O Saci
The Saci is probably one of the most popular figures from Brazilian folklore. A one-legged black boy who smokes a pipe and wears nothing but red shorts and red hood. He roams the land in a whirlwind and loves a good practical joke.
The origins of the myth are unknown, probably Portuguese, and then transformed by locals. Even though a very common figure in countryside lore, it rose to prominence all over the country after Monteiro Lobato's book The Saci, which introduces the character to its Sítio do Pica-pau Amarelo universe. In it, Pedrinho, one of the main characters, captures a saci, become friends with him and they live all sort of different adventures as the creature tells him the stories of other folkloric figures.
The Saci is one my favorite characters from Brazilian lore, with no defined origin, it probably came to be a mixture of traditions from various people: Portuguese, Africans and Native Brazilians, which makes him a true Brazilian.
This is a cover I designed for Lobato's book, The Saci.
Sketches
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