Go see the EXTENDED VERSION OF THIS VIDEO! We go into a little discussion about phylacteries, amulets, and all the regional variants of this story! curiositystream.com/talefoundry Really, it's a massive help to us. Nebula has been such a good place to share stuff we can't really justify sharing here.

@sleepystrawberry8036

2 жыл бұрын

I signed up for them but the video on nebula is shorter than the video here on youtube. I'd like to watch the full thing.

@TheTaleFoundry

2 жыл бұрын

It doesn't have advertisements! That's why it appears to be shorter. But it has more actual content, it's just seeded throughout rather than tacked onto the end! -Benji

@Dahaka-rd6tw

2 жыл бұрын

Say, have you made any video about revenant? They basically, unlike brain dead zombies, rise from dead to seek revenge. I guess Jason Voorhees is good popular culture example.

@actually_a_circle

2 жыл бұрын

The ice king from adventure time is basically Kashe, and its interesting that his villainous character is really just loneliness

@dontneedtoknow5836

2 жыл бұрын

Death is not a myth. I have felt his cold embrace and kissed him before walking away. Fear him if you must, because you have not experienced yourself then. You have your own demons to deal with.

If I was an immortal litch with my soul encapsulated in a fragile physical vessel, the destruction of which would instantaneously kill me, I would simply not tell anyone what or where it was.

@kdcthelioness

2 жыл бұрын

And you would be smarter than many lich, who get overconfident in their undeath.

@carna-9501

2 жыл бұрын

Make it something you see everyday and then lock it away within your home and never tell anyone about it, continue to take care of your undead body with preservatives and perfumes to prevent people from finding out what you are

@yellowpig1026

2 жыл бұрын

Honestly if I was a lich I would make mine a single gold coin in a gigantic scrooge mcduck coin pit

@carna-9501

2 жыл бұрын

@@yellowpig1026 it has to be something you can carve runes into, and place your soul within, boxes are the most common, some people use phials, or bottles, others use lockets. But it has to have something that your soul can be interred within, some space within the object. So if you used a hollow coin it could work as long as you could still carve the necessary runes into it

@yellowpig1026

2 жыл бұрын

@@carna-9501 it would be difficult to get the tiny runes on a hollow coin without just breaking the thing but it definitely sounds possible and if you got it all set up it would be almost impossible to find the right coin buried in thousands of other coins that look identical at a glance

It’s kind of ironic how all the famous stories about Kosche the “Deathless” is about him, well, dying.

@enricofermi3471

2 жыл бұрын

Notice how he us called deathless, not "immortal" (although more often you can see translation of the russian word бессмертный as immortal/undying), the deathless is very suitable in this case because he can live indefinitely until killed, unlike mortals who die of old age or illness).

@enricofermi3471

2 жыл бұрын

us->is

@vicantirasumovski4375

9 ай бұрын

@@enricofermi3471 it's the issue of translation. In Russian there is one word for both Immortal and Deathless - just difference of languages.

One of my favorite examples of this is Father from Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood. He seems like a invincible god for most of the story, but then you learn that in reality he’s simply a small black ball that can’t exist without being inside a flask. They even reference this in the show, saying that even though he has a physical body, his flask is only bigger and not nonexistent. At the very end he appears before Truth as his small fragile form as he cries for mercy. Good stuff.

@WobblesandBean

2 жыл бұрын

I like how, in the end, Truth punishes him by doing the one thing Father feared more than all else - being forced back into the void to be just another particle in the great black sea of thought and knowledge, to lose all power and individuality and return to the Nothing he once was.

@samakiraroyjanssen6326

2 жыл бұрын

@@WobblesandBean and at the same time, exactly what he wanted, to be ‘god’

@Loginius_

2 жыл бұрын

@@samakiraroyjanssen6326 All is one, one is all.

"People that spend their life avoiding death are already dead. They're also rich, and I like to spend my life with their money." -Rick Sanchez

@godofdeath8785

2 жыл бұрын

Well he right I am such person and its very sucks like I don't risk I afraid death I afraid ppl what they will say and think about me its sucks to be me

@notproductiveproductions3504

2 жыл бұрын

So Bruce Lee was right

@creed8712

2 жыл бұрын

Ironic coming from a dude who is basically batman with Reed Richards mind when it comes to being able to not die

@jesusrodriguez3728

2 жыл бұрын

Lmao you're actually quoting Rick

@JaraelMoonsilver

2 жыл бұрын

@@jesusrodriguez3728 haha Rick and morty cringe amirite gamers 🤪

I’ve heard that Koshei was the inspiration for the litch since he’s a wizard and nearly unkillable unless you destroy a specific thing (like a litch phylatery)

@lordinquisitor6233

2 жыл бұрын

Also would Davy Jones from pirates of the Caribbean be considered a form of this trope since he literally ripped his heart and buried it

@c.michlschneider3928

2 жыл бұрын

Davy Jones from PotC is generally considered a lich, yes; Voldemort too. Koschei is one of the oldest and most popular liches, but there’s a surprising amount of similar stories in other cultures, though authenticity is frequently debatable.

