Alebrijes are mythical creatures in the folklore of the Mexican state of Oaxaca. There are a range of stories about how these exotic and fascinating figures originated. The most famous says that Pablo Linares created them under the influence of hallucinations resulting from a bout of an unspecified illness. When he awoke he was enchanted by the visions and in an attempt to recreate them he began to carve reproductions of them from wood, which were later hand-painted. True alebrije figures are all unique.

A very famous family of alebrijes resemble dragons. In general appearance, alebrijes are an odd blend of the cute and the scary. Many modern alebrijes are made of papier-mâché instead of the traditional wood.