Animal Youkai

Animal youkai are what is there on the tin -- youkai that have animal characteristics. They tend to arise from the fear of a specific animal, or the belief that a specific species or group of animals have supernatural powers, but some animal youkai develop from a single normal animal developing a lot of power through fear or beliefs. Even in a humanoid form, animal youkai almost always have traits from their original form. For instance, tanuki youkai have rounded ears, fluffy tails, and pointed nails, while some individuals may even have dark markings on their backs or legs.

The individual "classes" listed here are just of notable cases or of commonplace sorts -- it is not a limiting list by any means!

Birds
Bird youkai are one of the more fairly-common animal youkai. Just looking at them makes it extremely obvious that they aren't human: they possess fully-functional wings, tend to have fantastically-colored hair that may have feathers in it, and often have rather exaggerated fingernails. They are built rather similarly to birds, as well, having hollow bones and air sacs, although little nuances like this may vary greatly depending on their original species. They may or may not be dangerous to humans, depending on what made them a youkai. "Harmless" bird species may end up being very much threatening towards humans if they are feared or gain power.

Harpies and avian tengu are considered bird youkai, though for the latter, it can be case-by-case.

Examples of bird youkai include:


 * Chinatsu no Ayaka: Blue-throated macaw
 * Mystia Lorelei: Night-sparrow
 * Utsuho Reiuji: Raven
 * Aya Shameimaru: Crow tengu

Chimerids
A chimera is, by definition, any existing living thing that is more than one species. This makes the term extremely broad -- many types of youkai are technically chimeras from different species sitting in their ancestry, but have existed long enough and in great enough numbers to be classified as their own species.

However, the word "chimera" is generally used to describe a youkai or other supernatural creature that possesses more than two different species combined into their DNA. (Individuals that are two different species are generally referred to as "hybrids" or "half-breeds".) Most famous is the mythical Greek chimera, which was said to be the hybridization of a lion, a goat, and a serpent; however, many outside-world cryptids such as the Jersey Devil and chupacabra also fit the bill as well. Most of the time, chimerids are born of different animal combinations, leading them to be listed here under this page.

Chimerids tend to inherit recessive and inactive genes from their parents on a common basis due to their unstable nature -- making them more unique than just the species that makes them up. Furthermore, they are rather rare. Many would-be chimerids are stillborn or miscarried, often because there's conflicts in their DNA that create fatal problems such as the inability to process the correct nutrition, or their skeleton not developing correctly to support their body.

The chimerids that do survive long enough to become youkai, however, tend to turn out as extremely powerful individuals. They are excessively unpredictable in their powers and physical attributes, their strange genes and abilities resulting in little to no similarities from one chimera to another.

Because of the nature of their genetic makeup, it is very rare for different individual chimerids to be similar in any way. They tend to be unique outside of sibling relations, or unless artificially created.

Examples of chimerids include:
 * Nue Houjuu: Unique chimerid youkai, apx. 890 years old
 * Shiko-onseiku: Unique chimerid youkai

Foxes -- "Kitsune"
(The person/s who get Ran or other kitsunes can fill this out, I know much more about tanuki. :x)

Insects
In similar manner to bird youkai, insectoid youkai tend to have massive variety about them. They may have wings, antennae, extra appendages, bright colors, and often whatever else pertains to their particular genus or species. More often than not, they're venomous or have some access to a form of toxin.

Examples of insectoid youkai include:
 * Wriggle Nightbug: Firefly youkai

Mice and other small animals
It's somewhat rare for rodents and smaller "harmless" animals to become youkai, because of their generally unthreatening nature and short lives. Some do become attuned to the supernatural because of beliefs, projected emotions, or other special circumstances, and interesting results can occur.

They tend to be faithful to their behavior as basic animals, similarly to birds. Timid and resourceful natures, being able to slip into small spaces, collecting objects, and the ability to eat near-anything are all common traits.

Examples of these youkai include:
 * Nazrin

Oarfish
Oarfish, being fish that are sighted by humans only very rarely, tend to quickly gather mysteries and strange tales about them. They lend somewhat to the tales of sea serpents; many a story about sea-monsters of massive size may have been over-exaggerations of oarfish. In Japanese mythology, they serve in the palace of the sea god (although this is not necessarily certain for all oarfish), and their appearance supposedly foretells earthquakes.

Oarfish youkai have a similar mystique about them, and are often aligned with the sea, storms, and weather. They tend to be connected to dragons, either as subordinates or servants.

Examples of oarfish include:
 * Iku Nagae

Rabbits
(I don't know much about rabbits in this context, the person who takes Tewi can fill this out.)

Raccoon dogs -- "Tanuki"
The raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides) is a species of canine native to eastern Asia. There is a variety of subspecies of raccoon dog, the most notable of these being the Japanese raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides viverrinus), known by most simply as as the tanuki. They are similar to kitsune in that they possess great illusion-based powers, but that is where the similarities end between the two. Unlike the cunning and oftentimes wicked kitsune, tanuki are tricky, fun-loving, and very playful. They are often well-known for having extravagant parties, complete with plenty of drinking and joking and using their round bellies as drums to fill the night with sound. Though these parties have become nearly nonexistent on the mainland, they are still quite common on the three great tanuki islands: Shikoku, Awaji, and Sado. Tanuki are also well-known for their long-standing rivalries with kitsune, though the reasons behind this animosity are shrouded in mystery. In recent years, wars between these two species have become less and less frequent as the two species have found themselves struggling to survive from humans encroaching on their habitats and depleting their food resources.

Tanuki often require the use of something to channel their power into in order to use their illusion magic. The most common example is a leaf which is placed on the top of the tanuki's head. Very skilled tanuki do not need such a thing in order to transform, but they may often use it just to keep their power under control in stressful situations. By using their magic, a tanuki can disguise itself as anyone or anything it would like--the most common of these being statues and humans. However, no matter what form they shift into, their ears and tail are always visible. They can often disguise these betraying details by shrinking them to minute sizes or changing their color, but they cannot make them disappear entirely. They can also use this power to disguise objects as things. The most common example is a tanuki disguising leaves to look like money. They say that every tanuki has eight different forms that they can disguise themselves as, compared to a kitsune's seven. However, there are a handful of very skilled tanuki that have surpassed this. Mamizou Futatsuiwa, for example, has ten transformations.

Most tanuki on the mainland are normal animals--they lack the magnificent power that they had possessed for thousands of years, no doubt due to extermination attempts by humans and the rapid loss of their natural habitats. It is often speculated, however, that there are some tanuki on the mainland that have disguised and lived among humans for years. The three great tanuki islands are the best place to go if you wish to find tanuki who are less afraid of revealing their true identities.

There is a small population of tanuki native to Gensoukyou that are said to live in the Youkai Forest, though they try to keep to themselves for the most part. Even so, you may still be able to hear the sound of drumming coming from deep within the forest on some moonlit nights.

Examples of tanuki include:
 * Mamizou Futatsuiwa
 * Zhuge Lin