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Illustration of Vetala
Original AI-made illustration based on the descriptions in the sources. Not an official design.
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Vetala

Also called: वेताल, vetāla, baital, betal, Vetoba
Folklore and mythUndeadVariesDemons or evil spiritsMiddle Ages

The vetala is a spirit of Indian tradition that animates corpses in the cremation ground. Unlike most walking dead it is highly intelligent: in the famous story cycle the corpse it inhabits outwits a king twenty-four times before warning him of a sorcerer's plot. The underlying idea, a dead body moved by something that is not its original owner, runs from Indian tantra to the Tibetan ro-langs. It gives South Asia a corpse-animating being centuries older than the Caribbean zombi.12

Battle it
First recorded
1070
The Vetala tales form part of the Kathasaritsagara, compiled no later than the 11th century
Origin
Hindu (Indian)
India
What causes it
Demons or evil spirits
A spirit of the charnel ground enters a dead body and uses it as a vehicle.
How it moves
Varies
It can take possession of a corpse and leave it again at will.
Intelligence
Clever
Weak spots
  • chanting mantras
  • performing its funeral rites, which releases it

When did it first appear?

Ancient worldMiddle Ages1500 to 18991900 to 19671968 to 19992000 to 20092010 to today1070

The Vetala tales form part of the Kathasaritsagara, compiled no later than the 11th century

field notes

What the sources say

1

Lives in cremation grounds and cemeteries12

2

Knows past, present and future and is not bound by space and time12

3

Can drive people mad, kill children and cause miscarriages, but may also guard a village12

4

Sorcerers try to capture and enslave it12

5

In the Vetala Panchavimshati it inhabits a corpse hanging from a tree and tells King Vikramaditya twenty-five riddle stories12

6

Worshipped as Betal or Vetoba in the Konkan and Goa12

Could you outrun it?

Speed class from how the sources describe it (varies), not a measurement.

You, walking about 5 km/h (3.1 mph)
You, jogging about 10 km/h (6.2 mph)
Vetala about 10 km/h (6.2 mph)
A fit adult sprinting about 24 km/h (15 mph)
A fast cyclist about 37 km/h (23 mph)

Sources

  1. Vetala - Wikipedia
  2. Vampire folklore by region - Wikipedia

Every fact on this page comes from these sources, written in our own words. Spotted a mistake? Tell us at [email protected].

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Folklore from the same lands

ChurelSouth Asian, 1880

Same era: Middle Ages

DraugrNorse, 1250GlámrNorse (Icelandic saga), 1300Revenant (medieval England)Medieval English, 1100UpiórSlavic, 1100AsvithNorse (Danish chronicle and Icelandic saga), 1200Berwick revenantMedieval English / Scottish borders, 1198
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