To-do list:
- Move examples of East Asian fox spirits from Kitsune to Asian Fox Spirit, and move examples of fox spirits from other cultures to Fantastic Foxes. Remove any examples that don't fit either.
- Possibly move parts of the old description to Analysis.Asian Fox Spirit.
Original post
I would like to draft a proposal to rename Kitsune to Nine-Tailed Fox (which it is presently a redirect for), Asian Fox Spirit, or something similar if neither of those proposals work.Japan isn't the only country to have myths, legends, and stories featuring multi-tailed fox-spirits, nor is it the country in which multi-tailed fox-spirits originated. And while Japan may have been — and still be — the most-prominent source of Western-imported media featuring fox-spirits over the course of the 20th and 21st centuries, more and more Korean and especially Chinese and Chinese-themed works featuring multi-tailed fox-spirits have been coming out over the last few decades — i.e. Painted Skin, Jiang Ziya, White Snake (2019).
Wick Check
- AFK Arena — Solise, The Floral Wonder — "* Kitsune: She's based on one, being a Fox Folk with nine tails and supernatural abilities even for her own people." — UNCLEAR EXAMPLE
- A New Hope (Danganronpa) — Hora Island — SINKHOLE
- Arknights Nations — Suzuran — "Suzuran and her father are both nine-tailed Vulpos, which obviously point to them being based on the Kitsune." — INSPIRED BY HULI JING note
- Beware of Chicken — Nezan — "* Kitsune: Nezan is one of the Chinese variation, known as a Huli Jing. See Fantastic Foxes for more detail." — EXAMPLE, HULI JING; ZERO CONTEXT
- Buster Keel! — Dakki — "* Kitsune: She's a seven-tailed monster fox whose name and action are based on the infamous huli jing from Fengshen Yanyi." / "* Unusual Eyebrows: Her eyebrows have a peculiar shape, reminding the stylized, spiral-like tuffs of fur drawn on Kitsune in some depictions." — EXAMPLE, HULI JING
- Chinese Mythology — Daji — "* Foul Fox: She is sometimes identified with a malicious fox spirit, and... look at the other tropes attributed to her." — EXAMPLE, HULI JING
- Fushigi Yuugi — Chichiri — "* Kitsune: Chichiri isn't a literal kitsune, but numerous characters remark that his Cool Mask makes him look like one. His celestial powers, mostly based around illusion and shapeshifting, and his trickster-ish personality also line up with kitsune mythology." — MISUSE
- Fuzzy Logic — Musume Uchiha — * Kitsune: The kitsune, in fact. — ZERO CONTEXT EXAMPLEnote
- God Eater Aragami — Kyuubi — * Kitsune: As its name indicates, the Kyuubi takes the appearance of one, except with three tails instead of nine. — EXAMPLE, BUT LITTLE CONTEXT
- Gugure! Kokkuri-san — Kokkuri — Zero Context Example; just a link to Kitsune
- Honkai Impact 3rd – Honkai Beasts and Herrschers — Hellmaru — * Multiple-Tailed Beast: In keeping with its kitsune image, it has 4 tails. — INSPIRED BY; UNCLEAR EXAMPLE
- Honkai Impact 3rd – Other NPCs and Historical Characters Higokumaru''' — "* Kitsune: The in-game description of her mentions that she claims to be a human, but notes the 4 tails and the fox ears, and the fact that she likes inari-age (seasoned tofu skin). The description concludes that "she must be a fox". As ch. 12 and a supplementary comic shows, she didn't always look like this; it's implied that after the power of the 12th Herrscher is turned into the sword Jizo Mitama, her leftover body and original consciousness (i.e Rin) merged with that of the fox beast (which likely was a normal fox), causing her to gain fox features." — EXAMPLE, KITSUNE
