[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/yaga_9268.png]]

''Baba-Yaga'' (''Баба Яга;'' in Russian and also translated Baba Jaga; stress on the first ''a'' in ''Baba'', but on the second ''a'' in ''Yaga'') is a witch-like character in Slavic folklore. She flies around using a giant mortar and pestle, kidnaps (and presumably eats) small children, and lives in a forest hut, which stands on chicken legs. In modern days, she is often depicted not as a villainous, but simply a sociopathic or even gentle and friendly person. And in almost any tale she is very knowledgeable. The Russian word ''baba'' is an impolite term for "woman" with no direct translation in English (less polite than "woman" but not as bad as "bitch." The old-fashioned term "broad" may give the best idea). Mostly ''baba'' is simply translated as "woman" with the impoliteness left to context; meanwhile ''Yaga'' is a form of a certain name, it is thought to be a corruption of Slavic root for "hag", making "Baba Yaga" mean something like "old hag", or perhaps "[[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment hag hag]]". Baba Yaga is depicted as an old, knowledgeable, and geeky character with mystical servants.

She is a common antagonist in Slavic folklore, known for kidnapping and eating children (and serving as a cautionary tale for small children against wandering off or talking to strangers). Some tales alternatively revolve around characters seeking her out for her wisdom or having her offer guidance to lost souls, though they are notably less in number; even when sought for guidance she is generally portrayed as having to be approached carefully, usually at great risk. She features in ''Literature/VasilissaTheBeautiful'' and ''Literature/TheDeathOfKoscheiTheDeathless''.

The character of Baba Yaga has made dozens of appearances in popular culture and modern works including Music/ModestMussorgsky's ''Music/PicturesAtAnExhibition'', Creator/OrsonScottCard's novel ''Literature/{{Enchantment}}'', Creator/OtfriedPreussler's fantasy novel ''Literature/TheAdventuresOfStrongVanya'', the ''ComicBook/{{Fables}}'', ''ComicBook/{{Hellboy}}'', and ''[[Creator/BubbleComics Friar]]'' comic series, innumerable Russian cartoons and tales like ''Animation/TheFrogPrincess'', ''VideoGame/{{Runescape}}'', ''VideoGame/QuestForGlory'', ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'', ''VideoGame/{{Blacktail}}'' [[note]] where ''you'' are the Baba Yaga [[/note]], ''WesternAnimation/BartokTheMagnificent'', ''Series/{{Supernatural}}''[[note]]In a MonsterOfTheWeek episode, "[[Recap/SupernaturalS15E16DragMeAwayFromYou Drag Me Away (From You)]]".[[/note]], and (as "Barbara Jagger") ''VideoGame/AlanWake''. She even provides the RedBaron moniker of [[OneManArmy one]] Film/JohnWick. Baba Yaga is also a brand of beer from the Massachusetts-based brewery.

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!!Associated tropes:

* AllWitchesHaveCats: She has one, at least in some stories, but she has other animals as well.
* AnthropomorphicPersonification: In the story of Vasilissa the Beautiful, she has three servants that resemble riders, one that embodies the daybreak, one that is the embodiment of the sun, and a third that embodies night.
* BerserkButton: Baba Yaga often mentions that she eats the overly curious. In some tales, this is explicable by the fact that [[WeaksauceWeakness she ages a year whenever someone asks her a question]].
* BigBad: A common one in Slavic folklore, due to her love of child flesh.
* BigEater: in ''Literature/VasilissaTheBeautiful'', she eats enough for ten.
* {{Bizarrchitecture}}: Baba Yaga's chicken-legged home. It even apparently moves.
** TruthInTelevision: The [[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/be/Sami_Storehouse.jpg Sami]] evidently used this style of architecture, called ''nili'', and usually used for storehouses and barns, to prevent animals from reaching foodstuffs stored inside and stealing them. The legs are usually made from pine stumps and either tarred or smoked to prevent them from rotting.
** Alternatively, the odd look of her house is connected to the Slavic tradition of putting some wooden houses on stumps with chopped off roots to prevent the wood from rotting.
** Another alternative version is that her house is sort of [[LiminalBeing a watchtower between the human world and the world of spirits]]. This is why the hero or heroine will sometimes say "Hut, hut, turn your back to the forest and your facade to me". Because the forest is a straight way to the underworld. And guess in the middle of what Baba-Yaga lives?
** One more version suggests that her house is actually a "domovina" -- a special type of building that was put on a high stump with roots where ancient Slavic people used to bury their dead. Also domovinas had no doors and no windows so that a) the dead couldn't return to the world of living b) so that the living didn't disturb the dead for no good reason c) so that no element was tainted. This makes Baba-Yaga a priestess who leads the rite of cremation.
