#shug monkey

[zerozerosenpai-art]

The different types of black dog!

[shadyufo]

Cryptids & Creatures of Folklore Drawtober Day 6 — Shug Monkey

Rendlesham Forest in Suffolk, England is the site of a well-known UFO encounter by US Air Force men stationed at RAF Woodbridge in 1980. `However, Rendlesham Forest is also said to be the home of a huge, hairy creature that likes to lurk around campsites and frighten hikers. The Shug Monkey is described as having the face of a baboon or similar ape, being covered in dark, shaggy hair, having a body more like that of a dog than an ape, and being able to lumber about on its hind legs. 

[thecreaturecodex]

Shug Monkey

Image © Traci Shepherd, accessed at Arcane Beasts and Creatures here

[The third leg of our World Tour takes us to Europe, the smallest continent by landmass but probably the largest in terms of recorded folkloric monsters. That has as much with or more to do with the global prominence of various European peoples and languages on a political and academic scale than it does with any real propensity. Take for example black dogs. If we were dealing with outside anthropologists looking into Britain, all of the various black dogs would likely be lumped together, the same way that lots of indigenous American beliefs are all collected under the English language “thunderbirds”. But since British people were the ones writing it down, all of the different black dogs have been distinguished. And basically every county in Britain has its own version. The Shug Monkey, for example, is Cambridgeshire’s resident black dog.]

Shug Monkey CR 2 CN Magical Beast This creature resembles a hybrid of a dog and monkey, with a canine body and simian face. Its fingers are long and nimble, and its eyes glow.

Shug monkeys are widespread and adaptable semi-intelligent creatures, combining features of dogs and monkeys. They are gregarious, often combining forces into troops, or finding a larger, more powerful monster to be a sycophant for. They may surround other canine horrors such as galleytrots or barghests like pilot fish, both sniffing out prey for them and scavenging on whatever scraps are left over.

Shug monkeys are omnivorous, and are not necessarily out to hurt or kill humanoids, particularly if outnumbered. Their eerie gaze causes mild fear and renders its victims more likely to succumb to other fear effects. While people are so distracted, a shug monkey may attempt to rob them of food or shiny objects, lure them into an ambush, or simply run away. They can go invisible, but only for brief periods of time.

Shug monkeys like to have caves or hollow trees to hide in during the day, but can be found in a wide variety of habitats. They are found in the largest numbers underground, where they may gather in dark folk colonies. The caligni regard shug monkeys as freelance pets, garbage disposals and occasional dietary supplements during lean times, the way that feral dogs or pigs may be treated in aboveground settlements.

A shug monkey is about three feet long. They are most comfortable on all fours, but rise to their hind legs in order to scratch at enemies or rifle through trash.

Shug Monkey    CR 2 XP 600 CN Small magical beast Init +2; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, Perception +1, scent Defense AC 15, touch 13, flat-footed 13 (+1 size, +2 Dex, +2 natural) hp 19 (3d10+3) Fort +5, Ref +6, Will +2 Immune fear; Weakness light sensitivity Offense Speed 40 ft., climb 20 ft. Melee bite +5 (1d4), 2 claws +4 (1d3) Special Attacks spooky gaze Spell-like Abilities CL 3rd, concentration +4 3/day—vanish Statistics Str 11, Dex 15, Con 13, Int 4, Wis 12, Cha 12 Base Atk +3; CMB +2; CMD 14 (18 vs. trip) Feats Dazzling Display, Weapon Focus (bite) Skills Acrobatics +6 (+10 when jumping), Climb +10, Intimidate +6, Sleight of Hand +7, Stealth +9; Racial Modifiers +4 Acrobatics, +4 Intimidate, +4 Sleight of Hand; uses Dex to Climb Languages Dark Folk (cannot speak) Ecology Environment temperate land and underground Organization solitary, pair or troop (3-12) Treasure standard Special Abilities Spooky Gaze (Su) Range 30 ft.; save Will DC 13; effect -2 penalty to saves against fear and Perception checks, +1 bonus to initiative; duration 1 minute. Multiple failed saves do not cause the penalties to increase, but do add to the duration. This is a mind-influencing fear effect, and the save DC is Charisma based.

