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Dokkaebi
A picture of a dokkaebi.
A picture of a dokkaebi.
Korean name
Hangul 도깨비
Revised Romanization dokkaebi
McCune-Reischauer tokaebi

Dokkaebi is a common word for a type of spirit in Korean folklore or fairy tales. The Revised Romanization of Korean is the official Korean language Romanization system in South Korea. McCune-Reischauer romanization is one of the two most widely used Korean language Romanization systems along with the Revised Romanization of Korean, which History The concept of folklore developed as part of the 19th century ideology of Romantic nationalism, leading to the reshaping of oral traditions to serve modern ideological A fairy tale or fairy story is a fictional Story that may feature folkloric characters (such as fairies, enchantments]] often involving

The Dokkaebi is a mythical being that appears in many old Korean folktales. Korea is a geographic area composed of two sovereign countries a civilization and a former state situated on the Korean Peninsula in East Asia. Although usually frightening, it could also represent a humorous, grotesque-looking sprite or goblin. The term sprite is a broad term referring to a number of Preternatural Legendary creatures The term is generally used in reference to Elf -like creatures A goblin is an evil crabby or Mischievous Creature of Folklore, often described as a grotesquely disfigured or Gnome -like phantom These creatures loved mischief and playing mean tricks on bad people and they rewarded good people with wealth and blessings. Dokkaebi are described as the transformed spirits of inanimate objects. The most common objects said to become Dokkaebi are usually useful everyday implements that have been abandoned by their owners or left in perpetual disuse, and include such wide-ranging objects as brooms, fireplace pokers, pestles, flails, and sometimes even trees smeared with maiden's blood. Firestick redirects here For the Aboriginal practice see Fire-stick farming. A pestle and mortar is a Tool used to crush grind and mix substances

They are roughly analogous to the oni of Japanese folklore, but the Korean Dokkaebi traditionally has one leg. are creatures from Japanese folklore, variously translated as Demons Devils Ogres or Trolls They are popular characters in Japanese For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. Popular culture, such as role-playing games, usually gives Dokkaebi two legs instead of one. A role-playing game ( RPG; often roleplaying game) is a Game in which the participants assume the roles of Fictional characters. Another difference between Dokkaebi and Oni is that the former is commonly neither harmful nor formidable.

They are different from ghosts (귀신) in that they are not formed by the death of a human being, but rather by the transformation of an inanimate object. A ghost is said to be the apparition of a Deceased person frequently similar in appearance to that person and usually encountered in places she or he frequented

Characteristics

Different versions of the Korean Dokkaebi mythology assign different attributes to them. In some cases they are considered harmless but nevertheless mischievous, usually playing pranks on people or challenging wayward travellers for a ssireum (Korean wrestling) match for the right of passage. Ssireum (also called Sirum, Korean: 씨름 is a Korean Wrestling style and is the traditional national sport of Korea

Most Dokkaebi to carry a kind of club or mallet called a dokkaebi bangmang'i (도깨비 방망이). A mallet is a type of hammer with a head made of softer materials than the Steel normally used in hammerheads so as to avoid damaging a delicate surface They are like magic wands, from which you can summon anything you want. WAND is an NBC affiliate serving the Decatur&ndash Springfield &ndash Champaign area Unfortunately, when you get something by using it, you get things by "stealing" from someone else, because this bangmang'i can only summon existing things, and it doesn't create objects out of thin air.

Dokkaebi love to play games, especially Si-rum as mentioned above. They are extremely good at it and one will never be able to beat them by trying to push them from the left side. However, they are very weak on the right side. In other stories one should hook their leg and push them to win, as they have only one leg.

Dokkaebi can also have a cap which is called dokkaebi gamtu (도깨비 감투). Its most well-known ability is that it gives the wearer invisibility, as 'Predator bio helmet'.

See also

The history of Korea stretches from Lower Paleolithic times to the present This article is about the traditional culture of Korea. For the modern culture see Culture of North Korea and Culture of South Korea
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