Goblin Slayer: What Is the Mokele Mubenbe? The One That Stops the Waters Explained!

GOBLIN SLAYER! is a dark fantasy and adventure light novel series that focuses on a young and inexperienced Priestess who wants to become an adventurer but lands in trouble as goblins wipe out her first party; she is saved by the mysterious Goblin Slayer, a brutal murderer of goblins, whom she then joins as they adventure together. The world of the series is a fantasy world filled with various creatures and races, and one such creature – the gigantic Mokele Mubenbe – is going to be the topic of this article, as we are going to explain what exactly it is and what its role in the series is.

The Mokele Mubenbe is a giant reptile

As the group was on their way to the elven homeland, they met the groom of the High Elf Archer’s sister, who told them the story of The One That Stops the Waters. It was supposedly a giant monster that caused trouble in the nearby forest, but no one paid much attention. As the party toured the village, though, loud rumbling could be heard from the forest, and as the party went in to investigate, they found The One That Stops the Waters, the monster known as Mokele Mubenbe.

Mokele Mubenbe was a giant dinosaur-like reptile. It was known as The One That Stops the Waters because it was large enough to stop the flow of a river, but also as the Lernaean Hydra, although it had little to do with the creature from Greek mythology that Hercules slayed; Mokele Mubenbe could supposedly grow additional heads, but this was not seen in the series as it is still considered to be quite young, despite living for many ages.

So, what happened to it? While the Mokele Mubenbe wasn’t intrinsically evil, it was manipulated by a goblin shaman, probably using a spell, to serve the goblins. The vile creatures rode it and used it to cause problems in the forest near the Elven village, which made the creature look like a villainous monster. As it attacked, the Goblin Slayer’s party went to confront it, and that was an important moment in the series.

Namely, the party managed to create a net which they used to entangle and tie up the reptile’s feet, and as the Dwarf Shaman used Stupor on it, the creature fell down, thereby also crushing the goblins around it, killing them. As the series suggested, the beast returned to normal after this episode and was not a threat to the Elves anymore.

What is the Mokele Mubenbe based on?

And with this, the story of Mukele Mubenbe from GOBLIN SLAYER! has come to an end. But, before we end this article, we wanted to tell you what the creature was actually based on, as such direct references are quite rare in the series, so this one was quite intriguing.

The Mokele-Mbembe is a mythical creature that is said to live in the jungles of Central Africa in the Congo region. Among the Bangombe pygmy tribe living in the Congo Basin around Lake Tele, his reputation (Mokele-Mbembe – “the one who stops the flow of the river”) is legendary. According to Pygmy accounts and traditions, Mokele-Mbembe is said to have attacked the tribe’s fishermen in their light canoes. Mokele-Mbembe is said to be about the size of an elephant, although there are also reports of even larger animals.

It is said to be a four-footed creature whose footprints resemble those of hippos; the feet should each have three claws. It is said to have a long neck about thirty centimeters in diameter, a relatively small head, which in male specimens should have a horn or a horn-like appendage (as is the case with some modern reptiles), and a long tail.

The creature is said to resemble a sauropod. It is said to be a herbivore, but it attacks and, if necessary, kills people who invade its territory but never eat it. The Mokele-Mbembe’s skin color is said to vary from brownish-gray to reddish-brown.

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