Shupis

Like most koroks, Shupis had been created through the magic of the Great Deku Tree. However, unlike most koroks, its birth (?) had been corrupted. Whether it was from dark magic or something else entirely, it’s unknown. But Shupis had been given a great attachment to mushroom spores and decay. The spores had taken over Shupis’s mind and body and they were able to spread easily. Places that Shupis would spend long bouts of time in would see the plant life and even other koroks start to wither and decay due to the spores that came from Shupis. And while at heart, Shupis was (and is) playful, mischievous, and energetic like most other koroks, the spores made its mind more sadistic and insane. This infected korok was a blight, and the Great Deku Tree knew this. So it had made the hard decision to end the corrupted korok’s existence for the betterment of the other forest children. However, the spores blocked his magic. Whatever had corrupted Shupis, clearly didn’t want it dead and the Great Deku Tree was put in even more of a tough spot. It could try and protect the great forest and the other koroks by kicking Shupis out, however that would lead to unleashing it onto the rest of Hyrule. In the end, he had decided to banish Shupis from the great forest. While it was not something he wanted to push upon Hyrule, he had to protect the forest first and foremost. And while he may not have been able to kill the corrupted korok, there are many dangers that could inadvertently save Hyrule from Shupis. 

But unfortunately for him that didn’t happen. Shupis was unleashed on the rest of Hyrule. And would wreak havoc, which thanks to the corrupting spores, has led to some fatalities. Shupis still has its playful nature at heart and would set up little games for people to try and find it, however a lot of these games would end up not being exactly safe. Shupis would maybe lead a person into a Lynel’s den or would lead them into a harsh cold where they would freeze. If they were to perish, Shupis would leave spores on the corpse. It didn’t know why it felt the urge to do so but it always did. 

Shupis would spend most of its life traveling around Hyrule spreading its spores and leaving some casualties in its wake. While it couldn’t explain why it had a strong urge to do so, feeling as if that was its purpose. To spread spores and have fun looking for more adventure! Traveling around Hyrule for around 70 years had helped make the tiny, corrupted korok more hardy. Traveling around so much and getting itself into trouble from time to time made it have to learn how to survive. Not every person that would follow its tracks would end up dead. And sometimes, Shupis would find trouble with monsters too. Though it’d always find a way out of it, usually thanks to the corrupted spores. 

While Shupis’s victims weren’t extremely common, some being years apart, the after affects of what it did to the victims left it prime real-estate for legends and fables about it to start sprouting around the gossip mills in Hyrule. A creature would lead a person away from their home or camp and would lead them to their untimely demise. There were different stories on what the creature could be. A tricky fey, an abnormally smart bokoblin, an angry spirit, something that was using tricks of the koroks to lead people to their death. Some thought it could be a korok, but this wasn’t much of a popular theory. While koroks were elusive and were mischievous, they were never heard of to be ill-intentioned. This couldn’t possibly be the work of a little korok, it had to be something which was stealing their tricks and pranks in order to lure unsuspecting victims. Oh if only they knew. It all did lead to a korok. A corrupted korok, but a korok all the same. While coming across a puzzle left by a korok to find it was counted as a blessing, due to Shupis it started to become something more and more people would be weary about.