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Species: yokai
Definition
A Yōkai (妖怪, ghost) is a class of supernatural monsters and spirits that appear in Japanese folklore. The word 'yōkai' is composed of the kanji for "bewitching; attractive; calamity" and "spectre; apparition; mystery; suspicious."Yōkai are also referred to as ayakashi (あやかし), mononoke (物の怪) or mamono (魔物).
Rooted in Japanese animism, they can be considered personifications of animals, objects and even events and other phenomena. The characteristics of yōkai range diversely from malevolent and mischievous entities believed to cause misfortune and harm, to those who are considered to bring good fortune to those who encounter them.
Notable examples of yōkai:
- Tanuki (raccoon dog)
- Kitsune (multi tailed fox)
- Oni (ogre)
- Kappa (water imp)
- Tengu (crow-like humanoid/winged humanoid)
Notable media with yōkai or yōkai-esque characters:
Not to be confused with
See also
The following tags are aliased to this tag: yo_kai, yo-kai, yookai, youkai, yōkai (learn more).
This tag implicates japanese_mythology (learn more).
The following tags implicate this tag: inugami, mythological_baku, shikigami, yuki-onna, basan, kuchisake-onna, tsuchinoko, kamaitachi, tengu, akaname, kappa, komainu, nekomata, mujina, oni, mythological_nue, futakuchi-onna, nogitsune, bakeneko, ubumetori, raiju, rokurokubi, oboroguruma, ittan-momen, jorogumo, tsukumogami, amabie (learn more).