- Juushinki Pandora — "* Eldritch Abomination: It is an ancient force whose power spurred the process of evolution, making it the source of the B.R.A.I., and is hypothesized by Lon to also be the source of humanity's myths about gods and monsters such as the Monkey King and nine-tailed fox as well. In the penultimate episode, it assembles a makeshift body from the amalgamated corpses of Dark Drive-equipped B.R.A.I., and in the final episode attempts to turn Neo Xianglong itself and all the M.O.E.V. into B.R.A.I." — SINKHOLE; EXAMPLE, HULI JINGnote
- Journey To The West - Demons — Nine Tailed Old Vixen/Juweihuli — "* Kitsune: She is a nine-tailed fox, but she's not particularly powerful or pretty, being an old crone in possession of a magic rope." EXAMPLE, HULI JING
- Journey To The West - Demons — The Spirits of Biqiu Kingdom — "* Kitsune: The White-Faced Vixen is, as the name suggested, a white-faced Hulijing." — EXAMPLE, HULI JING; LACKING CONTEXT
- Characters/Kanokon — Chizuru Minamoto — EXAMPLE, SINKHOLEnote
- Korean Mythology — "Gumiho: Name literally meaning 'nine-tailed fox', they are the Korean version of the Kitsune." — EXAMPLE, KUMIHO
- League Of Legends A — Ahri — "* Kitsune: Although referred to in development as a Gumiho, the Korean equivalent. Hence her vampiric nature. She becomes an actual Kitsune, to the point of being able to shape shift into one, in her Spirit Blossom skin, as the skin-line instead takes inspiration from Japanese folklore for the Ionian Spirit Blossom festival." — INSPIRED BY KUMIHO
- Monster Hunter Fourth Generation Monsters — Mizutsune (Tamamitsune) — "* Kitsune: Its vulpine appearance, its 4GU Gunner headgear describes as smelling of fried tofu, its weapons in Wings of Ruin referencing a man married to a Mizutsune turned into a woman. The list goes on." — NON-EXAMPLE, INSPIRED BY KITSUNE
- Monster Hunter Frontier Monsters — Dyuragaua / Mi Ru — "* Kitsune: They are based on the kitsune of Japanese folklore. Mi Ru takes this further with its ability to change forms." — NON-EXAMPLE, INSPIRED BY KITSUNE
- Naruto - Tailed Beasts — Kurama — "Kitsune: Kurama is a kaiju-sized nine-tailed supernatural fox." — EXAMPLE, KITSUNE
- Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan - Other Yokai Groups — Hagoromo-Gitsune — "* Kitsune: She's a kitsune who survives by possessing the bodies of women. She can manifest fox tails, with the number of tails being equivalent to the number of times she has reincarnated." — EXAMPLE, KITSUNE
- Pathfinder Fey — Gumiho — "* Kitsune: Based on the creature of the same name from Korean folklore, gumihos are legendary nine-tailed foxes who, when disguised in humanoid form, use charm and guile to lure prey deep into the forest before revealing their true form, tearing out their victim's throat and feasting on their liver." — EXAMPLE, KUMIHO
- Persona 5: The Phantom Thieves of Hearts — In general — "* Animal Motifs: Akechi, Ann, and Yusuke have bird, cat, and fox Persona masks; Ann and Yusuke's respective Metaverse outfits even have tails attached to them that match their respective animals. This leads to Ann, Yusuke and Akechi have the heist code names Panther, Fox, and Crow, respectively. This also dips into Japanese Mythical Motifs for Akechi and Yusuke, as Akechi's mask is based on a Tengu, a crow based Yōkai known for having red faces and ridiculously long noses, while Yusuke's is a traditional Kitsune style mask." — SINKHOLE
- Raishon — Reika Tsukimori — "%%* Kitsune - Also the assistant of one. " — ZERO CONTEXT EXAMPLE
- Sengoku Youko — Several examples — ZERO CONTEXT EXAMPLE
- Summon Night — Hasaha — "%%* Kitsune" — ZERO CONTEXT EXAMPLE
- That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime — Tempest Citizens — Kumara — "* Kitsune: All the hallmarks of it, with ancient and modern depictions mixed into both her pre and post evolutions." — ZERO CONTEXT EXAMPLE; INSPIRED BY NINE-TAILED FOXES
- Teen Wolf Antagonists — The Nogitsune — "* Kitsune: A particularly evil one." — EXAMPLE, BUT ZERO CONTEXT
