Originating in Persian Mythology, where it was presented as a man-eating monster; the term that identifies it also comes from the Persian language: from martiya (man) and khvar (eating). The word was later used by the Greeks, in the form Mantikhoras, which gave rise to the Latin Mantichora. The figure came to be referred to in Europe through the accounts of Ctésias de Cnido, a Greek physician of the court of King Artaxerxes II, in the 4th century BC, in his notes on India ("Indika"). This work, widely used by Greek writers of Natural History, has not survived until today.
Pliny the Elder included it in his Natural History. Later, the Greek writer Flávio Filóstrato mentioned it in his work Life of Apolônio de Tiana (book III, chapter XLV). They have a skin that repels almost all known spells. According to some legends, the manticores came about when a king was cursed and became a manticore. Apparently these creatures were inspired by tigers.
To this day, many stories of missing people in India are linked to Manticoras. Today we know that tigers were actually responsible for the disappearances. The manticore is famous for humming softly while eating its prey in order to distract and / or frighten it.