* BlackMagic: She is served by disembodied shadowy hands and her house is lighted by skulls with glowing eyes. How else do you describe her sorcery?
* BlueAndOrangeMorality: If you take the stories of her as helpful and malicious as the same character, then it would seem she's not precisely ''evil'', but instead operates on a completely different moral standard that places no particular value on human ''life'' (She EatsBabies as casually as you or I eat lamb), but certainly respects other virtues
* CoolOldLady: In the stories where she is a helpful character rather than the villain.
** This is often explained by there being multiple Baba Yagas. Some stories even have the hero seek advice from ''a'' Baba Yaga, though this may just be LampshadeHanging on how frequently she's used as a plot device.
* CuriosityIsACrapshoot: Baba Yaga sometimes displays a propensity to eat the overly curious. Notably, it's not a good idea to ask her about the spectral disembodied hands serving her in her hut.
* DarkIsNotEvil: Some stories play her up as a good person in spite of her reputation and appearance.
** In some stories the key to her being non-malicious is [[BecauseYouWereNiceToMe politeness]].
* EatsBabies: Most of the time.
* ElementalEmbodiment: While not an embodiment per se, according to Website/ThatOtherWiki Baba Yaga represents the element of fire. Though it's not explicitely made clear in most tales, her ambiguous nature (sometimes helpful, sometimes destructive) hints towards this, so does the fact that her hut is based on the funerary huts where ancient Slavs cremated their dead. Not to mention those FlamingSkulls.
* EvilAunt: In some stories, Baba Yaga has a beautiful, younger (but still evil) sister who seduces and marries widowed fathers in order to send her new stepchildren off to their new "aunt". Don't worry, they will usually escape with the help of their dead mother or something...
* EvilOldFolks: At least in the stories where she is, indeed, evil.
* {{Familiar}}: Usually has several, either animals, or her invisible servants, or both.
* FairFolk: Whether she is a particularly powerful and ancient human witch or something else entirely can vary from story to story and from setting to setting, if it is explained at all, but like most fae, she can be hostile or helpful [[BlueAndOrangeMorality depending on her whims]], and is '''never''' to be trifled with.
* FlamingSkulls: in "Vasilissa the Beautiful", Baba Yaga's fence is adorned with skulls with glowing eyes. The title character's evil stepmother sends her to the Baba's hut to get some fire, but Baba is not about to grant favors easily. When Vasilissa completes the hag's impossible tasks (her late mother's magic helping), Baba lets her go (more like kicks her out when she learns Vasilissa is blessed) and gifts her with one of the skulls to serve as fire. When Vasilissa brings the skull home, [[KarmicDeath its scorching gaze burns her evil steprelatives to ashes.]]
* FlyingBroomstick: Sometimes, but she's usually depicted flying with the mortar and pestle.
** Originally, she wasn't flying either. The tales state clearly that the mortar is ''walking'', the pestle is used as a whip, and the broom is used to smooth over the tracks she leaves.
* FountainOfYouth: On occasion, she's shown looking for or using magical blue roses that restore her beauty by being made into tea. Since in some versions she ages with every question, she has a good reason.
* GoodIsNotNice: Even in tales where she is a helpful figure, it is usually '''not''' a good idea to disrespect her or to ask her more questions than strictly necessary.
* "Literature/HanselAndGretel": Localised varieties of this fable sometimes make her be the witch the two meet.
* HolyBurnsEvil: Just tell her you are protected by a blessing and she will leave you alone.
** While technically not holy, it is often explained that she can only eat the flesh of naughty children, and she is somehow forbidden to touch good children. Good children who end up in her clutches are forced to be her slaves and often made to perform an ImpossibleTask, so if they fail she has the excuse they were being "naughty." This never works.
* IconicItem: She flies around in a giant ''mortar and pestle''. Some later tales (and toys) depict her flying with the usual for witches -- a broomstick.
** It is common to see Baba riding in the mortar (on the ground), whipping the mortar with the pestle to make it go faster, and using the broom to cover up her tracks.
** The hut on bird legs is also quite iconic.
** Less common are her iron teeth.
* {{Leitmotif}}: "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3R15EdjJgu4 The Hut on Fowl's Legs]]" by Music/ModestMussorgsky from ''Music/PicturesAtAnExhibition'', which is a musical tribute to a picture of Baba Yaga's abode. Website/ThatOtherWiki [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pictures_at_an_exhibition#No._9_.22.D0.98.D0.B7.D0.B1.D1.83.D1.88.D0.BA.D0.B0_.D0.BD.D0.B0_.D0.BA.D1.83.D1.80.D1.8C.D0.B8.D1.85.D1.8A_.D0.BD.D0.BE.D0.B6.D0.BA.D0.B0.D1.85.D1.8A.22_.28.D0.91.D0.B0.D0.B1.D0.B0-.D0.AF.D0.B3.D0.B0.29_.5BIzbushka_na_kuryikh_nozhkakh_.28Baba-Yag.C3.A1.29.5D notes]] that it is supposed to invoke the hag herself riding on her mortar.
