Yokai
Yokai are a Prōlēs race that are born from powerful emotions. It is a common misconception that the emotions must be negative such as the rage and agony of a mother who has just lost her child, or the jealousy and grief of heartbreak, as yokai that were created from passion and ecstasy have been documented as well. The nature of a yokai is largely dependent on the emotion that birthed them. Some act as guardians while others take on the role of pranksters. They also vary in form and share characteristics with other races. Some are shaped like everyday household items or Fae, while others have a more monstrous appearance.
Types of Yokai
Below is a list of Yokai that have been documented by scholars:
Bakeneko
Bakeneko, or “monster-cat,” are yokai who have been found in homes that have incredibly old domestic cats. The bakeneko looks identical to the pet save some strange behaviors. The cat begins to grow unusually large, often over 10 pounds, and learns to walk on its hind legs for long periods. They are famous for their ability to shapeshift and will often disguise themselves as the cat’s owners after killing them. They have the ability to speak human language, carry flaming wisps in their mouths, and summon spirits from the dead. They are surprisingly skilled pyromancers and necromancers. They often haunt the household they once lived in, driven by the desire for revenge for past mistreatment or simply for their own cruel amusement.
Nekomata
Nekomata, or “forked cat,” are considered an evolution of the bakeneko. The tail of the nekomata splits into two separate, whip-like tails as it gains power and age. The nekomata are far more dangerous and possess stronger necromantic abilities than the bakeneko. They can reanimate the dead and control the corpses like puppets. Its dual tails can be seen emitting eerie, blue, or green flames signaling its elevated flame control. While a bakeneko can be mischievous, a nekomata is almost always malicious and seeks to kill and terrorize humans.
Inugami
Inugami are yokai fixated on revenge. It is said that the first inugami came into being because a group of humans decided to terrorize a stray Shiba Inu. The humans buried the dog alive up to its neck and then placed food just out of its reach. When the dog entered its most extreme state of distress, the humans severed its head. While they reveled in their sadistic glee, a spirit of pure malice formed and slaughtered the boys. Inugami will enter a victim’s body, usually through the mouth, causing its victim to become dangerously ill or insane leading to an agonizing death. The power of the inugami is always a curse and any who dream of controlling the yokai are eventually ruined by the spirit’s insatiable malice, poverty, or ostracization. Inugami are usually invisible but, when seen, look like small, fleeting shadows in the shape of an ordinary dog.
Kamaitachi
Kamaitachi, or “sickle weasel,” are weasel-like yokai that ride the fierce winds. They often travel in trios. The first weasel knocks their victim down with a sudden gust of wind causing them to lose balance. The second weasel, using its incredibly sharp, sickle-like claws, slices the victim’s skin quickly and deeply. The third weasel applies a special ointment to the wound ensuring the victim feels no pain or bleeding at the time of the injury. The victim will suddenly stumble or feel a chill before noticing the deep, painful gashes on their skin that appeared without having touched anything.
Kitsune
Kitsune are powerful yokai known for their intelligence, magical proficiency, and shapeshifting. Kitsune can take on the appearance of humans to seduce and trick a target; however, if the kitsune becomes drunk or surprised, they may reveal their tail. Their true form can be revealed through reflections and dogs have been known to sense their true nature. They can generate mystical fires, often appearing as floating blue or green flames, which they use to lead travelers astray or to attack. A kitsune’s power is directly proportional to the number of tails it possesses. As they grow older, wiser, and more powerful, they gain more tails to a maximum of nine. Nine-tailed kitsune are centuries old and are said to possess near-divine wisdom. Kitsune are not purely malevolent and possess a complex, dual nature. Some have been reported to act as guardians of shrines and even share their wisdom with humans.
Tanuki
Tanuki are yokai that appear as racoon dogs and are generally viewed as a benevolent, and comical magically powerful trickster. Tanuki are pot-bellied, jovial, drunken masters of disguise. They are beloved figures often found outside restaurants and bars. Tanuki are mischievous and clumsy. Their pranks are usually focused on tricking people for money, sake, or food, but they rarely intend lasting harm. They use leaves placed on their heads to transform into objects, monks, or humans.
Mujina
Mujina are yokai that take on the form of badgers. Their pranks are typically unsettling and focused on simple psychological terror rather than complicated schemes. They are infamous for enacting the “no-face” prank where a mujina takes on a human form, usually a woman, but then reveals a face that is completely blank—without eyes, nose, or mouth. This trick induces immense shock and terror in the victim. Unlike the Tanuki, which seeks reward, the Mujina seems to be motivated purely by the desire to panic and frighten humans.
Tsuchigumo
Tsuchigumo are massive, monstrous spider-like yokai that are said to have the “body of a tiger, the limbs of a spider, and the head of a demon.” They are huge, aggressive, and highly resistant to harm and dwell in caves and mounds. They use their webs to capture and consume travelers and warriors. The tsuchigumo’s power comes from its sheer size, strength, and durability but it is also known to use powerful silk nets to ensnare large groups of opponents.
Jorogumo
Jorogumo are spider yokai known for their mesmerizing beauty and deadly deception. Jorogumo look like large golden orb-weavers and can shapeshift into stunningly beautiful humans. They establish their lairs in desolate areas, often near waterfalls, and use their human form to lure in prey by offering them shelter or simply charming them with their voice and music. Once the victim is trapped, often through seduction or hypnotic suggestion, they revert to their true, monstrous spider form. They then bind the victim in thick, magical silk and inject their prey with venom before consuming them. They have also been reported to control smaller spiders to do their bidding.
