft or more in length and will suck up any living being, especially fishermen, that happens to get too close to it.

In order to prevent the yacumama from attacking, the locals would blow into a conch horn before entering the river. It is possible that the yacumama is actually a known animal like the giant anaconda.

However, it is unlikely since the anaconda while long, is still much shorter than the supposed length of the yacumama. It might also be that the yacumama is a large species of snake that was once thought to be extinct, such as the titanoboa.