Country file · Central America & the Caribbean
Cryptids of Trinidad and Tobago
What cryptids are in Trinidad and Tobago? The best-known are Papa Bois and Soucouyant.
Trinidad and Tobago’s folklore draws on African, French Creole, Indian and Indigenous roots, and its cast of night-time characters is among the most vivid in the Caribbean. Papa Bois, the horned and hooved guardian of the forest, protects wild animals and leads hunters astray; Mama Dlo guards the rivers; and the Soucouyant, an old woman who sheds her skin and flies as a fireball, is said to drain the blood of sleepers.
- 2 cryptids
- 3 recorded sightings
Cryptids reported in Trinidad and Tobago
Papa Bois
The horned, hooved ‘father of the forest’ of Trinidad folklore, a shape-shifting guardian who leads hunters astray and is greeted with respect. FolkloreSoucouyant
A skin-shedding old woman of Caribbean folklore who flies as a fireball to drain sleepers’ blood; rice and salt are the classic defences. FolkloreThe legends of Trinidad and Tobago
After independence in 1962 the government promoted folk traditions, and these figures still appear in Carnival, theatre, school plays and books such as Michael Anthony’s Caribbean Folktales and Fantasies. Rice scattered around the bed and salt on the skin are the folk defences; politeness to Papa Bois is the traveller’s advice.
Hotspots
- Northern Range forests
Wooded mountains where hunters traditionally feared Papa Bois.
Sightings timeline
- 1962Folk customs preserved after independence Papa Bois
After independence, Prime Minister Eric Williams began programmes to preserve folk customs, including dramatisations of folklore characters, which helped keep figures like Papa Bois in public life.
- 1962Folklore preserved after independence Soucouyant
After independence, Prime Minister Eric Williams began programmes to preserve folk customs, including dramatisations of the Soucouyant.
- 2000Midnight Robber Papa Bois
Nalo Hopkinson’s novel used the name Papa Bois for the sheltering “daddy trees” of its world, carrying the name to science-fiction readers.