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Pointy Ears
Pointy ears or pointed ears are a characteristic of numerous animals, at least one genetic disorder in humans, as well as a cliché in popular culture, particularly in the fantasy genre. They are commonly known as elf ears. Animals "Pointy ears" is a characteristic of some animals. Some examples are the cat, vampire bats, civets and genets of the viverridae family, red pandas, and African bush pigs. Humans One of the characteristics of the Williams syndrome has been described as "pointed ears". There are also cases of people being born with pointed ears not associated to William's syndrome. In one family a woman was born with two pointed ears, she later had a son with two less dramatically pointed ears, and she had a great uncle with one pointed ear. Some cases of pointed ears may be due to trauma to ears during labor, and the ear crease may unfold with time. The pointed ear(s) in Stahl's ear is caused by misshapen cartilage. It is characterized by an extra horizontal fold of car ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cliché
A cliché ( or ) is an element of an artistic work, saying, or idea that has become overused to the point of losing its original meaning or effect, even to the point of being weird or irritating, especially when at some earlier time it was considered meaningful or novel. In phraseology, the term has taken on a more technical meaning, referring to an expression imposed by conventionalized linguistic usage. The term is often used in modern culture for an action or idea that is expected or predictable, based on a prior event. Typically pejorative, "clichés" may or may not be true. Some are stereotypes, but some are simply truisms and facts. Clichés often are employed for comedic effect, typically in fiction. Most phrases now considered clichéd originally were regarded as striking but have lost their force through overuse. The French poet Gérard de Nerval once said, "The first man who compared woman to a rose was a poet, the second, an imbecile." A cliché is often a vivid d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Curupira
The ''Curupira'' () is a mythological creature of Brazilian folklore. The name comes from the Tupi language ''kuru'pir'', meaning "covered in blisters". According to the cultural legends, this creature has bright red/orange hair, and resembles a man or a dwarf, but its feet are turned backwards. ''Curupira'' lives in the forests of Brazil and uses its backward feet to create footprints that lead to its starting point, thus making hunters and travelers confused. Besides that, it can also create illusions and produce a sound that is like a high pitched whistle, in order to scare and drive its victim to madness. It is common to portray a ''Curupira'' riding a collared peccary, much like another Brazilian creature called '' Caipora''. A ''Curupira'' will prey on poachers and hunters that take more than they need of the forest, and he also attacks people who hunt animals that were taking care of their offspring. There are many different versions of the legend, and so the creature's ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Victorian Literature
Victorian literature refers to English literature during the reign of Queen Victoria (1837–1901). The 19th century is considered by some to be the Golden Age of English Literature, especially for British novels. It was in the Victorian era that the novel became the leading literary genre in English. English writing from this era reflects the major transformations in most aspects of English life, from scientific, economic, and technological advances to changes in class structures and the role of religion in society. Famous novelists from this period include Rudyard Kipling, Charles Dickens, William Thackeray, the three Brontë sisters, George Eliot, and Thomas Hardy. While the Romantic period was a time of abstract expression and inward focus, essayists, poets, and novelists during the Victorian era began to direct their attention toward social issues. Writers such as Thomas Carlyle called attention to the dehumanizing effects of the Industrial Revolution and what Carlyle c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Manga
Manga ( Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is used in Japan to refer to both comics and cartooning. Outside of Japan, the word is typically used to refer to comics originally published in the country. In Japan, people of all ages and walks of life read manga. The medium includes works in a broad range of genres: action, adventure, business and commerce, comedy, detective, drama, historical, horror, mystery, romance, science fiction and fantasy, erotica ('' hentai'' and '' ecchi''), sports and games, and suspense, among others. Many manga are translated into other languages. Since the 1950s, manga has become an increasingly major part of the Japanese publishing industry. By 1995, the manga market in Japan was valued at (), with annual sales of 1.9billion manga books a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anime
is hand-drawn and computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening of the English word ''animation'') describes all animated works, regardless of style or origin. Animation produced outside of Japan with similar style to Japanese animation is commonly referred to as anime-influenced animation. The earliest commercial Japanese animations date to 1917. A characteristic art style emerged in the 1960s with the works of cartoonist Osamu Tezuka and spread in following decades, developing a large domestic audience. Anime is distributed theatrically, through television broadcasts, directly to home media, and over the Internet. In addition to original works, anime are often adaptations of Japanese comics (manga), light novels, or video games. It is classified into numerous genres targeting various broad and niche ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vampire
A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mischief or deaths in the neighbourhoods they inhabited while they were alive. They wore shrouds and were often described as bloated and of ruddy or dark countenance, markedly different from today's gaunt, pale vampire which dates from the early 19th century. Vampiric entities have been recorded in cultures around the world; the term ''vampire'' was popularized in Western Europe after reports of an 18th-century mass hysteria of a pre-existing folk belief in the Balkans and Eastern Europe that in some cases resulted in corpses being staked and people being accused of vampirism. Local variants in Eastern Europe were also known by different names, such as '' shtriga'' in Albania, '' vrykolakas'' in Greece and '' strigoi'' in Romania. In modern times, the v ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Horror Literature
