GoddessHel and the hellhoundGarmr by Johannes Gehrts, 1889
Ahellhound is a mythologicalhound that embodies a guardian or a servant ofhell, the devil, or the underworld. Hellhounds occur in mythologies around the world, with the best-known examples beingCerberus fromGreek mythology,Garmr fromNorse mythology, theblack dogs ofEnglish folklore, and the fairy hounds ofCeltic mythology. Physical characteristics vary, but they are commonly black, anomalously overgrown, supernaturally strong, and often have red eyes or are accompanied by flames.
Oude Rode Ogen ("Old Red Eyes"), or the "Beast of Flanders", was a demon reported inFlanders, Belgium, in the 18th century who would take the form of a large black hound with fiery red eyes. InWallonia, the southern region of Belgium, folktales mentioned theTchén al tchinne ("Chained Hound" inWalloon), a hellhound with a long chain that was thought to roam in the fields at night.[5]
InFrance, in AD 856, a black hound was said to materialize in a church even though the doors were shut. The church grew dark as it padded up and down the aisle as if looking for someone. The dog then vanished as suddenly as it had appeared.[7] On mainlandNormandy, theRongeur d'Os wanders the streets ofBayeux on winter nights as a phantom dog, gnawing on bones and dragging chains along with it.[8] InLower Brittany, there are stories of aghost ship crewed by the souls of criminals with hellhounds set to guard them and inflict on them a thousand tortures.[9]
In Greek mythology, Cerberus, often referred to as the hound of Hades, is a multi-headed dog that guards the gates of the Underworld to prevent the dead from leaving. He was the offspring of the monsters Echidna and Typhon and was usually described as having three heads, a serpent for a tail, and snakes protruding from multiple parts of his body.[11]
In Norse mythology,Garmr orGarm (Old Norse for "rag") is a wolf or dog associated with both the GoddessHel andRagnarök and described as a blood-stained guardian of Hel's gate.[12]
In Catalan myth,Dip is an evil, black, hairy hound, an emissary of the Devil, who sucks people's blood. Like other figures associated with demons in Catalan myth, he is lame in one leg.[13] Dip is pictured on the escutcheon of Pratdip.
The myth is common acrossGreat Britain in the form of the "black dogs" of English folklore. The earliest written record of the "hellhound" is in the 11th- and 12th-century Peterborough version of theAnglo-Saxon Chronicle, which speaks of a "wild hunt" through the forest betweenPeterborough andStamford.[14]
Thegwyllgi (compound noun of either gwyllt "wild" or gwyll "twilight" + ci "dog") is a mythicalblack dog from Wales that appears as anEnglish mastiff with baleful breath and blazing red eyes.[15]
InWelsh mythology and folklore,Cŵn Annwn (/ˌkuːnˈænʊn/; "hounds ofAnnwn") were the spectral hounds of Annwn, theotherworld of Welsh myth. They were associated with a form of theWild Hunt, presided over byGwynn ap Nudd (rather thanArawn, king of Annwn in theFirst Branch of the Mabinogi).Christians came to dub these mythical creatures "The Hounds of Hell" or "Dogs of Hell" and theorized Satan owned them.[16][17] However, the Annwn of medieval Welsh tradition is an otherworldly paradise and not a hell or abode of dead souls.
InWales, they were associated withmigratinggeese, supposedly because their honking in the night is reminiscent of barking dogs. They are supposed to hunt on specific nights (the eves ofSt. John,St. Martin, SaintMichael the Archangel,All Saints,Christmas,New Year,Saint Agnes,Saint David, andGood Friday) or simply in the autumn and winter. Some say Arawn only hunts from Christmas toTwelfth Night.[citation needed] The Cŵn Annwn also came to be regarded as the escorts of souls on their journey to theOtherworld. The hounds are sometimes accompanied by a fearsome hag calledMallt-y-Nos, "Matilda of the Night". An alternative name in Welsh folklore is Cŵn Mamau, the "Hounds of the Mothers".
Black hellhounds with fiery eyes are reported throughoutLatin America fromMexico toArgentina under a variety of names including the Perro Negro (Spanish for black dog),Nahual (Mexico),Huay Chivo, and Huay Pek (Mexico) – alternatively spelled Uay/Way/Waay Chivo/Pek,Cadejo (Central America), thedog Familiar (Argentina) and theLobizon (Paraguay and Argentina). They are usually said to be either incarnations of the Devil or a shape-changing sorcerer.[18]
The legend of a hellhound has persisted inMeriden, Connecticut, since the 19th century. The dog is said to haunt theHanging Hills, a series of rock ridges and gorges that serve as a popular recreation area and can also be known as a protector of the supernatural. The first non-local account came from W. H. C. Pychon inThe Connecticut Quarterly, in which it is described as a death omen. It is said, "If you meet the Black Dog once, it shall be for joy; if twice, it shall be for sorrow; and the third time shall bring death."[19]
Jinn, although not necessarily evil, but often thought of as malevolent entities, are thought to use black dogs as their mounts. The negative depiction of dogs likely derives from their close association with "eating the dead,' or relishing bones and digging out graves. Likewise, the jinn is often said to roam around graveyards and eat corpses.[20]
TheHuodou (Chinese: 祸斗) is a legendary creature originating within the minorities of southern China.
