Creatures Of Darkness Mythology

[Desiderato Merriwether]

Creaturesof the NightThose who Dwells in the DarknessProfileAliases and EpithetsLilith, Nightspawns, Night Creatures, Children of the Night, Spirits of the Night, Creatures of Darkness, Creatures of Terror, Terrors of Darkness, Night Fiends, Night Horde, Nightmarish CreaturesNotable RacesLiving Dead, Dark Spirits, BeastsPersonifyDarkness, Terror, the Night, the UnknownAffiliationsDeath (Unknown Connection), the NightRelationshipsProgenitorsDepends on the creatureLeadersAbsalom, Death, Count Dracula, CarmillaAlliesDemons, ReapersEnemiesFae, Angels, the Hunter Organization, Supernatural HuntersOtherResidencesHuman Realm, Earth, Nightland

A Creature of the Night, also known as a Child of the Night, is a type of dark mythical creature in folklore around the world hidden in the night, related to the metaphysical, supernatural, or preternatural.

There are many definitions of what a creature of the night is. The main idea is that a creature of the night is a supernatural, mostly malevolent, creature that comes from the darkness of the moon or the world. Most are creatures born through unnatural means, some examples being cursed in the form of a monster or being turned into an undead creature. They are known as the opposites and enemies of the Fae and Angels, which also makes them the reluctant allies of the Demons. They are led by Absalom, the vampire god and arch-enemy to the high fae king Oberon.

They usually reside in the Nightland, a realm for them created by Death for those who seeks isolation from humanity either in distaste for them or in fear that they would be hunted down. However, unlike the Fae enemies, many of the Creatures of the Night refuse to go the realm and so instead stay in the Human Realm as before.

This is a list of legendary creatures from mythology, folklore and fairy tales, sorted by their classification or affiliation. Creatures from modern fantasy fiction and role-playing games are not included.

"Before the Beginning, after the great war between Heaven and Hell, God created the Earth and gave dominion over it to the crafty ape he called Man. And to each generation was born a Creature of Light and a Creature of Darkness... and great armies clashed by night in the ancient war between good and evil. There was magic then. Nobility. And unimaginable cruelty. And so it was until the day that a false sun exploded over Trinity, and man forever traded away wonder for reason."

Carnivle is an American television series set in the United States during the Great Depression. The series traces the disparate storylines of a young carnival worker named Ben Hawkins and Brother Justin Crowe, a preacher in California. The overarching story is built around a good and evil theme, which serves as a human-scaled metaphor within a complex structure of myth and allegory.[1][2] Samson, who is a dwarf and manages the carnival, sets up the show's mythology with a prologue in the pilot episode, talking of "a creature of light and a creature of darkness" being born "to each generation" preparing for a final battle.[3]

Most mythological elements in Carnivle relate to so-called Avatars (or Creatures of Light and Darkness), fictional human-like beings with supernatural powers who embody good and evil. In its first season Carnivle does not reveal its characters as Avatars beyond insinuation, and makes the nature of suggested Avatars a central question. By the second season it is established that Ben is a Creature of Light and Brother Justin a Creature of Darkness. Other than through the characters, the show's good-and-evil theme manifests in the series' contemporary religion, the Christian military order Knights Templar, tarot divination, and in historical events like the Dustbowl and humankind's first nuclear test. Show creator Daniel Knauf did not respond to questions about the mythology but did provide hints about the mythological structure to online fandom both during and after the two-season run of Carnivle. Nevertheless, many of the intended clues remained unnoticed by viewers. Knauf left fans a production summary of Carnivle's first season two years after cancellation. This so-called Pitch Document, originally written to give HBO and Knauf's co-writers an overview of the intended storyline, backed up and expanded upon the assumed mythological rules.

