Kishi, the two-faced incubus

In previous posts I discussed myths related to hyenas. Here is another post in that vein:

Fairy tales in cultures around the world share the motifs of the "murderous bridegroom" and "murderous stranger." In Angola, legend tells of a demon named kishi. The kishi pretends to be a handsome man, but conceals the face of a hyena on the back of his head (talk about two-faced!). He uses the human face to charm unsuspecting women, then the hyena face eats them. As with other tales in this vein, the moral of the story is for women to be wary of unfamiliar men.

In modern times, the kishi has appeared as the subject of novels like The Kishi: An Esowon Story. It has appeared as a monster in fantasy gaming, too. Hence this post.

Gnolls, gnomes and trolls

The gnoll has undergone a dramatic evolution over the course of its appearances in fiction. It first appeared in the work of Lord Dunsany as a vaguely described gremlin or goblin. Next it appeared in early Dungeons & Dragons as a gnome/troll hybrid, perhaps derived from the way "gnoll" could be interpreted as a portmanteau name for the hybrid offspring of gnome father and troll mother. The writers soon thought this was too silly the changed the creature to a humanoid hyena, while retaining the non-indicative name. From there, the new gnolls eventually evolved from generic savage humanoids to hyenas mutated by demonic possession by the most recent or "fifth" edition of the game.

Ecology of the hyena, thoa, and leucrota

Nomenclature: akabo, alazbo, crocotta/crocuta ("saffron, hyena"), curcrocute ("cur hyena"?), cynolycus ("dog-wolf"), hyena, leocrocotta ("lion-hyena"), leucrocotta ("yellow-white hyena"?), leucrota, lupus vesperitinus ("wolf of the evening"), luvecerviere ("wolf that attracts deer"), lycopantherus ("panther-wolf"), rosomacha ("wolverine"), yena, zabo.

Description: wolves of the evening that attract deer, deadly enemies of men and dogs, mimic the sound of human voices to lure prey.