Adze
Also called Aze.
In the folklore of the Ewe people of Togo and Ghana, the Adze is a vampiric spirit that flies as a firefly to slip through cracks and keyholes, taking human form to feed on blood and possess its victims.
At a glance
- Tradition
- Ewe folklore
- Symbols
- Vampire
Near this figure
Symbols
Judged against the description by a model. Meanings are our own paraphrase.
- Vampire is image-domain The vampire denotes the dead that will not stay dead, feeding on the living, seductive and repugnant at once, draining what it claims to love.
why
The neighboring Akan have their own distinct witch-vampire figures, the obayifo and the forest-dwelling Asasabonsam, which are separate but comparable beings rather than variants of the Adze itself.
Traits
Read from the figure's description, which a model wrote. Open "why" for the sentence a trait came from.
Form
- Shapeshifts human animal
why
If caught in its insect form, some tellings hold that the Adze is forced to reveal itself in a human shape
- Firefly form infiltration
why
In its firefly form, the Adze is said to be able to slip through the smallest gaps, cracks in walls, or keyholes to enter a home undetected, where it feeds on the blood of sleeping victims, with children said to be particularly vulnerable targets in many tellings.
Behaviour
- Possesses host to drive violence
why
Once inside a body, the Adze is described in some accounts as able to possess its host, driving them to committing acts of jealousy, greed, or violence against their own family and community, so that misfortune, illness, or a sudden change in a person's character could be attributed to the being's influence.
- Consumes victims soul or life force
why
where it feeds on the blood of sleeping victims
Offensive powers
- Blood drain
why
the Adze is a vampiric spirit that flies as a firefly to slip through cracks and keyholes, taking human form to feed on blood and possess its victims
- Possession
why
Once inside a body, the Adze is described in some accounts as able to possess its host, driving them to committing acts of jealousy, greed, or violence against their own family and community
Utility powers
- Shapeshifting
why
the Adze is consistently described as a shapeshifter whose most distinctive form is that of a firefly or other small flying insect