History Myth / VietnameseMythology

With a civilization almost as old as China, [[UsefulNotes/{{Vietnam}} Vietnamese]] have also amassed quite a collection of stories and mythos about gods, heroes and monsters throughout the ages. Unfortunately, just like with Norse Mythology, not all of them survived the ages due to centuries of wars and social upheaval, with modern Vietnamese myths being mostly derived from historical records such as Lĩnh Nam Chích Quái (Strange Tales in Lingnan) and Việt Điện U Linh Tập as well as many, many different oral traditions across the country. The myth also changed a lot throughout the years as a result of syncretization and adoption of elements from Hindu, Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism and even Chinese Folk Religion, creating a rather large and diverse pantheon that unfortunately won't all be listed here.

* DragonsAreDivine: Just like other countries in the Sinosphere, Vietnamese considered dragons to be gods who manage the sea, rains, rivers, storms and generally anything that has to do with water and weather.

* YoungestChildWins: Long Vương is said to be the youngest of the 50 children who went with Lạc Long Quân to the sea. He went on to become the supreme ruler of the entire South China Sea.

With a civilization almost as old as China, [[UsefulNotes/{{Vietnam}} Vietnamese]] have also amassed quite a collection of stories and mythos about gods, heroes and monsters throughout the ages. Unfortunately, just like with Norse Mythology, not all of them survived the ages due to centuries of wars and social upheaval with modern Vietnamese myths being mostly derived from historical records such as Lĩnh Nam Chích Quái (Strange Tales in Lingnan) and Việt Điện U Linh Tập as well as many, many different oral traditions across the country. The myth also changed a lot throughout the years as a result of syncretization and adoption of elements from Hindu, Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism and even Chinese Folk Religion, creating a rather large and diverse pantheon that unfortunately won't all be listed here.

See the pages for the [[Myth/PhilippineMythology Filipinos]] and [[Myth/MalaysianMythology Malaysians]] to find out more interesting information about the religions and the mythologies of the other Southeast Asian civilizations and the [[Myth/ChineseMythology Chinese]], [[Myth/KoreanMythology Koreans]], and [[Myth/JapaneseMythology Japanese]] for the other countries of the Sinosphere.

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: While not to the same extent as Shintoism, Vietnamese believe that there are many gods all around them who should be treat with respect no matter if they have a name/title or not.

* ShapeShifting: Almost everybody can do this in Vietnamese myth be they gods, monsters or humans with magic.

* InstantAwesomeJustAddDragons: Vietnamese tends to focus a lot more on the Dragon aspect of their heritage than Fairy.

See the pages for the [[Myth/PhilippineMythology Filipinos]] to find out more interesting information about the religions and the mythologies of the other Southeast Asian civilizations and the [[Myth/ChineseMythology Chinese]], [[Myth/KoreanMythology Koreans]], and [[Myth/JapaneseMythology Japanese]] for the other countries of the Sinosphere.

* AnimalisticAbomination: In addition to the more famous monsters in the Character page, Vietnamese myth have chockful of stories about some kind of animal monsters terrorizing humans.
* AnthropomorphicPersonification: Before the Chinese came, many Vietnamese gods are essentially this in regards to the element with there being a chief god for each one such as the God of the Sky, a Goddess of Fire, a God of Thunder, etc. When Vietnam was incorporated into the Sinosphere, these kind of gods are placed into their own category called "nhiên thần" to separate them from celestial gods and human-turned-deity.

* BeakAttack: The Jade Emperor once punish Thiên Lôi with this when the latter accidentally strike down innocents on the job.

* ContinuityNod: Modern versions of the story Sơn Tinh-Thủy Tinh have Hùng Vương XVIII stated that he "only have one (unmarried) daughter" which led to the following debacles despite having three daughters meaning that the event of Sơn Tinh-Thủy Tinh happened after the story of Chử Đồng Tử and the marriage of the other daughter.

* CoolSword: The divine sword, Thuận Thiên, given to Lê Lợi by the gods to drive the Chinese out of Vietnam during the Lam Sơn Uprising. Said to grant him the strength of ten mens and is essentially Vietnamese Excalibur.

* CueTheSun: Some monster such as Bạch Kê Tinh are weaken under the sun, as such they tends to operate during the night.
* DarkIsNotEvil: Sure Thiên Lôi and Diêm Vương look so menacing that children would probably cried at the sight of them but they're still good people who are only doing their job.

