Hellhound

Hellhounds, also known as "black dogs," "Gabriel Hounds" or "barghests" are entities primarily from English folklore. Most are malevolent, but a few, like Hairy Jack are benevolent protector spirits. Several hellhounds seem to be under the control of The Smiling Man, and he may have been using the Angel Gabriel Animal Shelter as a means to create or recruit these creatures.
Certain European legends state that if someone stares into a hellhound's eyes three times or more, that person will surely die. In cultures that associate the afterlife with fire, hellhounds may have fire-based abilities and appearance. They are often assigned to guard the entrances to the world of the dead, such as graveyards and burial grounds, or undertake other duties related to the afterlife or the supernatural, such as hunting lost souls or guarding a supernatural treasure. In European legends, seeing a hellhound or hearing it howl may be an omen or even a cause of death. They are said to be the protectors of the supernatural, guarding the secrecy of supernatural creatures, or beings, from the world.

Basic Information

Anatomy

A wide variety of ominous or hellish supernatural dogs occur in mythologies around the world. Features that have been attributed to hellhounds include mangled black fur, glowing red eyes, super strength and speed, ghostly or phantom characteristics, and a foul odor. Those observed in New Pembroke and Faith Ridge tend to have a single red glowing eye in the center of their foreheads, and emit motes of black smoke as they move. They also possess tiger-like claws and a bite the burns as well as tears.

Additional Information

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

The hellhounds have been observed summoning lightning, turning invisible, and the ability to control fire, in addition to their burning bite. They may possess other abilities that have not yet been observed.

Civilization and Culture

Common Myths and Legends

Black Shuck or Old Shuck is the name given to a ghostly black dog said to roam the Norfolk, Essex, and Suffolk coastline of England. For centuries, locals have told tales of a large black dog with malevolent flaming red eyes. According to reports, the beast varies in size and stature from that of a large dog to the size of a horse. Sometimes Black Shuck has appeared headless, and at other times he appears to float on a carpet of mist. According to folklore, the spectre often haunts graveyards, sideroads, crossroads and dark forests. There are legends of Black Shuck roaming the Anglian countryside since before Vikings. His name may derive from the Old English word scucca meaning "demon", or possibly from the local dialect word shucky meaning "shaggy" or "hairy". The legend may have been part of the inspiration for the Sherlock Holmes novel The Hound of the Baskervilles.
It is said that his appearance bodes ill to the beholder, although not always. More often than not, stories tell of Black Shuck terrifying his victims, but leaving them alone to continue living normal lives; in some cases it has supposedly happened before close relatives to the observer die or become ill. In other tales the dog is considered relatively benign, and said to accompany women on their way home in the role of protector rather than a portent of ill omen.
One of the most notable reports of Black Shuck is of his appearance at the churches of Bungay and Blythburgh in Suffolk. On 4 August 1577, at Blythburgh, Black Shuck is said to have burst in through the church doors. He ran up the nave, past a large congregation, killing a man and boy and causing the church tower to collapse through the roof. As the dog departed, he left scorch marks on the north door that remain to this day. Two men were touched by the beast and fell down dead.
The encounter on the same day at Bungay was described in A Strange and Terrible Wonder by the Reverend Abraham Fleming in 1577:
"This black dog, or the devil in such a linenesse (God hee knoweth al who worketh all,) running all along down the body of the church with great swiftness, and incredible haste, among the people, in a visible forum and shape, passed between two persons, as they were kneeling upon their knees, and occupied in prayer as it seemed, wrung the necks of them both at one instant clene backward, in so much that even at a moment where they knelled, they strangely died."
Other accounts attribute the event to lightning or the Devil. The scorch marks on the door are referred to by the locals as "the devil's fingerprints".