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[[File:Windigo.jpg|thumb|center|Windigo]]
 
[[File:Windigo.jpg|thumb|center|Windigo]]
   
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==Konami Video game==
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[[File:Windigo_(NES).png|right|64px]]
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The Windigo is present in the game, but not shown in the manual. They are created in pairs of two during the final boss fight.
   
 
==2006 remake==
 
==2006 remake==

Revision as of 17:11, 25 August 2016

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Also Known as Wendigo
Witiko
Appeared in Series 1
2006 Series
The Video Game(Stage 7)
Number 24
Point Value 15

Windigo is monster number 24 from Series 1. Available in the original green and red colours and all four neon shades, it has a points value of fifteen. It was also available in very rare, pine green and neon orange premium editions. The Wendigo is depicted here as a horned, shaggy beast-man. It was also redesigned for the 2006 relaunch series

Legend of the Windigo

The Windigo or Wendigo (also known as Weendigo, Windago, Windiga, Witiko, Wihtikow, and numerous other variants) is a mythical, supernatural creature appearing in the mythology of the Algonquian people. It is a malevolent cannibalistic spirit or demon into which humans could transform, or which could possess humans. Those who indulged in cannibalism were at particular risk, and the legend appears to have reinforced this practice as taboo.

Wendigo psychosis is a culture-bound disorder which involves an intense craving for human flesh and the fear that one will turn into a cannibal. This once occurred frequently among Algonquian Native cultures, though has declined with the Native American urbanization.

Recently the Wendigo has also become a horror entity of contemporary literature and film, much like the vampire, werewolf or zombie, although these fictional depictions often bear little resemblance to the original entity.

The Wendigo is part of the traditional belief systems of various Algonquian-speaking tribes in the northern United States and Canada, most notably the Ojibwa/Saulteaux, the Cree, and the Innu/Naskapi/Montagnais. Though descriptions varied somewhat, common to all these cultures was the conception of Wendigos as malevolent, cannibalistic, supernatural beings (known as manitous) of great spiritual power. They were strongly associated with the Winter, the North, and coldness, as well as with famine and starvation. Basil Johnston, an Ojibwa teacher and scholar from Ontario, gives one description of how Wendigos were viewed:


The Wendigo was gaunt to the point of emaciation, its desiccated skin pulled tautly over its bones. With its bones pushing out against its skin, its complexion the ash gray of death, and its eyes pushed back deep into their sockets, the Wendigo looked like a gaunt skeleton recently disinterred from the grave. What lips it had were tattered and bloody [....] Unclean and suffering from suppurations of the flesh, the Wendigo gave off a strange and eerie odour of decay and decomposition, of death and corruption.

At the same time, Wendigos were embodiments of gluttony, greed, and excess; never satisfied after killing and consuming one person, they were constantly searching for new victims. In some traditions, humans who became overpowered by greed could turn into Wendigos; the Wendigo myth thus served as a method of encouraging cooperation and moderation.

Among the Ojibwa, Eastern Cree, Westmain Swampy Cree, and Innu/Naskapi/Montagnais, Wendigos were said to be giants, many times larger than human beings (a characteristic absent from the Wendigo myth in the other Algonquian cultures). Whenever a Wendigo ate another person, it would grow larger, in proportion to the meal it had just eaten, so that it could never be full. Wendigos were therefore simultaneously constantly gorging themselves and emaciated from starvation.

All cultures in which the Wendigo myth appeared shared the belief that human beings could turn into Wendigos if they ever resorted to cannibalism or, alternately, become possessed by the demonic spirit of a Wendigo, often in a dream. Once transformed, a person would become violent and obsessed with eating human flesh. The most frequent cause of transformation into a Wendigo was if a person had resorted to cannibalism, consuming the body of another human in order to keep from starving to death during a time of extreme hardship or famine.

Among northern Algonquian cultures, cannibalism, even to save one's own life, was viewed as a serious taboo; the proper response to famine was suicide or resignation to death. On one level, the Wendigo myth thus worked as a deterrent and a warning against resorting to cannibalism; those who did would become Wendigo monsters themselves. The Windigo is sometimes mistaken for Bigfoot.

Reference in modern and popular culture

While Wendigos have been referred to in literature for many decades (most notably in Algernon Blackwood's 1910 story "The Wendigo," which introduced the legend to horror fiction, and in Stephen King's novel Pet Sematary), recently they have become something of a stock character in horror and fantasy films and television, usually bearing very little resemblance to the Algonquian spirit. Modern portrayals of the Wendigo often depict it in amore bestial form, with fur, claws, fangs and possibly horns. Appearances include the movies Wendigo, and Ravenous, and in episodes of the television series Charmed, Supernatural, Blood Ties and others. They also appear as characters in a number of computer and video games, including Final Fantasy and the Warcraft Universe, as well as role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons. Additionally, there is a Marvel Comics character known as "Wendigo". Native American singer-songwriter Buffy Sainte-Marie created a song called "The Priests Of The Golden Bull" which asserts that the insatiable "money junkies" of our world are Windegos.

Trading card text

Monster in My Pocket promotional materials such as the collectable trading cards give this description of the Windigo: Species: Humanoid

Born: Around 1850 in Northern Canada

Size: 10 feet tall

Habitat: Forests throughout North America

"If you've eve been alone in the woods and sensed that someone was watching you, it may have been Windigo. If it was, be glad that you're still alive! Most others who have experienced this are not so lucky! Windigo is a cannibalistic creature with a never-ending appetite for human flesh. Although this barbaric beast is rarely seen, his presence is often felt. He will silently prey on the minds of woodsmen and hunters for days, carefully leading them deeper and deeper into the forest. When they are totally lost and exhausted, this monster will strike with the silence and speed of the wind."

Trading card front

Windigo

Windigo

Konami Video game

Windigo (NES)

The Windigo is present in the game, but not shown in the manual. They are created in pairs of two during the final boss fight.

2006 remake

2006 windigo

Windigo is monster number 25 in the 2006 Monster in My Pocket relaunch series. It is depicted a vicious, hairy beast. Part of the category The Maniacs, is described on the official site and on its collectable card (#025/230) as follows:

"Windigo was a hairy giant who stalked the thick woods of the Great Lakes Tribes in search of people to devour. He was as tall as a white pine tree and only boiling tallow or the sight of lightning could stop the cannibalistic ice creature from eating an entire village for lunch."

The card gives Wendigo a total points value of 197. Some materials use the alternative spelling Wendigo.