The term Avatar (also spelled Avatara) originates in Hindu mythology, where it most commonly refers to the incarnation (bodily manifestation) of a higher being or the Supreme Being on Earth. Carnivle's story never clearly establishes the meaning of this term, yet HBO and the writers used the term interchangeably with the Creatures of Light and Darkness of the series' opening monologue. The series portrays Avatars as human-like beings with supernatural powers who embody good and evil, and whose constant and age-long struggle serves to explain the Dark Ages and Ages of Enlightenment in humanity's history in the real world.[4] Carnivle represents this Avataric duality as Light and Dark in several instances. The surnames of the main characters, Ben Hawkins and Justin Crowe, suggest a symbolic link to hawks and crows, the winged Creatures of Light and Dark.[5][6] The last two Tarot cards seen in the Carnivle's opening title sequence are "The Sun" and "The Moon", standing for God and the Devil.[7] By the same token, the show's title card and the logo of the carnival depict a sun placed opposite a moon.[7] Show creator Daniel Knauf designed this logo.[8]

The characters Ben Hawkins and Brother Justin Crowe are revealed to be Avatars through the usage of their supernatural powers; however, viewers did not find it immediately apparent whether a suspected Avatar served as good or evil.[3] The series gave clues, such as depicting the Creatures of Darkness with coal-black eyes (according to Daniel Knauf, Creatures of Light have an invisible aura).[9] An Avatar's nature is determined by the type and application of his powers.[10] As the Pitch Document states, Avatars draw their talents and powers from the same pool. These abilities may vary in type and strength, and include but are not limited to the manipulation and transfer of life force, spiritual healings, telekinesis and telepathy, and granting small measures of powers to a mortal.[11][12] Although the series showed the powers of Ben and Brother Justin, reviewers were still unsure about the main characters' Avataric nature by the end of the first season.[3][13] When Ben's good nature and Justin's dark heritage became clearer in Season 2, reviewers began to describe Carnivle's underlying message as "essentially the opposite of spiritual belief: fatalism".[14] Daniel Knauf disputed any theory of determinism, and repeatedly pointed to the characters' free will to overcome their destiny.[13][15][16][17] Free choice allows the story to portray Avatars as deliberately not making use of their powers or as acting contrary to their nature; an Avatar would however still have to put consistent effort into not lapsing back into his defined moral behavior.[11]

The Pitch Document described Avatars as sharing the ability to envision the past, present and future, both literally and symbolically. Accessing this plane of pure truth is given as an Avatar's birthright and can be improved through study and practice. Avatars can manipulate and transmit the resulting visions through dreams to others. As far as established, only Creatures of Darkness suffer physical weakness or pain when their opposite makes use of his powers. Avatars can sense the existence of their moral opponent, but are unable to detect or identify them outside of close physical proximity. They can, however, easily detect and locate an Avatar of like kind over great distances with great accuracy.[11][18] These abilities contribute to the convergence of the two storylines in Carnivle.

Daniel Knauf overlaid the Avatars of the fictional universe with an elaborate order of succession by blood, similar to the ascent of royal families. The descriptors Royals, King and Prince are replaced in the series with Vectori, Prophet and Prince. Female royals like Queens and Princesses do not have a fictional counterpart and are instead replaced with the concepts of the Alpha, the Omega and the Usher. These Wild Card Avatars have special rules in addition to, or replacing, the normal ones.[12] Reviewers rarely focused on the significance of the mentioned Avataric terms and their implied characteristics in the story, despite detailed explanations by Knauf and the later public availability of Carnivle's Pitch Document, setting out the complex mythological structure.[11]

The first Prophet in the mythology of Carnivle is the Alpha. This creature is never mentioned in the series, but Knauf described her as a female who lived before the Flood and whose story was lost with the destruction of the Royal Library of Alexandria.[19] The Alpha spawned the first pair of Avatara, manifestations of some higher power or House; one is Light and the other Dark.[11][12] A Creature of Light and a Creature of Darkness have been born to each generation since,[20] and unlike the Alpha, they have always been male.[9]

The Avataric Blood travels within families forming a dynasty. The first-born son of an Avatar receives a so-called mantle at birth that manifests him as an Avatar of a new generation; whether the new Avatar is Light or Dark is chance.[11][12][16] Therefore, there is one Avatar to each House per generation.[21] Giving birth to a new Avatar leaves the mother barren and insane. Before that time, she can give birth to an unlimited number of females from an Avatar. These children as well as their respective offspring are called Vectori, beings with Avataric Blood who are not themselves Avatara, and who thus become generationally further removed from an Avatar in the bloodline. While Vectori cannot become Avatara, as that mantle is only conveyed upon birth, they can still exhibit some minor powers and often show signs of insanity.[16][22]

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