- The Game of the Gods — Kitsune — "* Kitsune: Not an example. Her name is kitsune "fox" but she is not a fox." — MISUSE
- The Gamers Alliance Five — 'Inari Okami — "* Kitsune: She's one of the mythic shapeshifting foxes." — EXAMPLE, KITSUNE; LACKING CONTEXT
- The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet — Yayoi — No example given, just a link to the page in her bio saying she's similar to one. — NON-EXAMPLE
- The Vampire Diaries Book Characters — Shinichi — "* Kitsune: This is Shinichi's species, alongside his twin sister, Misao. Their origin is from Japan. Kitsune are described as intelligent beings and as possessing magical abilites that increase with their age and wisdom, every 100 years they get a tail, becoming more powerful, and when they reach nine tails (Kyuubi no Kitsune), they become demi-gods, reaching the omniscience, and almost the omnipotency. Foremost among these is the ability to assume a human form. While some folktales speak of kitsune employing this ability to trick others as foxes in folklore often do other stories portray them as faithful guardians, friends, lovers and wives. The folklore says they are afraid of dogs, running away every time they see one." — EXAMPLE, KITSUNE
- Touhou Kaeidzuka ~ Phantasmagoria of Flower View — Aya Shameimaru — "* Everybody Hates Mathematics: She shows in Bohemian Archive in Japanese Red that, while Ran Yakumo may enjoy doing math in her spare time, not everyone in Gensokyo shares her enthusiasm for the subject." — SINKHOLE
- Touken Ranbu — Konnosuke — "* Kitsune " — ZERO CONTEXT EXAMPLE
- Uma Musume — Inari One — "* Kitsune: Her name and motif are both based on the mythical Fox Youkai. (Makes sense, given the "Inari" present right there in her name)" — INSPIRED BY KITSUNE
- Warriors Orochi — Tamamo — "* Kitsune: As in the legend, Tamamo is a fox spirit. Her real form, Kyūbi, is the famed nine-tailed fox." — EXAMPLE, KITSUNE
- Warriors Orochi — Da Ji — "* Red Right Hand: Her feet are actually paws, fitting the legend that a kitsune cannot completely conceal her foxy nature." — ZERO CONTEXT; EXAMPLE, HULI JING note
- We Are Our Avatars — Mara Bjornsen — "* Kitsune: Has nine tails (normally physiologically hidden), power over flame, and can shapeshift into a fox. " — UNCLEAR EXAMPLE
- Werewolf: The Apocalypse — Kitsune — "Werefoxes native to east Asia, with powerful magic skills and close ties to Luna. They are the youngest of the Changing Breeds, coming into existence following the War of Rage." — UNCLEAR EXAMPLE
- ×××HOLiC — Kudagitsune / Mugetsu — "* Kitsune: Its true form." — EXAMPLE, KITSUNE; ZERO CONTEXT
- Beasts of Burden — "* Kitsune: A kitsune is one of the creatures encountered in Occupied Territory." — EXAMPLE, KITSUNE; LACKS CONTEXT
- The Sandman — K — "* Kitsune: The Dream Hunters is a fairly traditional kitsune romance, with Morpheus and other Sandman characters making cameos." — UNCLEAR EXAMPLE, LACKING CONTEXT
- Onmyōji — "Mythology Gag: Seimei often looks faintly vulpine; this is a reference to his mythological background where his mother was a kitsune. Specifically referenced by Hiromasa in-universe; upon first being introduced to each other, Seimei playfully teases Hiromasa about the myth." — EXAMPLE, KITSUNE
- Bungo Stray Dogs — "Dazai is frequently likened to a fox, and certain merchandise features him as a Kitsune. Not only are these creatures known for being cunning...but they also can be thwarted by the presence of dogs!" — SINKHOLE
- Anime & Manga — "* Kamisama Kiss has Tomoe, a male Little Bit Beastly Kitsune, posing as Nanami, a female human Ordinary High-School Student, a total of three times so far. The first when she was sick, he covered for her at school. The second time when she was attending the conference, he also covered for her at school. The third, well..." — EXAMPLE, KITSUNE
