Myth / Igbo Mythology

Ikenga, god of personal achievement.

The Igbo of southeastern Nigeria are the third largest ethnic group in the country and one of the largest ethnicities in Africa. Their traditional homeland is divided in half by the Niger River. Those west of the Niger have experienced more cultural influence from the neighboring urbanized kingdoms like Benin and the Yoruba city-states.

The pre-colonial Igbo were a very diverse group both politically and spiritually. The remains of Igbo-Ukwu from the 9th century AD indicates a remarkably organized society in some places, displaying trade goods from as far afield as India and some of the earliest samples of high quality bronze casting in West Africa. The kingdom of Nri was a theocracy centered on the cult of the earth goddess Ala and the priest-king or “Eze” believed to be descended from heaven. In stark contrast to many other states in West Africa, slavery and trafficking in slaves was outlawed in Nri as an abomination against Ala. Aside from examples such as these, the Igbo for the most part lived in autonomous villages where yam farming was the dominant economic activity. Igbo society was overwhelmingly democratic and republican. Elders and "big men" from each clan were respected and looked to for guidance in times of trouble, but otherwise did not have executive authority like kings.

The Igbo were one of the largest victims of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, making up around 15% of slaves taken from the Bight of Biafra to the Americas. The mighty Aro confederacy arose in part to take advantage of the lucrative slave trade and cement the geopolitical dominance of the Aro subgroup throughout what is now southeast Nigeria. The Aro leveraged their control of the Ibini Ukpabi oracle, known in English as "the Long Ju-Ju" to condemn accused criminals and war captives to slavery under the guise of the god killing them. Ibini Ukpabi had a following across a broad swathe of what is now southeast Nigeria and western Cameroon. A significant portion of Igbo slaves were taken to the United States and Jamaica, where they were stereotyped as especially defiant and bitter about their new status as slaves, frequently making attempts to escape or commit suicide. The famous early American abolitionist Olaudah Equiano was Igbo from the frontier of the Benin kingdom.

Compared to the more general and centralized pantheons of Edo country and Yorubaland, Igbo traditional religion is much more local and decentralized. But a number of common beliefs and divinities cross village and clan lines throughout the Igbo world. Traditional Igbo religion known as "Odinani" or “Odinala” continues to endure in traditional and syncretic form. The Igbo universe was seen as a perpetual cycle of life, death, and rebirth in this world like many other traditional African religions.

The Igbo cosmos is headed by the aloof Chukwu or Chineke, considered equivalent to the Abrahamic god by Igbo Christians. The more important among these are called the Arusi or Alusi, who play a role similar to polytheistic deities. The ancestors were considered more well disposed to humans and received the bulk of everyday recognition. Nature was also inhabited by myriad Mmuo who could be very capricious and unpredictable. All spirits are Mmuo, though Mmuo can range from the mightiest Arusi down to the pettiest local ghost.

The Igbo heavens or “Enu” are the domain of the great celestial gods such as Chukwu the supreme being and creator, Igwe the lord of the skies and giver of rain, Amadioha the deity of thunder & lightning, and Anyanwu the god or goddess of the Sun.

The earth goddess Ala/Ani however is the most important and widely worshipped deity in Igbo traditional religion. All things of the earth including the terrestrial gods are under her power, and as the planet itself she also maintains sovereignty over the underworld. Njoku is the god or goddess of farming and especially yams. Agwu is the god of divination and medicine. Agbara is the divinity of coercion. Ezenwanyi is the goddess of the sea, and queen of the water spirits known as “Mmiri”. Ekwensu is the trickster god and patron of chaotic violence like war or murder. Idigwu is the god of iron and blacksmiths. Death itself is manifest as the god Ogbunabali.

Gods worshipped on the personal or household level are various. The god of male strength, fortune, and triumph is Ikenga. A person’s guardian spirit and destiny is known as Chi. Ndiiche are the spirits of ancestors continuing to guide, protect, and at times correct or punish the living.

Heroic songs were sung by the warlike Cross River Igbo concerning military valor and honor, this was driven in part by conflicts with the increasingly militant Ekoi, Ibibio, and Efik tribes bordering them to the south and southeast. Among the fishermen of the Anambra region romantic songs of a more fantastic nature were originally sung to keep up spirits on long nights spent smoking fish before expanding into elaborate narratives. The long shadow of the Benin empire figured into western Igbo lore as a semi-mythical country of sorcery, peril, and adventure.