@maunderbrainsplasticity1409

2 жыл бұрын

Its interesting how the trope is so common in popular media but Koschei never caught on like Baba Yaga

@c.michlschneider3928

2 жыл бұрын

@@maunderbrainsplasticity1409 I would argue that it has, but the identity has changed in modern retellings. BabaYaga and Koschei are generally two sides of the same coin: the incarnate evil of the older generation. While Koschei (and by extension modern liches like Voldemort, Davy Jones, Darths Vader and Sidious, etc) are male and wilderness aspected (marauding, violent and commanding), Baba Yaga is more domestic and, obviously, female aspected. Most of the time, she is found by the MC (rather than her finding them) at her house. Even some of the weirder aspects of her description (like sleeping on an oven) are rooted in domestic life in Russia. It’s an interesting dynamic.

@dalekcaan8495

2 жыл бұрын

@@c.michlschneider3928 how tf is Vader a lich

When you said that there was a connected theme throughout the stories, I at first saw a different theme: Koschei puts himself at risk by kidnapping other people, making everyone's life worse, while the protagonist puts themselves at risk by saving other (in this case) animals, making their life better. In the end, Koschei is defeated because he kidnapped the wrong person, while the protagonist is saved because they saved the right animals.

@techstuff9198

Жыл бұрын

Ah yes, the power of friendship.

@user-yw1nl6sk7y

Жыл бұрын

​@@techstuff9198 tbh the power of friendship makes sense here since the animals help in a realistic way the MC compared to most cartoons that the power of friendship becomes a laser

@DarcOne13

11 ай бұрын

Well, you're not wrong. Lack of heart does lead to making callous decisions...

@Gearkiller25

9 ай бұрын

Yin and yang. Complete opposites

I think it's also interesting to point out that eggs are a symbol of new life. SUCH a cool story!

@themostbritishpersonalive868

2 жыл бұрын

Things to do with Magic and an English degree

My favorite version of Koschei the Deathless is in Igor Stravinsky's Firebird. One day I hope to actually see it live. And yes, please do a video on liches and other types of undead other than zombies and vampires. That sounds like a lot of fun.

@JohnSmith17048

2 жыл бұрын

Ey, no need to knock the classics man, you can learn some interesting stuff. For example do you know the origins for zombies and vampires? I mean the irl origins. Deranged voodoo witch doctors and neadles with frog venom lobotomizing victims and using them as brain dead slaves and people not understanding how death and decomposition works. I highly recommend you read up on those as they are incredibly interesting despite their overuse in popular culture. Though other undead and monsters are pretty damn interesting as well. Thinking my favourites would be the banshee, dullahan, charon type of archetype, carrying the souls of the doomed into the afterlife willingly or not.

@blasmolina1836

2 жыл бұрын

@@JohnSmith17048 I think the official term for the "charon type" is a sychopomp.

@shosty575

2 жыл бұрын

Yess Firebird

@plaguedfrost1753

2 жыл бұрын

@@JohnSmith17048 Can you give me a source for that, that sounds really cool. The only articles I’ve read go back to Haiti and the French occupation of slavery there. Death being looked upon as freedom and suicide being looked a upon as a way to spend the rest of existence working on the plantation... Then they talk about Voodoo, but they don’t mention lobotomy. I’d be interesting to hear about early lobotomy, imo...

@wjones28

2 жыл бұрын

I performed the orchestral suite a few years ago but I'd love to see the full ballet

I like how emaciated Koschei looks in this video. I'm pretty sure his name actually means 'Boney' or 'Gaunt' or something like that.

@user-vq8lp3nc4j

2 жыл бұрын

It does. Bone in russian is kost', so koschei can be read as "boney"

@kiklonio

2 жыл бұрын

@@user-vq8lp3nc4j It's the same in my language.

Villains are the very best! Who else can boast such mustaches!

@erikho6936

2 жыл бұрын

No one boast like Gaston!

@successmeditations110

2 жыл бұрын

Hercule Poirot has the best moustaches and he is no villain.

@Antelion

2 жыл бұрын

Escanor is no villain

@aesiro1336

2 жыл бұрын

And they have the best laughs.

@notproductiveproductions3504

2 жыл бұрын

Burt Reynolds

Life of the villain being attached to a needle is also used for Koshchey in some stories. "There's a tall oak, on top of it is a chest, inside of that chest is a hare, duck inside hare, egg inside the duck, needle in the egg, and at the edge of that needle is the death of Koshchey" (I hope I spelled his name correctly in English)

@SarahAbramova

Жыл бұрын

That's the version I was told!

