Lean Fiend

The Midnight Article "Sightings" was written by u/Revolutionary-Qual7 and was posted to r/MidnightPaper.

The text of the Article was as follows:

**SIGHTINGS**

"I seen them creatures, they can rip a man in half with their bare hands, bones and all!" This is what the first eye witness stated when we interviewed him. He did not want his name in the Paper. After he calmed down we were able to get more from him. His Statement was as follows:

"I was jogging by the woods like I do every day when out of the corner of my eye I seen this creature. It was straight out of a Lovecraft novel. It was half wolf, half insect and it walked on two legs."

This is what we were able to get from the man who had the first sighting. These sightings of creatures are becoming a common thing. Are they a hoax? Is it an alien invasion? Or is this the mythological creature that some rare artifacts that hold strange powers come from? We don’t have many answers but since we are the first to report this we are calling this creature the "Lean Fiend"

Description:

"Lean Fiends" are Biological-Type Oddities. They resemble the mythical creature known as "The Chimera," a being that possesses the physical attributes of several different animals. The Chimera was usually depicted as a lion, with the head of a goat protruding from its back, and a tail that might end with a snake's head.

Like The Chimera, The Lean Fiend possesses the traits of two different animals. The Lean Fiend that was sighted by the witness in the Article shared the physical attributes of a wolf and an unidentified insect. It walked on two legs, which may indicate that it also possessed a few of the physical qualities of a human being.

Origins:

Like the Article states, the origins of these creatures is entirely unknown. There are too many possibilities to consider. Given the fact that the witness referred to them as "these creatures," it is evident that several of these creatures exist and are roaming the wilderness freely.

Given the Lean Fiends' similarity with the mythical Chimera, it is important to consider The Chimera's origins, as Lean Fiends may have a similar background.

In Greek mythology, The Chimera was born from the union of Typhon and Echidna. Typhon was a winged, giant man that possessed several serpentine qualities. He was often depicted as having the tail of a snake as his lower body. Sometimes, however, he also possessed snakes for hands and feet.

The Chimera's mother was the mythological figure known as "Echidna." She was depicted as being a giant creature that was half woman and half snake. She was the mother of several mythological beings, including Cerberus (the guardian of the underworld), the Nemean Lion, The Sphinx, and The Lernaean Hydra.

Like The Chimera, then, it is possible that Lean Fiends are the offspring of other, unknown Biological-Type Oddities. These Oddities may share some of the physical traits that Lean Fiends possess. The Lean Fiend mentioned in the Article, for example, was a cross between an insect, a wolf, and possibly a human being. It is possible then, that that particular Lean Fiend's parents included an Oddity that resembled an insect and an Oddity that resembled a wolf.

It is possible that each Lean Fiend possesses different biological traits depending on those of its parents. A lion-like Oddity and a crocodile-like Oddity, for example, might produce a Lean Fiend that is half lion and half crocodile.

Behavior:

Lean Fiends appear to behave much like wild animals. The witness quoted in the Article mentioned that he saw the creatures "rip a man in half with their bare hands." Why exactly the Lean Fiend in question attacked in that particular instance is unknown, but perhaps the men who were attacked simply entered the creature's habitat. It is also possible that the creatures have human-level intelligence, and simply enjoy attacking human beings. A fact that supports the possibility of human-level intelligence was that the witness did not state that he saw the creatures eat the men, only that he saw them tear the men in half.