Kenku are a bird-like humanoid race in Dungeons & Dragons, loosely drawn from the tengu of Japanese myth. They first appeared in Fiend Folio (1981) and were later made an official player race in Volo’s Guide to Monsters. They have no voice, so instead of forming words of their own they mimic the sounds of others to communicate.
By their lore, the kenku were cursed by an ancient god to lose both their voice and the power to shape ideas of their own, and they roam as thieves, forever yearning for the flight they lost. A being with no words of its own, condemned to endless copying, meets our world’s concern with originless imitation and sealed lack.