Gobelinus autumnus
(Autumn goblin)
Common names: foliage prancer, autumn joy, leaf muncher, “those damn kids!”
Basic info
Gobelinus autumnus enjoying a leafy snack.
Size: 100-120cm
Mass: 15-20kg
Lifespan: 100 years
Description: Autumn goblins have similar size and built to a young human child, which does cause confusion sometimes… They have light-brown skin, often with a tinge of green, and large gold eyes, with the iris almost covering the whole eye. Their hair has bright colors, that seem similar to ginger hair. But on closer look, it is a mix of different colors: bright yellow, orange and shades of red.
Habitat: Forests and woods are the natural habitat of the Autumn goblins, but they have been known to venture out to visit parks and sometimes even the backyards of private homes, attracted by lovely-lovely piles of leaves. During summer and most of the spring, however, Autumn goblins live in underground caves. They despise heat, and therefore, once temperatures rise, they retire deep underground, where they hibernate until temperatures regain the chill they prefer.
Diet: Autumn goblins eat mostly leaves, roots and berries, that they also enjoy smooshing on their (and their friends’) faces. Their favorite snack is autumn leaves “especially the bright yellow or red ones, before they get them brown spots”.
Watch an introduction video about the Gobelinus autumnus
Habits & Culture
Many assume that the Autumn goblins’ name come from their autumnal coloring, but in fact they they were named after autumn because this is when they wake from hibernation. As temperatures go down, they climb out of their hidey-holes and happily look for deciduous trees and shrubs, for a good play and snack.
Preparing for a game of “pass under the leaves”
Autumn goblins clearly do not believe in the idea of “don’t play with your food”, and there’s nothing they like more than a leafy snack after a good exertion of throwing leaves in the air or jumping into piles of leaves.
One of their traditional and most beloved games is “pass under the leaves”: one player throws a pile of leaves into the air, as high as they can, and then run under the leaves, trying to pass under as many of them as possible before they fall to the ground. The other players will stand around, counting the passed leaves loudly, sometimes purposely miscounting to confuse the other counting players. An important reminder that this game is not about winning, it’s about having fun with your companions, and making as much mess as possible.
If the runner slips and falls face first into the leaves, it will be received with loud cheering and clapping. This may seem mean, but the falling goblin is allowed to eat all the leaves that stuck to its face, so falling on your face is actually a win! This may seem mean, but the falling goblin is allowed to eat all the leaves that stuck to his/her face, so falling on your face is actually a win!
As you can imagine, a gathering of Autumn goblins can be very loud, but they’re not worried about that because – like many goblins – they have the innate ability to turn invisible, so if a human passes by, they can just disappear. Sometimes they have a whole game of “pass under the leaves” while invisible, apparently they find it hilarious to try and count the leaves when the runner is invisible. It is likely that this habit began several haunting rumors of forests and parks.
A game of “pass under the leaves”
Like most goblins, Autumn goblins are a mischievous bunch, they love to play and enjoy a good trick. Unlike some goblin species, however, Autumn goblins have no malevolent intent and genuinely just want to have fun and will never harm anyone on purpose. They are aware that playing in the piles of leaves humans make in their backyard can lead to misunderstandings. If they are seen, their size and proportions often make adult humans assume that these are young children playing, and occasionally an innocent neighbors’ kid gets the blame for the mess they make. When this happens, they will usually wait for the accuser to make another pile of leaves, and then have an invisible “pass under the leaves” tournament in a time the human child could not possibly participate, thus clearing the child’s name. This may have resulted in a few panic attacks, but really, humans shouldn’t be so scared of disembodied voices, and that guy wasn’t any fun anyways.
Autumn goblins feel a certain affinity to human children, because they look somewhat similar and more importantly – they like to play! They already learned to avoid adult humans, who tend to respond to the goblins’ appearance with fear or disgust (“so rude!”), but some autumn goblins develop close friendships with human children. It usually only lasts a few years, and then the child grows and starts talking about them as “that imaginary friend I had”. It does hurt some, but the goblins understand that it’s just part of life, and “humans are very weird after all.”
So if you take a walk in a forest this autumn, or pass a yard with a nice pile of leaves, and you hear what seems like the ruckus of children at play, stay quiet and maybe you’ll catch a group of Autumn goblins playing. And you know, maybe try a round of “pass under the leaves”, if there’s one thing Autumn goblins know it’s how to have fun.
Gobelinus autumnus playing in a leaf pile