Igbo Mythology provides examples of the following tropes:

• Abusive Parents: Anukili's father Ugama rejected him as a newborn because he was born with teeth and was a breech birth, considering him to be an abomination. He even tried to have him killed before he was even a week old. Ugama also claimed he had never slept with his wife, implying he was cucked.
• Adam and Eve Plot: Chukwu created 4 men from chalk to be Edo's companions and servants. The four men named Otolo, Uruagu, Umudim, and Ichi found a wife each to found the 4 great villages of Nnewi.
• The Almighty Dollar: Ikenga is god of personal power and "strength of movement", and is also associated with fortune and wealth.
• Angry, Angry Hippos: Aguleri was once victimized by a ravenous Hippopotamus that prevented people from coming near the water. Anukili slayed the beast and allowed safe passage once more.
• Arranged Marriage: The elders of Eziagulu tried marrying off Anukili many times in hopes it would calm him down from his unjust behavior. But each time his new brides would just run away in fear of him despite being offered hefty amounts of cowries and special treatment.
• Armor-Piercing Question: Chukwu once invited Mbeku the tortoise to visit him, offering a rock instead of a Kola nut to share. Annoyed, Mbeku grabbed a pad from outside and asked Chukwu to carry the earth with it. Chukwu asked, "Can a man carry the earth?" and Mbeku snarked back, "Can a man break a stone like a Kola nut?" Chukwu was ashamed and said he would ask for him later.
• Badass Army: The Edo and Ododo warriors in the legend of Ikenga were reinforced by water spirits. They also used cavalry of great crocodiles and sharks. The Edo wizards enchanted huge stones to fly around crushing the enemy.
• Barbarian Hero: Anukili na Ugama fought using a huge animal bone, a tree stump, a thorned club, alongside the bow & arrow.
• Bash Brothers: Enyinyi and Anukili were the Sword and Sorcerer variant.
• Beauty Equals Goodness: Anukili was ugly inside and out. Rough skinned, pot bellied, face covered in scars, bloodshot eyes, lips thick as tree bark, and teeth like elephant tusks. It's hard to say what scared off his brides more, his looks or his personality.
• Big Eater: Ameke Okoye drank up rivers and lakes to quench his thirst. All the people of his hometown labored hard to feed him.
• Bigger Is Better in Bed: Okpangu has a huge penis relative to his body. It is covered in thorns. Suffice to say, this trope is subverted harshly considering he is a rapist on top of these things.
• Blood Knight: Anukili na Ugama became a powerful war chief who unified the villages of Aguleri before conquering Nteje and Igbariam. He drove the Igala into their present-day territory as well.
• Blow You Away:
  • Ifufe is the hurricane with no regard for the destruction of human settlements.
  • Uguru is the dry Harmattan wind.
• Born as an Adult: Ameke Okoye was born a fully grown man.
• Born of Magic: Igu of Mbano had no parents. He appeared spontaneously like an exploding oilbean fruit.
  • Tabansi of Ogbendida in Onitsha had no parents either. He simply appeared from nowhere, became a great hero, and vanished never to be seen again.
  • Ozoemena Ndive's parents never had sex.
• The Bully: Anukili went from war hero to unbearable brute who antagonized the people of Aguleri constantly whether it was stealing food or physically brutalizing them. When he stole water from women returning from the village, he took care to smash their pots when he was finished for no reason. He would flick people with a single finger and kock them out cold. All the villages feared him and treated him as something of a living god. His footsteps caused earthquakes, and his anger was like a storm. People praised him when he was correct AND when he was wrong out of fear. Anukili would attend funerals to steal burial goods in from of everyone, and even robbed people of their fine clothes as they wore them. More heinously, he would openly steal offerings from shrines and use his neighbor's Ikenga statues as firewood. This was an abomination and massive taboo in traditional Igbo culture.
• Carry a Big Stick: Anukili wielded a tree stump and a large club full of thorns.
