Iconic image from religion/folklore please

Tazlima · Jan 17, 2014

OK, here's the setting:

You are hanging out with a bunch of your friends when a stranger enters the room. You all immediately stop and stare, because there is something odd about this stranger, something straight out of an old story that you've all heard, but that doesn't exist anymore (if it ever existed at all).

What is it about this person that has drawn your attention?

For example: In the old testament stories, people regularly lived to be 400-500 years old. Obviously that doesn't happen these days, so if you met someone who had definitive proof that they were 400, you'd be surprised and amazed.

Here are the criteria:

1) It needs to be a story that has thoroughly permeated its culture of origin, the more people that have heard of it, the better. All source material, religious or secular, is fair game.

2) It has to be something that is basically human (as opposed to everyone stopping and staring at a dragon walking in the door). Part humans such as fauns are acceptable, but the closer to a standard human form, the better.

3) It needs to be something that can be identified visually and immediately (like witnessing someone transform into a werewolf or seeing a classic transparent ghost). People should need no additional sensory input or knowledge to recognize what they're seeing.

4) It should NOT be scary in the original story (for this reason, vampires and werewolves are out of the running). The reaction should be surprise and curiosity, not fear. Ideally, you should want to go talk to this person.

5) Bonus points if it's something that a large number of people believe actually existed a long time ago but which no longer occurs.

Any suggestions?

Torgo · Jan 17, 2014

Halo.

Siri Kirpal · Jan 17, 2014

Sat Nam! (Literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)

I think Torgo nailed it: a noticeable halo.

Alternately, you could go with wings.

Or both.

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal

Buffysquirrel · Jan 17, 2014

How about antlers, as in Herne the Hunter?

ClareGreen · Jan 17, 2014

Where to start? One thing, though - most not-quite-human things have been cast as 'scary' at some point in time.

* Faerie
* Elf
* Dwarf
* Faun
* Dryad, Naiad, etc.
* Angel
* Animal with clothes on

Breaking away from the European West:
* Ancestor, spirit or otherwise
* Non-Abrahamic Benevolent Deity (Lord Ganesha, anyone?)
* Chinese Dragon
* Talking animal
* Mostly-human-form Kitsune (fox ears & tails)
...And a whole host more.

Every culture has something that could walk in and shock people. Most have many, many such things. Finding things that aren't going to scare, though, that's much more of a challenge - even angels haven't always been seen as well-inclined towards mankind.

wendymarlowe · Jan 17, 2014

Dude carrying a lightning bolt would probably draw attention . . . similarly, a woman with snakes for hair . . .

AdrianLynn · Jan 17, 2014

Pointed ears or an elaborately braided beard. (Okay, so I may have watched the Hobbit recently...)

A third eye in the middle of the forehead. (Although I suppose that could be scary.)

Err, that's all I have for the moment!

Raivnor · Jan 17, 2014

I believe avatars of Hindu deities have blue skin. That would be weird but not wholly outside the realm of possibility.

bookworm92 · Jan 17, 2014

Raivnor said:
I believe avatars of Hindu deities have blue skin. That would be weird but not wholly outside the realm of possibility.

Blue skin is Lord Vishnu. And in mythology, no one can ever tell when a God or Goddess has come to Earth. It's only when They perform some great feat (like Lord Krishna killing a demon when he was a newborn) do people start to suspect.

And although Lord Krishna (an avatar of Lord Vishnu) was depicted with blue skin, he was most likely dark skinned. (Krishna originally meant 'dark').

And JALynn, the third eye thing was Lord Shiva. He appeared to mortals before as a perfectly normal looking guy.

Raivnor · Jan 17, 2014

bookworm92 said:
Blue skin is Lord Vishnu. And in mythology, no one can ever tell when a God or Goddess has come to Earth. It's only when They perform some great feat (like Lord Krishna killing a demon when he was a newborn) do people start to suspect.

And although Lord Krishna (an avatar of Lord Vishnu) was depicted with blue skin, he was most likely dark skinned. (Krishna originally meant 'dark').

Thanks for the assist. That could really work though. Like the character has strangely dark skin, then when their supernatural-ness is revealed their skin is seen in its natural blue hue.

bookworm92 · Jan 17, 2014

You can read up on some of the feats of Gods to give you an idea. To them lifting up a mountain was child's play.

Hanson · Jan 17, 2014

Wings.

GHO57 · Jan 17, 2014

Old guy, white beard, red jacket... and a big laugh; "ho, ho, ho!"

(I'd certainly want to talk to that guy if he walked through the door; we've got some unfinished business about an Optimus Prime toy I never received despite numerous letters requesting it.)

Cyia · Jan 17, 2014

Sparkles

ShaunHorton · Jan 17, 2014

Glowing tattoo's.

Any kind of shapeshifting, for example, he walks into the room, takes a quick look around to see the type of people in the bar and then subtly changes to look more like one of them.