"The monster with it's heart in an egg" is a a good example of a story used to highlight a specific virtue. No matter how large the undertaking if you have that virtue you can succeed. In both stories the hero showed kindness to others, and that kindness was repaid. There are generally universal virtues, like karma, courage, wisdom, etc. That's why nearly identical stories exist all over the world. Each group has made their own story to pass on their virtues through generations.

@Fido-vm9zi

2 жыл бұрын

Very well said!

Funny thing, the show Hungarian Folk Tales(which has it's own channel on KZread) actually has a take on Tzarevich Petr. The Man with a Heart of Stone. The story is a bit lighter in tone, as the old man is not specifically stated to be Koshchei. However, I suppose Hungarians may have had a lighter idea around him perhaps. Even though they've got plenty of brutal stories themselves. Petr is a young child in the story, he has three brothers as opposed to two. Instead of his Mother, it's one of the three maidens at the old man's side. Essentially for anyone too lazy to look up the channel or something, I'll summarize it here. As best I can anyway... The three elder brothers leave their Mother's home one day as they're discontented with the girls in their village, finding none to their liking. When they leave they eventually come to rest at the old man's cottage. He allows them to do so, but the next morning tells the men they'll return there again another time. He then asks that the young men bring him a wife to wed. The three foolishly laugh about this request, but keep it to themselves. They then come into the King's service and he gives them his three daughters as wives. The men later make the trip home to reveal to their Mother whom they've decided to marry. As the old man said however, they did have to pass by his home again. He greets them readily and upon seeing no maiden for him, he cursed the men and two of the princesses. Turning each one to stone. Leaving only one for himself to be his wife. After some time she sees the old man in high spirits and asks him why he turned everyone to stone. His response is because his heart is made of stone too. She asks where it is and he states it's within his bedsheets. She makes a garland for the heart to know joy and places it where he said it was. The old man recognizes the kindness of the gesture after a good laugh. In this case, he explains his heart is in a little bird. This bird naturally is in a big rock, and is quite the speedy thing apparently. Years pass by and Petr is born to the Mother, and upon learning of his siblings' disappearance, decides to find them. The boy stops twice on his journey to eat and hollers out the same offer to join him twice as well. Both times animals join him, the first is a ram who gives the boy one of his hairs to call upon him with. The second is a dove who offers a feather to call upon them with as well. He comes across the same house in time, but only the maiden is home. She explains everything to him, leading the boy to seek out the little bird. Calling upon the ram to bust open the rock, and asking the dove to catch the fast bird as it flees. The boy faces no other trials as he returns, but the old man seemingly begins to feel emotions again. He describes to the maiden that he feels warmth as the boy approaches, then begins to shed tears just as the boy returns. Upon taking his heart back from the bird(which somehow does no harm to the bird) the old man is finally convinced by the maiden to restore everyone to life. The old man does this and lets everyone leave. The story ending on a happy note this time around.

@maunderbrainsplasticity1409

2 жыл бұрын

Thank you! I'll have to check that channel out.

@matezelenka1323

2 жыл бұрын

Yeees, I was just about to comment that I know a hungarian version of this! :D

@coffeecoffee2096

2 жыл бұрын

Sry too long

@UnseelieFaelass

2 жыл бұрын

Then go look up the episode? Not like you're forced to read it. Hungarian Folk Tales, The Man with a Heart of Stone. There gave ya the search words to use.

@HOLDENPOPE

Жыл бұрын

this reminded me of Witcher, a game I only know because my dad plays it and I like the theme of the character I'm thinking of (Forgot his name unfortunately)

So, Kashe is literally a litch. The egg is his philactory. Unknown if he feeds on souls, like the ones in D&D, but he's still technicly a litch.

@XanKreigor

2 жыл бұрын

He's the inspiration for Liches in D&D.

@pandoratheclay

2 жыл бұрын

Or the Giant who had no heart in his body, a Norwegian tale. In d&d this might make him an emperyean

Funny how you mentioned Darth Vader at the start, since his was also a self - fulfilled prophecy: fearing the death of his loved one, he was the one who caused it.

My favorite of the pathetic villains is Davy Jones. He doesn't want people to stab his heart and kill him, but he also doesn't want to have it with him because he refuses to accept he's still in love with Calipso. I also like Sauron from Lord of the Rings because he's like a morphed and distorted version of this trope. He puts his life and power in a Ring, not because he's afraid, but because he wants to become even more powerful. In his ego, Sauron believes no one would dare damage the Ring, and this is proven right when in the end, the Ring is destroyed by sheer luck or grace of god.

@MalachiSouth

3 ай бұрын

Good Point. It's an interesting twist on the trope.