It is described as having the appearance of a large black dog that can emit flames from its mouth. Fire would break out wherever the Huodou went, so the ancients saw it as a sign of fire and often an ominous symbol. It is probably a demonized tribal symbol of southern China.
TheMahākanha Jātaka of theBuddhistPali Canon includes a story about a black hound namedMahākanha (Pali; lit. "Great black"). Led by the godŚakra in the guise of a forester, Mahākanha scares unrighteous people toward righteousness so that fewer people will be reborn in hell.
His appearance portends the moral degeneration of the human world whenmonks andnuns do not behave as they should, and humanity has gone astray from ethical livelihood.[21]
In Hinduism,Yama, the lord of death, has two dogs who guard the underworld. Their names areSharvara and Shyama. The Nepali festival ofKukur Tihar, which brings dogs into temples to honor and consecrate them, is associated with this myth of Lord Yama and his two dogs.[22]
InJapanese folklore, theOkuri-inu (送り犬) (lit. "escorting dog") is ayōkai that resembles a dog. The okuri-inu closely stalks and follows people walking along mountain paths in the nighttime. If the person falls over by chance, they will be immediately eaten up, but if they pretend to be having a short rest, they will not be attacked.
InPiers Anthony's fantasy novelOn a Pale Horse, Satan sends hellhounds to attack Zane (Death) and bring him back to hell. The hounds are immortal but are dispatched by Death's magical scythe.
Hellhounds are the pets of Harpies inAnne Bishop's The Black Jewels Series, and hellhounds (called Shadow Hounds) appear in Anne Bishop's Tir Alainn trilogy.
The Witches have barghests being demonic creatures along with the Witches. Barghests, however, are always male, and Witches are always female. Barghests are never described but could be seen as dogs.
Hellhounds feature inPercy Jackson & the Olympians byRick Riordan. The most prominent hellhound in the series is Mrs. O'Leary, whomDaedalus previously owned before becoming the pet of Percy Jackson.
InAnthony Horowitz's bookRaven's Gate, the protagonist, Matt, is pursued through a forest by demonic canines after being discovered eavesdropping on a witchcraft ritual.
Hellhounds (called darkhounds) appear several times inRobert Jordan's fantasy book seriesThe Wheel of Time. Darkhounds are a particularly nasty form of Shadowspawn.
InChristopher Moore's 2006 novelA Dirty Job, a pair of hellhounds appear to protect the main character Charlie Asher's daughter Sophie, a toddler in this book, who turns out to be The Death, with a capital D. Sophie names them Alvin and Mohammed. The hellhounds' disappearance is a plot point in the book's 2015 sequel,Secondhand Souls.
A black-colored rottweiler serves Damien, the child anti-Christ in the 1976 filmThe Omen. In folklore,'Black dog' hell hounds are believed to be supernatural servant beings of Satan.
Two hellhounds named Zuul and Vinz are key plot elements in the 1984 filmGhostbusters, in which they are minions of the ancient entity Gozer.[26]
A hellhound named Sammael is one of the main antagonists in the firstHellboy film.
A hellhound named Thorn is the guardian of the vampire Max inThe Lost Boys.
Hellhounds appear in theDon Bluth filmAll Dogs Go to Heaven. In a nightmare sequence, Charlie is sent to the abyss of the Underworld, meets a Beast called the hellhound, and is humiliated by the hellhound's demonic minions.
Hellhounds also appeared on Destination TV in the showMonsters and Mysteries in America during season 2. Where they were seen terrorizing a California community.
TheMTV seriesTeen Wolf features a character who is a hellhound.[28]
In the television seriesThe X-Files, a hellhound is prominently featured in the 2018 episode "Familiar", where it guards the gates of the underworld in a secret Connecticut Puritan graveyard and attacks several victims.
Hellhounds have made a few small appearances as anthropomorphic in the pilot episode for "Hazbin Hotel" duringCharlie's song "Inside of Every Demon is a Rainbow".
In the YouTube animated spin-off series "Helluva Boss", an anthropomorphic receptionist named "Loona". She can be seen working at a company called "I.M.P." another Hellhound named "Vortex" also makes an appearance in Season 1, episode 3, guardingVerosika. Likeincubi andsuccubi, hellhounds have the ability to transform into humans. Hellhounds are later revealed to be the lowest-ranked species in Hell, along with Imps.