• Creation Myth: Chukwu allowed the first man named Eri to descend to earth on a rope along with his wife Namauku. Eri landed on an anthill in wet swampy country, causing him to complain to Chukwu. So Chukwu sent an Awka blacksmith to use his fiery bellows to dry up the early land. Chukwu fed Eri and his family a kind of heavenly fish called Azu Igwe, but this sustenance ended when Eri died. So Eri’s son Nri complained to Chukwu about their situation. Nri was instructed by Chukwu to sacrifice his own son and daughter, which he begrudgingly carried out. After 3 Igbo weeks (12 days) yam grew from the grave of the son and cocoyam grew from the grave of the daughter. Upon eating these crops, humans slept for the first time. Nri then sacrificed a male slave and a female slave. After 12 days, an oil palm grew from the male grave and a breadfruit tree grew from the female grave. Chukwu then charged Nri with distributing these foodstuffs to the rest of mankind, but Nri was hesitant and frustrated by sacrifices he already made. In time, Nri complied with Chukwu’s wishes. As a reward, Nri and his descendants were given blessings: the right to cleanse villages of spiritual abomination, to tie the sacred Ngwulu (ankle cord) on men taking Ozo (a man of the highest Igbo honor) titles, crowning kings of Aguleri, and ownership of Ogwu Ji (the charm of yam production). Nri’s descendants called the “Umunri” became renowned healers, priests, and sages with the universal freedom to wander anywhere across Igboland unmolested.
  • Chukwu divided the world into three parts for his sons: Oji, Ododo, and Edo. Each son was given a landmass. The far side of each continent was bounded by "Akwukwo Nju Ofia" or Bush of Confusion. Oji's landmass was placed at the center of the world. Chukwu planted Akwukwo Nju Ofia to keep humans from traveling into the spirit world. At the center of each landmass was a mountain which descended to sea level at the borders.
  • Some say Chukwu lived in the sky, eating nothing but birds for a time. His poo and pee droppings formed the land and sea. Birds which fell onto the earth lost their wings and feathers, becoming land animals. Birds which fell into the waters became fish.
• Child Supplants Parent: Isionye of Enugwu-Ukwu was thrown into the evil forest as a small boy due to a prophecy that he would kill his father and marry his mother. He eventually returns from another community then fulfills his destiny and settles with his mother-wife and children-siblings, founding Ummunevo.
• The Discovery of Fire: In ancient times, humans had no fire: they ate food raw and slept cold. This all changed after man befriended dog. Dog went on a journey to Amadioha’s home, where he stole fire from the god and introduced it to his human friends.
• Divine Conflict: Igwe and Ala once fought over a tree. After a frustrating struggle, Igwe returned home to remove sunlight and rain from the earth. This caused enormous devastation for all things that need sunlight and water, so the birds agreed to fly up to Igwe and change his attitude. First they asked Nduri the Cuckoo but it got tired, then they sent Okiri the Sparrow who got tried, finally they sent Apia the Hornbill who sang Igwe a flattering song. The song was about how Ala is inferior to him and how great Igwe should give back rain and sunlight. Igwe was flattered and gave rain & sunlight back to the Hornbill. But Igwe warned the Apia not to open the parcels until he was home. Apia became curious and opened them. The rain beat him up and threw him to the ground, then the sun beat Apia up with the warning that rain is not allowed to kill anyone.
• Due to the Dead: In ancient times before Ala made herself known Ogbu-ghu the hornbill's mother had died, and he carried her on his back in search of a final resting place for her. In the meantime he built a burial mound on his head. Traveling across the boundless waters, he saw a man and a woman. The woman was Ala, and gestured with her hand that Ogbu-ghu could bury his mother within her. And so, Ala stretched out across the expanse to become the earth.
• Enfant Terrible: The unborn hero Uluagu (or Ezeoke) visited his mother Oboghorita (an evil witch) in a dream, announcing he would defeat her one day. He was born after 1 and a half years by jumping from her womb suddenly as she searched for yams on a platform in her barn. Uluagu sprinted off with the witch in hot pursuit, baring his naked butt at her in a show of contempt. He magically split the road into multiple winding paths which threw her off his trail. Years later, he returned and vanquished Oboghorita in a spectacular display of magic.
  • Anukili na Ugama entered the world legs-first and clutching magic herbs & roots, with both upper and lower teeth. This was considered such an abomination that his father Ugama wanted to murder him, forcing Anukili's mother Adaeze to flee with him into the forest of Ogugu until Ugama eventually died.
• The Fair Folk: Mmuo encompass a vast array of supernatural entities and spirits. The most powerful and worshipped of these forces are known as Alusi or Agbara. However, in common parlance Mmuo refers to the lesser spirit beings. Much like the fairies of Europe or the Jinn of the Muslim world, the character of the Mmuo vary. The Mmuo can be the spirits of the deceased, or never-human Genius Loci. Mmuo can be good, evil, both, and neither. Some Mmuo manifest indistinguishable from humans, some manifest as plants or animals, and some are entirely fantastic beings. Mmuo inhabit all of nature, and are treated with the same cautious respect as the bush itself. Every so often, the Mmuo are believed to enter human settlements to interact with mortals at special masquerade ceremonies or “Mmanwu”.