In a way Dorian Grey's life is in his portrait. When he stabs the portrait he dies. In the TV show "Penny Dreadful" Dorian is a monster because he is heartless. Old and yet eternally immature, easily bored and utterly lacking in empathy.

@AtaraxianWist

2 жыл бұрын

I've always considered Dorian Grey to be a protolich.

8:07 SEE VOLDEMORT!! This is how you actually hide a Horocrux.

This story reminds me of the villain Tubba Blubba from Paper Mario the N64 game. His weakness was his heart and it was sealed away too. He becomes easy to beat once his heart reunites with him. I wondered if Nintendo took inspiration from this story

@Acacius1992

3 ай бұрын

Thought the exact same thing!

The way I remember my liches, they're not reanimated after death. They're different from all the other undead monsters: zombies are mindless brutes that either rampage driven by hunger or created and controlled by a necromancer. Vampires have a powerful mind, but even they don't choose to be vampires, they are created by other vampires "siring" them. But liches are not only possessed of a powerful mind (the mind of a sorcerer or similar spell slinger), they aren't created. They create themselves. Intentionally. They go through an absolutely vile ritual while they are still alive, transforming themselves into liches by sealing their soul away in the phylactery. The phylactery also assures that they will always return when slain, so you must destroy it before you can get rid of the lich for good. But that means you must find it first...

Trivia: Koschei is also the name used for Racter's AI-driven drone in Shadowrun: Hong Kong.

@toolatetothestory

2 жыл бұрын

Because that Koschei (who is an adorable spider bot in my opinion) has a self repair programm, thus making him immortal in it's own way! I wanted to comment that :D But eyyyyyyyy, someone else who knows SRHK! Cool!

If you want a villain who is everything you described then you really should look up "The Beast" from Over The Garden Wall.

Koschei presumably tended the mares without any help. That's why I admired villains: their individual power, their ability. Heroes always get help, they always serve as a lesson in cooperation for the reader, but the villain is always singularly stronger!

Acererak from the Tomb of Horrors is such a perfect example of these themes. Reduced to little more than a jewel-adorned skull, so afraid is he of death that he has buried himself deep in a mountain, surrounded by impenetrable defenses and deadly traps, he spends eternity in solitude.

@dizzydial8081

2 жыл бұрын

The Lich is so cool. The mere act of becoming a lich requires such heinous acts you're essentially trading in your humanity.

What is actually interesting in the second version of the story is the fact the Kostej is not killed by hero, but rather by his own love and trust. As long as he stays paranoid and does not share information about his weakness, he is protected. In the moment he reveals it he is basically done. The attempt to become more human actually kills him.

One of my favorites is the story of the man who held the devils heart and listened to its secret weakness. I think it was in the Grimm Fairy Tales. Basically, there was this woodsman who would turn into a monster frequently when his heart swapped with the devil's, meanwhile, the wise man was walking the woods with his young students when the woodsman attacked. I don't remember how, but somehow he ended up with the black heart in his hands, held it up to his ear and heard it's weakness. And then against the urging of the students, instead of destroying it, he gave it back. The absolute chad.

@dr.velious5411

2 жыл бұрын

I wish I could find this one again, but I don't remember the title, it just stuck with me.

Kashchey, alternatively Koshchei, appeared as an NPC in the mobile tower defense game Arknights and is one of the main antagonist. He is a duke and part of Ursus aristocracy (Ursus is equivalent to Russia). He turned out to have the ability to transfer his consciousness to other bodies, effectively "possessing or dominating" them, which allow him to live for a very long time after "dying" countless times. So far the "egg" has not been found nor is his original body (if he still has one).

The Wizard from the Wizard of Oz is a perfect example of this trope. An intimidating ruler turning out to be just a regular person; a fraud, an illusion of absolute power

I think there's a story called, John the Heartless the story is about a John who has his heart in a bucket, John is either a wizard or just a very rich man, John having "no heart" is also cold and indifferent to the rest of humanity. One day while fishing for his dinner, a water spirit steals his heart from the bucket, John begs the spirit to return his heart, said spirit agrees if he uses his power/wealth to help others in need. John agrees and spend the next days/weeks/years helping others, when returns to the spirit not only returns his heart but also turns into a beautiful woman who John than marries.

@NicolasJRedfox

7 ай бұрын

reminds me of "the stone heart", where a poor lumberjack makes a deal with a spirit at a river in the forest. in exchange for great power and wealth the spirit takes his heart, and fills the gap with a random stone picked up from the river. his wife is heartbroken by how much he changed and seeks out the spirit to beg for the return of his heart. the spirit mocks her that she is free to take it back but will never find it; because just like his heart was replaced by a stone from the river, the heart is now another stone in the river. she then spends a very long time (3 years?) picking up every stone in the river until she finds the one that is his heart. not sure about the ending, but in the version that run on tv he got to keep his wealth since the deal was not broken when his wife was the one to take back the heart.

