Editing Mythology (section)

==Urban Legend==
The '''Urban Legend''' is another type of myth, specifically one of a modern-day taste and often significantly connected to that country's pop culture. In Japan, many classic myths of Yokai continue to "exist" (see: [[Touhou]]), and some have been modernized to fit with new technology (for example, a cursed cart may become a cursed car). [[Board-tans/x|Creepypastas]] are a common sub-variant. Here are some examples:

*'''Bermuda Triangle''' - A triangular region in the gulf of Mexico with Bermuda island, Puerto Rico and Miami, Florida as its angle point. Reputed to be a place of paranormal activity where ships and aircraft suddenly loses their signal and disappeared, both on air or water. In reality, the Triangle is just one of the most heavily trafficked areas in the world, in a region known for storms and general bad weather; if there weren't several mysterious disappearances (and nautical and aeronautical life had, and occasionally still has, plenty of those), it would be surprising.
**'''Mary Celeste''' - A ship that was found abandoned in 1872 undamaged, with ample provisions, undisturbed cargo and a log dated to ten days prior to it being found. Was actually found well outside of the Bermuda Triangle, but often associated with it. Proposed solutions for what happened range from attempted insurance fraud to equipment malfunction, a waterspout strike and a butane explosion. The "wreck" was acquired by a new owner, who promptly sunk it in a poor attempt at insurance fraud.
**'''The Flying Dutchman''': Associated with the Cape of Good Hope, rather than the Bermuda Triangle, but frequently mentioned in connection with the Triangle as well. The most famous "Ghost ship" other then the ''Mary Celeste''; unlike the ''Celeste'', the ''Dutchman'' was only reported to have been seen, but never boarded. The ''Dutchman'' was supposedly an omen of doom, but given that in order to see a ship that isn't there you'd probably have to be in very poor visibility conditions, this reputation has an obvious explanation.
*'''Bloody Mary''' - It is said to be a malevolent spirit who if you call its name  "Bloody Mary" in front of a mirror three times, she will come and do something horrible to you. A pretty stupid game often participate by very small children and idiots. 
*'''Cryptids''' - Various creatures of folklore that, other then being fucked up looking, are actually plausible animals of one sort or another. Some have been substantiated, but most are just fake or distorted stories of other, known animals (as is speculated having happened with the [[Unicorn]] and Rhinoceros). Such creatures include:
**'''Bigfoot''' - Also known as Sasquatch. It is some sort of ape/man creature, named after its big foot print on the ground. Its sighting are mostly around the Pacific Northwest.
**'''Chupacabra''' - A small bear size monster who likes to suck a goat's blood dry. First spotted in Puerto Rico, where it killed 8 sheep, it is said that its influence has spread across Latin America. Allegedly, the idea of the chupacabra was just stolen from the movie Species.
**'''Drop Bear''' - Australian joke: Take a Koala, and pretend it's an ambush predator who kills by jumping on its prey, with a taste for human flesh. While clearly originating as a joke, unlike most "real" cryptids, the concept has been used straight in several contexts in fantasy works. As if Australia's actual dangerous animals weren't enough. 
**'''Jackalope''' - A rabbit with antelope horns. Possibly based on sightings of rabbits with Shope papilloma virus, which causes infected hosts to grow horn-like tumors. The most popular version seems to have originated as a 12-year-old taxidermist's idea of a joke.
**'''Jersey Devil''' - Weird monster supposedly lurking in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey, thus making it the most interesting thing in the state.
**'''Loch Ness Monster''' - A long necked sea creature that allegedly lives in Loch Ness in the Scottish highlands.  Presumably to be Mauisaurus, a pre-historical sea dinosaur who shares the similar long neck appearance. 
**'''Mokele-mbembe''' - A weird African swimming beast with reptilian traits. Widely believed to be either a rhinoceros or a hippopotamus (the latter of which are responsible for killing more people per year than any other animal in Africa) though some have claimed it's a rediscovered dinosaur - a sauropod specifically, as numerous descriptions ascribe it a long neck alongside reptilian features.
**'''Mothman''' - There were a bunch of West Virginia sightings of a "Man with Wings". Later got overhyped as having supernatural powers, and associated in some way with a local bridge collapse when writers looking to cash in got involved. Side note: Most descriptions from the early, pre-overhype encounter match a unusually large crane.
**'''Rods/Sky Fish''' - Extraterrestrial lifeforms that move at an unseen speed that can only be caught by camera. Although there are many evidences and studies that could disprove its existence, it does not stop certain cryptozoologists or manga artists from fantasizing about it. One evidence suggests it might be just elongated visual artifacts appearing in photographic images and video recordings. Other insects like moths are mistakenly caught on camera and assumed to be them. It helps that there were no actual dissections of the creatures, and most of the videos about catching it are fake and exist for pure entertainment. In some fiction, e.g. [[JoJo's Bizarre Adventure]], they are portrayed as vaguely creatures with actual limbs and organs that feed on temperature and have the power to KILL or disable a person by absorbing the body heat from their vital organs.
**'''Tsuchinoko''' - Also known as "child of hammer", "child of dirt" or "bachi hebi" in Northeastern Japan, it is a snake that is 30 and 80 cm long, has a thin head and tail, and a wide girth in between. It was referenced in Kojiki (古事記) "Records of Ancient Matters" meaning it might have existed at some point in ancient Japan. [[Skub|Others would argue]] that it could be a type of slug who's features became exaggerated over thousands of years, an extinct snake species or an undiscovered snake species. Whatever the cases, the damn thing is popular in Japan and has been featured in many video games, manga and TV show.
