A hellhound is a demonic dog of Hell, found in mythology or in fiction. Hellhounds typically have features such as an unnaturally large size, a black fur color, glowing eyes, super strength or speed, ghostly or phantom characteristics, and sometimes even the ability to talk. They are often assigned to guard the entrance to the world of the dead or undertake other duties related to the afterlife or the supernatural, such as hunting down lost souls or guarding a supernatural treasure. In mythology, a hellhound is a demonic dog. ... “Fiend” redirects here. ... Trinomial name Canis lupus familiaris The dog (Canis lupus familiaris) is a domestic subspecies of the wolf, a mammal of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. ... For other uses, see Hell (disambiguation). ... The word mythology (from the Greek μυολογία mythología, from mythologein to relate myths, from mythos, meaning a narrative, and logos, meaning speech or argument) literally means the (oral) retelling of myths – stories that a particular culture believes to be true and that use the supernatural to interpret natural events and... For other uses, see Ghost (disambiguation). ... // In the study of mythology and religion, the underworld is a generic term approximately equivalent to the lay term afterlife, referring to any place to which newly dead souls go. ... For other uses, see Afterlife (disambiguation). ... Look up Supernatural in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Examples from folklore

The most famous hellhound is probably Cerberus, the hound of Hades from Greek mythology. Hellhounds are also famous for appearing in Celtic mythology as part of the Wild Hunt. These hounds are given several different names in local folklore, but they display typical hellhound characteristics. The myth is common across Great Britain, and many names are given to the apparitions: Black Shuck of East Anglia (which has its roots in the Mythology of the Vikings rather than of the Celts), Moddey Dhoo of the Isle of Man, Gwyllgi of Wales, and so on. See Barghest. The earliest mention of these myths are in both Walter Map's De Nugis Curialium (1190) and the Welsh myth cycle of the Four Branches of the Mabinogi (ca. 10th-13th century).l Heracles and threatened Cerberus, Attic black-figure neck-amphora, ca. ... Hades, Greek god of the underworld, enthroned, with his bird-headed staff, on a red-figure Apulian vase made in the 4th century BC. For other uses, see Hades (disambiguation). ... The bust of Zeus found at Otricoli (Sala Rotonda, Museo Pio-Clementino, Vatican) Greek mythology is the body of stories belonging to the Ancient Greeks concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. ... Celtic mythology is the mythology of Celtic polytheism, apparently the religion of the Iron Age Celts. ... The wild hunt: Åsgårdsreien (1872) by Peter Nicolai Arbo The Wild Hunt was a folk myth prevalent in former times across Northern Scandinavia, Germany and Britain. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Black Shuck is the name given to a ghostly black dog which is said to roam the Norfolk and Suffolk coastline. ... Norfolk and Suffolk, the core area of East Anglia. ... Norse, Viking or Scandinavian mythology comprises the indigenous pre-Christian religion, beliefs and legends of the Scandinavian peoples, including those who settled on Iceland, where most of the written sources for Norse mythology were assembled. ... The name Viking is a loan from the native Scandinavian term for the Norse seafaring warriors who raided the coasts of Scandinavia, Europe and the British Isles from the late 8th century to the 11th century, the period of European history referred to as the Viking Age. ... Celtic mythology is the mythology of Celtic polytheism, apparently the religion of the Iron Age Celts. ... This article is about the country. ... Barghest, Bargtjest, Bo-guest or Bargest is the name given in the north of England, especially in Yorkshire, to a mythical monstrous black dog with huge teeth and claws. ... Walter Map (fl. ... De Nugis Curialium is the major surviving work of the twelfth century Latin author Walter Map. ... The Four Branches of the Mabinogi are the best known tales from the medieval Welsh Mabinogion. ...

Fiction

Hellhounds are a common monstrous creature in fantasy fiction and horror fiction, though they sometimes appear in other genres such as detective novels. For other uses, see Fantasy (disambiguation). ... “Horror story” redirects here. ... Gumshoe redirects here. ...