[yonniboi]

You see a dog-monkey loping through your fields. What do you do?

[valhahazred]

The Cryptid Mythos 4 - Dogmen

Fourth in a series exploring what the source of various cryptid encounters and modern folklore could be in the Cthulhu Mythos.

Dogman

Although they were reported all the way back in 1936 with the Beast of Bray Road, the Dogman only recently found popularity and is something of an up and comer in the cryptid world. It is particularly popular on Youtube, where you can find thousands of hours of dubious sightings.

While some cryptozoologists treat them as flesh and blood creatures evolved from natural canines they are often seen as a much more supernatural creature, perhaps even synonymous for werewolves and skinwalkers.

Gugwe

Torn between the worlds of Dogman and Bigfoot, the Gugwe is a hairy humanoid with a canid or baboon-like muzzle. Proponents of the north american great apes claim they are a subspecies of sasquatch with a longer snout, pointing to the sagittal crest and humanoid body. Believers in canine humanoids however think it's either a misidentification based on Bigfoot being far better known or that it could be a midpoint in a dogman's transformation.

Batsquatch

A very chimeric creature, the Batsquatch is said to be a blue-furred winged humanoid with a wolfish head and feet like a bird's. It is also incredibly large, with the first witness claiming it was 8 or 9 feet tall with a 50 ft wingspan. Even wilder, a later sighting was of a batsquatch that was supposedly at least 20 feet tall!

Between their impossible size and hexapedal body plan it's extremely unlikely to be a natural creature, if it exists at all. One theory to explain it's unlikely appearance is that it's an alien or ultraterrestrial creature brought to Earth by a dimensional gateway opened by the eruption of Mt St. Helens.

Shug Monkey

Black hounds can be found haunting crossroads and cemeteries all over the UK but a curious variant could once be found in the vicinity of Slough Hill Lane in Cambridgeshire. The creature is said to have the body of a large shaggy dog but a hideous ape-like head. It would usually race about on all fours but could rise up and shuffle about on its hind legs as well.

If it ever existed it has died or moved elsewhere as nobody has seen it since before the second world war.

Capelobo

Despite being called the "caped wolf" the Capelobo is actually more of a were anteater! They are described as being enormous hunched figures with shaggy fur over impenetrable skin, round hooves and anteater like claws and heads. It can also take a more animalistic form, described as a shaggy dog-like body with a head like a tapir. This might not actually be shapeshifting, some cryptozoologists suggest it could be a separate but related creature or a part of the Capelobo's life-cycle. A Capelobo is created when an elderly person chooses to spend their last days in the jungle, transforming into a monster instead of passing on.

It is a predatory and vampiric creature, hunting pet animals and livestock for their blood. They rarely hunt humans but when they do it is said that they crack open their skulls before sucking their brains out with a long sticky tongue.

The shriek of the Capelobo can be heard for miles and drive even the strongest willed to paralyzing madness. In addition the creatures are said to smell so bad that it stuns and sickens those that encounter it.

Ghouls

Look, it's ghouls! If a Mythos Investigator goes looking into Dogman sightings 9 times out of 10 it'll be them, if it's anything at all.

Wherever humans live, there are Ghouls. They have spread across the Earth, every Dreamland ever dreamt by the minds of men and even a few distant worlds where humans have been transplanted. They come in all shapes and sizes, from the nearly human to great beasts.

Ok but if it’s not them, it could be

Hunters from Beyond

These entities are inhabitants of the Netherworld, the ectoplasmic reaches of subspace from which ghosts and elementals form. They normally have no way to travel between dimensions but if they are ever brought into the presence of a being from the mortal spheres, they can follow the Astral shadow to the waking lands. Even with the ability to travel they cannot fully interact with the matter of our universe, with ectoplasmic slime being the only material they can leave behind. That doesn't mean they aren't dangerous,  if they can enthrall the senses of their prey they lead them back to their fetid realm and sink them in the psychovorous slime where their souls can be consumed at their leisure.

