Hellhounds are demons or evil spirits that take the form of a dog.
Throughout history and in numerous cultures there are creatures known as hellhounds which appear in mythology, legend and folklore – sometimes as guardians of forbidden areas or as sinister loners that spread death and misery wherever they tread.
A Hellhound is not a demon that takes the form of a wolf – this is more accurately known as a Warg or Worg – as the two terms are likely interchangeable.
Hellhounds date back at least as far as Ancient Greece with the legend of Cerberus, the three-headed guardian of the Underworld. The fearsome beast appeared in one of Hercules’ twelve tasks and remains a popular figure in fantasy fiction.
In the British Isles, the ghostly black dogs – often of inhuman size – is an ancient and almost always warning of death. The creatures are embodied in legendary monsters like the Black Shuck which served as the inspiration for the Hounds of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle.
Japan has stories of the shapeshifting Kitsune, which were technically foxes. Koreans had an even more evil fox-spirit known as the Kumiho, which was almost always destructive, chaotic, and evil.
The Hellhound is a supernatural dog found in folklore. There is a wide variety of ominous and supernatural dogs occurring in mythologies around the world. The hellhound commonly has black fur, glowing red, or, sometimes, yellow eyes, with super strength or speed and ghostly or phantom characteristics, a foul odour, and sometimes even the ability to talk.