  • Ijele is called by some the king of Mmanwu Mmuo. It is a towering being of many dazzling colors and patterns about 15 feet or 4.5 meters tall. It appears as a two-tiered being divided around the midsection by a large python. 45 Mmuo representing different facets of Igbo life dance atop Ijele. As it is deeply revered, Ijele normally appears last at Mmanwu and all other Mmuo take care to courteously leave before it’s arrival. Ijele is believed to have magical powers over fertility and bountiful harvests. Ijele also owns a magic mirror it uses to draw close and punish evildoers.
  • Ijele is composed of a family of four: Onuku, Nne Ijele, the six Ijele police, and Ijele Palm Wine Tapper. Onuku dresses in the regalia of a chief, and has a big face. Nne Ijele is a beautiful lady who holds an ox-tail switch with an enamel plate, and dances to soft flute music. The Ijele police keep mortals from coming too close to mother & father Ijele. Ijele Palm Wine Tapper picks at the rear of Ijele during performances.
  • Ajofia (meaning “Evil Forest”) is considered the most terrifying but also respected of Mmuo. He is a spirit about 10 feet or 3 meters tall. Ajofia is covered in long thick black hair. Spread throughout his expanse of long fur are the skeletons of dead animals, face masks, and some living animals such as insects. Smoke constantly billows from his head. Women are forbidden to see him. Ajofia has power to provide good luck for those who show him proper reverence. The various lesser Mmuo associated with justice and public order are his subordinates. Ajofia is also an intermediary between the ancestors with their living kin. Despite his name and frightening aura, Ajofia is well known for protecting the community and providing good fortune. It is said that he was created in ancient times by a powerful group of ancestors. Ajofia typically appears in villages where great men of renown such as honored chiefs have died. As an agent of justice, Ajofia is not afraid to kill evildoers and anyone standing in the way of proper punishment.
  • Mgbedike or Agaba is a variety of Mmuo associated with masculinity, aggression, bravery, and war. They are humanoid-beast chimeras with multiple horns, long sharp teeth, and headdresses featuring various carved animals. Their favored weapons are the axe and the cutlass. Mgbedikes are highly energetic spirits and dance furiously during masquerades. They bestow blessings and offer protection to mortals.
  • Omewaluigwe is a very talkative and friendly Mmuo. He enjoys making conversation mortals and offering his wisdom. He is a faceless spirit with a brightly colored body and wears a decorated hat.
  • Agbogho Mmuo are the spirits of deceased maidens. They appear as embodiments of the Igbo feminine ideal: small delicate facial features, yellowish-brown skin, elegant tattoos, elaborately done hair, graceful, tall, slender, long necked, and demure.
  • Igariga are a common variety of Mmuo. They like to use their canes to beat people up who get too close to them. People tend to flee when they see Igarigas approaching them.
  • Otawaru Ikpo is a terrible black Mmuo with four long downward curving horns, decorations, and grass hair on its head. It has sharp teeth in its muzzle, and a beard on its chin. He dances on cassava leaves with his fearful magic charms.
  • Odegwu Anya Mmiri is an Mmuo who embodies loss, death, and sorrow like Otawaru Ikpo. He is a water spirit with two faces, and moves in two directions simultaneously. When he travels about, he weeps bitterly. Whenever he leaves his shrine, the first person he meets dies instantly. For this reason, mortals leave a sacrificial goat tied before his shrine to die in their place when he wants to go out. He has a black face, bright red eyes, multicolored fur, and a hat with white feathers.
  • Ojionu is associated with water, and wears a headdress featuring aquatic creatures such as crocodiles, sharks, manatees, and hippos. They never cease dancing. In some places they maintain power over chiefs and kings.
  • Ekpo are black spirits associated with justice and law enforcement. They have very large heads, often taking up the space where a human torso would be. Their arms and legs are hairless, but the rest of their body is covered in very thick bushy hair alongside some grass growing out. They are aggressive Mmuo who actively punish misbehaving people. They wield cutlasses and whips.
