Leprechaun’s Origin & Powers Explained
The Leprechaun franchise had a surprisingly long run, since 1993. Its titular villain strongly deviates from the traditional mythological creature.
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Director and writer Mark Jones may have been inspired by the Lucky Charms mascot for his horror movie, Leprechaun, but his titular villain’s origin and powers are nothing like the magically delicious cartoon.
Originally released in 1993, Leprechaun ended up being a ’90s horror franchise that managed to spawn seven other movies and seemed like it couldn’t be stopped despite getting generally poor reviews across the board. The initial film’s budget of only $1 million showed in every frame and, despite being a stepping stone for major A-list talent like Jennifer Aniston before her days on Friends, Leprechaun still hasn’t managed to create itself into more than a schlocky B-horror franchise. Jones set out to make a genuinely terrifying premise that revolved around a killer leprechaun, but the chips didn’t fall in his intended direction, and Warwick Davis’ performance as Lubdan, the lecherous sadist, felt derivative of Freddy Krueger in A Nightmare on Elm Street rather than a more serious, cold-blooded killer.
Freddy managed to take his humor and incorporate it into a monstrous character who weaponized his barbs, but the leprechaun managed to be even more ridiculous than a dream demon, and twisted traditional Irish and Celtic mythology into something too strange to be sinister. Despite the obvious roots in commonly accepted folklore, Lubdan/the leprechaun managed to separate itself from its mythical counterpart with an origin story and set of powers that bolstered the franchise’s over the top nature.
Leprechaun’s Origins & Powers Explained
In Irish folklore, leprechauns are mischievous, fantasy creatures similar to fairies, pixies, sprites, and other tricksters. They are darker than other fairy counterparts, have a tendency to drink excessively, hide out in dank places, and play cruel pranks that – sometimes – can turn violent. They are also known for their overly protective instincts regarding their treasure and riches. Typically, they have a craftsman-style profession such a shoemaker, cobbler, or builder; it’s important for their profession to be lucrative and is often meticulous, given their obsessive nature. Another common staple of the leprechaun lore is its inclusion in cautionary tales about excessive wealth, greed, and other acts of material-based selfishness.
Lubdan is a bit different. He has the traditional elements of a leprechaun in that he’s protective of his gold and treasures, but he also has a vicious, bloodthirsty nature about him that goes beyond cruel tricks and general nastiness. He is perverse, lewd, and objectifies women; he even uses mind control powers to seduce them or magic to distort and enhance their bodies for his own scrutiny. Lubdan relies primarily on magic, though he also possesses enhanced strength, telekinetic, and telepathic abilities. He’s immortal, can teleport, and channels his extensive mental abilities into even lesser known gifts like pyrokinesis.
The first movie saw a man returning to his home in South Dakota after having stolen from a leprechaun; of course, this ends up as a vengeance quest for said leprechaun, who wants his treasure back and will do anything to get it. The 2014 film from WWE Studios, Leprechaun: Origins, looked into the leprechaun’s roots and devised a story about a village in Ireland that sacrifices tourists on a yearly cycle; the leprechaun is called a Tuatha Dé in this film. The villagers made a deal with the Tuatha Dé to trade human lives for gold after their mines dried up and brought economic hardship. These Rumpelstiltskin aspects are on par with folklore within the same pantheon, as Fae creatures are commonly known to strike hard bargains with mortals, but it deviates from the original story Leprechaun tried to tell and has a 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes for a reason.
Link Source : https://screenrant.com/leprechaun-character-movie-origin-powers-explained/