That first story reminds me of something that I heard back in my youth. A young prince or some well meaning individual is sent to save a princess with under an enchanted spell and inside of a castle, keep, or Tower (I forget which) when the hero of the story arrives he cannot figure out how to free her. However in the same Tower is a being bound with chains. This being begs for water and in exchange promises to use his knowledge to free the princess from her enchantment. The individual uses a ladle to give the being two drinks of water and then to pour water over the chains. The being shatters the chains grows a pair of wings scoops up the princess and flies away. Unfortunately I can't remember the rest of the story and what little I have been able to remember is very fragmented as you can see above. Anybody have any idea what the name of the story is.

"A bird sitting on a tree is never afraid of the branch breaking, because her trust is not on the branch but on it’s own wings. Always believe in yourself" Koschei: Nuh Uhhh

an interesting theme is that Koschei seems to always repay kindness towards him, which makes you feel bad for when that kindness comes back to bite him

That first part of the story reminds me of one of my favorite Twilight Zone stories, The Howling Man. Shows how deep Rod Serling was willing to go with themes

@mitchellarevalo2017

2 жыл бұрын

I thought the same thing

@mitchellarevalo2017

2 жыл бұрын

The second story reminds me of an episode of jim hansons: the story teller where a heartless giant revealed that his heart was also in a similar location if not the same

The Ice King from Adventure Time could also be viewed as an interpretation of Koschei

@comment-chan8750

2 жыл бұрын

Might I ask why?

@giliansterckx

2 жыл бұрын

@@comment-chan8750 The ice king was a normal human man who wore a crown crafted by an ancient magician. By wearing the crown, you are slowly turning yourself in the ice king: a mad, powerful magician who has powers over ice and can live forever. Technically, by wearing the crown, you become immortal, but your personality is slowly eroded until nothing of your former self is left. You just become a mad but powerful idiot until the end of time.

Wonderful video, it was nice to revisit childhood fairytales from a different angle. The only thing - Koshey’s death was actually on the end of the needle that was inside the egg, so it was even more miniscule

Morgoth is probably my favorite pathetic villain. He gave in to envy, pride, hatred, ended up being a shadow of his former self. Once glorious, the mightiest and most beautiful among it's siblings, melkor, now a Towering figure, of metal, fire and shadow, sitting in his dark throne, paranoid, and constantly afraid, for even the most feeble of his enemies posed great threat to him, the only one of the Great Valar to know fear!

@grassblock7668

Жыл бұрын

FINALLY SOMEONE MENTIONED HIM. Yes I'm a year late, buuut it's never late to express fan-boyness towards Tolkien's (first) dark lord. I honestly expected this video to mention Sauron, since he fits the theme: he put part of his spirit into the Ring (this story's version of the Deathless's egg) and made it indistructible, however, literal God (Eru) stepped in and indirectly destroyed it. Morgoth did the same with Arda itself, which is why during the Dagor Dagorath, when Arda is effectively destroyed, Morgoth is also killed (and for good this time). These villains are ironically insecure in a way, they long to find a sense of security in something that isn't directly themselves, be it an egg, a ring or an entire planet.

You know it's funny I find this and you mention how liches are the modern version of this fragile villan, then talk about how we should make our own, because I already have one! In my current D&D game I'm playing a blood-wizard named Jimblic. He was born a gnome but was raised by Ogres, which made him hateful and prejudiced towards other short people and jealous of height. He attempted lichdom many years ago, but failed, instead horribly deforming his body. Now he's on a quest to try it again, and already is forming plans on how to secure his immortality. And even more coincidental, we're using the Grimhollow homebrew for much of this, and one of the images you used for lich was from Grimhollow!

I think another good example of the wizard whose soul is in an egg would be (spoiler alert!) the magical girls and soul gems in Puella Magi Madoka Magica.

@enricofermi3471

2 жыл бұрын

But can their gems be destroyed like a phylactery? Because as far as I remember, they can only blacken if the character turns into witch, and maybe self-destruct after the witch dies?

@supersani21

2 жыл бұрын

@@enricofermi3471 They can be devoured by a witch

so, i kind of disagree with the characterisation of koshei as one afraid of death. Koshei appears in A Lot of russian folklore and fairytales, two of the most well-known being The Frog-Tsarine and the poem The Oak at Lukomor'ye (A. Pushkin - introduction to Ruslan and Ludmila). His main characterisation is not fear of death - in fact, from a certain angle Koshei is viewed as "constantly dying", never alive, and an embodiment of death of sorts - that's actually why he isn't really given an explanation to his existence as a lich. His main themes are greed (he has a lot of gold and tries to impress/bribe people with it) and a penchant for kidnapping pretty women (usually of royal blood). His relation to death is never the main focus of the stories, his greed, arrogance and pride are. The whole being undead thing is just a gimmick. Other than that, great video! I really enjoyed your dissection of liches in modern culture.

