Liquid Folk Monsters
October 27 2017
We've all heard the stories. Men that turn into wolves. Creatures that lure the unsuspecting into the dark. Different cultures carry different tales of monsters that stalk their neighborhoods, and the history of human kind is littered with tales of dread.
As a multicultural organization, our campfire stories involve unique monsters that you've probably never heard about. That's why we asked our players and staff about local folk monsters and asked them to describe them to us. Some sounded very familiar, while some flat out confused us. Still, we're sure that they must have sounded terrifying to a 9-year old.
But you know what's scarier than monsters? Children drawing monsters. There's something mildly unsettling about a child's unfiltered imagination, as if they can peer directly into our nightmares. Naturally, we put those nightmares on paper.
Evil Genie Chudat
We're not sure whether this was a product of a generation of kids weaned on Disney movies, or if evil genies really are a thing, but Chillin insists that the fear was legit. "My parents scared me into doing stuff by telling me the genie would get me," he told us, though we're not quite sure how the genie would get him without an evil wisher. According to Chillin, of all his mates on Liquid, "Chudat [resembles the genie] for sure, I could see the genie doing the pose and everything!"
Fortunately, there aren't any genies in Melee.
We're not sure whether this was a product of a generation of kids weaned on Disney movies, or if evil genies really are a thing, but Chillin insists that the fear was legit. "My parents scared me into doing stuff by telling me the genie would get me," he told us, though we're not quite sure how the genie would get him without an evil wisher. According to Chillin, of all his mates on Liquid, "Chudat [resembles the genie] for sure, I could see the genie doing the pose and everything!"
Fortunately, there aren't any genies in Melee.
Knecht Ruprecht Brittany
The Knecht Ruprecht is a German folk creature closely associated with Santa Clause — and bad kids beware! He's in charge of giving disobedient kids their due, which means lots and lots of punishment.
It's not easy keeping order in a team house, and our team manager Brittany has to take care of some rowdy boys. We can just imagine 9 year old HasuObs, TLO, darkmok, nurok and Blumbi cowering under the desk as mean Knecht Ruprecht, Babysitter Brittany, scolds them for playing video games all night long.
The Knecht Ruprecht is a German folk creature closely associated with Santa Clause — and bad kids beware! He's in charge of giving disobedient kids their due, which means lots and lots of punishment.
It's not easy keeping order in a team house, and our team manager Brittany has to take care of some rowdy boys. We can just imagine 9 year old HasuObs, TLO, darkmok, nurok and Blumbi cowering under the desk as mean Knecht Ruprecht, Babysitter Brittany, scolds them for playing video games all night long.
Nightmarcher Artress
"When I went to a youth summer camp, there was a lot of story telling about Hawaiian folklore. At night, the entire camp hiked into a forest at night while it was pitch black. I was 8 years old at the time so I was probably seeing things but there were noises and things moving from the corner of my eye. I'm surprised none of the kids got lost, I couldn't see anything past 2 feet of me."
Matt's campfire story evokes ghosts and fallen warriors, as the nightmarchers belong to Hawaiian folklore. These specters roam the night and march towards the sites of their previous glories, and shouldn't be disturbed. According to Matt, they resemble "a scary silhouette of a person in the distance with bright red eyes who would slowly march towards me." Honestly, that sounds like our team manager Michael Artress if he were sleepwalking."
"When I went to a youth summer camp, there was a lot of story telling about Hawaiian folklore. At night, the entire camp hiked into a forest at night while it was pitch black. I was 8 years old at the time so I was probably seeing things but there were noises and things moving from the corner of my eye. I'm surprised none of the kids got lost, I couldn't see anything past 2 feet of me."
Matt's campfire story evokes ghosts and fallen warriors, as the nightmarchers belong to Hawaiian folklore. These specters roam the night and march towards the sites of their previous glories, and shouldn't be disturbed. According to Matt, they resemble "a scary silhouette of a person in the distance with bright red eyes who would slowly march towards me." Honestly, that sounds like our team manager Michael Artress if he were sleepwalking."
Miracle-'s Mischievous Qareen
Few things are as terrifying as a tower dive gone awry. Worse yet, a fountain dive from your position 1 mid with the T2 towers still alive. What compels the best players in the world to take unfathomable risks during tournaments is beyond us, but there may be a little voice in their heads goading them towards ruin. The Qareen belongs to Islamic culture, a supernatural creature unique to each person that influences them to do bad things. Similar creatures exist in other cultures as well.
Next time you see one of our Dota players make some crazy decisions, maybe there's a scheming little demon whispering into their ear.
Few things are as terrifying as a tower dive gone awry. Worse yet, a fountain dive from your position 1 mid with the T2 towers still alive. What compels the best players in the world to take unfathomable risks during tournaments is beyond us, but there may be a little voice in their heads goading them towards ruin. The Qareen belongs to Islamic culture, a supernatural creature unique to each person that influences them to do bad things. Similar creatures exist in other cultures as well.
Next time you see one of our Dota players make some crazy decisions, maybe there's a scheming little demon whispering into their ear.
No children, monsters, or writers were harmed during the production of this article.
