Mystery: The Tennessee Wildman

Oh baby it's a wild world.

Have you ever had this weird feeling inside of you when you want to do something, yet you know that doing it is a bad idea? In my case, I wanted to take a brief break after writing the megalist since I’d spent several days on end writing it without so much as a few hours to recuperate. Yet, once I was done, all I wanted to do was resume writing something—anything really. The projects I have lined up though are not the wisest to pursue on account of them being fairly sizable (especially the one on Crawlers).

As such, I found myself lounging around, feeling rather saddened and restless. I tried to take my mind off of things, but then I realized that I have no friends who live locally and I’m also a NEET. Therefore, I am more or less stuck either doing crossword puzzles or hoping nobody throws a water bottle at me to do something.

Golly gee willikers, it sure is good I don’t live in the 1950s. Otherwise, I may be kicked out of the house.

If that were to happen, I’m confident I’d become like the creature in today’s story. Known as the Tennessee Wildman, this story is... quite wild. So let’s begin!

Born to be Wild: The Mystery of the Tennessee Wildman

The story of the Wildman dates back to the—which I’ll be citing from the cryptidz wiki—dates back to the 1800s. Supposedly, in McNairy County, there was a sideshow freak who was captured and put into a cage. He was publicly ridiculed and exploited until he broke free and fled. It ran all night and die—of this I am absolutely certain.

In the way of his looks, the Wildman has been described as looking like Sasquatch, but is said to be “more human” in his appearance. What exactly this means, I couldn’t tell you as every description I’ve heard of (along with drawings—like the one at the start of this write-up) make him out to be almost identical to every other hairy hominid out there: tall, hairy, and ugly. As for specifics, the Wildman is said to be between 7 and 9 feet tall (213–274 centimeters). He has dark grey or dark ginger hair and has piercing red eyes. His presence is also accompanied by a terrifying war cry that can make even the bravest of men tremble and a horrible odor (which many have compared to the Skunk Ape, another Bigfoot type creature).

Where the Wildman differs from other Bigfoot type creatures is in its behavior. True to its name, the Wildman is quite wild. It’s said to be extremely aggressive and will frequently attack those that come into its territory. It’s very strong, agile, and quite fast. These traits (which I suspect he rolled a 20 on) have meant that anyone who’s been courageous enough to go hunting for the creature have either returned empty handed or something they wouldn’t speak of was their prize at the end of the metaphorical tunnel.

Now for something more interesting. One thing that the cryptidz wiki mentions is that the Wildman has a “strange targeting obsession” with women and dogs. I don’t know why they opted to say this is strange because it isn’t in the slightest. In the case of dogs, they’re defensive of their land and will challenge a stranger who walks into it. That’s the nature of canines and if the Wildman is aggressive, it’s likely that it too will challenge anything and everything that dares to make a claim to what it calls its territory. Given this thing kikes in the woods, it’s extremely likely that it’s familiar with wild dogs, coyotes, and/or wolves. The barking of a domesticated dog probably sets off a trigger in its head and makes it think that something is challenging it.

This isn’t strange at all, it’s a basic animalistic instinct.

Now as for the targeting of women, this is a bit harder to explain as most hairy hominid cryptids aren’t known for being prone to trying to abduct people. If we go by the cryptidz wiki, the article on the Wildman states that “many women” have claimed the creature tried to “snatch them up” and carry them back to its home (likely a cave or a makeshift bed; it’s been claimed that Bigfoot homes are little more than piles of sticks, branches and leaves). However, allegedly, none of these attempted abductions were ever successful.

There have been some who’ve been supposedly kidnapped or abducted by Bigfoot type creatures. I say supposedly since none have ever been confirmed (which is a given since Bigfoot and his relatives have never been proven to exist). One of the few instances that seems to have ever resulted in anything comes in the form of a story from China. A woman said that she was abducted by a group Yeren (which are said to be very similar to Bigfoot). While captive, she was raped and impregnated. When she gave birth, it was to what’s been called the “hybrid man”. He didn’t live long, but was quite strong and walked rather oddly.

There’s a documentary on the Internet on the hybrid man and it’s honestly quite fascinating. However, some believe the woman made up the story due to the potential social stigma of giving birth to a child with mental handicaps. Whether or not you believe this is, as always, up to you. However, my ultimate point is that the act of trying to abduct women isn’t something abnormal for Bigfoot if we go by global reports. Heck, I think North America’s own Sasquatch abducted a man once when he was camping.

