Peluda

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The Peluda (sometimes called the "Shaggy Beast" or La Velue which is French for "Hairy One") is a supposed dragon that terrorized a La Ferté-Bernard, France, in medieval times. Despite the French origins, its more recognized name is Portuguese for "hairy". Depending on the account, it had either a porcupine-like body or a mess of hair-like projections hanging from its body that were actually stinger-tipped tentacles which could erect into quills. Its name is derived from this shaggy appearance. Consistently, it was said to have possessed poisonous stingers that it could shoot off its body, a snake's neck, head, and tail, large, tortoise-like feet, and a green color.

The lore proposed that the beast was denied access to Noah's Ark, yet survived the biblical flood by seeking refuge in a cave near the Huisne River. After many years, it returned to rampage across the countryside, wilting crops with its breath and devouring both livestock and humans. It was finally defeated after it killed a man's fiancée. He tracked it down and cut off its tail. This was the only vulnerable point on the beast, and it died immediately.

The Peluda was said to be capable of the following feats, which vary between tales:

Searing breath that could wither crops.
Firing off its quills like arrows.
Invulnerability except for its tail.
Creating floods by stepping into rivers.
A single strike from its tail was lethal to a full grown man.
Breathing out fire as a typical dragon.
Spitting out a powerful stream of water or acid.

[edit] The Peluda in popular culture

In the SNES Squaresoft RPG Chrono Trigger, the alien parasite Lavos has similar abilities and appearance to the Peluda.

[edit] References

Rose, Carol [November 2001]. Giants, Monsters, and Dragons: An Encyclopedia of Folklore, Legend, and Myth (in English). W. W. Norton & Company, 217, 289. ISBN 0-393-32211-4.

Shuker, Karl (1995). Dragons: A Natural History. Simon & Schuster, New York. ISBN 0-684-81443-9