• Arthur Conan Doyle's The Hound of the Baskervilles
• Frank Belknap Long's Cthulhu Mythos-related "The Hounds of Tindalos"
• The eighth episode of the second season of Supernatural featured hell-hounds.
• In the anime Getbackers, book 15 features a card named Hound in Hades.
• In the anime, OVA and tv series of Hellsing Alucard can summon a hellhound called Baskerville.
• Zuul ("The Gatekeeper") and Vinz Clortho ("The Keymaster"), the minions of Gozer in Ghostbusters.
• Two hellhounds, named Mohammed and Alvin, are featured in Christopher Moore's novel, A Dirty Job.
• In the pilot episode of the short-lived TV series Night Stalker, there are coyote-like animals that resemble hellhounds.
• Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series includes dog-like monsters called darkhounds which are associated with the Wild Hunt.
• The Chronicles of Riddick, the large dog like aliens in the prison on Crematoria are referred to as "Hellhounds".
• J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series includes a Cerberus-like hound called Fluffy as the first guardian of the Philosopher's Stone in the first book.

// Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle, DL (22 May 1859–7 July 1930) was a Scottish author most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, which are generally considered a major innovation in the field of crime fiction, and the adventures of Professor Challenger. ... The Hound of the Baskervilles is a crime novel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, originally serialized in the Strand Magazine in 1901 and 1902, which is set largely on Dartmoor in 1889. ... Frank Belknap Long (April 27, 1901 - January 3, 1994) was a prolific American writer of horror fiction, fantasy, science fiction, poetry, gothic romance, comic books, and non-fiction. ... Cthulhu and Rlyeh The Cthulhu Mythos encompasses the shared elements, characters, settings, and themes in the works of H. P. Lovecraft and associated horror fiction writers. ... The Hounds of Tindalos are a part of H.P. Lovecrafts Cthulhu Mythos. ... This article is about the US TV series. ... “Animé” redirects here. ... Serialized in Weekly Shonen Magazine Original run 1999 – 2007 No. ... “Animé” redirects here. ... A human ovum An ovum (loosely, egg or egg cell) is a female sex cell or gamete. ... Hellsing is an anime and manga series by Kouta Hirano. ... Alucard is Dracula spelled backwards, and as such is often in Dracula or vampire related fiction. ... 1. ... Ghostbusters is a 1984 sci-fi comedy film about three eccentric New York City parapsychologists. ... Ghostbusters (sometimes written Ghost Busters) is a 1984 sci-fi comedy film about three parapsychologists who are fired from a New York City University, and start up their own business investigating and eliminating ghosts. ... For other uses, see Ghostbusters (disambiguation). ... Christopher Moore is an American writer of absurdist fiction. ... A Dirty Job is the ninth novel by Christopher Moore, published in 2006. ... Night Stalker is a television series that aired on ABC from 2005-2006. ... For other persons named Robert Jordan, see Robert Jordan (disambiguation). ... Wheel of time may refer to: The Wheel of time or history, a religious concept predominant in Buddhism and Hinduism The Wheel of Time, a fantasy book series by author Robert Jordan The Wheel of Time (computer game), an action first-person shooter based on the series The Timewheel, a... The Chronicles of Riddick is a 2004 American science fiction/fantasy/thriller film. ... Joanne Rowling OBE (born July 31, 1965 in Chipping Sodbury, South Gloucestershire), commonly known as J.K. Rowling (pronunciation: roll-ing; her former students used to joke with her name calling her the Rolling Stone), is a British fiction writer. ... This article is about the Harry Potter series of novels. ... Heracles and threatened Cerberus, Attic black-figure neck-amphora, ca. ... The philosophers stone, in Latin lapis philosophi, is a legendary substance that supposedly could turn inexpensive metals such as lead into gold (chrysopoeia in the Greek language) and/or create an elixir that would make humans younger, thus delaying death. ...

Games

Hellhounds are also a common foe in fantasy role-playing and video games including: This article is about games in which one plays the role of a character. ... “Computer and video games” redirects here. ...

