This list includes 21 Mythical creatures that start with Y, from “Yacuruna” to “Yurugu”. These beings are varied—spirits, monsters, and animal-hybrids—and useful for research, storytelling, gaming, and education.
Mythical creatures that start with Y are legendary beings tied to cultures worldwide. Notable examples include the Amazonian “Yacuruna”, a powerful water spirit in regional lore.
Below you’ll find the table with Name, Origin, Description, Famous stories, and Alternate names.
Name: The creature’s common name or variant; use this to quickly identify and search for each entry.
Origin: The culture or region where the creature appears, helping you place entries in their mythological context.
Description: A concise one- to two-sentence summary of traits, powers, and appearance to help you compare entries.
Famous stories: One to three well-known tales, sources, or myth cycles that mention the creature for further reading.
Alternate names: Common variants and cross-references so you can match different spellings or regional names quickly.
Mythical creatures that start with Y
| Name | Origin (culture/region) | Type | Notable stories / sources | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yaksha | South Asian (Hindu-Buddhist) | Nature spirit / guardian | Mahabharata; Ramayana; Pali texts | Yakshas are nature-spirits in Hindu and Buddhist lore, often guardians of treasures, trees, and thresholds. They range from benevolent caretakers to tricksters or fearsome beings appearing throughout epics and religious literature. |
| Yakshini | South Asian (Hindu-Buddhist) | Female nature spirit | Puranas; folk tales; temple sculpture | Yakshinis are the female counterparts to yakshas, commonly linked to fertility, trees, and hidden treasure; temple art and folk stories portray them as seductive, protective, or dangerous spirits. |
| Yali | South India (Hindu tradition) | Mythical hybrid / guardian beast | South Indian temple sculpture; Dravidian art | Yali is a sculptural chimera combining lion, elephant, and sometimes horse traits, frequently carved as a guardian figure in South Indian temples, symbolizing strength and protection. |
| Yama | Vedic / South Asian | Death deity / psychopomp | Rigveda; Mahabharata; Tibetan Book of the Dead | Yama is the god of death and judge of the dead in Hindu and Buddhist traditions, directing souls to the afterlife and appearing across Vedic hymns and later epic and religious literature. |
| Ymir | Norse (Scandinavia) | Primordial giant | Poetic Edda; Prose Edda | Ymir is the primeval frost giant whose slain body was used by the gods to create the world in Norse cosmogony; his flesh and bones become the earth and sky. |
| Yokai | Japan | Supernatural creature / spirit (category) | Toriyama Sekien; Hyakki Yagyō; folktales | Yokai is an umbrella term for Japan’s diverse supernatural beings—monsters, spirits, and tricksters—found across folktales, woodblock art, and classical literature from medieval to modern times. |
| Yurei | Japan | Ghost / restless spirit | Kwaidan; Ugetsu Monogatari; Edo ghost tales | Yurei are Japanese ghosts bound to the world by strong emotions like vengeance or sorrow, often shown in white burial kimono with disheveled hair, classic in ghost stories and theater. |
| Yuki-onna | Japan | Snow spirit / yōkai | Japanese folktales; Lafcadio Hearn | The Yuki-onna, or snow woman, is a pale, beautiful spirit of winter who appears in cold-weather tales as either a deadly predator or a compassionate, tragic figure embodying winter’s chill. |
| Yamata no Orochi | Japan | Eight-headed serpent / dragon | Kojiki; Nihon Shoki | Yamata no Orochi is the colossal eight-headed, eight-tailed serpent slain by the storm god Susanoo in Japanese myth; the story includes the serpent’s lair and the rescue of a maiden. |
| Yatagarasu | Japan | Three-legged divine crow | Kojiki; Nihon Shoki; Shinto legends | Yatagarasu is a three-legged crow sent by the gods as a divine guide in Japanese myth, symbolizing guidance, favor, and sometimes the will of heaven in Shinto tradition. |
| Yurlunggur | Australian Aboriginal (Arnhem Land) | Rainbow serpent / creator serpent | Arnhem Land creation stories; Aboriginal oral tradition | Yurlunggur is a major serpent figure in Arnhem Land myths, part of the Rainbow Serpent family, associated with creation, watercourses, ancestral law, and the shaping of country. |
| Yara-ma-yha-who | Australian Aboriginal (Queensland) | Vampiric frog-like monster | Australian Aboriginal tales; folklore collections | The Yara-ma-yha-who is a small, red, frog-like creature from Aboriginal Queensland stories that ambushes travelers, drains blood, then swallows and regurgitates victims changed or weakened. |
| Yule Cat | Iceland | Large seasonal cat monster | Icelandic folktales; Jólakötturinn tradition | The Yule Cat is a massive feline from Icelandic folklore said to eat those who do not receive new clothes before Christmas, a cautionary tale tied to work and Yule customs. |
| Yule Lads | Iceland | Folk-tale trolls / gift-bringers | Icelandic folktales; Yule traditions | The Yule Lads are thirteen mischief-making figures in Icelandic tradition who visit children during the Yule season, originally pranksters and now part of gift-bringing folklore. |
| Yumboes | Senegambia (Wolof) | Fairy-like spirits | Wolof folktales; 19th-century travelogues | Yumboes are small, luminous, fairy-like beings in Wolof folklore of Senegambia, said to live in the underworld and sometimes dance at night, encountered in local tales and traveler accounts. |
| Ypotryll | Medieval England | Heraldic chimera / grotesque | Luttrell Psalter; medieval manuscripts | The Ypotryll is a grotesque composite creature appearing in medieval English manuscripts and heraldry—part boar, part camel, part human—used as a whimsical or alarming emblem in art. |
| Yarilo | Slavic (East Europe) | Spring / fertility deity | Slavic folk rites; medieval chronicles | Yarilo is a Slavic deity or spirit associated with spring, fertility, and vegetation, celebrated in seasonal rites and village customs linked to planting, fertility, and marriage. |
| Yemaya | Yoruba / Afro‑Caribbean | Sea mother goddess / orisha | Yoruba tradition; Santería; Candomblé | Yemaya (Yemọja) is a motherly sea deity in Yoruba and Afro‑Atlantic religions, protector of fishermen, women, and children, central in Santería, Candomblé, and diaspora devotional practice. |
| Yacuruna | Amazonian (Andean/Amazon) | Water spirit / shamanic being | Amazonian myths; shamanic accounts | Yacuruna are river spirits or water people in Amazonian lore, described as aquatic shapeshifters who can abduct humans into underwater realms and appear frequently in shamanic stories. |
| Yurugu | Dogon (Mali, West Africa) | Trickster / cultural figure | Dogon cosmology; ethnographic studies | Yurugu is a figure in Dogon myth often portrayed as a flawed trickster or incomplete creator whose disruptive actions explain disorder, social taboos, and aspects of human life. |
| Yama-uba | Japan | Mountain witch / crone | Japanese folktales; Noh plays | Yama‑uba (Yamanba) is a mountain hag in Japanese folklore—sometimes a fearsome crone preying on travelers, other times a transformed or ambivalent figure who aids or tests visitors. |
Descriptions
Yaksha
Yakshini
Yali
Yama
Ymir
Yokai
Yurei
Yuki-onna
Yamata no Orochi
Yatagarasu
Yurlunggur
Yara-ma-yha-who
Yule Cat
Yule Lads
Yumboes
Ypotryll
Yarilo
Yemaya
Yacuruna
Yurugu
Yama-uba