In Zulu folklore, the small, hairy creature known for causing mischief is the tokoloshe.
More broadly, the tokoloshe is an Nguni or southern African supernatural being often described as a dwarf-like, hairy water spirit. It is mischievous and dangerous rather than merely playful: stories credit it with frightening people, causing illness, attacking sleepers, and sometimes bringing death. In some traditions, a malicious person calls upon a witch doctor or traditional healer to direct it against an enemy.
Descriptions vary considerably. The tokoloshe may be invisible after drinking water or swallowing a stone, and some accounts portray it as a spirit created from a corpse. The familiar image of a small, hairy goblin is therefore one version of a broader and changing folklore tradition, not a single universally fixed design.
A well-known protective custom is raising a bed on bricks so the creature cannot reach a sleeping person. That practice has also been linked to older explanations of nighttime deaths in poorly ventilated dwellings, showing how folklore could give supernatural meaning to frightening real-world events.