* LostInTranslation: Some have posited that Baba Yaga's house was originally not on chicken legs at all ("курьи ножки"), but on ''smoked'' legs ("курные"), referring to the practice of the wooden struts that supported huts being saturated with smoke to make them resistant to rot, particularly "houses of the dead" where they stored their ancestors' ashes, and that over time the word got corrupted to "курьи." Thus it was just a normal house. More likely it's both, and the word was always a deliberate pun.
* MovingBuildings: In Eastern European folklore and legend, the witch Baba Yaga has a house that can walk around on giant chicken legs. This house has shown up in a number of adaptations.
* NeverMessWithGranny: She is an old powerful witch after all. Though in some stories, she suffers from AdaptationalWimp.
* NobleDemon: In ''Vasilissa the Beautiful'', one of the most iconic tales featuring her, she wants to eat the titular protagonist, but once Vasilissa completes her impossible tasks with the help of her mother's blessing, Baba not only grudgingly lets her go, but even grants her a boon in the form of a flaming skull that incinerates her evil stepfamily.
* OffWithHisHead: In ''Literature/TheDeathOfKoscheiTheDeathless'', she pretends to be willing to help Prince Ivan out while looking for one excuse to cut his head off and get it mounted on a pole.
* {{Psychopomp}}: The resemblance of her house to a traditional Slavic funerary hut has led some scholars to speculate that Baba Yaga is a symbolic gatekeeper between the world of the living and the realm of the dead. Especially in stories where she is helpful, her hut often stands on the border of the enchanted forest, and it is after communing with her that the protagonist steps out of the mundane and into the unknown, the realm of magic and spirits. Even in tales where she does not have this transitional property, Baba is often strongly associated with death - consider her FlamingSkulls and disembodied spectral servants in ''Vasilissa the Beautiful''.
* PublicDomainCharacter Has shown up in ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', ''VideoGame/QuestForGlory'', ''Comicbook/{{Fables}}'', ''Manga/ShadowStar'' (which, being Japanese, makes her a beautiful teenage girl and her chicken house a {{Mon}}) and now ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooMysteryIncorporated''.
** [[Website/SCPFoundation SCP-352]] is an alternative take on the character. Being [[NightmareFuel an SCP object]], it's quite unnerving in a different way.
** One story, ''The Chaos'', had her hut and the phoenix fall in love.
** The French-Canadian youth fantasy novels ''Amos Daragon'', being a textbook example of FantasyKitchenSink, featured an evil old witch named ''Baya Gaya'', very strongly based on the Slavic mythological character (the notes at the end of the novel outright say so). The witch is hired by the god Loki (yes, that [[Myth/NorseMythology Loki]]) to kill the heroes and she disguises herself as a beautiful young mermaid to do so. It's that kind of book.
* SacredHospitality: Sometimes, when the hero arrives, and she questions him, he complains that she has not given him food and drink first. She approves of this courage and will provide them.
** In another story, Baba Yaga finds the Tsar himself at the edge of death in her woods, badly wounded after a battle. Unimpressed by his lineage, she prepares to eat him. The Tsar angrily tells her that he got those wounds defending all the people of Russia, including her, from foreigners. Thus she owes him her gratitude and hospitality. Baba agrees and heals his wounds... then tells him never to return.
* SapientHouse: Her hut is able to move on its own with its chicken legs.
* SolitarySorceress: One of the probable {{Trope Codifier}}s, though the bird legs on her house are an unusual twist.
* UglySlavicWomen: Baba Yaga, the WickedWitch from Slavic mythology, is an example from the culture itself, though it must be said that she isn't always depicted as a bad character.
* WeaksauceWeakness: In the story of "Vasilissa the Beautiful", she is repulsed by the Blessings of Vasilissa's mother, which not coincidentally, help Vasilissa complete the {{Impossible Task}}s Baba Yaga demands.
* WickedWitch: A fine example of this trope whenever presented as a villainess.
* WizardsLiveLonger: No one knows how old she is, but in some stories she's been around for a ''very'' long while.
** In some stories, however, it is said she ages one year every time she is asked a question. Goes a long way to explain why she lives far away from civilization and is not always too excited to help out.
** In many stories she is effectively a goddess. For one thing, Day, Sun and Night ride out of the doors of her hut, and are apparently her manservants.
