Adze
Also known as: Firefly Vampire
In Togo, a vampire disguised as a glowing firefly slips through locked doors to feed on the sleeping.
Ancient Ewe oral tradition
Togo and Ghana
Firefly-sized to human-sized
Predatory and cunning
Folklore
The Lore
The Adze is a vampiric entity from the Ewe people of Togo and Ghana. In its natural form, it appears as a glowing firefly that can pass through any closed door or window. Once inside a home, it transforms into a humanoid to feed on its victim's blood, particularly targeting children. If captured in firefly form, it reverts to human shape and can be identified as a possessed villager. Communities sometimes conducted witch hunts to find the person harboring the Adze.
Body Type
Folklore Origin
Similar Real Animals
You might also like
Popobawa
HighZanzibar's most feared entity attacks at night and demands that victims tell others, or it returns.
Sasabonsam
HighIn the forests of Ghana, something with iron teeth and bat wings sits in the treetops, legs dangling like bait.
Boto
MediumThe Amazon's pink river dolphin comes ashore at night disguised as a handsome stranger.
Aswang
HighThe Philippines' most feared shapeshifter hides as your neighbor by day and hunts as a beast by night.
Jorogumo
HighA 400-year-old spider that takes the form of a beautiful woman to lure men to their death.
Manananggal
HighA vampire that tears its own torso free and flies through the night on bat-like wings, trailing its entrails below.
Skinwalker
HighA Navajo witch who wears the skins of animals and walks between worlds.
Strigoi
HighThe original Romanian undead predates Dracula by centuries and is still feared enough that corpses are occasionally exhumed and staked in rural villages.