** Another story involve a primordial giant named Vồm who once kidnap a daughter of the Jade Emperor as the latter refuse to make it rain for mortals. He then proceed to slap to death a giant eagle, a phoenix and a fire dragon sent by the Jade Emperor as retaliation.
* DivineConflict: The war between Sơn Tinh and Thủy Tinh devastate Văn Lang to such an extent that they were force to rebuild everything from scratch and couldn't put up a serious fight when Thục Phán began his invasion. Moreover, the conflict also resulted in the extinction of all kinds of legendary beasts and monsters both on land and under the sea as well as the death of many nature gods.

** The same happen to Thục Phán after he killed his daughter Mị Châu. Other version stated that Kim Quy open a path for him to escape to the Underwater Palace.
** Also happen to Trọng Thủy, son of Zhao Tuo and Mị Châu's husband. After his stealing of the divine crossbow Nỏ Thần enable Zhao Tuo to conquer Âu Lạc, he found Mị Châu lifeless body and commit suicide by jumping into a well in Cổ Loa Citadel.

* FaceHeelTurn: Thủy Tinh who, despite once being best friend with Sơn Tinh, turn against him over a mortal girl and for a perceived slight.

* HijackedByJesus: When Catholics missionary arrive in Vietnam, they tried to attached many elements of the Abrahamic God to Ngọc Hoàng.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Ngọc Hoàng is a bit of a jerk, but he still care about humanity and love his daughters very much (even if he once temporarily exiled one of them over a broken plate)
* JudgementOfTheDead: When someone died, they are sent to Cõi U Minh (Vietnamese Underworld) to be judge by Diêm Vương for their actions during life. If they are an evil person they will be sent to Địa Ngục/Diyu (Vietnamese Hell) to be judge by one of the other nine Diêm Vương who will decide their punishment.
* LegionsOfHell: Diêm Vương commanded one of these though he rarely if ever have to use them.

* LordOfTheOcean: Long Vương, Thủy Tinh, Mẫu Thoải, Cá Ông and every other minor water deities in all the lakes, rivers and sea of Vietnam.
* LoveAtFirstSight: Ancient Vietnameses seems to really love this trope.
** After Lạc Long Quân save Âu Cơ from a monster when they first met, they fell in love with each other and had 100 kids. Deconstructed when they divorce afterward over their differences.
** Best demonstrated in the story of Chử Đồng Tử where he married Tiên Dung in their first meeting with no outside interference (arrange marriage).
* KilledOffForReal: There's no resurrection in Vietnamese myth. Once you died you stay death and/or be reincarnated into something else.
* {{Mana}}: In Vietnamese myth, linh is the the power of a deity to affect the world of the living. the linh power of an entity resides in mediation between the two levels of order and disorder which govern social transformation. The mediating entity itself shifts of status and function between one level and another, and makes meaning in different contexts.
** Linh has also been described as the ability to set up spatial and temporal boundaries, represent and identify metaphors, setting apart and linking together differences.

* OffingTheOffspring: An Dương Vương killed his daughter Mỵ Nương out of anger after finding out that she indirectly aid his enemy into conquering his kingdom.

* SacredBowAndArrows: Sacred crossbow that can fired a hundred/thousand of arrows in a single shot, to be specific. Crafted by the blacksmith and general Cao Lỗ from the claw of the turtle god Kim Quy, it is used by Thục Phán (better known as An Dương Vương) to repulse numerous invasions from Triệu Đà/Zhao Tuo. It's full name is Linh Quang Kim Trảo Thần Nỏ (roughly translated as Sacred Shining Crossbow of the Golden Claw God or Sacred Shining Golden Claw Divine Crossbow) but was later shorten to Nỏ Thần (Divine Crossbow).
** In 2010, modern Vietnamese have tried and successfully create a prototype crossbow that can shoot 10 arrows at once but whether it's anything close to the one in the legends remains to be seen.

* ShapeShifting: Almost everybody can do this in Vietnamese myth be they gods, monsters or human with magics.

* SuperpowerLottery: For some reason, the children of Lạc Long Quân and Âu Cơ don't seem to have anything in common like how Long Vương is a dragon, Sơn Tinh is an immortal mountain god while Hùng Vương I were fully mortal and eventually died while the rest of their siblings fade into obscurity.