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!!Depictions in media:
[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* The English dub of ''Manga/{{Inuyasha}}'' episode 31 has this exchange between Inuyasha, Kagome, and the mother of Jinenji:
-->'''Inuyasha''': Wait. So if you're saying the father was the demon, then the human parent was ''you''?\\
'''Jinenji's mother''': What did you think I was?!\\
'''Kagome''': ''(thinking)'' I thought you were Baba Yaga!
* Her chicken-legged house in ''Manga/{{Narutaru}}''
* Yubaba in ''Anime/SpiritedAway'' is very likely inspired by tales about Baba Yaga, especially ''Vasilissa the Beautiful''.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* Baba Yaga appears in the ''ComicBook/{{Hellboy}}'' comics as an ally of UsefulNotes/RasputinTheMadMonk and one of Hellboy's rogues.
* While visiting Fairyland, the hero of ''ComicBook/BooksOfMagic'' wanders off the path and gets captured by Baba Yaga for the stewpot.
* Unsurprisingly, Baba Yaga turns up in ''ComicBook/{{Fables}}'' as an agent of the Adversary. She spends most of the early issues disguised as [[spoiler: Literature/LittleRedRidingHood]].
* Baba Yaga shows up once in ''ComicBook/DylanDog'', accepting a terminally ill man's soul in exchange for killing the men who murdered his family and make him watch... Except [[DealWithTheDevil the man had already sold his soul to the devil for the same service]] and made the deal with her because [[JackassGenie the devil had decided to kill them right before he died so he couldn't enjoy his revenge]], leading to a conflict between the two.
* In the ''ComicBook/FiendsOfTheEasternFront'' prequel story ''1812'', Baba Yaga is an enemy of the Wallachian/Romanian vampire soldier Constanta, who was turned by a witch coven allied to the Russian witch. Aside from her chicken-leg house, she also has a skeleton army at her beck and call and total control over the elements. Although Constanta does manage to wound her, their fight ends in a draw.
* In the 2019 ''Xena Warrior Princess'' mini-series, in issue #4, Xena, Gabrielle and Discord end up in the Russian taiga and are taken in by an old woman in her hut with a large pestle and mortar nearby. The old woman is a goddess and the last of a trio of witch deities, thus losing her powers because people do not believe in them anymore. With Gabrielle's help, who is TheStoryteller, the witch woman gains enough power from people's belief in her, and thus the legend of Baba Yaga is born.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fan Works]]
* in the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' of Creator/AAPessimal, witches from the Discworld's up to eleven UsefulNotes/{{Russia}} appear to graduate through several informal levels of competence and ability. The starting point is ''devyuschka'' - informally, "kid who is a girl" and "pupil". The Devyuschka, when her tutors agree she is ready, or else, these days, has had advanced training in Lancre, is then a ''ved'ma'', Witch. A witch with lots of experience might eventually be accepted as a ''babiuschka''- "old woman". Only a few, however, go to the state lying on the other side of "Babiuschka" - that of ''Babayaga''. The Babayaga can be seen as a Far Überwaldean take on the theme of Granny Weatherwax - rarely found, but exceedingly powerful, however she chooses to use the power. Flight-minded witch [[ImprobablePilotingSkills Olga Romanoff]], a pupil of such a Babayaga, [[Fanfic/ThePriceOfFlight inherits the flying mortar and pestle]] on her mentor's death. After the death of Natalya the Baba Yaga, her Steading is taken over by a teenage witch, Natalya's approved choice of successor, who is called [[MeaningfulName Vasilisa]].
* Alluded to in ''Fanfic/WhenTheColdWindIsACallin''. Apparently, Hilde, the old Norse witch from ''Fanfic/TheDragonAndTheBow'', learned magic from Baba Yaga, but Baba did not have the best intentions for her student. [[WesternAnimation/RiseOfTheGuardians Nicholas St. North]], however, reassures [[WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon Hiccup]] and [[WesternAnimation/{{Brave}} Merida]] that they don't need to prepare to confront Baba Yaga, because [[PosthumousCharacter she's already dead.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
* Baba Yaga is set up to be the villain of ''WesternAnimation/BartokTheMagnificent'' at first, already having [[TheDreaded a very bad reputation]] among Russian folk and then kidnapping Prince Ivan, with his adviser Ludmilla sending Bartok out to save Ivan from her. But it turns out she was framed for the kidnapping, and [[DarkIsNotEvil isn't actually evil]] -- [[MisunderstoodLonerWithAHeartOfGold she's just grouchy and antisocial]], and her bad rep was born out of gossip more than anything else.