With that out of the way, the cases of Wildman sightings exist primarily on hiking trails and other heavily wooded areas. These reports all tend to operate like many other Bigfoot sightings, though with the added trait of a putrid odor (making the likelihood of being snuck up on next to impossible). The war cry also makes stealth next to impossible. However, the creature has nonetheless surprised many and its actions, as described above, make it a less than friendly encounter.

Over—or at least close to—two centuries later, the Wildman has still been sighted and its legend persists. Some suspect that there’s more than one creature since it’s unlikely that it’s lived for so long. It’s also been said that it has either traveled to the state of Kentucky or a similar creature lives there. Whatever the case may be, that’s the end of the Wildman’s story. So let’s move onto the theories.

Theories

1. It’s real

First up: the legendary Wildman is no legend and is in fact real. There’s a fairly large portion of the United States (and this likely extends to the world as a whole) that believes in creatures like Bigfoot. This belief typically extends to other creatures similar to it like the Yeti, Skunk Ape, and Orang Pendek. This isn’t to say that every creature like Bigfoot warrants immediate belief, but there can be a bias towards believing the stories of such creatures. The Wildman is no different and there are those that believe it’s either related to Bigfoot or at least some sort of subspecies.

2. It’s a hoax

Our second theory is that it’s all a hoax; a legend created to scare that took on a life of its own. There have been a fair number of urban myths that have taken on lives of their own. One of my favorites is the Maryland Goatman, the one that was supposedly a mad scientist who was mutated by an experiment and how lurks near a lover’s lane. If you go there at night, he’ll appear with an axe and kill you. Despite it being very much rooted in urban myth, some say that the creature does lurk there. Another example is Shades of Death Road in New Jersey. The street has so many legends surrounding it that I can’t possibly include them all, but there are ghosts, killers, Satanists, cryptids, strange lights, and more. Some do believe that the road is actually haunted though.

My point is: legends can often take on lives of their own. Pass them along for long enough—or tell them to children enough—and you’ll eventually hear that a friend or child of so-and-so saw the creature when they went looking for it. Eventually, the story will become more of a mystery than a legend. As one final example of this happening: the story of Skinned Tom has seen itself become something of a “mystery” as opposed to an urban legend. Coincidentally, Tom is also from Tennessee.

3. It’s an alien

The alien Bigfoot theory is the idea that Bigfoot (Bigfeet?) is/are aliens or alien scouts/slaves that spy on us. Others have also claimed that they’re alien abductees who’ve been turned into wild creatures that now lurk in the forests and other wooded areas. As such, the Wildman is one of many subjects in that conspiracy’s circle of influence. Whether or not you believe in it though is entirely on you.

4. It’s a feral human

This posits that the Wildman is a human that’s been living out in the wild like an animal. This isn’t to say that survivalists or nomads are animals. Rather, the human is more akin to Tarzan, having never actually lived in the modern world. From birth, they lived more like a gorilla or other primate and they’ve grown up believing that to be the way things are. This has gone on for generations (presumably) now. 

5. IT’S AN INTERDIMENSIONAL BEAST!

Alex Jones mode has been activated. This theory ties into the idea that Bigfoot is an interdimensional creature. This topic seriously deserves its own write-up as it’s a remarkable theory. The idea is that the reason for Bigfoot appearing and disappearing so suddenly (and likewise, footprints disappearing so suddenly) is that Bigfoot phases in and out of our reality. This belief isn’t something unique to just the Pacific Northwest legend though. It generally goes for any and every Bigfoot all around the world. The Wildman is therefore, naturally, included in the bunch. Could it truly be a creature from another dimension? That can only be answered if you’re someone who believes in that concept. I personally don’t, but I also don’t believe it to be impossible.

My Take

Well, I can’t say I’m a believer in the idea that the Wildman is an interdimensional wild man. However, as is the case with any creature like Bigfoot, I believe there is a real possibility that it’s real. That said, I also think there’s a real possibility that it’s all complete nonsense. Until some strong evidence is presented, Bigfoot will remain a creature of legend and nothing more. This also goes for the Wildman. It has all the markings of a legend and it’s very likely that’s all it is.

Conclusion

Although the Wildman may be quite a mean creature to encounter while taking a hike through the lovely state of Tennessee, it’s possible that it just happens to have been having a really bad day. I’m sure if we offer it a Snickers, all will be better. Or, at least, maybe it will.

What definitely will make everything better (on my end at least) is if you draw your own conclusions to what this creature may be. If you happen to have a theory as to what the Tennessee Wildman is (or was), then leave a comment telling me. Not only would I love to know your thoughts, but it means the world to me to know that I have readers.