@user-lb3su1ok8c

3 ай бұрын

Wow you have a great knowledge of russian culture!!!😃😃😃🇷🇺🇷🇺🇷🇺

If anyone interested in similar stuff, I will recommend Wildbow's Pactverse' Heartless magic. It's like the sorcerer's deathless magic, but push it to the creative extreme.

Here's a little thing about those who choose to become a lich, the majority of them are afraid not of death but not fulfilling what they've made their life goals or they do not wish to die before they obtain all the knowledge and wisdom they can.

@XanKreigor

2 жыл бұрын

Yeah Voldemort is actually the odd one out with his fear of death. Most of them are motivated by greed (for knowledge mostly).

One of the incarnations of "The Master" from Dr. Who went by the alternate name of Koschei when he needed to hide his actual identity. Also I see a tie to Samson in that Peter's mom tricks Koscheii into giving away the source of his power after he lies to her several times.

Wonderful, as always! This was really cool, and I love the deeper look into this particular villain

This reminds me of a hungarian folktale video I watched where the villain, a dragon, puts his true strength in a box of wasps which was inside a rabbit, which was inside a bear and the hero in the hungarian folktale destroyed them all causing the dragon to be weaker than a fly. However, this is different to a villain entrusting their life to something small like a egg, but I think its a little similar.

Your KZread channel is a treasure!! I'm so delighted to find you! And extra delughted to find you talking about Koeschi the Deathless!!

As a writer of Fanfiction as well as other stuff that I just post online, I can’t tell you enough how bits and pieces of some of the stuff that you talk about and say in these videos on here inspire me a great deal- even if I never heard of some of these thing you are discussing with us before and I personally thank you for that. Although, sometimes I’ve never ever heard of these things such as what you discussed in this video, after you explain it in such a simple and easy to understand way that you somehow seem to do I am able to successfully make that connection as in what the content of this video is trying to tell me and how it applies to/in other media (forms); when you compared this video content to the thing with Tom Riddle/Lord Voldemort in Harry Potter I instantly thought of what happened with The Beast in the Over the Garden Wall sort of mini series that premiered/aired on Cartoon Network around October or so a few years back when tha entirely of The Beast life and soul was contained in that of a single lantern and as long as that lantern always stayed lit and burning brightly The Beast’s life and soul would remain in tact, and only wham the lantern was smashed did The Beast wither away and die.

Oh yeah, an episode on liches would be interesting. But remember something else: "Zettra doesn't kneel!"

Stith Thompson. Reminds me of the good old days when I got to study Folklore Studies in Ireland for a year. =) As usual, brilliant job on the video! Keep up the good work!

I am so happy that someone has a video about Koschei the Deathless! I have a fascination with Slavic Fairy Tales and Folklore because of their uniqueness of their villains. I mean just look at Baba Yaga who doesn’t necessarily want to kill the heroes in the stories and sometimes actually helps them out! Those stories are just wonderful! I would highly recommend checking out The Golden Fish as well :) Thank you again for the wonderful video!

I heard about this character when I was playing the Scion ttrpg and came across a Rus pantheon book pdf a few years ago. It inspired me to learn more about him. Such a great character

Fantastic topic! I love this channel.

Me as the intro is being read: hm, TaleBot, I have to agree with you and also I'm pretty sure this is- TaleBot: Koschei the Deathless Me: CALLED IT

I've read about Koschei. Such like he have been written by Charles de Lint in his "Drink down the Moon" story, Barry Hughart's novel "Bridge of Birds" and, of course, J.K. Rowling's Lord Voldemort. I believe the original "Child's Play" movie features a similar take when the doll confronts the man who instructed him how to put his soul into a doll in the first place. While Koschei is a famous story, you can probably find even older incarnations if you dig hard enough.

I know the Kashé the deathless one as " His soul is hidden in an egg, hidden in a duck, hidden in a hare,hidden in a fox, hidden in a bear,hidden in a log floating in a faraway ocean"

This is cool. I really like the deconstruction of stories and archetypes. To think that I even found your channel by watching SCP stuff lol. Sometimes the “algorithm” does what it’s designed to do and to that I’m thankful. Count me in as a subscriber friend!

I may have heard or read another story about liches. That they would be dead, but without the act of dying. That they would have given their life to allow themselves to avoid dying, and often gain power through a stronger link to the depth. Maybe through some ritual or using some artifact that would lock away their life, that I can't tell. Although I cannot give any source, that sole idea, of being unalive without dying, is really interesting.

