Kitsune
A Kitsune, also known as Kyuubi no Kitsune (literally 'the nine-tailed fox'), is a powerful yokai commonly seen in Japan, China, and Korea. A normal fox is said to be able to turn into one, by gaining a tail each century of living and spiritual training. Records of the nine-tailed fox can be seen first in China.
Overview[]
It is a benevolent, if not outright divine creature, and anyone who can encounter one and live to tell the tale is destined to become a lord or even the emperor. In Korea these creatures wish to become human, often by stealing the life force of human males by transforming into a woman and seducing them.
Kitsune are often presented as tricksters, with motives that vary from mischief to malevolence. Stories tell of kitsune playing tricks on overly proud samurai, greedy merchants, and boastful commoners, while the crueler ones abuse poor tradesmen and farmers or devout Buddhist monks. Their victims are usually men; women are possessed instead. For example, kitsune are thought to employ their kitsunebi to lead travelers astray in the manner of a will-o'-the-wisp. Another tactic is for the kitsune to confuse its target with illusions or visions. Other common goals of trickster kitsune include seduction, theft of food, humiliation of the prideful, or vengeance for a perceived slight.
A traditional game called kitsune-ken ('fox-fist') references the kitsune's powers over human beings. The game is similar to rock paper scissors, but the three hand positions signify a fox, a hunter, and a village headman. The headman beats the hunter, whom he outranks; the hunter beats the fox, whom he shoots; the fox beats the headman, whom he bewitches.
Description[]
Common folklore depicts them as more violent creatures that actively prey on male human livers and corpses. In Japan, however, nine-tailed foxes are often depicted as evil and massively powerful entities, their power nearly equaling that of deities. Moreover, despite the similarities, Kitsune are entirely different from Werefoxes as the latter was originally a human that gained the ability to transform into a fox whilst a Kitsune was never human to begin with and is more of a spirit than a physical entity even though they are somewhat similar in terms of character traits.
Kitsune are believed to possess superior intelligence, long life, and magical powers. The word kitsune is sometimes translated as 'fox spirit', which is actually a broader folkloric category. This does not mean that kitsune are ghosts, nor that they are fundamentally different from regular foxes. Because the word spirit is used to reflect a state of knowledge or enlightenment, all long-lived foxes were believed to gain supernatural abilities.
Kitsune have as many as nine tails. Generally, a greater number of tails indicates an older and more powerful Kitsune; in fact, some folktales say that a fox will only grow additional tails after it has lived 100 years. One, five, seven, and nine tails are the most common numbers in folktales. These kyūbi no kitsune gain the abilities to see and hear anything happening anywhere in the world. Other tales credit them with infinite wisdom (omniscience). After reaching 1,000 years of age and gaining its ninth tail, a kitsune turns a white or golden color, becoming a tenko, the most powerful form of the kitsune, and then ascends to the heavens.