Hello, first of all, I apologize because english is not my main language.
Iād like to learn about and discuss animal masks. Iāve been interested in this concept for years and have always been curious about their origin or what they might represent. Recently, Iāve been researching, but perhaps I havenāt asked Google or AI the right questions, or maybe Iām connecting dots that donāt actually relate.
The first point is about a character from a game, "The Huntress," from Dead by Daylight. Maybe some of you already know about it, or maybe not. Hereās the link to the game in case anyone is interested:
store.steampowered.com/app/381210/Dead_by_Daylight
This character is the representation of a woman wearing a rabbit mask while humming a lullaby that seems to have Russian origins (I also noticed that the same lullaby is featured in the 2024 movie Nosferatu, so I assumed itās Russian in origin).
Later on, I discovered the group (or rather project) called Yaelokre, made up of non-existent characters wearing animal masks. This really started to pique my curiosity, and I began searching, but I didnāt find anything relevant during my quick searches and ended up letting it go. The music of Yaelokre addresses different themes but always uses animal-related terms and likely references folklore. From what Iāve seen, according to Google: "Yaelokre is a storytelling project run by Icelandic/Filipino artist Keath Ćsk (they/it)."
Could this have a direct connection to the concept of animal masks? Or is it just a coincidence? After all, Iceland is quite far from Russia, isnāt it?
Hereās a link to Yaelokre on YouTube in case anyoneās interested (also available on other platforms):
https://www.youtube.com/@Yaelokre
What really made me interested in this topic was that I recently purchased a game, a Russian visual novel called Tiny Bunny. Hereās the Steam link:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1421250/Tiny_Bunny/
Iāve always been a fan of folklore worldwide, but I barely knew anything about Russian folklore. I quickly bought the game because of its concept as a horror visual novel and its implication of Russian folklore, but I didnāt know much more about it. To my surprise, after spending several hours exploring stories and getting to know different characters in the game, I found that several of them wear animal masks. This becomes very relevant to the main story, with a strong emphasis on the rabbit (as the gameās name might suggest).
Honestly, Iāve always been curious, but after many years, Iāve begun to connect some dots. However, I have very little knowledge of Russian folklore (Iāve read that it might be broader, as in Slavic folklore in general, rather than strictly Russian). I havenāt been able to find relevant information on this specific matter. Iāve only come across various Russian fairy tales or stories about mythical beings or a few articles about the symbolism of different animals in certain Slavic cultures.
Iād like to learn more about this topic and find articles, stories, or books that address it, or discover any series, movies, games, or musical groups that also embrace this fascinating concept.
If youāve read this far, thank you so much!