Mythology
The history of all that is evil (or Oz)...
Werewolf
Folklore tells of unfortunate individuals who become possessed by the spirits of animals, doomed to change uncontrollably into the beast that inhabits them. The wolfman or werewolf is the most common, but other variations exist. In India and China, for instance, Rakhasa, or weretigers are thought to prey on unsuspecting victims. Animal possession is a common theme in many cultures, including some Native American and African tribes. The traditional lore regarding werewolves holds that they change on or about the full moon, and that a silver bullet is the only weapon capable of killing them. Other werebeasts are rumored to have the ability to change form at will, and some can be exorcised using rituals and magic. It is thought that legends involving werebeasts were partially based on a rare disease called Lycanthropy, a syndrome causing the victim to grow hair over the entire body and making the eyes hypersensitive to light. Sufferers of this disease rarely went outside in the daylight, due to their startling appearance and the fact that sunlight was painful to their eyes.
Frankenstein
The idea of re-animating the dead has existed for centuries. The most famous legend regarding this concept was that of Baron von Frankenstein's Monster, from a story by Mary Shelley. As the story goes, Victor Frankenstein, a brilliant young doctor, solved the eternal riddle of life and creating a being from body parts he scavenged from corpses. His creation was to be a superhuman, with great physical prowess and extreme intelligence, but something went very wrong. Faced with the reality that he was unlike anyone else in the world, Frankenstein's monster demanded a partner be created for him. When Frankenstein failed, the monster vowed to haunt his creator as revenge for the hell that was his own life.
Witchcraft
Believed to be in league with Satan and practitioners of the black arts, witches were often totured and killed for their alleged crimes. It was widely held that witches could hex their enemies using a variety of spells and amulets, causing sickness and injury. Often what seemed to be a run of bad luck or a persistent illness was thought to be the work of witchcraft.
Demon
Demons are said to come in many shapes and sizes. They fly, change shape, shoot fire from their mouths, and generally plague humanity for their own amusement. Certain mythology traces the origin of demons back to a time before history, when the world was not controlled by mankind. The "Ancient Ones" as they are sometimes called, ruled the Earth and all its beings for eons, superpowerful and bloodthirsty. Banished into the lower realms, they do everything within their power to corrupt the world, sometimes managing to walk the Earth inside human bodies, "possessing" them. It is said that by knowing a demons true name and calling it out in ritual, you can summon it. Protected inside the magical barrier of a pentagram or five-pointed star, a strong sorcerer could force a demon to do his bidding. Underestimating one's magical ability was, however, a fatal mistake. If one lost control of a demon after summoning, one would usually die and lose one's soul for all eternity. Demon's are notorious liars and masters of trickery. Lured into a dialogue with the demon, an unwary individual could be fooled into acting as the demon's servant, only to be sacrificed when the demon grew bored or found a better follower.
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