• .hack//
• Adventure Quest
• Doom RPG
• Dungeons & Dragons
• Final Fantasy XII (Hellhounds are beasts encountered in Golmore Jungle)
• RuneScape
• Shadowrun
• Zork
• Guild Wars
• Heroes of Might and Magic V
• Shadowgate
• Kingdom Hearts
• Kingdom Hearts 2
• Devil May Cry 3
• Knight Online
• Quest 64
• The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles
• Nethack
• Pokémon (Houndourand Houndoom are based on hellhounds)
• God of War & God of War II
• Joint Ops EW clanfounder
• World of Warcraft
• Nightmare Creatures
• Nexus War

.hack is the title of a series of four video games for the PlayStation 2 produced by Bandai and Cyber Connect 2. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Doom RPG is a mobile phone game developed by Fountainhead Entertainment. ... “D&D” redirects here. ... Final Fantasy XII ) is a console role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix for the Sony PlayStation 2 video game console, and the twelfth installment in the Final Fantasy video game series. ... RuneScape is a Java-based MMORPG operated by Jagex Ltd. ... Shadowrun is a cyberpunk-urban fantasy cross-genre role-playing game, set 63 years in the future,[1]following a great cataclysm that has brought use of magic back to the world, just as it begins to embrace the marvels (and dangers) of technologies such as cyberspace, omnipresent computer networks... Zork universe Zork games Zork Anthology Zork trilogy Zork I • Zork II • Zork III Beyond Zork • Zork Zero Enchanter trilogy Enchanter • Sorcerer • Spellbreaker Other games Wishbringer • Return to Zork Zork: Nemesis • Zork Grand Inquisitor Zork: The Undiscovered Underground Topics in Zork Encyclopedia Frobozzica Characters • Kings • Creatures Timeline • Magic • Calendar Zorkmid... This article is for the Guild Wars series. ... Heroes of Might and Magic V (sometimes referred to as Heroes V or HoMM5) is the fifth installment of the Heroes of Might and Magic computer game series. ... Shadowgate is a video game for the Nintendo Entertainment System, originally released in 1987 for the PC/Mac. ... This article contains information on the first Kingdom Hearts video game. ... Kingdom Hearts II is an RPG video game sequel to 2002 Kingdom Hearts. ... Devil May Cry 3: Dantes Awakening (デビルメイクライ3) is the second sequel to Devil May Cry, starring the cocky hero Dante. ... The subject of this article may not satisfy the notability guideline or one of the following guidelines for inclusion on Wikipedia: Biographies, Books, Companies, Fiction, Music, Neologisms, Numbers, Web content, or several proposals for new guidelines. ... Quest 64 (released as Holy Magic Century in Europe, Australia and New Zealand and Eltale Monsters in Japan) is a single player action RPG developed by Imagineer and published by THQ. It was released for the Nintendo 64 in 1998 and was the first RPG released for the system in... This article is about the role-playing game. ... The official Pokémon logo. ... Houndour , Delvil in original Japanese language versions) is one of the 493 fictional species of Pokémon from the Pokémon Franchise. ... Houndoom , Hellgar) are one of the 493 fictional species of Pokémon creatures from the multi-billion-dollar[1] Pokémon media franchise: a collection of video games, anime, manga, books, trading cards, and other media created by Satoshi Tajiri. ... God of War is a video game for the Sony PlayStation 2 console released on March 22, 2005. ... God of War II is the sequel to the popular God of War video game. ... World of Warcraft (commonly abbreviated as WoW) is a massive multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) developed by Blizzard Entertainment and is the fourth game in the Warcraft series, excluding expansion packs and the cancelled Warcraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans. ... Nightmare Creatures is a 3D action/adventure video game released for the Sony PlayStation and PC in 1997, and Nintendo 64 in 1998. ... Nexus War is a browser-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game created by californian game designer Jorm. ...

Trivia

• The term is also common in African American blues music, such as in Robert Johnson's "Hellhound on my Trail".

“Blues music” redirects here. ... For other persons named Robert Johnson, see Robert Johnson (disambiguation). ...

See also

• Black dog
• Garmr
• Fenrir
• Cerberus

The monstrous black dog reputed to haunt Bouley Bay in Jersey is depicted on this pub sign A black dog is a spectral being found primarily in British folklore. ... In Norse mythology, Garm or Garmr is a huge hound which guards Hel, the land of the dead, alongside of Hræsvelgr and living in a cave called Gnipahellir. ... Fenrir may refer to: Fenrisulfr, a Norse mythological wolf. ... Heracles and threatened Cerberus, Attic black-figure neck-amphora, ca. ...

External links

• Hellhounds, Werewolves and the Germanic Underworld