• Fantastic Flora: Akwukwo Nju or Akwukwo Nju Ofia is a magic type of leaf found in the deep jungle. Coming into contact with it renders a person delirious and catatonic, mindlessly wandering the bush indefinitely unless they are rescued in time. It is impossible to identify the leaf before it’s too late.
• Fertility God: Ala is the goddess of fertility and considered the Top God of the pantheon. Not only does she hold dominion over the earth and mortality in general (her name literally translates to "the ground"), but she is married to the sky god Amadioha, and her womb is where the underworld and the afterlife dwells.
• Flaming Hair: The people of Aguleri put a roof on Anukili na Ugama's head like hat and set it on fire to get rid of him, he jumped into a river to extinguish it.
• Gale-Force Sound: Anukili could only cry three times per day as a child and was otherwise silent. Each midnight, sunrise, and sunset he would cry so loud that it shook all of Eziagulu and the immediate vicinity.
• God Couple:
  • Igwe and Ala are considered a married couple, and as such Igwe fertilizes Ala with rain.
  • Chukwu kept the goddess Edo as a spouse or lover because she was very beautiful.
• God of Thunder: Amadioha is the storm god and punisher of evildoers.
• Half-Human Hybrid: Nwoke-Orie of Orodo was the son of a woman named Ekemma and Ala's fearsome leopard familiar. The villagers believed the beast kidnapped her to devour, but she reappeared days later after much fuss and grieving alive and well albeit pregnant.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: Enyinyi was essentially the one person Anukili na Ugama loved or respected aside from his mother. They were inseparable friends who trusted one another completely. Enyinyi considered Anukili as his dearest friend as well.
• Impossible Task:
  • Chukwu asked Mbeku to bring him palm wine not in a pot nor calabash; through not bush nor road; not by morning nor noon nor evening; neither full nor short of being full. So Mbeku put the wine in a food mortar, crossed a water-tunnel in the dead of night, and presented it to Chukwu shifted over so it full on one end and half full on the other. Chukwu just looked dumbstruck.
  • Chukwu gave Mbeku a rooster and hen, telling him the rooster would lay eggs and the hen would crow before the year was out. So Mbeku wandered the marketplace hitting himself with a club and weeping "My father has died in childbirth and my mother has died in battle!". Chukwu pushed through the crowd and asked "Can a man give birth? Can a woman go to war?" to which Mbeku retorted "Can a hen crow? Can a rooster lay eggs?".
• Infant Sibling Jealousy: Igwe (among the Isu-ama, a goddess rather than a god) had two sons who did not want her to have more children. The sons were Udumiri (Wet Season) and Okochi (Dry Season). She did anyway and gave birth to Anyanwu, Onwa, Ifufe, and Uguru.
• Jabba Table Manners: Anukili ate like he'd never seen food before. It didn't help that he was a literal giant with insatiable hunger for yams.
• "Just So" Story:
  • There once was a wealthy old widow who had everything she desired except a child. Her servant recommended she visit a wise Dibia (Priest) who told her to visit the god Ekwensu. He told her Ekwensu's country has plenty of children to choose from, but warned she must only approach if she heard mild ringing rather than drumming. She traveled for many moons wary of the drum noises and relaxed when she heard ringing. On meeting the Alusi, the widow was told Ekwensu was all out of good children...but there WAS one handsome boy left standing off to the side. The widow chose the handsome boy and thought she'd chosen a wonderful heir in spite of the warnings. The youth grew up beheading chickens, later goats, later cattle, later slaves, and eventually free people including the old widow. The evil lad had incredible magical powers nobody was safe from. The only survivor was an old witch who lived at the edge of the village. Terrified of the sadistic boy, she used a juju to turn everything dark while she fled. But the psychopathic youth was bent on cutting off her head with his ax one way or another, so he used a juju to make everything extremely bright. They kept up this battle of light and darkness for several days until both were exhausted, so in a final desperate attempt their jujus clashed and exploded together. Light and darkness were now permanent parts of the world. The witch turned into the cricket always crying out fearfully in the night, and the evil boy disappeared without a trace...and that is the origin of day & night.
  • Egbe the hawk was once given a mission by Chukwu. Chukwu asked him to carry a parcel of rain to earth and end a famine. Egbe accidentally tore open the parcel and flooded the earth. Egbe was terrified of Chukwu's wrath, so he stays out of sight during the rainy season. And that is why Hawks migrate.