* ''WesternAnimation/MonsterFamily'': Baba Yaga is [[BigBad Dracula's]] accomplice, and the one who transforms the human protagonists into monsters based on their Halloween costumes.
* ''WesternAnimation/SecretMagicControlAgency'': When Hansel and Gretel are transformed into children they seek Baba Yaga out for a cure. Unfortunately for them, Hansel's protests that she eats children turn out to be correct, and she gives them a sleeping potion so she can eat them. They manage to escape using her flying mortar.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* Baba Yaga is a villain in the film ''Film/{{Morozko}}''. The US release "Jack Frost" changes her name to the Hunchbacked Fairy.
* Although she herself does not show up, the [[OneManArmy titular hitman]] in ''Film/JohnWick'', who used to work for the Russian mafia, is [[RedBaron nicknamed]] "Baba Yaga", which the film translates to "[[TheDreaded the boogeyman]]."
* As mentioned above, in ''Film/AntManAndTheWasp'' Kurt thinks that [[BigBad The Ghost]] (a woman with the powers to phase through solid matter) is Baba Yaga. When she appears out of nowhere and frightens him, he begins reciting a nursery rhyme about Baba Yaga as though it were the holiest of Russian prayers. The actual Baba Yaga is not in the movie however.
-->'''Kurt''': (singing softly whilst scared out of his mind) Baba Yaga, come at night, little children, sleepy tight..
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Jokes]]
* She appears in a more sympathetic light in this Russian political joke from the [[UsefulNotes/MikhailGorbachev Gorbachev era]]:
-->Baba Yaga and Koschei the Immortal are sitting by the window in the cabin on chicken legs and see Zmey Gorynych flying low, cawing "Perestroika! Uskoreniye!" '''Baba Yaga:''' "This old stupid worm! Told him not to eat communists already!"
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* In Jane Yolen and Midori Synder's ''Except the Queen'', Baba Yaga is an important character. Her appearing old among the fairies, who can look young, is reflective of her judgment. She hires one of the main characters to manage the house she rents out as apartments.
* Baba Yaga is mentioned several times in ''DarkReflectionTrilogy'' as protecting Russia in the same manner the Flowing Queen protected Venice. It's suggested several times that she may be actually one of the old gods that once walked the Earth.
* Patricia Polacco's children's book ''Babushka Baba Yaga'' features the character as a reclusive member of TheFairFolk. Here, she's presented as a kind fairy who has been [[{{Demonization}} demonized]] by humans. She disguises herself as a human grandmother in order to fit in with the nearby village.
* In ''Literature/{{Uprooted}}'', which takes much inspiration from Polish folklore, Agnieszka finds the journal of Baba Jaga in her master's library. This version was evidently a benevolent, skilled hedgewitch (though maybe absent-minded, as there are numerous spells for finding things) and her more intuitive spells are the first magic Agnieszka finds suitable. By the end, small children who see her coming out of the woods ask if ''she's'' Baba Jaga.
* The English children's book ''Bony Legs'' is a Baba Yaga tale with surprisingly surreal illustrations.
* Patricia Briggs' ''Literature/MercyThompson'' series features Baba Yaga a few times, most prominently in Fire Touched. She is a fae who calls herself a witch, despite witches being a different thing entirely in their world. She is a bit of a trickster, and her motives are hard to predict, but so far she has been an ally to Mercy, and has the power to bring back the nearly or just recently dead.
* Baba Yaga acts as the quest giver in ''Literature/SummerInOrcus''. She's depicted as dangerous and somewhat unpredictable, but it's possible to get on her good side. "I'm not a monster, child. Or I am, but not a completely unfeeling one."
* Baba Yaga naturally plays a major role, as part antagonist and part TricksterMentor, in Catherynne N Valente's Russian-folklore-based fantasy novel ''Literature/{{Deathless}}''.
* In ''Literature/TheSistersGrimm'', Baba Yaga is a prominent secondary character, being one of the most powerful witches in Ferryport Landing. She isn’t very nice to deal with, but she remains firmly on the heroes' side.
* ''Literature/TheLittleWitch'': The Russian translation by Yuri Iosifovich Korinets and the Ukrainian translation rename the book ''Little Baba Yaga''.
* Their battle happens offscreen, but {{Literature/Wulfrik}} the Wanderer got his flying teleporting longship by killing a Skaeling witch by the name of Baga Yar, and tossing her in her own cauldron after chopping off her arms at the cost of two hundred Chaos warriors.
* In one spinoff novel of ''Series/{{Primeval}}'', ''[[https://primeval.fandom.com/wiki/Extinction_Event Extinction Event]]'' a ''T. rex'' is nicknamed after Baba Yaga, due to how her legs reminded some Russians of her chicken-legged hut.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action Television]]
* In the series ''Series/LostGirl'', Baba Yaga haunted Kenzi since she was a child. While drunk, Kenzi summons Baba Yaga to curse Dyson for hurting Bo.
