Kitsune

狐 · きつね

Kitsune

Ancientwell-documentedShintoJapan
Origin

In Shinto belief, foxes become magical after living for 100 years. Each century adds a tail. A nine-tailed fox is a being of immense age and power. Inari, the kami of rice and prosperity, employs white kitsune as divine messengers.

Appearance

A fox that grows additional tails with age. Can take human form, typically appearing as a beautiful woman, scholar, or old man. In human form, a shadow may reveal fox ears or a tail.

Abilities

Shapeshifting into any human form. Illusion casting vivid enough to confuse entire villages. Possession. Foxfire (kitsune-bi) — floating blue-white lights. Can read minds and predict the future at high power levels.

Weaknesses & Wards

Weaknesses

  • substance
    Dog's presence repels them
  • condition
    Cannot maintain illusions if their true shadow is seen

Wards

  • ritual
    Prayer at Inari shrine for protection from malevolent fox spirits
Sources
  1. [1]
    The Fox and the Jewel. Smyers, Karen Ann. 1999. The Fox and the Jewel: Shared and Private Meanings in Contemporary Japanese Inari Worship. University of Hawaii Press.academic
  2. [2]
    Kwaidan. Hearn, Lafcadio. 1904. Kwaidan. Houghton Mifflin.literary
well-documented