Sumatra
Berahu
Undead / Revenant Danger 3 of 5 · Frightening
- Form
- Unpropitiated dead
- Origin
- The named ghost of Nias: a dead person whose required pig-slaughter propitiation rite was skipped, left lingering to disturb their house. Documented in ethnographic text citing Siahaan (1979).
- Behavior
- Disturbs the household that failed its rites.
- Deterrents and vulnerabilities
- Performing the skipped pig-slaughter rite settles it.
- Diet
- Non-consumptive
- Culture
- Nias
- Region
- Sumatra
- Sampling
- Added in dataset v3–v5; first placed on a tree here.
Coded characters
◆ New entry coded by folklore synthesis. Sex: Unspecified.
| Human-like | Humanoid, witch, or human spirit |
|---|---|
| Sex | Male, unspecified, or variable |
| Death or birth origin | Death, childbirth, or infant origin |
| Incorporeal | Ghost, spirit, or undead |
| Flight | Grounded |
| Burial | Grave, shroud, or cemetery |
| Children | None |
| Blood and organs | None |
| Theft and mischief | None |
| Hair or fur | None |
| Animal form | None |
| Detached head | None |
| Fire or light | None |
| Water | None |
| Forest | None |
| Settlement | Village, house, hospital, or road |
| Black magic | No strong sorcery motif |
| Widespread | Localized |
| Body plan | Humanoid spirit |
| Diet | Non-consumptive |
Nearest on the tree
Identical coding to Hantu Jeruk Purut, Memedi, Arwah Penasaran, Ketcat Sikatai, so the tree cannot separate them.