* In season 4 of ''Series/LegendsOfTomorrow'', Baba Yaga is one of the escaped magical creatures that the Legends have to round up. She is seen a few times being kept at the Time Bureau. It is stated she likes to eat human babies, but she accepts veal as a substitute.
* ''Series/TheMagicians'': Baba Yaga is the landlord for Marina's apartment. After Kady appropriates it, Baba Yaga appears to her through a medium, demanding rent.
* ''Series/TheWitcher2019'': The ArcVillain for season 2 is Voleth Meir, an {{Expy}} of Baba Yaga down to living in a hut on chicken legs. Voleth Meir appears in in-universe stories as a witch living in the woods who preys on children. Three characters seek her out early in the season for aid and wisdom regarding their problems, but it's eventually revealed she was luring them in so she could feed on their suffering.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Music]]
* Music/ModestMussorgsky's ''Music/PicturesAtAnExhibition'' has an orchestral piece named after her.
* Music/{{Edguy}} have a song titled ''The Realms of Baba Yaga'' from their album ''Space Police: Defenders of the Crown''.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* Baba Yaga is a villain in several Old World of Darkness games. Baba Yaga was a shamaness who was turned into a vampire by the [[TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade Antedeluvian Absimiliard]]. To free herself from Absimiliard's control, Baba Yaga summoned Wyrm creatures to fight for her, including the seven [[OurDragonsAreDifferent Zmei]]. In the 20th century, Baba Yaga is a powerful 4th generation Nosferatu vampire who rules Russia with an iron fist, bloodbinding [[TabletopGame/MageTheAscension mages]] and making life difficult for Russia's [[TabletopGame/WerewolfTheApocalypse werewolves]]. She's eventually killed by [[AlwaysaBiggerFish Vasilisa]].
* ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'': Baba Yaga is a fairly important part of Golarion's history, although she is originally from Earth -- she was a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarmatians Sarmatian]] girl, specifically, who one day stumbled into the home of a norn that taught her witchcraft and magic lore. Centuries ago she arrived and conquered the nation of Irrisen, covering it in an EndlessWinter. Then she seemed to lose interest in the place, installed one of her many daughters as queen, and departed for parts unknown. She returns every 100 years to replace the daughter with a new one, ostensibly taking the previous queen with her on her journeys.
** The ''Reign of Winter'' Adventure Path reveals that [[spoiler: this is not true. Yaga actually [[LifeDrinker drains her offspring's life force to extend her own immortality]]. The story kicks off when the current daughter gets suspicious and attempts to conquer all of Golarion in order to usurp her mother, forcing the heroes and Baba Yaga into an EnemyMine scenario, lest the whole world be frozen]]. The same adventure path also reveals that [[UsefulNotes/RasputinTheMadMonk Grigori Rasputin]] is her long-abandoned and highly resentful son, [[spoiler: who turns out to be the one holding her captive alongside his distant sister... in [=WWI=]-era Siberia]].
** Baba Yaga is also important to Golarion because she inadvertently created the [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain misogynistic]] {{demon lord|sAndArchDevils}} known as Kostchtchie, whose primary goal is to eventually exact revenge upon her for turning him into a powerful but hideously deformed mock-giant after he tried to force her to make him immortal.
** She's explicitly not a god, but only because she doesn't want to be bothered by prayers. Thanks to finding power sources other than GodsNeedPrayerBadly she's around the same power level as beings like Cthulhu anyway. However, witches can take her as a [[DealWithTheDevil patron]].
** Game materials include a Grand Hex named "Witch's Hut" that allows other witches to emulate her iconic chicken-legged cottage.
* Of course, ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' did it first; not only does she have references cropping up in several places (she also had a role in the creation of the ''D&D'' Kostchtchie), she even had a dedicated supplement once (''The Dancing Hut of Baba Yaga'', detailing her eponymous house as an adventure locale), and had a hand in several events pertaining to the world of ''TabletopGame/{{Greyhawk}}''. Her house has also appeared as a powerful relic-class magical item which player-characters can encounter; initially described as a Dragon Magazine adventure and above in the supplement, her hut is written as a TARDIS expy: A tesseract with nearly infinite rooms, some of which contain artifacts (such as a WWII-era tank) that imply she's done a bit of time traveling. Her most enduring legacy in that world would be her daughter Natasha, former pupil and lover of TheArchmage Mordenkainen, who invented the classic D&D spell ''Tasha's hideous laughter'' [[spoiler:and who later on betrayed her mentor, took on the alias Iggwilv, became known under that name as a terribly potent necromancer and demonologist (her book, "The Demonomicon of Iggwilv", is still centuries later the definitive source for info about demon lords), seduced and ensnared mighty demon prince Grazzt, and bore him a son who went on to become demigod, EvilOverlord extraordinaire and general ''Greyhawk'' BigBad Iuz the Evil. Oh, and her death centuries ago was faked, she's surpassed Mordenkainen in spellcasting power, she still entertains a love/hate relationship with Grazzt, and she'll occasionally use her son's EvilEmpire [[TheManBehindTheMan to further her own plans]]]]. ''Whew''. Her relationship with her mother is generally left unexplored, though.
