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Werefoxes
called Kitsune in Japan, Kumiho in Korea, and Huli-Jing in China, are a type of shapeshifting monster popular in the mythology traditions of eastern Asia. Unlike their western counterparts, the werewolf, werefoxes do not start out as humans. Rather they are always originally foxes, who shapeshift into humans for survival as well as mischievous reasons.
Kitsune
In Japan the Kitsune are foxes who turn into humans, rather than humans who can shapeshift into animals, like many lycanthropes.
Appearance
As foxes the Kitsune have more than one tail and some will have a tail when in human form as well. Some are able to shift into any human. They are almost exclusively females, which presumes that men must have biological immunity to getting the illness. When in full form they are able to shift into any form they wish; fox form, human form, a comination of the two, but also other objects such as rocks and trees. They can also morph into a fox-like bat that can enter into people's dreams telling them secrets or taking possession of the human for that night while the human dreams. It can disappear; changing into smokey mist or it can turn into a grayish blue fire.
Characteristics
They might live normal lives during the day, as humans, and then shift back to a fox during night for mischief. Kitsune have strong magical powers. They are able to possess human bodies; not just take the form of a human. Possessions occur for a short period of time. usually the Kitsune will possess a human and then use that person to make demands on behalf of the others; for example requiring a shrine to be built (many have been). However on the downside, possession means taking on the characteristics of the possessed, which means they will have mortality themselves. To possess a person, or to fully manifest itself, the kitsune requires a great deal of energy so both are rare. There would also be death and/or disease associated with a kitsune fully manifesting itself.
Kitsune are an amoral creature; that is their acts are not out of evil and they do not do for good, but rather do what is in their nature. They adapt their moral standards to their surroundings and use them to do what is for their own good. So in this way it can be beneficial to have a kitsune in the village, but it also can be quite tramatic if they are offended. They are a vengeful monster. One who crosses a kitsune can expect a lot in return. They are temperamental but at the same time are loyal and kind to those who earn their trust. They are bound to keep their promises, and can only accept aid from those who give it willing; they are not able to use their magic to force someone to help them. At the same time they will not allow themselves to be forced into doing anything. Because of their ability to shapeshift they will tend to live in families but not with other kitsune.
Powers
The powers of Kitsune can be difficult to explain. Especially in their ability to bend reality. What is certain is that they are able to make their own domains (known as kitsune domains), which are essentially full-sized worlds, sometimes universes, reduced down to a smaller scale. So there could be an entire seperate universe reduced down to the size of a hole in the ground. This is the Kitsune's greatest power, for it makes the real world an unknown commodity.
Similar to this power is their power of seduction, which is essentially a power of hypnotism. Often using the tail in a swaying motion (but also through other methods, such as gazing into the victim's mind), Kitsune can put their target into a seperate world, much like the the domains mentioned above. Though the world is inside the target's mind, it is made competely by the Kitsune's wishes. One downside to this ability for the Kitsune is that it is easily broken through the use of magic by an outside agent.
As previously mentioned, Kitsune are able to take on any form that they wish, whether it be another fox, a human, or even trees and rocks. However one downside is that they do not acquire the powers of the object/being that they shapeshift into. So a fox which shifts into a bear, it will not then become as strong as a bear. This leaves them vulnerable to attack while in their non-fox form.
Huli-Jing
In China there are 2 distinctly different beliefs. One is that female foxes could shift into human form when they reached 50 years old, then at 100 they would have extended sight, and at 1,000 they could go to heaven. The other is that any fox at 500 years old could shift into human form. There are many methods to tell if a person is a werefox. Some werefoxes would turn back into foxes when they slept, or if they were wounded. You also might be able to tell a werefox by their reflection which would always be their animal form. In addition a person could cut off a fox's tail or recite some magical spells to make it turn into human form.
The Huli-Jing primary motivation for tricking humans is to extend their own lives. Unlike the Korean fox, the Huli-Jing does not gain the ability to permanently become human by draining force from men, but rather only are able to extend their own lives. Also dissimilar is the method with which the Chinese Huli-Jing drains the life force from men; they do so through sex. However this is not meant to hurt the man, and sometimes the Huli-Jing, after leaving the man, will try to find a replacement wife to make sure the man remains happy.
Kumiho
The Kumiho is the werefox of Korea. The only way of knowing how the Kumiho got to Korea is through speculation, but is thought that they did not originate from the country. However there is conflicting evidence, such as some of the differences between the Kumiho and the Kitsune and the Huli-Jing, which suggests that the fox is of a slightly different species than the other Asian werefoxes.
Appearance
The Kumiho are known for their nine tails. While foxes in other areas such as China and Japan are known for sometimes having multiple tails, in Korea nine is usually the number. It is unknown why this difference exists, but it is suspected that the three are different species and therefore play by different rules. Likewise, it is unknown how it is that foxes in Korea get nine tails. In other countries it is suspected that foxes acquire a tail for every so many years of life. However it is known in Korea that almost all of the werefoxes have nine tails. Instead it is believed that this is an inherit part of being a Kumiho. It is widely considered to be factual that when a fox reaches the age of 1000 it becomes a Kumiho.
Like Kitsune and Huli-Jing, the Kumiho usually take the form of a seductress woman. They have an uncanny ability to shapeshift into the human form, and are similar enough to a real person that even the woman's mother can not tell the different (they usually shift into the form of a pre-existing human). The best way to tell if a woman is a fox is to have them discard their clothing. All though it's not clear what it is about their naked bodies that is unhuman like, it is known that it is obvious to any real human whether a person is a fox or not when they see them unclothed. This likely can be explained by the fact that foxes have limited contact with humans, and so aren't fully aware of what humans look like unclothed. However this also means that an older fox who has had more experience around humans could likely do a better job at shapeshifting into a believable human.
Although almost all Kumiho are beautiful women, there is at least one case of a male Kumiho who took the form of a man to try to trick a maiden into marrying him, but she uncovered his plot.
Characteristics
One of the major differences between the Kumiho and the Kitsune is that the Kumiho are usually considered to be inherently evil creatures. The Kitsune, on the other hand, are known to marry men who are kind to them. Occassionally they will even reveal their true fox form to their lovers, and then stay married to them. This is not the case with Kumiho, who use their shapeshifting ability to trick humans and kill them. In one example, a kumiho killed an old woman and ate her. The fox then transformed into the woman and then returned to her home to her children who had not seen her in several months. However, a hunter who saw the fox shift back into the woman was able to warn the children about what had happened in time to save them from the fox's certainly murderous intentions.
The exact reason why the kumiho goes through all of this trouble to kill humans is unknown. It is perhaps a form of hunting, using the shifting to trick the victims is much easier than having to fight them all. However it's also known that some kumiho have vampiric tendancies and like to suck the blood of their victims. Many times the fox is tricking the human because it is trying to become human itself. There are two ways for a kumiho to become a human (in different lore). One is for the kumiho to have sex with a number of humans (such as the film Gumiho where the fox must sleep with 100 humans). The other way is for the fox to devour parts of the human, usually either the heart or the liver.
Powers
Kumiho only possess one power, their "Gusul", a marble, that is able to drain energy. It is created when the Kumiho literally regurgitates it after it is created within her stomach. It is used when the kumiho passionately kisses her mate, passing back and forth from the fox to the man, draining away his life energy.
 lady_inuyasha_sama · Sun Dec 17, 2006 @ 08:50am · 0 Comments |
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