Horror is a genre of fiction which is intended to frighten, scare, or disgust. Horror is often divided into the sub-genres of psychological horror and supernatural horror, which is in the realm of speculative fiction. Literary historian J. A. Cuddon, in 1984, defined the horror story as "a piece of fiction in prose of variable length... which shocks, or even frightens the reader, or perhaps induces a feeling of repulsion or loathing". Horror intends to create an eerie and frightening atmosphere for the reader. Often the central menace of a work of horror fiction can be interpreted as a metaphor for larger fears of a society. Prevalent elements of the genre include ghosts, demons, vampires, werewolves, ghouls, the Devil, witches, monsters, extraterrestrials, dystopian and post-apocalyptic worlds, serial killers, cannibalism, cults, dark magic, satanism, the macabre, gore and torture. History Before 1000 The horror genre has ancient origins, with roots in folklor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Orcs
An Orc (or Ork) is a fictional humanoid monster like a goblin. Orcs were brought into modern usage by the fantasy writings of J. R. R. Tolkien, especially ''The Lord of the Rings''. In Tolkien's works, Orcs are a brutish, aggressive, ugly, and malevolent race of monsters, contrasting with the benevolent Elves. There is a suggestion, among several somewhat contradictory origin stories, that they are a corrupted race of elves. Mythological monsters with names similar to "orc" can be found in the Old English poem ''Beowulf'', in Early Modern poetry, and in Northern European folk tales and fairy tales. Tolkien stated that he took the name from ''Beowulf''. The orc appears on lists of imaginary creatures in two of Charles Kingsley's mid-1860s novels. Tolkien's concept of orcs has been adapted into the fantasy fiction of other authors, and into games of many different genres such as ''Dungeons & Dragons'', '' Magic: The Gathering'', and ''Warcraft''. Etymology Old English ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hobbit
Hobbits are a fictional race of people in the novels of J. R. R. Tolkien. About half average human height, Tolkien presented hobbits as a variety of humanity, or close relatives thereof. Occasionally known as halflings in Tolkien's writings, they live barefooted, and dwell in homely underground houses which have windows, as they are typically built into the sides of hills. Their feet have naturally tough leathery soles (so they do not need shoes) and are covered on top with curly hair. Hobbits first appeared in the 1937 children's novel '' The Hobbit'', whose titular hobbit is the protagonist Bilbo Baggins, who is thrown into an unexpected adventure involving a dragon. In its sequel, ''The Lord of the Rings'', the hobbits Frodo Baggins, Sam Gamgee, Pippin Took, and Merry Brandybuck are primary characters who all play key roles in fighting to save their world ("Middle-earth") from evil. In ''The Hobbit'', hobbits live together in a small town called Hobbiton, which in ''Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pixie
A pixie (also pisky, pixy, pixi, pizkie, and piskie in Cornwall and Devon, and pigsie or puggsy in the New Forest) is a mythical creature of British folklore. Pixies are considered to be particularly concentrated in the high moorland areas around Devon and Cornwall, and in the New Forest area of Dorset and Hampshire. Akin to Anglo-Saxon elves and the Irish and Scottish Aos Sí (also spelt Aos Sidhe), pixies are believed to inhabit ancient underground ancestor sites such as stone circles, barrows, dolmens, ringforts or menhirs. In traditional regional lore, pixies are generally mischievous, short of stature and childlike; they are fond of dancing and gather outdoors in huge numbers to dance, or sometimes wrestle, through the night. Though in the modern era they are often depicted with pointed ears, a green outfit and a peaked hat, traditionally they are described as round eared, and sometimes as wearing dirty ragged bundles of rags which they happily discard for gifts of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Faeries
A fairy (also fay, fae, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Celtic, Slavic, Germanic, English, and French folklore), a form of spirit, often described as metaphysical, supernatural, or preternatural. Myths and stories about fairies do not have a single origin, but are rather a collection of folk beliefs from disparate sources. Various folk theories about the origins of fairies include casting them as either demoted angels or demons in a Christian tradition, as deities in Pagan belief systems, as spirits of the dead, as prehistoric precursors to humans, or as spirits of nature. The label of ''fairy'' has at times applied only to specific magical creatures with human appearance, magical powers, and a penchant for trickery. At other times it has been used to describe any magical creature, such as goblins and gnomes. ''Fairy'' has at times been used as an adjective, with a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elves
An elf () is a type of humanoid supernatural being in Germanic mythology and folklore. Elves appear especially in North Germanic mythology. They are subsequently mentioned in Snorri Sturluson's Icelandic Prose Edda. He distinguishes "light elves" and "dark elves". The dark elves create new blond hair for Thor's wife Sif after Loki had shorn off Sif's long hair. In medieval Germanic-speaking cultures, elves generally seem to have been thought of as beings with magical powers and supernatural beauty, ambivalent towards everyday people and capable of either helping or hindering them. However, the details of these beliefs have varied considerably over time and space and have flourished in both pre-Christian and Christian cultures. Sometimes elves are, like dwarfs, associated with craftmanship. Wayland the Smith embodies this feature. He is known under many names, depending on the language in which the stories were distributed. The names include ''Völund'' in Old Norse, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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