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Well There's Been Alot Of Talk/Debate/Arguments About The Nine Tail Fox Powers Ability And Element. People Are Saying The Nine Tail Fox Of Kishi Does'nt Have The Ability Of The One Of The Japanese Folk Tails. I Would Have To Disagree Cause Kishi Is A Talented Smart Intelligent Writer If He Wanted To Make A Completely Different Fox Instead Of Using The Kyuubi Nine Tail Fox He's A Big Boy He Would Of Gave His Fox His Own Original Name. I Would Like To Point Out Something Else Alot Of People Are Asking Why Everyone Why Do We Think The Nine Tail Fox Element Is Fire??The Reason For That Is Because Kistune As We Know The Kyuubi Nine Tail Fox Is Known As Kitsune With Its Supernatural Abilities Commonly Attributed To The Kitsune Include Possession, Mouths Or Tails That Generate Fire Or Lightning (known as kitsune-bi; literally, fox-fire) Also The Nine Tail Fox Is Also Shown On Other Animes Manga's And Video Games
Origins
A nine-tailed fox, from the Qing edition of the ancient text Shan Hai Jing.
It is widely agreed that many fox myths in Japan can be traced to China, Korea, or India. Chinese folk tales tell of fox spirits (called Huli-jin) that may have up to nine tails. Many of the earliest surviving stories are recorded in the Konjaku Monogatari, an 11th-century collection of Chinese, Indian, and Japanese narratives.[1]
There is debate whether the kitsune myths originated entirely from foreign sources or are in part an indigenous Japanese concept dating as far back as the fifth century BC. Japanese folklorist Kiyoshi Nozaki argues that the Japanese regarded kitsune positively as early as the 4th century A.D.; the only things imported from China or Korea were the kitsune's negative attributes.[2] He states that, according to a 16th-century book of records called the Nihon Ryakki, foxes and human beings lived in close proximity in ancient Japan, and he contends that indigenous legends about the creatures arose as a result.[3] Inari scholar Karen Smyers notes that the idea of the fox as seductress and the connection of the fox myths to Buddhism were introduced into Japanese folklore through similar Chinese stories, but she maintains that some fox stories contain elements unique to Japan.[4
Kitsune are believed to possess superior intelligence, long life, and magical powers. They are a type of yōkai, or spiritual entity, and the word kitsune is often translated as fox spirit. However, this does not mean that kitsune are ghosts, nor that they are fundamentally different from regular foxes. Because the word spirit is used to reflect a state of knowledge or enlightenment, all long-lived foxes gain supernatural abilities.[4]
There are two common classifications of kitsune. The zenko (善狐?, literally, good foxes) are benevolent, celestial foxes associated with Inari-god; they are sometimes simply called Inari foxes. On the other hand, the yako (野狐?, literally, outsider foxes) tend to be mischievous or even malicious.[8] Local traditions add further types.[9] For example, a ninko is an invisible fox spirit that human beings can only perceive when it possesses them. Another tradition classifies kitsune into one of thirteen types defined by which supernatural abilities the kitsune possesses.[10][11]
Physically, kitsune are noted for having as many as nine tails.[12] Generally, a greater number of tails indicates an older and more powerful fox; in fact, some folktales say that a fox will only grow additional tails after it has lived 1,000 years.[13] One, five, seven, and nine tails are the most common numbers in folk stories.[14] When a kitsune gains its ninth tail, its fur becomes white or gold.[12] These kyūbi no kitsune (九尾の狐?, nine-tailed foxes) gain the abilities to see and hear anything happening anywhere in the world. Other tales attribute them infinite wisdom (omniscience).[15]
Shapeshifting
A kitsune may take on human form, an ability learned when it reaches a certain age — usually 100 years, although some tales say 50.[13] As a common prerequisite for the transformation, the fox must place reeds, a broad leaf, or a skull over its head.[16] Common forms assumed by kitsune include beautiful women, young girls, or elderly men. These shapes are not limited by the fox's age or gender,[4] and a kitsune can duplicate the appearance of a specific person.[17] Foxes are particularly renowned for impersonating beautiful women. Common belief in medieval Japan was that any woman encountered alone, especially at dusk or night, could be a fox.[18]
In some stories, kitsune have difficulty hiding their tails when they take human form; looking for the tail, perhaps when the fox gets drunk or careless, is a common method of discerning the creature's true nature.[19] Variants on the theme have the kitsune retain other foxlike traits, such as a coating of fine hair, a fox-shaped shadow, or a reflection that shows its true form.[20] Kitsune-gao or fox-faced refers to human females who have a narrow face with close-set eyes, thin eyebrows, and high cheekbones. Traditionally, this facial structure is considered attractive, and some tales ascribe it to foxes in human form.[21] Kitsune have a fear and hatred of dogs even while in human form, and some become so rattled by the presence of dogs that they revert to the shape of a fox and flee. A particularly devout individual may be able to see through a fox's disguise automatically.[22]
One folk story illustrating these imperfections in the kitsune's human shape concerns Koan, a historical person credited with wisdom and magical powers of divination. According to the story, he was staying at the home of one of his devotees when he scalded his foot entering a bath because the water had been drawn too hot. Then, "in his pain, he ran out of the bathroom naked. When the people of the household saw him, they were astonished to see that Koan had fur covering much of his body, along with a fox's tail. Then Koan transformed in front of them, becoming an elderly fox and running away."[23]
Other supernatural abilities commonly attributed to the kitsune include possession, mouths or tails that generate fire or lightning (known as kitsune-bi; literally, fox-fire), willful manifestation in the dreams of others, flight, invisibility, and the creation of illusions so elaborate as to be almost indistinguishable from reality.[16][20] Some tales speak of kitsune with even greater powers, able to bend time and space, drive people mad, or take fantastic shapes such as a tree of incredible height or a second moon in the sky.[24][25] Other kitsune have characteristics reminiscent of vampires or succubi and feed on the life or spirit of human beings, generally through sexual contact.[26]
In fiction
Embedded in Japanese folklore as they are, kitsune appear in numerous Japanese works. Noh, kyogen, bunraku, and kabuki plays derived from folk tales feature them,[64][65] as do contemporary works such as anime, manga and video games. Western authors of fiction have begun to make use of the kitsune legends. Although these portrayals vary considerably, kitsune are generally depicted in accordance with folk stories, as wise, cunning, and powerful beings.
