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“Are you afraid of the dark...?”

The Barghest (also “Bargtjest”, “Bo-guest” or “Bargest”) is a mythical Black Dog. People from the north of England, primally Yorkshire, believe in him. However the stories of demonically, black dogs exist basically in every corner of the world.

The Barghest has giant teeth and claws and lurks at night in the streets of cities to prey on lone travellers. So he's very obviously an evil kind of “Black Dog”.

The origin of his name is not certain. One explanation is, that the word “ghost” in Northengland is pronounced like “guest”; the name would mean “burh-ghest”, city-ghost then. A different explanation searched for the origin of the name in the German word “Berggeist”, mountain ghost, or “Bärgeist”, bear ghost, as its shape and form might remind one more of a bear than a dog. A last explanation sees the origin of the name in the word “Bier-ghost”, the ghost of the bier.

Some sources say that the Barghest isn't a real “Black Dog”. He's not a ghost but more an evil goblin or sprite that can shape shift into a dog, among other forms. In some literature, the Barghest is always a shapeshifter: a human among humans at day, transforming into a giant dog, bear or other predator at night to hunt down its prey. Some sources say that a Barghest is always male; therefore they often appears as companions of witches or Succubi.

Just one thing is certain about the Barghest: that nothing is certain about him.