Hybrids in Mythology

There are hybrids in mythology from all over the world, they all have there own story and there won purpose. I looked a few ranging from all over the world.

http://www.hexapolis.com/2014/09/24/12-strangest-hybrid-creatures-from-mythology/

Ominously translating to ‘devourer‘ or ‘soul eater’, the Ammit (also known as Ammut) was an underworld-dwelling Ancient Egyptian goddess/demon who personified divine retribution. Having a multifaceted anatomy of a lion, hippopotamus and a crocodile, she waited for the opportunity to devour the hearts of people who were deemed unworthy (their worthiness being measured by the scales of Ma’at) – thus cursing their ’empty’ souls to roam aimlessly for eternity, instead of otherworldly bliss. So, in essence, Ammit was not worshiped like other gods; rather she epitomized the collective fear of Egyptians that pertained to ‘second death’.

In one of earlier posts about the unknown facts about Dome of Rock, we mentioned how the site is venerated by Muslims because of its significance as the sacred spot from where Prophet Mohammed rose to heaven in his Night Journey. And, he was supposedly carried to heaven on a fantastical white-hued, horse-like creature named Buraq – that was half-mule (or smaller than a mule), half-donkey (or bigger than a donkey) and had wings. Oddly enough, the eastern sources like Persian and Indian art depict the Buraq to have a humanoid visage and peacock tail, but early-Islamic traditions mention no such specific features.

For those who ‘observe’ their movies might identify the Pazuzu from the famous horror-thriller ‘The Exorcist’. In mythological terms, the winged Pazuzu also had some ominous and unsightly aspects with its dog head, eagle-like feet, a scorpion’s tail and a serpentine penis! As can be gathered from such frightful features, the monster was depicted as demon of winds who could bring upon catastrophic famines during the rainy seasons. However, the Pazuzu was also invoked to lead the fight against other evil spirits, namely the Lamashtu, a malevolent Akkadian goddess who kidnapped infants by snatching them away from their mother’s breasts.

Tarasque is mentioned in various sources, but the most renowned account of the terrifying beast comes from the Medieval ‘bestseller’ Golden Legend. It has been described as a dragon or a dragon-like creature with a head of a lion, a body of an ox covered with a turtle shell, legs (six of them) of a bear and finally a scaled tail that ended up like that of a scorpion. According to the Golden Legend, it dwelt in a marsh along river Rhone, and pounced upon unsuspecting travelers with its “sword-like teeth and sharp horns”. As for its origins, the mythical being was said to come from the region of Galatia (in present-day Turkey) – the homeland of its legendary bison-like parent, Onachus.

Real Hybrid animals

Although biological hybrids are rare to come across, it can occasionally happen this make a biological hybrid in which two different species mate, and in return the offspring inhabits traits from both parent species. Although most hybrids are made in captivity as most of these species live in different areas of the world therefor making it impossible for them to ever cross paths, however in captivity there is a chance for these animal to cross paths, making hybrids.

http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/animals/photos/11-amazing-hybrid-animals/ligers#top-desktop

Ligers are the cross of a male lion and a female tiger, and they are the largest of all living cats and felines. Their massive size may be a result of imprinted genes which are not fully expressed in their parents, but are left unchecked when the two different species mate. Some female ligers can grow to 10 feet in length and weigh more than 700 pounds.

http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/animals/photos/11-amazing-hybrid-animals/grolar-bears#top-desktop

The offspring of a grizzly bear and a polar bear, a grolar bear is one beast you don't want to meet in the woods. Interestingly, unlike many hybrid animals on this list, grolar bears are known to occur naturally in the wild. Some experts predict that polar bears may be driven to breed with grizzly bears at an increased frequency due to global warming, and the fact that polar bears are being forced from their natural habitats on the polar ice.

http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/animals/photos/11-amazing-hybrid-animals/savannah-cats#top-desktop

Savannah cats are the name given to the offspring of a domestic cat and a serval — a medium-sized, large-eared wild African cat. The unusual cross became popular among breedersat the end of the 20th century, and in 2001 the International Cat Association accepted it as a new registered breed. Interestingly, savannahs are much more social than typical domestic cats, and they are often compared to dogs in their loyalty. They can be trained to walk on a leash and even taught to play fetch.

http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/animals/photos/11-amazing-hybrid-animals/zebroids#top-desktop

A zebroid is the offspring of a cross between a zebra and any other equine, usually a horse or a donkey. There are zorses, zonkeys, zonies and a host of other combinations

Human Hybrid

Moving on from our wounds, we are now starting to look at creating a Human Hybrid. Hybrid means two things that have become one, so for this part of special effects we have to create a new creature that is part human and part something inspired from nature, for example, an animal, a  living organism such as a plant of a tree or an element. I am looking forward to this part of the special effects as i feel that we will be able to be at our most creative and have no limits to our creativity.

Scarecon

In November we attended an event, scare con. When we went I didn't know what I was expecting, it was hosted by the original farmers who first started scarecon, and they took us through the process of the different attractions they held, and how they expanded each year, making the attractions bigger and scarier. They presented to a range of attraction holders, whilst they then went through there scare events from the year. The talks were really interesting as it gave us an insight into how much work goes into making these events happen. We then got to see each attraction without actors and later saw the actors having there makeup done. There was such a large cast with such vast and different characters and subsequently looks for each individual character, it was fascinating to see the whole process and also the set up. We then got to go and see the different attractions in the night and experience them for ourselves. I enjoyed the experience although I was genuinely terrified most of the time, we also got filmed for Solent tv of our reaction to one maze in perticular, biometrics, which was voted the scariest maze of 2015.

Reflection of wound and of first prosthetic application

i     I feel that in my special effect lessons that i have learnt a lot, as everything i have learnt in these lessons has been completely new. I really enjoyed the technical side of special effects, creating the pieces was interesting, however was quite time consuming, so having to set aside time to make the pieces was a really important part of making our moulds. However i found that as soon as you make the negatives it is a lot easier to be able to refill again to make more then one piece and replicate. Although i have enjoyed prosthetic i can already feel that this area is not something i would wish to continue in, i'm glad i have a new technique that i can use, but i don't feel that it is something i'm good at, and feel i would need a lot more practice to be able to say it's something i'm good at. The area i find the hardest is the application of the mould and the blending as i find i always had areas that would lift and wouldn't stick as well as i wanted them too.

Final images of wound (edited)

Final images for my wound (unedited)