** In the ''TabletopGame/NentirVale'', Baba Yaga is one of the archfey, and much feared by the denizens of the Feywild for her unpredictability.
* In [[TabletopGame/IronKingdoms Warmachine]], one of the Khadoran warcasters is Zevanna Agha, the Old Witch of Khador. She's an {{Expy}} of Baba Yaga, and instead of a house on chicken legs she has a customized light warjack with chicken legs. As the story advances her second and third models have scaled her 'jack up, and now it ''is'' a house on legs. This version is in an odd, vaguely defined position where she probably isn't ''technically'' a goddess but is at a similar power level. She also alludes to both the "helpful" and "evil" aspects of Baba Yaga - although she is mentioned to have [[ToServeMan preyed on humans]] at some point and her methods are merciless and draconian, [[WellIntentionedExtremist her end goal always seems to be to stop some much greater evil]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* Baba Yaga is a recurring antagonist in the ''VideoGame/QuestForGlory'' series. She is the BigBad, (or arguably the GreaterScopeVillain) of [[VideoGame/QuestForGloryI the first game]], and reappears in [[VideoGame/QuestForGloryIV the fourth]] as a side character. Both games can end with her killing and possibly eating the hero character, and in both the hero has to essentially bribe her out of eating him by bringing her something better to eat. Getting her to help you is key to successfully completing the fourth game, (fortunately she thinks that trying to summon [[EldritchAbomination the Dark One]] out of its dimension into ours [[EvenEvilHasStandards is going too far]]) but even when she's being helpful she's definitely not the type you want to hang around too long, since regardless of how powerful your hero is she can have him helpless and at her mercy in an instant.
* There exists a [[OlympusMons very powerful (Mega)]] ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}'' named Babamon that looks like an old woman and attacks with a broom, which may be partially inspired by the witch, though "baba" is also a rude way of saying "old lady" in Japanese.
* Baba Yaga appears in ''VideoGame/DreamfallChapters'' as TheHecateSisters.
* ''VideoGame/RiseOfTheTombRaider'': In a side mission Lara can confront Baba Yaga, complete with chicken leg house. In reality, her [[FakeWizardry apparent possession of magical powers]] is aided by her use of hallucinogenic spores and old engineering. She's actually [[spoiler:Nadia's missing grandmother who escaped from the Gulag and used the Baba Yaga legend to fight the Soviets.]]
* Although she doesn't appear directly, ''VideoGame/TheSims2'' ''Apartment Life'' expansion pack features a hidden lot in the Belladonna Cove neighborhood as an EasterEgg that is a recreation of the chicken legged home, complete with little chicken footsteps in the dirt behind it. Since the expansion pack also conveniently adds magic and witches and warlocks, it's possible to replicate Baba Yaga as an evil witch Sim and move her in the house.
* Alluded to in ''VideoGame/AlanWake''. The current avatar of [[EldritchAbomination the Dark Presence]] is Barbara Jagger, who drowned in Cauldron Lake thirty years ago. She tricks the Wakes into staying in Bird Leg Cabin, which sits on an island that resembles a giant bird's footprint. The plot is put into motion when she kidnaps Alice and Alan sets off to save her.
* Baba Yaga is a common enemy in certain areas of ''VideoGame/LaMulana2''. They travel on a big mortar.
* Baba Yaga-chan is one of Cthulhu's teammates in ''Cthulhu Saves Christmas'', the prequel to ''VideoGame/CthulhuSavesTheWorld''. She attacks with pestles and at one point gives her hut the chicken legs from the myth. She seems to do so because of her obsession with chickens, in fact she always has one of them (named Cluck-Cluck) as a HeadPet. It's all part of the AffectionateParody of JRPG and anime tropes, as typical for Zeboyd Games.
* ''VideoGame/{{Scribblenauts}}'': Baba Yaga is one of the many mythical creatures you can create in ''Super Scribblenauts'', ''Scribblenauts Remix'' and ''Scribblenauts Unlimited''. In ''Unlimited'', she plays the role of the witch from Hansel & Gretel during the Hansel and Gretel's Day Out mission in the Storybook Keep stage.