* YoungestChildWins: Long Vương is said to be the youngest of the 50 children who went with Lạc Long Quân to the sea, he went on to become the supreme ruler of the entire South China Sea.

See the pages for the [[Myth/PhilippineMythology Filipinos]] to find out more interesting information about the religions and the mythologies of the other Southeast Asian civilizations and [[Myth/ChineseMythology Chinese]], [[Myth/KoreanMythology Koreans]], and [[Myth/JapaneseMythology Japanese]] for the other countries of the Sinosphere.

With a civilization almost as old as China, [[UsefulNotes/{{Vietnam}} Vietnamese]] have also amassed quite a collection of stories and mythos about gods, heroes and monsters throughout the ages. Unfortunately, just like with Norse Mythology, not all of them survived the ages due to centuries of wars and social upheaval with modern Vietnamese myths being mostly derived from historical records such as Lĩnh Nam Chích Quái (Strange Tales in Lingnan) and Việt Điện U Linh Tập as well as many, many different oral traditions across the country. The myth also changed a lot throughout the years as a result of syncretization and adoption of elements from Hindu, Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism and even Chinese Folk Religion, creating a rather large and diverse pantheon that unfortunately won't all be listed here. Please be sure to check out the pages of the [[Myth/PhilippineMythology Filipinos]] to find out more interesting information about the religions and the mythologies of the other Southeast Asian civilizations.

With a civilization almost as old as China, [[UsefulNotes/{{Vietnam}} Vietnamese]] have also amassed quite a collection of stories and mythos about gods, heroes and monsters throughout the ages. Unfortunately, just like with Norse Mythology, not all of them survived the ages due to centuries of wars and social upheaval with modern Vietnamese myths being mostly derived from historical records such as Lĩnh Nam Chích Quái (Strange Tales in Lingnan) and Việt Điện U Linh Tập as well as many, many different oral traditions across the country. The myth also changed a lot throughout the years as a result of syncretization and adoption of elements from Hindu, Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism and even Chinese Folk Religion, creating a rather large and diverse pantheon that unfortunately won't all be listed here.

* SacredBowAndArrows: Sacred crossbow, to be specific. Crafted by the blacksmith and general Cao Lỗ from the claw of the turtle god Kim Quy, it is used by Thục Phán (better known as An Dương Vương) to repulse numerous invasions from Triệu Đà/Zhao Tuo. It's full name is Linh Quang Kim Trảo Thần Nỏ (roughly translated as Sacred Shining Crossbow of the Golden Claw God or Sacred Shining Golden Claw Divine Crossbow) but later shorten it to Nỏ Thần (Divine Crossbow).

* SacredBowAndArrows: Sacred crossbow, to be specific. Crafted by the blacksmith and general Cao Lỗ from the claw of the turtle god Kim Quy, it is used by Thục Phán (better known as An Dương Vương) to repulse numerous invasions from Triệu Đà/Zhao Tuo. It's full name is Linh Quang Kim Trảo Thần Nỏ but later shorten it to Nỏ Thần. In 2010, modern Vietnamese have tried and successfully create a prototype crossbow that can shoot 10 arrows at once but whether it's anything close to the one in the legends remains to be seen.

* SuperpowerLottery: For some reason, the children of Lạc Long Quân and Âu Cơ don't seem to have anything in common like how Long Vương is a dragon, Sơn Tinh is an immortal dragon god while Hùng Vương I were fully mortal and eventually died while the rest of their siblings fade into obscurity.

* JudgementOfTheDead: When someone died, they are sent to Cõi U Minh (Vietnamese Hell) to be judge by Diêm Vương for their actions during life. If they are an evil person they will be sent to one of the other nine Diêm Vương who will decide their punishment.

* AnthropomorphicPersonification: Before the Chinese came, many Vietnamese gods are essentially this in regards to the element with there being a chief god for each one such as the God of the Sky, a Goddess of Fire, a God of Thunder, etc. When Vietnam was incorporated into the Sinosphere, these kind of gods are placed into their own category called "something thần" to separate them from celestial gods and human-turned-deity.

* Mana: In Vietnamese myth, linh is the the power of a deity to affect the world of the living. the linh power of an entity resides in mediation between the two levels of order and disorder which govern social transformation. The mediating entity itself shifts of status and function between one level and another, and makes meaning in different contexts.