Yidhra's Mate

When Yidhra feels she is falling behind the people of Earth, she chooses a Mate among the dominant life forms with whom to exchange genetic material. Yidhra will self evolve to match the Mate's species, while the Mate mutates wildly with the influx of millions of years of genes. While there are no guarantees in the result of their transformation a prospective Mate can at least be sure that they will survive the process and that they will live at Yidhra's side until it comes time for a new Mate to be chosen. Although no two Mates are exactly alike, the last known was easily mistaken for a large dog at a distance. It was only on closer inspection that saurian jaws and razor bladed claws could be noticed.

Ngirrth’lu

Written of in the pre-human Scrolls of Yalith, the contents passed down in shards from distant Xithu, Ngirrth’lu is the lord of the Lupine Ones. He resides within Ykia, the land of Red Snows, a vast haunted forest under a perpetual fall of rusty snow. There is a gate to this subdimensional pocket in the backwoods of rural Minnesota but it once opened in Averoigne, from which its roaming servitors gave rise to the legend of the Beast of Gévaudan. It is unknown why it looks so much like a great winged wolf or if that was its original form at all for it is not of Earth. Ngirrth’lu was born of Lukth, the Womb Planet, long before there were ever wolves on this planet.

Voormi

Although their time is long over the ancient people of Hyperborea might still exist, hiding in remote areas from human expansion. Maybe sightings of Dogman are increasing so precipitously not because it's the newest Cryptid fad but because the Voormi are spreading, scouting out towns and preparing for something. It's unlikely that they could take any ground from humanity through force of arms, what do they have that is making them so bold?

Werewolves

Lycanthropy is not always literally a transformation from human to wolf. A Werewolf is a human possessed, sleepwalking as a Dream of relentless predation carries their body through acts of terrible violence. Although the werewolf's form does not change, their animalistic movement and savage behavior can give the impression of a huge beast.

[trubluebecca]

More Mythic May stuff.

[nachsie]

My interpretation of a Shug Monkey.

The Shug Monkey is a mythical creature, in the folklore of Cambridgeshire, sharing the features of a dog and monkey, which reportedly haunted Slough Hill Lane which leads from the village of West Wratting to nearby Balsham. The creature, said to have the body of a jet-black shaggy sheepdog and the face of a monkey with staring eyes,was not believed to be an escaped primate nor a cryptid hominoid (like bigfoot or the yeti) but rather a supernatural ghost or demon.  Local writer and broadcaster James Wentworth Day, who first related stories of the Shug Monkey in Here Are Ghosts and Witches (1954), described it as a curious variation of Black Shuck, while local folklorist Polly Howat suggests that both share common origins in Norse mythology. Local Police Constable A. Taylor, who heard the stories of the creature in his youth, described it to Wentworth Day as, "a cross between a big rough-coated dog and a monkey with big shining eyes. Sometimes it would shuffle along on its hind legs and at other times it would whiz past on all fours." 

He also stated that after dark local children at that time avoided its haunt on Slough Hill, which was then an overgrown and little-used lane.Folklorist Polly Howat confirms that the Shug Monkey had not been seen since before World War II.

[lpbestiary]

The Shug Monkey is a creature purported to haunt Slough Hill Lane in Cambridgeshire, England. It is described as having the body of a shaggy black sheepdog and the face of a monkey with large, glowing eyes. Sometimes it walks on its hind legs, while at other times it will move on all fours.

Though it has been listed among cryptids, the Shug Monkey is more often seen as a spirit. Local writer James Wentworth Day was the first to encounter the creature, and described it as similar to Black Shuck. Since World War II, children have avoided Slough Hill after dark.

Image source.

Monster master list.

Suggest a spook.