File No. 419 of 446
Condenado
Also called: condenados, the condemned
The condenado is the walking dead of the Andes: a sinner rejected by the afterlife who wanders the peaks eating travellers. The offences that create one are breaches of kinship and reciprocity, the foundations of highland village life. Communities in southern Peru and Bolivia describe destroying them by smashing or burning the bones. The belief is still current and has been documented by anthropologists working on Andean funeral customs.12
Origin
Andean (Peru and Bolivia)
Peru, BoliviaWhat causes it
A curse
Sins so grave that the dead person cannot pass into the afterlife.How you become one
People who in life raped relatives, stole from friends or hoarded wealth; other accounts add suicides and victims of violent death.
How it moves
Varies
Roams the high mountains at dusk and at night looking for people.Intelligence
Some intelligence
Weak spots
- taking away the knotted funeral cord (khipu) tied round its waist, which paralyses its legs
- beating the skeleton to pieces
- burning
field notes
What the sources say
Could you outrun it?
Speed class from how the sources describe it (varies), not a measurement.
You, walking about 5 km/h
You, jogging about 10 km/h
Condenado about 10 km/h
A fit adult sprinting about 24 km/h
A fast cyclist about 37 km/h
Sources
- Khipus to Keep Away the Living Dead - Anthropology News
- Spooky folklore, monsters and myths of highland Peru - Fertur Peru Travel
Every fact on this page comes from these sources, written in our own words. Spotted a mistake? Tell us at hello@zombiewiki.app.
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