Like, this seems to be what the popular idea of wendigos most resembles
deer skull, grey/black human body. Except, that’s not a wendigo
As interpreted by A Wolf Among Us. The Jersey Devil is an urban legend, a cryptid, so open to whatever interpretation you like.
Wendigos weren’t just made up for entertainment. They’re a longstanding part of Algonquin spirituality, and while interpretation varies slightly between Algonquin tribes, it’s consistently NOT deerheaded forest creatures.
A wendigo is a spirit of cold and hunger, most usually described as a giant, emaciated humanoid. Some legends say wendigos grow in proportion to everything they eat so that they’re never full, leading some to become titanic in size. As a spirit it can possess people during deep winter when food is scarce, driving them to cannibalism/turning them into a wendigo. There’s an actual psychological condition exclusive to people who grew up in Algonquin culture, particularly those who’ve experienced extreme hunger, where they come to believe they’ve been possessed by wendigos and dwell obsessively on thoughts of cannibalism, even when other food is plentiful.
Some of my favorite, closer to accurate interpretations of Wendigo:
Guy Davis’s wendigo for BPRD manages to stay mostly humanoid while still being nicely monstery and keeping a wintery vibe. It’s a personal favorite.
(Hellboy is so good you guys)
This one by Gavin Gray Valentine (ggvart.com) also captures the emaciated, cold feeling- with bonus antlers for the people who can’t seem to resist those. This one really conveys the wendigo’s nature as a living symbol of the kind of desperate hunger that can turn us all into monsters for the sake of survival.
Here’s a depiction by Norval Morrisseau, an Anishinaab/Ojibwe artist, that shows the size wendigos often reach in traditional legends, dwarfing the tents below.
Isn’t that more interesting than a deer-skull-headed guy with no meaning behind it?
Have your deer headed guys! I like the look too. But call them Jersey Devils, or forest spirits, or whatever Elias from Magnus Bride is, and let the Wendigo be what it is.
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