List of avian humanoids

Huitzilopochtli, Aztec god of Tenochtitlan.

Avian humanoids (people with the characteristics of birds) are a common motif in mythology, folklore, and popular fiction.

In myth and legend

Myth

• Angels in all Abrahamic religions
• Alkonost, Gamayun, and Sirin from Russian mythology
• The winged gods Anzu/Zu, Siris, and Lammasu/Shedu from Mesopotamian mythology
• The Ekek in Philippine mythology is depicted as a humanoid with bird wings and a beak
• The Faravahar of Zoroastrianism
• The Garuda, eagle-man mount of Vishnu in Hindu mythology, was pluralized into a class of bird-like beings in Buddhist mythology
• The gods Horus and Thoth from Ancient Egyptian mythology were often depicted as humans with the heads of a falcon and an ibis, respectively.
• Huitzilopochtli, the "left-handed hummingbird"; god of the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan
• Karura in Japanese folklore
• Lei Gong, a Chinese thunder god, often depicted as a Garuda-like bird man
• The second people of the world in Southern Sierra Miwok mythology, as reported by Barrett
• Hermes and its counterpart Mercury in Greek and Roman mythology are usually depicted with sandals and a helm with wings on it, and sometimes also with bird-like wings
• Nike, Boreas, Eros and the Gorgon sisters from Greek mythology are all depicted with birdlike wings. Also the Sirens and Harpies were often represented as half-human half-bird.
• Tangata manu of Easter Island, often depicted as a Frigate bird/Human hybrid
• Valkyrie, and possibly connected with the Fylgja of Norse mythology

Folklore

• The Swan maidens found in the folktales of various cultures
• The Tengu of Japanese folklore, monstrous forest and mountain dwelling humanoids often possessing the wings, claws, and sometimes the beak of a bird.

Cryptozoology

• Owlman in Cornwall

In fiction

Examples of avian humanoids in science fiction and fantasy fiction include:

Literature

• The winged people of Normnbdsgrsutt in Robert Paltock's utopian fantasy Peter Wilkins (1750), including Youwarkee, whom Peter marries.
• The Flock from the Maximum Ride novel series.
• The bird people of Brontitall, led by The Wise Old Bird, in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy are depicted by Douglas Adams as evolving from humans who are so sick of buying shoes that they become bird-like creatures and never set foot on the ground again (see Shoe Event Horizon).
• The race of garuda in fantasy author China Miéville's world Bas-Lag as featured in Perdido Street Station.
• In J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, a race of magical creatures called Veela appear as extraordinarily beautiful women, but turn into frightening bird-like creatures when angered.
• The Flight from the Generation Icarus novel series.
• Angela Carter's Nights at the Circus tells the story of a woman, Fevvers, who was born with wings.
• D. R. Merrill's novel Lamikorda deals with humans from a devastated Earth being invited to settle in the solar system of the Alplai, a humanoid species sharing a common descendant with avians and distinguished by their beaks and plumage.

Comics

• There had been some avian humanoids in DC Comics.
  • The incarnations of Hawkman and Hawkgirl are two winged human-like aliens (Thanagarian).
  • Northwind (another DC hero) comes from the hidden city of Feithera, a lost nation of avian humanoids.
  • Starhaven, colonized in the 23rd century DC Comics Universe and homeworld of Dawnstar in the 31st century.
  • Swift, A fictional superheroine in the Wildstorm universe, member of superhero team known as The Authority
• There had been some avian humanoids in Marvel Comics.
  • Angel/Archangel, a winged mutant from the X-Men series
  • Bird-Man of the Ani-Men
  • Howard the Duck hails from Duckworld, an alternate Earth where ducks evolved instead of apes.
  • Red Raven is the last of the Marvel Comics bird-people.
• Flyer, a winged hero from the NEW-GEN series
• Scrooge McDuck, uncle of Donald Duck, lives in Duckburg along with many anthropomorphized characters, mostly ducks and birds.

