Wendigo

The wendigo (also spelled windigo, windego; see below for more information) is a supernatural being originating from the folkloric traditions of many Algonquian-speaking peoples.Here, Algonquian refers to a large language subfamily encompassing roughly 30 languages that are or were spoken throughout North America. Not to be confused with the Algonquin (lacking the second A) language and people, one of many groups under the Algonquian umbrella. It has appeared in numerous professional works, become a common sight in internet-based horror circles, and made its way into a variety of fanworks. 
==Names==
Wendigo stories originate from oral tradition in numerous Algonqiuan-speaking communities; as such, a variety of pronunciations and spellings for the legend exist.Native American Legends: Windigo (Wendigo, Windego). native-languages.org, n.d. (Accessed June 19 2023.) The most common pronunciation of the entity’s name in pop culture and appears to be /ˈwɛndɪɡoʊ/ (when-dee-go),Derived from the Ojibwe word wiindigoo. and the most common spelling of the name is “wendigo”. For consistency, this article will use the “wendigo” spelling. 
According to some traditions, the wendigo is such a taboo subject that talking about it or naming it is discouraged. Some netizens have taken to censoring the wendigo’s name with asterisks and/or punctuation marks (“w*nd!go”, for example).writingwithcolor & bilbows. Until Dawn Game and Use of the Wendigo. 28 December 2016. The very use of the wendigo in stories by non-Native people is sometimes met with controversy. 
==Description==
The exact nature of the wendigo varies greatly depending on what version of the story is being told.Pitt, S. Windigo. The Canadian Encyclopedia, 18 March 2018. (Accessed 26 June 2023.) That being said, some characteristics are very common across many cultures. 
Wendigos are typically depicted as perpetually emaciated, man-eating giants heavily associated with winter and cannibalism.Zarka, E. Windigo: The Flesh-Eating Monster of Native American Legend. 25 September 2022. (Accessed 20 June 2023.) They are created when a human commits an act of cannibalism (or in some cases, non-cannibalistic acts of selfishness), and is cursed into a monstrous form as a result (in some tellings, the wendigo is a spirit that possesses and corrupts humans). The wendigo has an insatiable hunger for human flesh; no matter how much it eats, it remains unsatisfied. It is a dangerous, evil being that should be avoided at all costs, and killed if possible. 
Many pop-culture and internet-based depictions of the wendigo give it deer-like traits, including antlers and a deer skull.Asimos, V. The Antlered Wendigo. Incidental Mythology, 2 March 2022. (Accessed 24 June 2023.)Mythology & Fiction Explained. Wendigo: The Cannibalistic Spirit of Native American Folklore. YouTube, 14 December 2018. (Accessed 24 June 2023.) The 2001 film Wendigo is often cited as the origin of this design trend, though examples of antlered or horned wendigos have been found going back to the 1930s.thecreaturecodex. Monster Art History: The Wendigo. 25th September 2022. (Accessed 26 June 2023.) Most fannish depictions of wendigos include these cervine features. 
==Use in Pop Culture==
Wendigos have appeared in many modern media properties dating back decades. Some recent examples include NBC’s Hannibal, Until Dawn, Marvel Comics and even My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. 
Their nature varies depending on the property they are adapted into. Hannibal features a black-skinned antlered humanoid. MLP’s windigos are winter spirits that feed on hatred. Until Dawn’s wendigos are closer in appearance to the original legend: emaciated, antlerless humanoids that move at incredible speed. 
Stories about the wendigo have become incredibly widespread within the online horror community, being told on various websites (including the nosleep subreddit),Results for "wendigo" in r/nosleep. and read aloud on YouTube with hundreds of thousands of views.A playlist containing dozens of story readings, as well as assorted wendigo-related content. The popular horror YouTuber Wendigoon's username and channel icon are both references to the wendigo. Even the SCP Foundation has contributed to the legend's online popularity with SCP-323,SCP-323 on the SCP Wiki. a supernatural deer skull that curses its wearer with wendigo-like traits. 
