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Overview
Likho emerges from the shadows at sunset and feeds on human blood.
The developers have identified Likho as one of the game’s monsters inspired by folklore and legend.
Likho in Folklore
In East Slavic mythology, Likho is the personification of misfortune and an evil fate, often appearing as a gaunt, one-eyed woman.
In the folktale The One-Eyed Likho, collected by Alexander Afanasyev, a blacksmith sets out in search of Likho because he wants to see this thing called “misfortune” for himself.
Likho devours his traveling companion and then attempts to eat the blacksmith as well. The blacksmith burns out the creature’s single eye and escapes by hiding beneath a sheepskin.
At the very end, however, greed gets the better of him when he reaches for a golden axe. His hand becomes stuck to it, forcing him to cut off his own hand to escape.
The story can be read as a cautionary tale about greed inviting misfortune.
View Alexander Afanasyev’s Russian Fairy Tales (Illustrated) on Amazon
Russian Expressions Using Likho
In Russian, лихо (likho) is also used as a common noun meaning “misfortune,” “calamity,” or “hardship.”
Russian expressions containing the word include:
- хлебнуть лиха — literally, “to drink misfortune”; to endure severe hardship
- не поминать лихом — “do not remember me with ill will”; “do not think badly of me”
- узнать, почём фунт лиха — literally, “to learn how much a pound of misfortune costs”; to experience painful hardship firsthand
- Не буди лихо, пока оно тихо. — “Do not wake Likho while it is quiet”; let sleeping dogs lie, or do not invite unnecessary trouble
The fourth saying is especially revealing because it treats likho almost as a living being. Likho may therefore be understood as misfortune itself given a name and a personality.
Sources
Community Bulletin Board #7 – Beasts & Monstrosities, Illustrated | Bandai Namco Europe
«лихо» in Dictionaries: Spelling, Meaning, Stress, and Inflection | Gramota.ru Metadictionary
FEB: The One-Eyed Likho: Folktale No. 302 — 1985 (Full Text)
