Mavki (or navki, also niki) are quite rare characters of Slavic folklore. The most widespread belief in them was received on the territory of modern Ukraine, as well as in Serbia. The closest and much more famous image is the mermaid, while there are some differences between them.
According to the information that has come down to us, a young girl who committed suicide, drowned herself from unhappy love or died on the eve of the wedding turned into a Mavka. After her death, she was reborn in the form of a beautiful maiden with thick, usually light-brown hair, shimmering green. An obligatory attribute of a navka hairstyle is fresh flowers woven into the hair.
Unlike bogs, Mavki do not like bogs and pools overgrown with sedge. Their habitat is clean rivers and lakes located near forests and fields. They can also be found near quiet forest backwaters. In contrast to the same mermaids, navki like to stay in groups, although more often, nevertheless, they appear before people alone. There are cases when the Mavok was seen in the forests and in the fields, laughing and leading round dances.
The appearance of the Mavok is different from other similar creatures. If from the front they look like beautiful young girls, then from behind they have completely no skin, so they try to never turn their backs to the person they meet.
Neiki are unambiguously hostile creatures towards humans. Their goal is to lure with their beauty and destroy a person who has caught their eyes. Unlike mermaids, mawks only attack men, because take them for their suitors. In this regard, there is a version that Mavki do evil unconsciously, falling into something like a trance at the sight of a victim. In any case, a meeting with these entities will most likely end in tears. According to some reports, Mavki are not afraid of either garlic, or silver, or other amulets adopted in the fight against undead.