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Worldbuilding

Yōkai

Yōkai

Yōkai are supernatural spirits, demons, ghosts, and monsters from Japanese folklore. They range from spectral flames that appear over battlefields, to shapeshifting fox spirits, to fierce, ogre-like demons. While some are malevolent and others benevolent, Yōkai are more often complex entities that exhibit a range of behaviors and emotions.

Akaname: A spirit that licks unclean bathrooms
Akurojin-no-hi: A ghostly fire that causes sickness
Amanojaku: A small demon spirit which lures people to perform evil deeds
Amazake-babaa: An old hag that goes door to door selling sake and bringing illness
Amefurikozō: The spirit of a boy who plays in the rain
Ameonna: A female spirit that makes rain
Aobōzu: A blue spirit resembling a priest which may kidnap children
Aonyōbō: a blue-skinned spirit ogre of poverty and misfortune that often inhabit abandoned houses of fallen nobles
Aosaginohi: A spirit in the form of a heron which glues bright blue
Ayakashi: Ghostly spirit lights that appear above water
Azukiarai: A spirit of a short, ugly man who washes beans on the shore, though often only the sound of the beans being washed is heard and the spirit is not seen
Bake-danuki: A raccoon-dog spirit
Bake-kujira: A large skeletal spirit whale that is often accompanied by strange fish and birds
Bakeneko: A cat spirit
Bakezōri: A wandering spirit sandal
Baku: A tapir-like creature which devours nightmares
Basan: A fowl-like bird creature which breathes a cold fire
Bashōnosei: A banana spirit
Betobeto-san: Invisible spirits that create the sounds of footsteps following a person
Chōchin-obake: Spirits in the shape of paper lanterns
Chōchinbi: Ghostly lights that appear on footpaths between rice fields
Daitengu: One of several of the most powerful tengu
Datsue-ba: A hag-like spirit who resides in the underworld
Dodomeki: Female spirits with long arms covered in birds eyes
Dōnotsura: A headless humanoid spirit with a face on its’ torso
Enenra: A spirit of shadow and smoke
Fūri: A monkey spirit
Funayūrei: Vengeful ghosts of those lost at sea
Furaribi: Fire spirits
Futakuchi-onna: A female spirit with two mouths, a normal one and one on the back of the head beneath the hairline
Gashadokuro: Giant skeletons that bite off the heads of their victims and drink their blood
Goryō: Vengeful spirits
Bái Zé: A cow-like creature with many eyes
Hashihime: A lonely woman waiting for her husband who became a demon through jealousy
Hibagon: An ape-like creature similar to the yeti or bigfoot
Hiderigami: Spirits that can cause draughts
Hone-onna: A skeletal woman who seeks love but brings death instead
Inugami: A dog spirit conjured by a family
Janjanbi: Drifting fireball spirits
Jinmenken: A dog-like creature with the face of a human
Jorōgumo: Spider spirits which can transform into attractive women to prey on men
Kamikiri: A spirit that secretly cuts peoples hair
Kappa: a water imp that resembles a small, green humanoid with a disk-like head
Kasa-obake: A possessed paper umbrella
Kasha: A chariot spirit that collects the bodies of evil humans
Kodama: Spirits that live in trees and are responsible for echoes
Konaki-jiji: A spirit that disguises itself as a crying baby then crushes those that try to pick it up
Kosenjōbi: Fireball spirits that appear over battlefields
Kudan: A cow-like spirit with the head of a human
Kuzuryū: A nine-headed water dragon
Kyonshii: A vampire
Miage-nyūdō: A spirit that would grow so that a person could never see the top of it
Mikoshi-nyūdō: A goblin spirit with a neck that can extend to great lengths
Mujina: A racoon-dog or badger that can shapeshift
Nekomata: An evil cat spirit with two tails
Nuppeppō: A spirit that resembles a meat sack with hard to distinguish features of a human
Obake: A term for any shape-changing spirit
Ōkami: A wolf spirit who can act either as a protector or destroyer
Ōmukade: A giant centipede that consumes humans
Oni: Demonic spirits with an ogre-like appearance
Onibi: Spectral flames
Onihitokuchi: One-eyed demons that eat humans
Onikuma: A great bipedal bear spirit
Onmyōji: A human with the powers of the spirits
Raijū: A dog-like thunder creature that can travel in lightning
Rōjinbi: Spirit flames that accompany an elderly person
Satori: Monkey-like creatures that can read minds and live in the mountains
Shinigami: A death spirit
Shōjō: Humanoid spirits with red hair who love to drink alcohol
Tanuki: Racoon dogs with the ability to shapeshift
Tengu: Wise spirit demons
Tenku: an elderly and wise fox spirit
Tennin: Celestial beings akin to angels
Te-no-me: Blind spirits with eyes on their palms
Yamabiko: Mountain spirits resembling a cross between a monkey and a dog responsible for creating echoes
Yama-uba: A malevolent crone spirit
Yōsei: Fairies
Yuki-onna: Female snow spirits
Yurei: Ghosts

Oni are usually brightly colored demons, often red, green, or blue.

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