Sources do not provide a formal cosmogonic origin or a ranked placement for the Amikuk. Attestations present the Amikuk as a named spirit-creature in Yup'ik narrative and material culture: a being said to live within the ground and to move between subterranean and undersea realms, encountered in stories about hunting, kayaking, ice travel, and shore crossings.
Reported forms vary by source. In its aquatic guise it is described as hairless with four arms and leathery or slimy skin; accounts say it wraps its arms around people and kayaks and drags them under the water. In its subterranean (earth) guise sources report that it lives within and 'swims' through the ground, but do not supply detailed anatomy for this form. It may take human shape (sources note it may be referred to as a Qamungelriit when in human form). Yup'ik masks and contemporary artworks also represent the Amikuk, but styles and details vary by artist.
Sources describe the Amikuk as a shapeshifter that moves through earth and water. In the sea it attacks hunters in kayaks, wrapping its arms around them and dragging them under to be eaten. From beneath the ground it is said to pursue people onto land by burrowing or 'swimming' through earth and by breaking ice. Accounts record that an Amikuk may 'swim upwards' into a person, which is said to make the person weak, or may 'jump through' a person, which sources say causes them to lie down and die. When shot, one account says the Amikuk multiplies into eight beings. In human form it may offer gifts of increasing value; cultural advice records that a person should sit with their back to it and remain silent while it offers.
Weaknesses
- conditionRemain silent with back turned when met in human form
Wards
- ritualSit with back to the Amikuk and do not speak
Silap Inua
A pervasive Inuit cosmological principle—often called Sila—understood as breath/spirit, the animating medium of life, and the force of sky, wind, and weather. It is generally formless and impersonal, functions as the source or category for certain shamanic powers and helping spirits, and shows regional variations in depiction and emphasis.
Amestris
Amestris is primarily a proper name attested for Achaemenid royal women in classical sources and reused in modern fiction as a toponym (not a supernatural being). Historically it denotes at least one queen consort of Xerxes I and a daughter of Artaxerxes II; in modern culture it is best known as the nation-state named Amestris in the manga/anime Fullmetal Alchemist and as an evocative proper name in various creative works.
Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld (tradition)
No supplied sources document a supernatural entity called 'Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld.' The available materials instead discuss the mineral amethyst (etymology, physical properties, and historical beliefs), the use of 'Amethyst' as a given name, and an incidental modern music credit containing the word 'Amethyst.' Therefore this entry reports only what is attested in those sources and explicitly notes the absence of any attested folkloric figure by that name.
Amethyste (Amethystos)
Amethyste (Ancient Greek: Amethystos) appears in later European literary tradition as a beautiful maiden or nymph transformed into the amethyst gemstone; the story is a post-classical etiological invention explaining the stone's purple color and linking the gem to an ancient belief that it prevented drunkenness.
Amida Nyorai
Amida Nyorai (Amitābha / Amitāyus) is a principal Mahayana Buddha venerated across East Asia as the embodiment of Infinite Light and Infinite Life who presides over a Western Pure Land and is invoked as the savior who receives the dying into rebirth there.
Amihan
Amihan is a figure in Tagalog/Philippine tradition presented both as a bird-deity in origin narratives and as the name for the northeast monsoon season (a cool trade wind). In mythic accounts Amihan appears in the Malakas and Maganda creation story as the bird who frees or rescues the first humans from a bamboo; in cultural usage the same term denotes the recurring amihan season across the Philippines.
Amikiri
An illustrated yōkai first attested in Toriyama Sekien's Gazu Hyakki Yagyō (1776), later described in modern writings as a small creature that cuts nets, mosquito curtains, and bamboo blinds. Scholarly commentary treats it as primarily an iconographic invention or pun by Sekien rather than a well‑attested folkloric agent.
Amimitl (Opochtli)
A Mexica/Aztec deity associated with fishing, hunting, and water-related technologies; identified in sources with the better-documented figure Opochtli, "The Left," who functions as a specialized patron of implements and as a representative or attendant of the rain god Tlaloc. A temple in the Tira de la Peregrinación has been interpreted by a scholar as possibly belonging to a figure labeled Amimitl, but that identification is uncertain.
Amir Arsalan-e Namdar (The Exalted Prince Arsalan)
A powerful, potentially benevolent figure in Persian mythology with magical abilities. (Note: 1. Power tier needs to be adjusted based on abilities described (as benevolent figure with magical abilities), could be Lesser or Minor Spirit instead of Greater. 2. Summary should mention specific my)
Amirani
In the Georgian tradition, Amirani is a Demiurge figure who defied God by introducing metalworking to humanity. (Note: - Power tier: Greater (not Primordial), as Amirani's abilities are more focused on introducing metalworking and defying God than cosmic-scale powers. - Weaknesses: not just "by God", but specifically )
Amisodarus (Chimera)
A composite monstrous creature from Greek myth, traditionally described as a lion with a goat's head on its back and a serpent for a tail, sometimes winged and noted for breathing fire. It is genealogically placed among the chthonic offspring of Typhon and Echidna and is best known from the heroic-age episode in which Bellerophon defeats it.
Amitābha
Amitābha is a central celestial Buddha of Mahayana Buddhism who presides over the western Pure Land called Sukhāvatī. Devotional practices invoking his 'measureless' light and life (nianfo/nembutsu) are presented in Pure Land traditions as a path by which beings may be reborn in his buddhafield and quickly attain Buddhahood.
Community Record
- [1]Amikuk — Wikipedia. Wikipedia, 'Amikuk' entry (accessed via provided research notes)wiki
- [2]Mask representing 'amikuk,' a spirit that lives in the ground — Smithsonian Institution. Smithsonian Institution object record: 'Mask representing "amikuk," a spirit that lives in the ground'other
- [3]John's stories (Chevak) — Alaskool project (Oct 8, 1998). Regional story collection page referencing Yup'ik narratives and shamans (as provided in research notes)folk
- [4]Amikuk | Cryptid Wiki | Fandom. Cryptid Wiki summary of regional reports (cited in research notes)other
- [5]Amikuk mask by Phillip John Charette — ArtNatam. Contemporary artist (Aarnaquq / Phillip John Charette) page describing an Amikuk mask and its didactic meaning (accessed via research notes)other