The '''Curupira''' (Portuguese pronunciation: [kuɾuˈpiɾɐ]) is a mythological creature of Brazilian folklore. This creature blends many features of West African and European fairies but was usually regarded as a demonic figure.

The name comes from the Tupi language kuru'pir, meaning "covered in blisters". According to the cultural legends, this creature has bright red/orange hair, and resembles a man or a dwarf, but its feet are turned backwards. Curupira lives in the forests of Brazil and uses its backward feet to create footprints that lead to its starting point, thus making hunters and travelers confused. Besides that, it can also create illusions and produce a sound that's like a high pitched whistle, in order to scare and drive its victim to madness. It is common to portray a Curupira riding a Collared peccary, much like another Brazilian creature called Caipora.

In ''Green Mansions'', there is a mention of a being called '''Curupita'''. The name resembles Curupira, but the description does not: Ah, no, he cannot harm me! For every ravening beast, every cold-blooded, venomous thing, and even the frightful Curupita, half brute and half devil, that shared the forest with her, loved and worshipped Rima, and that mournful burden I carried, her ashes, was a talisman to save me. He has left me, the semi-human monster, uttering such wild, lamentable cries as he hurries away into the deeper, darker woods that horror changes to grief, and I, too, lament Rima for the first time: a memory of all the mystic, unimaginable grace and loveliness and joy that had vanished smites on my heart with such sudden, intense pain that I cast myself prone on the earth and weep tears that are like drops of blood.

* [http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curupira Wikipedia]
* [http://www.guiadosquadrinhos.com/person.aspx?busca=curupira Guia dos Quadrinhos]
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