In Episode 9 ofInuyasha: The Final Act, "Sesshōmaru in the Underworld", Sesshomaru's mother uses her necklace, the Meido Stone, to a portal from theunderworld to summon the hellhound, but it's unaffected to the Meido Zangetsuha and the beast swallowed Rin and Kohaku as it returned to the underworld, and Sesshomaru after it to save the children and killed it with the Tenseiga.
InWar Commander (a real-time strategy game on Facebook), "Hellhounds" refers to a rogue computer-controlled faction.
InDungeon Keeper, hellhounds are a species of creature that can be attracted to your dungeon by means of the Scavenger Room. They are said to be useful guards and good at locating enemies. They are interpreted as having two heads and the ability to breathe fire.
InDragon's Dogma, fire-breathing hellhounds start to appear on land after the protagonist defeats the dragon.
InUltima Online, hellhounds are a type of hostile creature spawn that appears in a few dungeon areas.
InDon't Starve, hounds, a wolf-like enemy, are based on hellhounds.
InAge of Mythology, hellhounds come out of Hekate's god power, Tartarian, which creates a gate to Tartarus. In addition, the Greek titan is a three-headed hellhound resembling Cerberus, the hellhound that guards the Greek underworld.[29]
Hellhounds appear in the MMORPGAnarchy Online as strong white dogs that are hard to defeat.
"Heck Hound," a child-friendly name change of the hellhound, is the name of a Fire spell in the MMORPGWizard101. In the game, they also appear as pets.
In theFinal Fantasy series, Cerberus appears as a boss and can be summoned to fight with your party with a special move in some instances. Likewise the hellhound sometimes makes an appearance in one of its mythological forms, such as Garm fromFinal Fantasy VI.
InOgre Battle: The March of the Black Queen, the hellhound is a monster that can be recruited by Wizards and upgraded into the Cerberus (despite still having only one head due to sprite limitations).
InBlood, hellhounds appear as regular enemies starting in episode 3. Additionally, Cerberus appears as the boss of episode 3 and makes occasional appearances afterward. Most notably, two of them serve as the final encounter of the expansion Cryptic Passage.[30]
The hellhound was introduced to the game in its first supplement,Greyhawk (1975).[31] The hellhound appeared in theD&D Basic Set (1977), theD&D Expert Set (1981, 1983), and theDungeons & Dragons Rules Cyclopedia (1991). The hellhound appears in the first edition ofMonster Manual.[32] TheMonster Manual was reviewed byDon Turnbull in the British magazineWhite Dwarf #8 (August/September 1978). As part of his review, Turnbull comments on several monsters appearing in the book, noting that the breath weapon of the "much-feared" hellhound has been altered from its previous appearance.[33] The hellhound appeared in the second edition of theMonstrous Compendium Volume Two (1989) and reprinted in theMonstrous Manual (1993). The hellhound appeared in the third edition ofMonster Manual (2000),[34] and in the 3.5 revisedMonster Manual (2003) with theNessian warhound. The hellhound appears in the fourth editionMonster Manual for this edition under theHound entry.[35]
A hellhound resembles a mangy, skinny, somewhat demonichyena-like creature with red eyes and draconic ears. It has the ability to breathe fire. However, the Fourth Edition depicts them as nearly skeletal canines wreathed in flame. The hellhound enjoys causing pain and suffering, and it hunts accordingly. A favorite pack tactic is to surround prey silently and then cause two hellhounds to close in and make the victim back into another hellhound's fiery breath. They will attack with their claws and teeth if they have to. If the prey manages to escape, the hellhounds will pursue it relentlessly. Hellhounds are also quick and agile. Another type of hellhound is the Nessian warhound. Nessian warhounds are coal-black mastiffs the size ofdraft horses and are often fitted with shirts of infernal chainmail. Hellhounds cannot speak but understand Infernal.
The hellhound was ranked ninth among the ten best low-level monsters by the authors ofDungeons & Dragons For Dummies. The authors described them as the "first serious representative of a class of monsters your players will be fighting against for their whole careers: evil outsiders" and that they are interesting because they "introduce players to monsters with an area-effect attack (their fiery breath)."[36]
^Poghirc, Cicerone (1987). "Albanian Religion". In Mircea Eliade (ed.).The Encyclopedia of Religion. Vol. 1. New York: MacMillan Publishing Co. pp. 178–180.
^Varner, Gary R.Creatures in the Mist: Little People, Wild Men and Spirit Beings Around the World: A Study in Comparative Mythology. Algora Publishing 2007, pp. 114–15.
^"The dog at the farm in Pfeiffering could grin as well, even though it was not called Suso, but bore the name Kaschperl". Mann, Thomas. (1947).Doctor Faustus: The life of the composer Adrian Leverkuhn. Translated by J. E. Woods, pp. 29
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This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.