===Controversy===
Most depictions of wendigos in popular culture deviate considerably from the original folklore. This cultural appropriation and misrepresentation has received criticism from some Native people. In addition, the aforementioned name taboo has created controversy over whether people should be allowed to discuss the wendigo in a casual context in the first place. 
In any case, numerous Native academics and creatives have used the term in their work, often using the wendigo legend as a metaphor for colonialism, capitalism, or excessive selfishness more generally.Smith, K. More Than Monsters: The Deeper Significance of Wendigo Stories. Facing History, 30 November 2021. (Accessed 26 June 2023.)
==In Fandom==
Wendigos appear as characters in many fanworks. They are especially prominent in fandoms with source material that features wendigos. As of June 2023, there are around 1200 works on AO3 with the additional tag "Wendigo". As one can imagine, a significant percentage of these works are darkfic; of those 1200 works, almost half are also tagged with the "Graphic Depictions of Violence" archive warning. Fans of the cryptozoology field often count the wendigo as a cryptid,A page about the wendigo on a wiki dedicated to cryptids. though this application of the term is controversial.A post on r/Cryptozoology explaining why several legendary beings, including wendigos, should not be classified as cryptids.
Many artists active in fan spaces have created wendigo OCs, and while rare, wendigo adoptables have been made by members of the furry fandom.Results for "wendigo adoptable" on DeviantArt.
Some works can be described as “Wendigo AUs”, in which a canon character is reimagined as a wendigo. For example, there are currently over 200 works on AO3 featuring a wendigo version of Hannibal Lecter. These wendigo!characters may be presented as evil, or may be more sympathetic. 
Some examples of fandoms that include wendigos in their fanworks: 
* Hannibal. An antlered humanoid commonly referred to as a wendigo appears in the show itself. Many fans have created works in which the canonically cannibalistic Hannibal Lecter is a wendigo. 
* Hazbin Hotel. Alastor is a fan-favorite demon character who was a cannibalistic serial killer in his human life, and whose form in hell is deer-like with antlers. As such, he is often interpreted as a wendigo. 
* Supernatural. The second episode of the series features wendigos as monsters, and many fanworks feature them in some capacity. 
* Until Dawn. Wendigos are enemies within the game. 
==Example Fanworks==
===Art===
* Christmas episode of DuckTales was awesome! by dexsterpiece (DuckTales)
* Danny Phantom vs The Wendigo by dragonrex1 (Danny Phantom)
* Eat The Rude by thatdramabitchq (Hannibal)
* Inspiring: Girl seeks vengeance on her friend group in nothing but her underwear by daikaiju-arts (Until Dawn)
* It's Wendigo Alastor doin a spookin by boss-yoshi (Hazbin Hotel)
* Supernatural - Wendigo by Weilard
* Wendigo Alastor by xitsen
* Wendigo Awake by frikineitor143 (Gravity Falls)
===Fic===
* Evolve by awesomepony3947 (Supernatural)
* Gone With the Wendigo by bellatemple, written for the 2012 round of the Supernatural Crossover Big Bang (Supernatural/My Little Pony)
* Human Error by jemariel
* Hunger by JackNTrade (Little Witch Academia)
* I Intend to be Independently Blue by Loz (Teen Wolf)
* the light the moon sends back by bodhirookes (BuzzFeed Unsolved)
* raised by wolves, and other beasts by kafkian (Hannibal)
* Wendigo by Aggression (Hetalia: Axis Powers)
* Wendigo by Peter Wood, originally posted to the Due South Archive (The X-Files/Due South)
* Wendig-oh by smileyavocado1
* Wheredigone? by Vinylshadow (My Little Pony)
===Meta===
* Alastor Demon Form Theory~ by hellotrixstergodhi (Hazbin Hotel)
* by thenightling (Over the Garden Wall)
==References==
Footnotes
Citations