Bulgasari (creature)

The Bulgasari or Pulgasari (Korean: 불가사리) is a metal-eating legendary creature that appears in Korean mythology and folklore. The creature is a composite creature with the body of a bear, the trunk of an elephant, the eyes of a rhinoceros, the claws of a tiger, and the tail of a bull. In Korean, the name "Bulgasari" translates to "something impossible to kill"; however, swapping the first Chinese character for a Korean character of the same pronunciation and choosing the corresponding Chinese character to that Korean character results in a spelling that translates to "something that can be killed by fire". The Bulgasari is often portrayed as heroic in mythology because it causes destruction to punish evil in society, although negative folktales about it also exist.