If i got offered this deal for eternal life to become a a heartless monster I'd take that deal in a heart beat ;)

@Willyt-zz7sl

2 жыл бұрын

*davy jones would like to know your location*

@cookieman8548

2 жыл бұрын

Haha

@fulana_de_tal

2 жыл бұрын

Too bad your heart wouldn't beat after that

@____eve

2 жыл бұрын

@@fulana_de_tal THIS

Dang it, thanks for the motivational speak at the end, it really touch me because the fear of death is something I can relate to.

I feel that the matryoshka version of Koschei is more on the nose than you give it credit at first blush. That's what he did with his death in that version of the tale, after all.

Love this art style so much

Tale Foundry, I greatly enjoy your videos. Can you please make some videos about the mythologies, especially the Fairy Tales, of Spain? I greatly enjoy such things, but have struggled finding any information on those of my ancestors' land.

GOD, that Little Einsteins reference felt like a nostalgic punch in the face

As soon as I saw this videos title, I immediately thought of Koschei. One of my favorite stories from folklore ❤❤

Villains can be so much more fun than the heroes

@warrenbradford2597

2 жыл бұрын

Just make sure you do not glorify them or make them the protagonist for the sake of it. People who just want to fun are getting sick of them being trendy. "Stop Glorifying Villain Protagonists": kzread.info/dash/bejne/ZHd40MqvktGtcqQ.html "Enough with the Villian Protagonists": kzread.info/dash/bejne/iKmAko-FqNHPlqg.html

@valhatan3907

2 жыл бұрын

For me, its both. They're character, if the author do them right and well then they're fun. If not then the author are just trash.

@valhatan3907

2 жыл бұрын

@@warrenbradford2597 thanks man, those are great content.

@warrenbradford2597

2 жыл бұрын

@@valhatan3907 You're welcome.

Oooh I love the Winternight Trilogy. The heavy element of folklore is one of my favourite things about it but the characters are why is among my favourite series of all time. This is how I knew of Kashei the Deathless.

'Voldemort is a lich' is not where I expected this to go, but I cannot argue it's wrong

In some ways I am a little surprised you did not mention another iconic villain. While most would think of him as more of a symbol of terror than being fearful, this villain fits this description better that one might think. When his master was defeated, he chose to bide his time and prepare. When first defeated and captured, he corrupted the hearts and minds of the kingdom that subdued him, ultimately dooming the entire realm to an end beneath the waves. He used his gifts of craftsmanship to fashion an artifact that would house much of his life energy and power into one condensed space; one which would subdue all others like it. When he was defeated a second time and supposedly slain, his spirit endured and sought out his lost power. And three millennia after that, Sauron went into full-on panic mode sensing Frodo putting his Ring on in Mount Doom realizing exactly what their plan was. No matter his power, even a fallen Maiar like Sauron was not above fear.

I enjoy the story of “The Giant with No Heart” it was more versions, even one where they MC gives the heart back, and the Giant realizes what he’s done and vows never to do it again.

@pandoratheclay

2 жыл бұрын

Or “The giant with bi heart in his body” from norway, where someone’s wife gets kidnapped. The hero saves some animals while on his way to rescue their wife from the giant who is unkillable. The hero has to hide under the bed while his wife tries to find out how the giant is immortal, the hero runs away to destroy the object that just so happens to hold the giant heart. And saves his wife.

After watching this video I’m reminded of Tubba Blubba from the first paper mario and how he became invincible by removing his heart, but the heart was returned and it left him vulnerable again

"His wife was out warring...you know, as you do. It's interesting how they treat it the same way as buying groceries or something" Earlier you mentioned the story's from Russia xD

It's been a long time, but I remember there being a Koschei-like character in one of the books from the Prydain Chronicles, Taran the Wanderer, I think. Only his life was hidden in a nail instead of an egg.

You know, that second tale of Koschei reminds me of Tubba Blubba, if any of you know who that is. (In case you don’t, he’s the Invincible monster boss of chapter 3 of the popular Nintendo 64 game Paper Mario, and like Koschei, he has his heart, his only vulnerability, locked away in a windmill, and he’s invincible as long as his heart and body aren’t together. So, pretty similar, no?)

@mindlessscientist3772

2 жыл бұрын

Oh yeah, and isn't he also shown to be like, a huge wimp who plays up his strength, similar to these flawed villans?

@jacobshore5115

2 жыл бұрын

@@mindlessscientist3772 yes! (And the Boos used to scare him a lot too.)

@deadlydingus1138

2 жыл бұрын

I was thinking that.

I’m just thinking of one quote from Star Trek: Voyager. “You know as well as I do, fear only exists for one purpose: to be conquered.” On another note… Ivan really did a turnaround there, though. Staying at home while his wife goes to war, then desperately trying to rescue her and risking his own life. Good on you, Ivan. 👍🏻

This reminds me of the fairytale of the freed giant with his heart hidden in a well in an island, in the middle of a lake.

I just have to say I really like your character design and art style.