Kuzunoha, mother of Abe no Seimei, is a well-known kitsune character in traditional Japanese theater. She is featured in the five-part bunraku and kabuki play Ashiya Dōman Ōuchi Kagami (The Mirror of Ashiya Dōman and Ōuchi). The fourth part, Kuzunoha or The Fox of Shinoda Wood, is often performed independently of the other scenes and tells of the discovery of Kuzunoha's kitsune nature and her subsequent departure from her husband and child.[66][67]
Tamamo-no-Mae is the subject of the noh drama Sesshoseki (The Death Stone) and of kabuki and kyogen plays titled Tamamonomae (The Beautiful Fox Witch). Tamamo-no-Mae commits evil deeds in India, China, and Japan but is discovered and dies. Her spirit transforms into the "killing stone" of the noh play's title. She is eventually redeemed by the Buddhist priest Gennō.[68][69][70]
Genkurō is a kitsune renowned for his filial piety. In the bunraku and kabuki drama Yoshitsune Sembon Zakura (Yoshitsune and the Thousand Cherry Trees), Yoshitsune's lover, Lady Shizuka, owns a hand-drum made from the skins of Genkuro's parents. The fox takes human form and becomes his retainer, Satō Tadanobu, but his identity is revealed. The kitsune explains that he hears the voice of his parents when the drum is struck. Yoshitsune and Shizuka give him the drum, so Genkuro grants Yoshitsune magical protection..[61][71][72]
Kitsune is the name of a woman/legendary figure in The Veil trilogy by Christopher Golden. Kitsune usually takes the guise of a beautiful Japanese woman who wears a foxfur cloak, but is able to transform herself into a fox when the occasion calls for it. At turns Kitsune is enamored by, and adversarial of, the main character of the series, Oliver Bascombe.
The myth Tamamo-no-Mae is referenced in the video game Ōkami.
Miles "Tails" Prower from the Sonic the Hedgehog video game series is said by several sources to be a kitsune, due to him having two tails.
The Pok?mon Vulpix and the Digimon Renamon, as well as their evolutions, are based on kitsune and similar fox legends.
The InuYasha Character Shippo is a kitsune demon. The same mangaka's (Rumiko Takahashi) earlier work Urusei Yatsura also features a fox spirit named Kitsune who becomes a loyal companion to one of the series leads, Shinobu Miyake, and can transform into "chibi" versions (with fox ears) of the other characters from the series.
Ran Yakumo from Touhou, Yukari Yakumo's shikigami, is also a kitsune.
Youko Kurama from YuYu Hakusho is a kitsune spirit living in a human body.
Wagaya no Oinari-sama. is an anime about a mischievous guardian kitsune.
The series Usagi Yojimbo by Stan Sakai contains a recurring female thief and friend of Usagi named Kitsune.
In Love Hina, there is a character calling Mitsune "Kitsune" Konno, with her eyes based in a kitsune.
In the Star Fox video game series, the main character Fox McCloud was partially inspired by kitsune.
In The Legend of Zelda video game series, the Keaton race is based on kitsune.
In Kelley Armstrong's short story collection, Men of the Otherworld, the story "Kitsunegari" features several kitsune and a part-kitsune werewolf.
In Ljane Smith's The Vampire Diaries - The Return: Nightfall, the main antagonists is a couple of cruel and malevolent kitsune twins, Shinichi and Misao, who are bent on destroying the entire town for their own amusement
In the video game series Animal Crossing Tom Nook's shopkeeper rival, Crazy Redd, is a kitsune (opposingly as Nook himself is a tanuki.) Redd is known as a trickster in the game, operating the Black Market; he will often sell the player plain objects at inflated prices.
In the manga Naruto, the main character Naruto Uzumaki is possessed by a very destructive giant kitsune (the Kyuubi, or nine-tailed demon) at the time of his birth via a seal. As a result, he has facial markings that resemble fox whiskers and is often mischievous. When enraged he takes fox-like traits and occasionally projects a kyubi-shaped aura and has a matching shadow.
In Namco x Capcom, the female protagontist, Xiaomu, is a 765-year-old kitsune.