• Longest Pregnancy Ever: Ameke Okoye's mother Mbanugo was pregnant for 39 years with him.
• Lunacy: Onwa is the goddess of the moon.
• Made of Iron: Anukili na Ugama's skin could not be pierced by seemingly any weapon.
• Magic Staff: Edo was given a magical staff of white chalk and a pot of water by Chukwu to survey the firmament with. Edo fell into the void of space and decided to grind the chalk staff over the seas to create land.
• Maniac Monkeys: Okpangu is a sort of half-man and half-chimpanzee demon. He is a short and stout being with pitch black coloration and white eyes. His body is often covered in thorns. He likes to throw fruit at people and kidnap unwary men for ransom and murder. He lusts after human women and will rape them whenever possible. Sometimes he offers women a Hope Spot by giving them the choice to be raped or simply have their hair braided. Women who choose the latter are tied to a tree, have their hair braided, and THEN get raped by Okpangu.
• Mother Goddess: Ala is considered the mother of all, and the souls of the unborn reside within her in the underworld.
• Mystical Pregnancy: Mmuoka Nwokike did not like the rainy season. In the womb he jumped up and down when a storm approached.
  • When Nwoke-Orie of Orodo was born there was a drought, followed by an evening rainbow from the east, followed by a thunderstorm.
  • When Odo Nwaozo Nwaeze of Umulumgbe in Udi was born after 12 months, all his father's chickens and goats died. He did not cry at birth, instead of crying he would hum and bark. The boy refused milk, only drinking water.
• Neck Snap: How Ikenga finished off the demon Ajikwu Akpu Isi.
• Our Giants Are Bigger:
  • Anukili Na Ugama was a huge man who broke any house he entered. He was one of the giant warriors of Aguleri. He was constantly hungry and ate his fellow villagers out of house and home.
  • Ameke Okoye required the labor of the entire population of Adaja to feed him.
  • Isionye was a giant as well.
• Our Mermaids Are Different: Mmuo Mmiri are water spirits who inhabit rivers, lakes, and the sea. They commonly manifest as otherworldly beautiful women with long hair, pythons, or beautiful women handling pythons. They are known to grant wishes to mortal devotees: bestowing fertility, love, beauty, and wealth. They are also known to cause floods and drownings when angered.
• Pet Monstrosity: Ala owned a voracious leopard who devoured entire villages. Everyone lived in terror of her leopard and nobody was brave enough to attend market day.
• The Power of the Sun: Anyanwu is the solar goddess.
• Pride: Anukili didn't start off so wicked, but his achievements made him became an arrogant, gluttonous, entitled rogue.
• Top God: Chukwu. However there is evidence that Chukwu was possibly one of several supreme nature deities before entering a heaven-earth rivalry with Ala before attaining undisputed status as the God of everything. It's thought by some scholars that the supreme cult of Chukwu was promoted by states like Nri and Aro to emphasize how the earthly king is supreme below and heavenly Chukwu is supreme above. In fact, Chukwu is portrayed sometimes as a buffoon or monster in regions that were under harsh Aro authority.
• The Trickster:
  • Mbeku the tortoise was a beloved trickster in Igbo folklore, always scheming to acquire food.
  • Ekwensu is a more dangerous example.
• Ultimate Blacksmith: When the world was young and almost entirely submerged in water, the first king Eri asked Chukwu for an Awka blacksmith. The smith dried up the waters and made land habitable for people.
• Mystical Pregnancy: Ojaadili Udeoba's mother was a virgin who was married from Iduu Kamerun and made a long journey to Igboland.
• Villainous Glutton: Anukili na Ugama was infamous for this. No barn, or field, or river contained enough for him. With his vast strength and durability, nobody could stop him if he wanted their food & drink.
• War God:
  • Ikenga, the proud ram horned (sometimes literal two-faced warrior depending on the region) warrior that represents just war for the sake of improvement (his domains were also Achievements and Time).
  • The other is Ekwensu, lord of Chaotic War, tortoises and bargains.
• Wicked Witch: Oboghorita was a baby-eating witch.
• Witch Doctor: The great wizard Enyinyi was a "Dibia" or traditional Igbo sage, a master of nature's lore who fulfilled many roles from diviner to priest to exorcist to magician. Enyinyi hailed from Enugwu Aguleri, and served as Anukili na Ugama's personal mage in battle. Enyinyi owned much property which which he guarded by the power of the Alusi within his Ikenga statues.

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