The second I saw the title I thought "oh I hope this is about old Koshei" and was delighted to find out it was

Thanks. I vaguely recall a movie I saw when I was a kid. It was one of those Sinbad knockoffs. The hero had to find the soul of the monster (or bad guy... I don't remember which), that was kept like an egg by a giant Roc. It was a kind of blood-red crystal thing. He got it, took it back, and broke it in front of the baddie, which killed him/it. TLOTR is also that kind of tale. The ring is the symbol and source of much of Sauron's power. tavi.

@michaelhutson6758

Жыл бұрын

"Captain Sindbad" (alternate spelling of the character's name). Starring Guy Williams of later Lost In Space fame. A remake with updated special effects would be a great movie.

It's nice to see Talebot hasn't been left to rust. Anyways, I'd actually like to see you do this with famous characters in media, looking at their backstory and seeing if they're connected to stories of the past.

Interesting! I now see a version of this deathless wizard (who hides his heart) appears in The Bridge of Birds - he’s a pupil of the Old Man of the Mountain. “His secrets are not sold cheaply. It is perilous to waste his time.”

This one channel is whats keeping my creativity alive.

I love the Frolo example. You can see him struggling with the realization that he's not as righteous and holy as he REALLY believed he was. And you can see him embrace it near the end of the song, which has a slight tonal shift when he does. *chef's kiss*

Hi Clank it's good to see you again!!!!

How the hell did i know this video was gonna be about koschei the deathless.

When I first learned of Koshei the deathless, he was attributed as the very first lich in literature. I'm glad to see he's getting much needed attention.

Very interesting, I was told this story as a child but it was told to me VERY different than the way it is told here. I still enjoyed it.

This is reminding me of The Heartless Giant from Jim Henson’s The StoryTeller

tip. to know what parts of the video are to do with the story, I would recommend using the chapters feature in the videos play bar.

I once again feel like a pleb for not knowing this literally reference xD Great and interesting video!

I'm not surprised to learn this considering its many references to various mythologies I was both familiar and unfamiliar with, but today I learned that Koschei the Deathless was not an original creation by Mike Mignola for Hellboy.

Would love to hear more from you on the undead.

In the version of the first one I heard, his body was separated and thrown in a barrel in the ocean like he did to the hero. Regardless, he still could not be killed because his soul was elsewhere. I was wondering if there was a part 2 where someone actually got to where his soul was. Now that villain's actually taken care of and not just lurking around in a weakened state with the possibility of coming back.

Jim Henson's Storyteller, THAT Jim Henson, did an episode very similar to this named The Heartless Giant. Very good show available on Amazon last I checked. Narration by John Hurt and creature effects by The Jim Henson Company. Well worth a watch! A personal favorite of mine.

You should check out Cooking Companions and the upcoming sequel; Dread Weight. They’re horror visual novels, but with how the sequel seems to be hinting to be going, this seems to be right up your alley

I often enjoy listening to these videos. I'm actually making an anime series of my own and hearing the perspectives of points of view over any character really helps in my understanding of what to question about my characters when creating them and how best to write them. I definitely feel like the few villains I have are good but one in particular is quite troubling to figure out. I don't want to spoil anything but let's just say this particular character has a God complex but also has to learn things to... "evolve" so to speak. Like the character feels superior but also has to learn from its mistakes. The character feels themselves above others yet constantly finds themselves improving only to be beaten. Typical villain stuff. But my question is: what is driving said character? Is it the need to be above others? Or perhaps it's that they don't like to lose? It's hard to wrap my head around how to understand this villain character of mine. 😅 one thing is for certain, I aim to make it the best series out there. I guess that's why it's so hard to figure out. It'll definitely take a few years to come out but I hope ppl will really love it. 😊

Yeah I have a couple of villains I think fit into this category One is an imposing Tyrant who seems to be able to do anything! He Welcomes Challengers to try to fight him one on one in an arena so that he can make an example of them and prove that he is unbeatable but his only power is making people believe he is powerful through illusion and stage magic. All of his fights were rigged from the start because even though he is treated as a big deal on his island he's really just a small king, in a small castle, on a small island surrounded by Empires. Eventually he is defeated by his own daughter showing everyone that there was never anything to fear because his powers are all just a show, and no matter what he tries to do to her it just passes right by. Not that he's not trying to kill his own daughter, if it meant keeping his illusion of power safe he would kill all of his children but She and her friend figured out his secret and sabotaged his stage ahead of time. With his trick revealed the people quickly rebel against his tyranny and make his daughter their new queen.

That was my favorite tale of all tales when I was a kid 👀

I thought this video was gonna be about this an im super happy it is i love this story

As a kid back in the late eighties there was a show that dealt with folklore.and fairy tales I remember this story from then

I thought the easiest to think would be Davy Jones. LoL Great video, a new villain I shall try on an rpg table! Thank you.