* Baba Yaga is one of your opponents in the second ''VideoGame/RockOfAges'' game. Her opening cutscene depicts her about to kill a child, but a very stupid man keeps ringing her doorbell, so she has her chicken-legged hut stomp on him.
* Baba Yaga is a supporting character who Gabriel Belmont meets in ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaLordsOfShadow''. Her house doesn't appear to be mobile, but she otherwise fits the original myths pretty well- ugly old witch who eats people, but otherwise helpful when it comes to it. She offers to give him helpful advice for him to progress on his journey if he gives her a rare blue rose that will [[FountainOfYouth restore her youth and beauty]]. In order to obtain it, Baba shrinks Gabriel and fits him into a music box where the rose is hidden. Gabriel successfully obtains the rose, but we never get to see Baba's youth restored, [[spoiler:because [[HiddenVillain Zobek]] [[KilledOffscreen kills her]] after Gabriel leaves her house.]]
* Baba Yaga is a playable character in the MOBA ''VideoGame/{{Smite}}''. She is a mage class character who specializes in ConfusionFu with her chicken-legged hut acting as an AssistCharacter.
* The old witch Gaab'Baay sends the main character of ''VideoGame/AncientDomainsOfMystery'' on several quests before giving them the [[MacGuffin Medal of Chaos]]. Say, can you guess what "Gaab'Baay" is a SignificantAnagram of?
* ''VisualNovel/CookingCompanions'' has subtle but noticeable nods to Baba Yaga. The game takes place in Tantras Mountains (which forms a natural border between Slovakia and Poland), the game features [[NoPartyLikeADonnerParty cannibalism with the four hikers]], and [[spoiler:the player character has asked the hikers "Did you come of your own free will, or were you sent?" thousands of times, just like how Baba Yaga would ask her unfortunate victims. Whether or not the player character ''is'' Baba Yaga or somehow alluding to her is unknown.]]
* One of the Huntress' alternate skins in ''VideoGame/DeadByDaylight'' turns her into the Baba Yaga, including giving her a new voice actress who sings the character's lullaby in a different key. Given the lack of children in the setting, she's presented as much more murderous than usual.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* In the space arc of ''Webcomic/ArthurKingOfTimeAndSpace'', Baba Yaga is an Avalonian - the same race of time-travelling sorcerers as Merlin and Nimue. She put highly impractical walkers on her time-machine because she lost a bet.
* In ''Webcomic/WildeLife,'' the protagonist's landlady is named "Barbara Yaga" and claims that she could be "[[WitchWithACapitalB a real witch]]" if he's late with the rent. That said, this might turn out to be more of a ShoutOut, since several other characters have names from literature.
* She doesn't appear in person in ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'', but one of the [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20050328 wagons]] which make up Master Payne's Circus of Adventure is a mechanical replica of her house and is named after her.
* ''{{Webcomic/Hemlock}}'': Baba Yaga is the oldest and most powerful witch, and also Lumi's mother-in-law.
* In ''Webcomic/{{PS238}},'' the trickster god Veles sends Julie and some other superheroes into a PocketDimension based on Myth/SlavicMythology, with Baba Yaga helping her near the end.
* In ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'' there's Lady Kostianaya Noga, a cunning witch with thick Slavic accent, trapped in the Timeless Space and currently a sub-admiral of a pirate fleet.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* Baba Yaga is [[Myth/AztecMythology Quetzalcoatl]]'s [[TheDragon dragon]] in ''WesternAnimation/LegendQuest''. Here, she looks more like a warrior than a typical crone. She's part of an old race of witches that once ruled the earth, and seeks to take it back from humans.
* In the very last episode of ''WesternAnimation/LegendOfTheThreeCaballeros'', the now defeated main villains head for "an old friend" that "owes them a favor". Cue Baba Yaga's chicken-legged house...
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'' episode [[Recap/TheOwlHouseS1E6HootysMovingHassle "Hooty's Moving Hassle"]], the titular house (the dwelling place of an elderly witch) sprouts legs, making it resemble Baba Yaga's hut.
* Baba Yaga is the MonsterOfTheWeek in a season 2 episode of both ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooMysteryIncorporated'' and ''WesternAnimation/BeCoolScoobyDoo''.
* Like the Film example above, Kurt once again brings up his fear of the Baba Yaga in episode five of ''WesternAnimation/WhatIf2021''. While the actual Baba Yaga doesn't show up, [[spoiler: he's somewhat correct about a man-eating witch being in the area, as the survivor group has to deal with a zombified Scarlet Witch.]]
[[/folder]]
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