Chupacabra: Difference between revisions

In the 1990s, the attacks started happening again on Puerto Rico. This time, people started calling the "monster" El Chupacabras, later shortened to just Chupacabra (supposedly, Silverio Perez of the comedy group [[Los Rayos Gama]] coined the name). A magazine called "Revista OVNI" (UFO Magazine) came up with the theory that the creature could have been created by aliens (likely inspired by the American cattle slayings theory). They also provided an artist's conception of what it looked like -- showinglike—showing a creature resembling a skinny, big eyed [[The Greys|"Grey" type alien]] but with fangs, claws, scaly skin and a ridge of spines along the back. Despite having no actual evidence for any of this, people embraced it, and the current concept of the Chupacabra was born. The slayings were never officially resolved, though reportedly an American expert on animal attacks identified them as being caused by wild dogs, based on some pictures of the carcasses he saw.

The myth became surprisingly popular across Central and South America over the years, and even in the Southern United States, with people claiming to have actually seen the creature. It also has been featured on several TV shows and movies, effectively being treated as the Latin American equivalent of [[Bigfoot, Sasquatch, and Yeti|Bigfoot]]. Pop culture spread the chupacabra even further, with recent sightings as far as Russia.

The Chupacabra is sometimes known as the [[Spell My Name Withwith an "S"|Chupacabras]]. This is in fact the original form of the name in Spanish; this type of compound word in Spanish (verb + noun) usually has the plural form of the noun (other examples: ''el abrelatas'' "the can opener", ''el sacapuntas'' "the pencil sharpener", ''el tocadiscos'' "the record player", ''el pisapapeles'' "the paperweight").

{{examples|Some examples of series that have made references to the Chupacabra:}}

* In the manga of ''[[Azumanga Daioh (Manga)|Azumanga Daioh]]'', when the girls are planning to go to the zoo to see real pandas instead of just pictures, Osaka thinks of something else she wants to see. When she remembers, what she says is translated as "the chupacabra". (The anime version of the same scene says something else, and the original version says she wanted to [[My Life Flashed Before My Eyes|see her life flash before her eyes]].)

* The Chupacabra is referred to by name in ''[[Keroro Gunsou]]'', complete with a [[Recycled in Space]] variant called [[Exactly What It Says Onon the Tin|Space Chupacabra]], but eating goats is never brought up - it's still considered as urban myth though, and the resident mythological-creature-hunter Alisa Southerncross goes after it - but gets [[The Worf Effect|curbstomped bigtime]] as it ''eats'' her surrogate father Nevula.

* In ''[[Young Justice (Comic Bookcomics)|Young Justice]]'', [[The Flash|Impulse]] raced over to Puerto Rico to look for one after reading a cryptozoology book - [http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/2817/impulsechupacabra.png lifting rocks and animals while calling out for it].

* In the horror anthology ''Tropical Tales Of Terror'' The Chupacabras were actually a hidden race of intelligent, predatory birds.

* A Chupacabra named Xolo shows up in the [[Cal Leandros|Cal Leandros series]] as the vampire Cherish's cute, seemingly harmless pet. That is, until he's revealed to be {{spoiler|a telepath who [[Mind Rape|Mind Rapes]]s Niko and whom Cherish uses to control the other characters.}}

* In ''[[The X -Files]]'', the Chupacabras are actually illegal immigrants who have been infected by an alien fungus.

* ''[[Pathfinder]]'', in its desire to fill up its Bestiaries with as much cryptids and folkloric creatures from real life instead of making up new things like [[Dungeons and& Dragons|its arch-rival]], includes a chupe that's a fair bit more [http://images.wikia.com/pathfinder/images/c/cb/Chupacabra.jpg lizard-like] than the standard portrayal.

* Chupacabra is one of the many mythical and folkloric beings that appears in ''[[Shin Megami Tensei Strange Journey (Video Game)|Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey]]''.

* In the [[The Elder Scrolls|Elder Scrolls]] series of games, a chupacabra like monster called a "Hunger" appears as regular enemy in Morrowind and in the Shivering Isles expansion pack for [[The Elder Scrolls Four|The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion]]. More so resembling their counterpart considering they posses strong "Drain Health" spell and attack with their tongue.

* ''[[Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare]]'' has a chupacabra that can be killed as part of a challenge. There's even an achievement for doing so, titled "[[Red vs. Blue|Chupathingy]]."

* Greasels from [[Deus Ex (Video Game)|Deus Ex]].

* In ''[[Fallout: New Vegas]]'', [[Conspiracy Theorist|No-Bark Noonan]] confuses a Nightkin for one of these.

* They're an tough enemy in [[Let's Go Find El Dorado (Video Game)|Let's Go Find El Dorado]], that can kill off one of your party members on contact with your wagon.

* In''[[Eerie Cuties]]'' in a throwaway gag, had a victim of the gender shifting orb instudent [[Eerie Cuties]] was inhttp://www.eeriecuties.com/strips-ec/an_a-cup_please! gathering signatures] on a petition to save the 'rare spotted mexican chupacabra'.

* ''[[Spec World]]'' has (or had) a fictional cryptid called the [httphttps://web.archive.org/web/20080618093255/http://www.bowdoin.edu/~dbensen/Spec/Chupie.html Chupie] (links to Web Archive because the page hasn't been moved to the new host yet).

* ''[[DextersDexter's Laboratory]]'' had an episode that claimed Dexter had created it (to scare off Deedee) but it had escaped to Brazil.

* The monster also appears in an episode, "Dia de Los Dangerous!" of ''[[The Venture Brothers (Animation)|The Venture Brothers]]'', inexplicably leaping from Brock's car to attack Dr. Venture. Apparently, Mexico is full of them. Amusingly, Dr. Venture had earlier declared them to be nonsense.

* In ''[[Futurama (Animation)|Futurama]]'', the Planet Express crew ventured into the sewers where the inhabitants lived in fear of a vicious monster they called El Chupanibre.

* The ''[[Jackie Chan Adventures (Animation)|Jackie Chan Adventures]]'' episode "The Curse of the Chupacabra" features Jackie and El Toro fighting one of these while in Mexico and El Toro being scratched by it causing him to become one himself, until the curse is broken.

* It appeared in one episode of ''[[The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy (Animation)|The Grim Adventures of Billy and& Mandy]]'': It comes out of the TV screen while Billy is watching a magical videotape. It latches onto his nose. Grim presumes that it's trying to eat his brains, and Mandy [[Your Brain Won't Be Much of a Meal|thinks it'll starve]]. Of course, Billy being [[The Ditz|what he is]], doesn't know what it is and can't even pronounce its name ("Chupa-ma-flablah").

* On ''[[Maya and Miguel (Animation)|Maya and Miguel]]'', the title characters tried to claim that they had one as a pet. Then, it turned out that there really was one in town.

* Appears in ''[[Generator Rex (Animation)|Generator Rex]]'' as one of the few creatures not affected by the nanites.

[[Category:ChupacabraMyth, Legend and Folklore]]