Oni
Oni are yokai that embody evil, chaos, and destruction. They are primal, monstrous, and immensely strong creatures. They are notably gigantic in stature and come in 5 distinct colors (red, blue, black, green, and white). Red Oni are associated with greed, lust, and avarice. Blue Oni are linked to anger, irritation, and hatred. Black Oni are associated with complaining, hesitation, and doubt. Green Oni are linked to laziness, arrogance, and disease. White Oni are associated with attachment, regret, and sorrow. Oni have two sharp horns protruding from their foreheads and possess wide mouths full of sharp fangs. The signature weapon of the Oni is a massive, iron club covered in sharp spikes. They are believed to bring disaster, plague, famine, and earthquakes and there some folklore suggests that a particularly evil human will be transformed into an Oni in the afterlife.
Kappa
Kappa, or river-child, are amphibious yokai that inhabit rivers, ponds, and streams. They are typically the size of a young human, with scaly, green to greenish-yellow skin, beaked mouths, and a shell on their back. They have webbed hands and feet and are infamous for their love of cucumbers and mischievous, sometimes violent, nature. Their most crucial feature is a bowl-like depression on the top of their head that must always be filled with water to maintain their strength and life force. If the water spills or dies up, the kappa becomes weakened, immobilized, or even die. Kappa often engage in minor pranks but are also known for luring people into their waters and drowning them before consuming the victim’s organs. Kappa are also known for being extremely polite and, if a person bows to one, the kappa will feel obligated to bow back, spilling its water. A grateful kappa, once defeated or rescued, is said to be extremely loyal and may even bestow medical knowledge or grant protection.
Ame-Onna
Ame-Onna are rare yokai who are linked to the rain, sorrow, and melancholy. The “rain woman” often takes the form of a sad, middle-aged woman who appears wet and disheveled, even when it is not raining and is said to look like she has been crying. Ame-Onna are said to be able to cause rain, mist, and fog to appear in the areas she travels to and often appears on dark, rainy nights. The ame-onna will claim to be looking for her lost child if confronted and will follow people in an attempt to steal their own babies.
Yuki-onna
Yuki-onna are yokai that take on the form of a woman with skin as white as snow, striking eyes, and long black hair who appears during a blizzard or deep winter nights in the mountains. She often wears a white kimono making her nearly invisible against the snowy landscape. Her primary method of killing is to kiss or breathe upon her victims. Her icy cold breath instantly freezes the victim, draining their life force and leaving behind a perfectly preserved, frozen corpse. She often uses her beauty to lure in travellers who are lost in the storm and promises them shelter or warmth only to freeze them to death. She can also shapeshift into snow, mist, or an icicle to escape or travel quickly.
Hidarigami
Hidarigami are yokai that exist as counterforces to ame-onna and yuki-onna. Hidarigami seek to ensure fair weather and clear skies and are even celebrated by farmers as the sunny weather is beneficial for the harvests. Hidarigami spread joy, dryness, and warmth. They are rarely seen and, as a result, most scholars believe they do not even exist, attributing their feats to regular weather patterns.
Ao-Andon
Ao-andon, or blue lantern, are yokai that materialize from the atmosphere of fear and the cumulative power of horror stories. Ao-Andon are inextricably linked to a ritual called “The Gathering of 100 Ghost Stories.” Participants would gather at night in a room illuminated only by a single lantern. One hundred small candles were lit, and one by one, each person would tell a ghost story. After each story, the teller would extinguish one candle, making the room progressively darker and scarier. After the 100th story was told, the ao-andon would manifest appearing as a person cloaked in a kimono often with long dark hair, and terrifying features; however, its body is entirely shrouded by the eerie blue light cast by the lantern. The ao-andon possesses powerful psychic energy and can cast powerful curses on targets.
Gashadokuro
Gashadokuro are colossal skeleton yokai that are known for its enormous size and creation through mass death. As it moves, the sound of bones scraping together rings out. They are products of mass suffering and famine. When hundreds of people or more die from starvation, famine, or battle and are not given proper burial rituals, their accumulated anger, malice, and undissipated spiritual energy fuse together. The skeletons of all these unburied corpses merge into a single, immense, towering humanoid figure that can reach 15x the height of a normal person. These huge, disjointed, skeletons are often covered in dust and mud from rising out of the earth. Despite its size, the yokai can turn invisible and can sneak up on unsuspecting victims without making a sound until it is right on top of their prey. If left unattended, they will roam the countryside at night, searching for living beings so they can grab them, bite off their heads, and drink the spurting blood.
Ōmukade
Ōmukade are gigantic yokai that look like centipedes. The Ōmukade is colossal and is large enough to coil around mountains or span great distances. It is typically dark red or black with glistening hard scales. Its venom is incredibly potent, and its numerous legs are sharp and dangerous. It makes its lair in high, misty mountain ranges, often near or inside sacred lakes or legendary sites. Its armor makes it almost impossible to injure with normal weapons.
Spirits of the Land / Lake
Spirits of the Land, or Lake, are yokai that are often confused with elementals. They act as guardians and preservers of the region they were born from and are linked to. They protect the resources of their territory and ensure the health, fertility, and abundance of the area making them vital to agriculture. They have been known to offer wisdom or warnings to those who respect their domains. These spirits take on a variety of forms and shapes; however, what is consistent is that they are the manifestation and personification of the region itself. Scholars believe that the more an area is lived in, whether by nature or civilization, the more its denizens consider it “home.” As this feeling grows in the population, it eventually gives birth to the spirit.