A staff. People use canes all the time these days, but just a plain, full length staff would certainly arouse curiousity.

frimble3 · Jan 17, 2014

Long white beard, staff, tall floppy brimmed hat, and a long coat, in muted or neutral colours. Giving a vague 'wizardly' effect without those over-the-top astronomical decorations.

cornflake · Jan 17, 2014

If someone were blue, I think I'd just think they were in good makeup or overdosed on colloidal silver.

Someone who levitated in? Like was floating a foot above the floor but moving, going through a door and a crowd, etc.? There's a classic magic trick involving levitation but you can make it so it's pretty clear it's not that.

L.C. Blackwell · Jan 17, 2014

There was a darned fascinating story in--I believe--an old Celtic periodical a family member used to get. It involved a battle between the Scots (or the Irish?) and the English, and posited that remnants of a crusader group had found shelter in that area and joined the fight against the English to create a decisive victory. I wish I still had the article, because it was surprisingly credible.

But the image in my mind that I got from reading that was of an English force that no longer believed in Crusaders--they were gone and vanished, a lost breed. Yet as the mist broke, and coming down from the hills, were strange horsemen, with strange banners--and on their banners and their armor was the scarlet cross on white. The English, faced with an inferior force ahead, but a ghost force behind it, broke ranks and lost the battle.

I don't know if it was true or not--but I'd like to think it was.

wendymarlowe · Jan 17, 2014

GHO57 said:
Old guy, white beard, red jacket... and a big laugh; "ho, ho, ho!"

(I'd certainly want to talk to that guy if he walked through the door; we've got some unfinished business about an Optimus Prime toy I never received despite numerous letters requesting it.)

Ran into this guy at Starbucks last week. (Mid-January.) Santa hat, big white beard, giant sack over his shoulder, and wearing a red motorcycle jacket with white piping. Absolutely no idea what he was doing at Barnes & Noble in that getup at night, but the beard (and the belly) looked real - maybe he carried the rest of his suit in his sack, and he rode his motorcycle to work?

HSLane · Jan 18, 2014

Being immaculate despite horrible conditions (walking in from a storm without a drop of rain or mud, ect ect).

Paramite Pie · Jan 18, 2014

The person could have multiple arms. Some Indian deities have these features so it fits your criteria of historicity.

It's human enough to be approachable but weird enough to fascinate and amaze people.

Blue skin would work too... I think everyone would notice a blue-skinned man, multi-appendaged or not.

Also the Egyptian god Osiris is often portrayed with green or blue skin (representing decay as he's the god of death/mummification) but Osiris can't enter the world of the living according to the myth - unless your willing to find a workaround.

Russell Secord · Jan 18, 2014

I believe doppelganger satisfies all the conditions. The background folklore may change from one culture to another, for instance, some might call it a fetch. Nobody today would assume that the appearance of a duplicate meant impending doom.

frimble3 · Jan 18, 2014

I've got another one! Not supernatural at all: how about royalty? An honest-to-God, crown-and-robe wearing, stereotypical king (or queen)!

I remember my great disappointment as a child, after seeing all those queens and princesses in movies and books, and the Queen of England's fancy portrait on the Federal Building wall, then seeing her in the newspaper on a trip to Canada: Just a woman in a regular dress and coat. Bummer.

But, a person in an ermine-edged robe, velvet cape and a fancy crown? I think in most Western cultures, that's a Royalty!
Even if we don't have it anymore, or want it back, we know the iconography. A guy in a nice suit with a bodyguard just doesn't cut it.

cornflake · Jan 18, 2014

Russell Secord said:
I believe doppelganger satisfies all the conditions. The background folklore may change from one culture to another, for instance, some might call it a fetch. Nobody today would assume that the appearance of a duplicate meant impending doom.

I believe twins still walk the Earth tho. :ROFL:

Canotila · Jan 18, 2014

I've seen a lot of variations of these things in person (living between Seattle and Portland) and people generally assume it's a really good costume. Especially in this day and age where it's easy to get movie quality prosthetics and things.

As an example, I used to have a 6 foot long iguana that loved to ride on my shoulder like a parrot. When we were out and about the vast majority of people assumed I walked around with a giant rubber lizard on my shoulder. And even when he moved and stuck out his tongue, an awful lot of people asked me where I found such a cool robot lizard, then were shocked and horrified when they reached out to touch him and learned he was alive.

There's a local guy with permanently implanted fangs that's infamous for painting his body blue and wearing yellow contacts. People don't really give him much of a second glance until he starts feather fan dancing on the street corner in a spandex bodysuit, and that's more due to a combination of behavior and appearance than appearance alone.

It would be incredibly easy for supernatural creatures to walk around in broad daylight around here without anybody thinking something was amiss.

Your best bet would be a supernatural attribute. Something like levitating, hair and eyebrows made of fire, coating everything you touch with frost, flowers sprouting in your wake as you walk down the street or into a coffee shop, etc.

Maybe Jack Frost? He's a pretty benign folk figure. Or someone giant, like a real life Paul Bunyan? Mother Nature?

Iconic image from religion/folklore please

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