![]() An ogre once captured a human woman and kept her as his pet, but she escaped, and the retribution sought by her brothers was swift. ![]() They could stride from mountain to mountain and drink rivers dry. They were shape-shifting giants who lived in caves and hunted with two-headed dogs. The Kahui-Tipua were a band of ogres, the first inhabitants of New Zealand’s South Island. They have two faces, but little else is known about them, as they are invisible to humans. Porotai are creatures that are half-flesh half-stone. (Before taking something from nature, you must first placate the spirit world.) These fairy spirits often take the form of insects or birds. It is their job to avenge any desecration of the sanctity of the forest. These are the fairy spirits that live amongst the trees. Te-tini-o-hakuturi translates into English as ‘the multitude of bow-legged ones’. Indeed, many have thought them to be entirely natural creatures, and some Maori even claim maero heritage. Large and exceptionally strong, maero display no supernatural powers. They are cannibals, killing with stone clubs and their knife-like fingernails. They have long, shaggy, black hair and sharp, spindly fingers. If you ever come across a place inhabited by one or more tipua, you should make an offering or face the consequences. If something that is ordinary, such as a fish, a tree, or a stone, looks somehow uncanny then it is likely a tipua. They can take the form of anything, be it animal, vegetable or mineral. In highly stylised forms, their image becomes a symbol of protection. They have the bodies of men, but the heads of birds. Some believe manaia to be monsters, but they are actually messengers, go-betweens for mortal humans and spirits. If only Gandalf had been around to communicate with them. Rather scarily, they may have once existed as real creatures in New Zealand: the now-extinct Haast’s eagle was certainly large enough to hunt the now-extinct moa, so it is not unreasonable to suppose that they could have swooped down upon human beings as well. They have terrible cries and are known for carrying people off and eating them. Poua-kai are huge, black-and-white birds with greenish-yellow wingtips and red crests. These included fine cloaks and weapons – sounds like every RPG I’ve ever played. When Hotu-Puku, the great taniwha of Rotorua, was slain, his belly was slit open to reveal several remarkably undigested human bodies, along with their still perfectly usable possessions. They sometimes act as guardians, but have also been known to kidnap humans, dragging them down into their lairs to either feast upon or rape. They somewhat resemble dragons, although they have the ability to shape-shift into natural creatures such as whales, or objects such as bits of wood. Taniwha are man-eating monsters, usually dwelling in deep water, both salt and fresh. Newt Scamander, author of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, obviously wasn’t paying much attention when he visited New Zealand, so here is a list of New Zealand mythical beings to make up for it. They are there, however, hiding in the depths and the mists. The magical creatures of New Zealand are not widely known.
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