**'''Yeti''' - Like Bigfoot above, but found in the Himalayan mountains.
*'''Grays''' - A stock alien appearance of short, large-headed, large-eyed, generally naked, grey men. Allegedly probe humans, steal cows and make patterns in vegetation while riding around in a saucer shaped spacecraft. Supposedly crashed in Rosswell, New Mexico in 1947, which was covered up by the US Government as a "weather balloon"; more recent declassification suggest it ''was'' a balloon, just an experimental and classified one meant for Cold War era spying and hushed up for fear that the Soviets would learn about it.
**'''Area 51''' - [[Wikipedia:Area 51|An actual military base]] in Nevada that the crashed spacecraft was allegedly taken to. Allegedly home to all sorts of government experiments on the supernatural and/or extraterrestrial.  Takes its name from the much larger surrounding military reservation which is divided up into similarly numbered areas where the government plays with its most [[Ordinatus|Orky toys]].  Though the existence of the factual military base existing was always known, the US government didn't officially acknowledge it till 2013. Officially it's used for testing experimental and captured aircraft and thus highly classified. Supposedly, the US government thought that the UFO hysteria was good cover for the then-secret U-2 program, as any spotted aircraft could be explained away by kooks as an alien spacecraft.  
**'''Men in Black / Majestic-12''' - Another component that's common to UFO conspiracies is a secret branch of the government dedicated to keeping the public in the dark about the existence of aliens.  Some stories of the Men in Black instead suggest they're aliens impersonating human government agents to keep the stories quiet.  The urban legend version is significantly scarier and more malevolent than their movie counterparts, but a bit ''less'' malevolent than those in the comics the movies were adapted from.  The only known evidence of their existence was long since proven to be a forgery. 
*'''Jack the Ripper''' - Also known by the London old media as the "Leather Apron", ol' Jack was a real life serial killer in London during 1[[Khorne|888]]. Since he was never caught and the number of victims can't be verified - five are specifically attributed to him - his identity remains a mystery and he is therefore held as the greatest serial killer. Known for mutilating his victim in the most precise manner and the mocking letters he wrote to the police (which are still held in Scotland Yard). He was even suspected to be a woman, with new nicknames such as "Jill the Ripper" added to the long list of nicknames. Since nothing physical is known about the killer, fiction is free to attribute supernatural origin (such as a possessed human or being a monster outright) or that the killer's vileness resulted in transformation into some kind of monster. Making the killer supernatural allows it to be divorced from its time period. 
** Various other uncaught serial killers can get this sort of treatment, but to a much lower degree, with the notable exception of the Zodiac Killer, who shared Jack's media savvy.
* '''D. B. Cooper''' - Short version: Guy Hijacks a commercial airplane, demands $200,000 ($1.28 Million in today's money) and four parachutes, gets them, jumps out of the plane over state park, and is never seen again. Long version: [[wikipedia:D. B. Cooper|Wikipedia is your friend]].
* '''John Henry''' - A black manual laborer who raced against his industrialized replacement and won, but died from exhaustion at the end. Even if it was loosely based on a real story, any accounts of a real John Henry existing have been lost to history.
** '''Casey Jones''' - Unlike Henry, Jones was definitely a [[wikipedia:Casey Jones|real life train conductor]] who died saving the lives of his passengers. One of his assistants wrote a song defending Jones' reputation<ref>There was some argument at the time that Jones should have seen the signal indicating a possible collision, but the night was foggy, and both signal lights and signalmen could be unreliable.</ref> that got very popular shortly thereafter, and soon turned into a popular figure around which a mythology developed.
*'''Kiyotaki tunnel''' - A haunted tunnel in Japan said to be built by slaves in 1927. It is said to have an unfortunate length of 444 meters long (4 is a unlucky number in Japan--the word for "4" is a homophone for "death") and it is a famous suicide spot. There were witness who saw the spirit of suicide victim walking towards the tunnel. There are reports where the traffic light outside of the tunnel suddenly changing color and causing car accidents. The tunnel is frequently referenced by horror manga and anime where it is portrayed as a tunnel full of tormented spirits, dragging other passing travellers in to suffer with them.
*'''Radioactive Deer''' - Although decades have passed since the accident, the exclusion zone around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant remains one of the most contaminated places on Earth.  Every wildfire or severe storm that hits the area will inevitably spawn several days of doomsday fear-mongering from the press about nuclear tornadoes or toxic milk.  Some recent horror stories have begun to weave the Slavic legend of Baba Yaga, the monstrous child-eating crone of the woods, into the story of the ruins of Pripyat.  
*'''Slender Man''' - A fictional character that originated as an Internet meme created by [[Something Awful]] forums user Victor Surge in 2009. It is depicted as resembling a thin, unnaturally tall man with a blank and usually featureless face and wearing a black suit. The Slender Man is commonly said to stalk, abduct, or traumatize people, particularly children. The Slender Man is not tied to any particular story, but appears in many disparate works of fiction, mostly composed online, with the most famous being a series known as "Marble Hornets". Also famous for inspiring two girls to nearly murder their classmate in order to become his "proxies".