http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Youkai

— The Book of Yokai: Mysterious Creatures of Japanese Folklore by Michael Foster "I begin this book with the inconclusive story, a mundane modern mystery, because it raises the simple question of how we interpret our world. In particular, how do we explain occurrences that don't easily fit our everyday understandings of the way things work? When we ask who or what turned on the television, we are intimating that there is a living being or animated force interacting with us even though we cannot see it. We may visualize this force as a monster or a spirit or a ghost or a shape-shifting animal. In Japan such a force, and the form it takes, is often called a yokai."

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Youkai/Yōkai (also known as "Yaoguai" in Chinese pinyin since the term originated from that language, literally meaning "bewitching spectres") are a widely-varied collection of various supernatural creatures or phenomenon that pop up in Shinto religion. They have a lot in common with The Fair Folk—some youkai are good, others are evil, and many have their own alien set of values. Some are mischievous, others avoid humans entirely. Shinto is an animist religion, and youkai are often associated with natural features such as forests and mountains. This word is often translated as "demon" in Western translations, but since that term is generally associated with pure evil, that does not adequately describe the creatures in question—as noted before, they function much more like The Fair Folk, spanning the entire moral range between good, mischievous, neutral, and actually evil. The closest true Western equivalent is probably that of the ancient Roman genii or spirits.

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Supernatural creatures drawn from Western sources often turn out to seem more like youkai in Japanese works. For instance, vampires.note See the section on oni below. In the West you've got Nosferatu — a grotesque, undead monster who burns in sunlight and murders to preserve his hideous unlife. In Japan you've got exceptionally cute Fanservice protagonist Moka Akashiya, who is not undead, harbors no ill-will towards the sun, and drinks tiny amounts of blood that leave her "victim" light-headed at worst, but who has a Superpowered Evil Side who can (and will if you look at her the wrong way) kick your ass thoroughly.

Henge, a subset of youkai, are magical animals with Shapeshifting powers and human intelligence. They often assume human form and get into all kinds of mischief. Kinds of henge include Kitsune, Tanuki, and Nekomata.

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Obake is another Japanese word that can indicate some type of monster. Derived from the word for to change, it generally covers the subset of youkai that includes shapeshifting animals (hence the terms bake-gitsune, bake-neko, etc.) as well as Animate Inanimate Objects. Confusingly, however, the word obake can also be used to refer to ghosts, also known as yuurei. See Stringy-Haired Ghost Girl for more information.

Ayakashi is a word which is roughly synonymous with "youkai" in current day usage, though traditionally it referred to a ghost that appears at sea during a shipwreck.

Many types of youkai were codified during the Edo period in the works of Toriyama Sekien. The genre of manga that deals with Youkai was founded by Shigeru Mizuki (19222015), who was obsessed with Youkai ever since he was a child. The Trope Codifier of modern youkai manga is his ever-popular GeGeGe no Kitarō that has received an anime adaption at least once a decade since it was written.

The list presented below is by no means complete. Many types of Youkai are exceedingly rare to find in modern media and so are not included. On the other hand, some have garnered enough examples to warrant their own pages.

Youkai with their own pages:

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Tsukumogami: Inanimate objects that come to life after a hundred years. These can range from weapons to clothes to umbrellas. Well-known traditional examples include karakasa (paper umbrellas), ittan-momen (a floating strip of cotton cloth), biwa-bokuboku and koto-furunushi (stringed musical instruments) and burabura (lanterns). Strangely, they avoid electrical energy in common folklore from the 1940s and it is said that no modern object could ever become a Tsukumogami.

Tsukumogami Examples

Rokurokubi and Nukekubi: These two creatures are humanoid monsters, usually but not always female; the Rokurokubi are human by day but have extremely elastic necks during the night, while Nukekubi can detach their heads from their necks and float away in search of human flesh and blood, as well as vermin and lamp oil. In some depictions rokurokubi aren't a true species, but the Partial Transformation form of a snake youkai. Sometimes enter Ambiguously Human territory, being treated as humans afflicted by a strange curse or medical condition.

Rokurokubi and Nukekubi Examples

Nyuudou: Youkai that look like Buddhist monks, commonly encountered on roads. They existed in many different varieties and were one of the favorite forms for youkai possessing Voluntary Shapeshifting powers to assume.

Mikoshi-nyuudou, Miage-nyuudou and Nyuudou-bouzu are short monks who would grow taller as one looked at him until either one's neck was completely exposed from looking up at the nyuudou, at which point it would cut off one's head, or one fell backwards from trying to see how tall the nyuudou became, at which point it would laugh at you and disappear. Hitotsume-nyuudou are, just as their name indicates, one-eyed, cyloptic nyuudou.