Film and television

• Birdmen, the race from which the character Hawk came in the television series Buck Rogers in the 25th Century
• Birdperson, a member native to the Bird-culture on Birdworld from the animated sci-fi cartoon Rick and Morty
• Daffy Duck from the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies animated shorts.
• Alien Pega , Alien Guts , and Alien Raybeak from the Ultra Series
• Big Bird from the children's show Sesame Street
• Charn, the Evil One from the BBC series Through the Dragon's Eye, resembles a cloaked, skeletal bird-human who uses magic that can turn people into slime.
• Duckman from the animated sitcom of the same name
• Two mysterious bird-human hybrids from an episode of the TV series Aeon Flux (Season Three, Episode Two, "Isthmus Crypticus")
• The Hawk Men ruled by Prince Vultan (Brian Blessed) in the comic strip, film serial and cult film Flash Gordon.
• The Litts are a race of bird-like warriors from planet Litt who work for Frieza's Galactic Frieza Army in the Dragon Ball Z series.
• The cartoon show Mighty Ducks: The Animated Series depicts the main characters as anthropomorphized ducks who play hockey and fight evil.
• Stratos and his kin in the Masters of the Universe cartoon series (and line of toys)
• Vultureman, Vultaire, Horus, the Ravenmen, and the Birdmen race as a whole from ThunderCats.
• The extinct Avian Xindi from Star Trek: Enterprise.
• Angels of the Lord from CW's currently airing television series Supernatural. Recurring main character Castiel is an Angel of God.
• The TV series Ugly Americans featured Man-Birds which are humanoid birds with wings instead of arms. Other avian humanoids in that show include the Chicken People (a race of humanoid chickens), the Flamingo People (a race of flamingo-headed humanoids), the Goose People (a race of humanoid geese), and the Penguin People (a race of humanoid penguins).

Duck universe

The Duck universe is a land of sentient humanoid ducks created by Carl Barks as part of the wider Mickey Mouse universe. Characters within it include:

• Daisy Duck, the girlfriend of Donald Duck
• Darkwing Duck from the children's animated series Darkwing Duck
• Gyro Gearloose, an inventor (and chicken)
• Donald Duck from the Disney animated shorts.
• Huey, Dewey, and Louie, Donald Duck's nephews
• Ludwig von Drake, a scientist
• Magica De Spell: a sorceress
• Scrooge McDuck, Donald's ultra-rich uncle

Games

• Aarakocra a race of bird-like humanoids in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.
• The Aracoix are a race of bird-people in the fantasy massively multiplayer online role-playing game Shadowbane.
• The Aven are a bird race from Otaria in the Magic: The Gathering novels and collectible card game.
• The Biata in the NERO International LARP game are a playable race of bird-like humanoids descended from gryphons.
• Chozo from the Metroid franchise of video games.
• Falco Lombardi, from the Star Fox series.
• The Rito from the Zelda game The Wind Waker.
• Turians and Raloi from Mass Effect
• The Kig-Yar in Halo
• The Tengu in Guild Wars
• Alestes in Agony
• Hagravens in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
• Aviantese are a race of humanoid avian creatures, fighting for their god Armadyl, who is also aviantese, in the "MMORPG" RuneScape
• Avians, a playable race of humanoid bird men from the game Starbound
• The Arakkoa from the MMORPG World of Warcraft
• Chica The Chicken From The horror game Five Nights At Freddy's

See also

• List of piscine and amphibian humanoids
• List of reptilian humanoids

References

1. ^ S. A. Barrett (1919-03-27). "Myths of the Southern Sierra Miwok". University of California Publications in American Archeology and Ethnology 16 (1): 1–28.
2. ^ Bestia Mortale (1999). "Death Is In the Air: Egyptian Sirens Came to Ancient Greece to Ease Souls' Path to Persephone". Widdershins 5 (5).

External links

• Cathy S. Mosley. ""The Princess of the Bird People" a retelling of "Manora, the Bird Woman," from Thailand". H-NILAS: Stories for the Seasons. Retrieved October 31, 2005. — This cites Toth, Marian Davis (1971). Tales From Thailand. Tokyo: Charles E. Tuttle..
• Zerah'el Dancing Grouse. "The Story of the Bird People". Free Cherokee. Retrieved October 31, 2005. — a story from a story teller of the Bird Clan of East Central Alabama that parallels the evolution of birds from dinosaurs