Nyuudou Examples

Anime and Manga Daily Life with Monster Girl: In the anime, one of the listed sub-species for Cyclops/Monoeye is One-Eyed Monk, what is basically just a Monoeye who converted into Buddhism.

In Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan, Hitotsume Nyuudou is a member of the Nura Clan and the chairman of the One-Eyed Demon Clan. Four hundred years ago, he was part of Nurarihyon's Hyakki Yakkou and as a result of Kokehime's rescue, she became attached to him. Live-Action TV Ninja Sentai Kakuranger: The Movie featured two Hitotsume Nyuudou brothers (referred in the movie by their alternate name Hitotsume Kozou) as secondary antagonists. Their boss and the film's main villain was another type of Nyuudou called Onnyudou. Videogames Nioh has Nyuudo as huge, hard-hitting enemies with round eyes and long, lolling tongues they can use to whip the player. They are something of a Mini-Boss. Their cyclopic one-eyed variants also appear, and they can be weakened by slashing their eye.

Touhou: Though only identified as a "Nyuudou" note Cumulonimbus clouds are called "Nyuudou" in Japanese; Unzan is able to change size and shape due to being composed of clouds and his name means "Clouded Mountain" or "Mountain of Clouds". , Unzan used to be the road-roaming, size-shifting and decapitating kind of nyuudou before Kumoi Ichirin defeated him. These days he acts much like a Guardian Entity to her and his Megaton Punches and Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs are a popular source of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure references within the fandom. It's also explained the reason why nyuudou grows taller when seen is because they're just really shy.

Wanyuudou: A burning wheel, frequently with a man's/monk's face serving as the hubcaps. This bizarre entity is flies about at night in search of humans to slaughter on sight and kidnap their souls. Often lumped with the Buer from the Ars Goetia.

Wanyuudou Examples

Inugami and Okami: Dog and wolf gods. Usually malevolent, and often found serving as Familiars.

The okuri-inu and okuri-okami tend more towards Noble Wolf, following travellers and protecting them from harm. However, they have a tendency to attack people who mistreat or offend them... or sometimes just those who show too much weakness; as a result, "okuri-okami" has become an idiom referring to stalkers and Wolves in Sheep's Clothing.

Inugami and Okami Examples

Ushi-Oni or Gyuuki: Meaning "bull fiend", this is a sort of counterpart to the minotaur. In some stories it's a demonic-looking ox with many tails and claws, in others a sort of horned Giant Spider, and in others still a wisp of fire. It's frequently seen with a half-women, half-snake youkai called Nure-onna, and reputed to be mates with her.

Ushi-Oni Examples

Nuppeppo: A fleshy blob creature that lumbers around in deserted places, mainly temples and graveyards. They have a smell comparable to that of rotting flesh, leading some to believe they are made of corpses. In spite of this, nuppeppo are generally peaceful creatures.

Nuppeppo Examples

Live-Action TV Super Sentai: A nuppeppo (although called Nuppefuhofu for some reason) who stole humans' faces appeared as Monster of the Week in Ninja Sentai Kakuranger. He was adapted as Face-Stealer in Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. Video Games Muramasa: The Demon Blade: Nuppeppo are enemies resembling purple blob creatures with eyes. They mainly try to throw pieces of themselves at you, but otherwise stand in place to allow you to whack on them.

Pokémon: Gulpin and Swalot resemble this creature, being voracious ambulatory stomachs that emit repulsive gases while digesting their food.

Yume Nikki has two examples: The Mouth Monsters are a trio of brown blobs with large mouths and varying hairstyles. Each of them are seen near blood stains, and are the only NPCs in their respective areas. note Two are found in the Mural World, one in the Storage Room. One of them even has poop on their head, so at least that one doesn't smell good. Uboa is a rare malicious example, as it traps Madotsuki and takes her to an inescapable world. In the manga, it even assaults her and steals her effects.

Yo-Kai Watch: Everfore ("Oiran" in Japan) is related to the nuppeppo yokai but is not directly based on it. She is the evolved form of Grumples after fusing her with Ageless Powder. She goes from a wrinkly old woman to a beautiful, young looking one. It's implied that the Ageless Powder is a powdered form of nuppeppo. Dismarelda ("Don'yorinu" in Japan) seems to be loosely based off of nuppeppo. She is a huge purple blob that puts people in a bad mood. A proper Nuppepo is introduced in Yo-kai Watch 4.



: A shadowy, humanoid giant that lives in the sea and sinks ships. They often demand a barrel which they use to fill their target ship with water; to avoid this danger, the umibozu most be given a barrel with a missing bottom. They physically appear as gray or black giants with bald heads and no facial features save for a pair of eyes. Sometimes translated as

Umibozu Examples

Works that feature multiple youkai include:

Youkai Examples