- Bluebeard — "* "The White Road" by Neil Gaiman is a version of the "Mr. Fox" variant, with a twist - Mr. Fox may be innocent, having been framed by a kitsune. (That said, it's very ambiguous if you read the story closely.)" — UNCLEAR EXAMPLE
- Mail Fox Tales — "* Kitsune : Eva, as well as the servants and some of the Inari she meets." — EXAMPLE, KITSUNE; ZERO CONTEXT
- Tale of the Nine Tailed — "* Kitsune: The show revolves around the Korean variation, the gumiho." — EXAMPLE, KUMIHO; LACKS CONTEXT
- Elona — "Kitsune: The fox brother, one of his evolution paths allows him to become a nine-tailed fox brother." — UNCLEAR EXAMPLE
- Tally:
- Huli Jing: 8
- Kumiho: 3
- Kitsune: 11
- Unclear: 7 — overlap with other categories note
- Zero Context: 11 — overlap with other categories note
- Sinkhole: 6 — overlap with other categories note
- Misuse: 3 note
- Inspired By: 6 note
~Macron Notes: Added in the OP's wick check from here
Edited by GastonRabbit on May 17th 2022 at 11:35:18 AM
(she/her)
Opening. Next time please include a wick check in your OP. Otherwise, your thread will most likely get rejected. I sifted through some stuff and found your wick check so I edited your post to include it.
Edited by MacronNotes on Apr 19th 2022 at 5:06:27 AM
Macron's notes
Thanks. I was looking for a way to do that myself but could't find an option to edit the post.
Sounds good on paper (he/him)
I'm fine with renaming since other cultures have fox spirits in their mythologies.
Patiently awaiting the release of Paper Luigi and the Marvelous Compass.
Now a lurker. Thanks for everything. | he/him
![[tup]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Thumbs_up_emoticon_3268.png "[thumb up]"){kind=small}
to expansion to Nine-Tailed Fox or Asian Fox Spirit (so the kumiho and huli jing aren't just tacked on). As for the examples that are unclear whether they're based specifically on the foxes of Japanese(/Chinese/Korean) mythology, ... I don't think that really matters. If you have a devious nine-tailed fox spirit in your East Asian Fantasy Counterpart Culture, it fits the trope without being specifically Japanese.
rename and broaden to all-purpose "nine-tailed fox" trope
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
While also making note of the culturally-specific traits that emerged over time — i.e. association with Inari and Celestial Bureaucracy for kitsune, and kumiho being Always Chaotic Evil and having life energy-sucking magic orbs.
Yes, expansion implicitly excludes a description rewrite.
the Retromancer
Rename to Asian Fox Spirit, not all of the cases need to explicitly be 9-tailed as far I can tell.
Edited by Amonimus on Apr 19th 2022 at 2:20:13 PM
TroperWall / WikiMagic Cleanup
Angry babby
Multi Tailed Fox? Is the Asian origin or the multiple tails more associated with this concept?
I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.
How important is the number of tails? How many of these note the number of tails, vs. just being fox-women?
Disambig Needed: Help with those issues! tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13324299140A37493800&page=24#comment-576
the Retromancer
I'm not a mythology expert but there seems to be a problem.
- Do foxes need to be Asian-looking or invoke Asian myths in sepcific? Just like there's a Chinese one, there may be fox spirits from elsewhere.
- Do foxes need to be supernatural in nature to differentiate from Multiple-Tailed Beast? Is shapeshifting into a human a requirement?
- Do foxes need 9 tails? In Japanese myth the amount of tails can vary and is an indicator of power. Some characters are even called Kitsune despite having one tail (a giant one though, while also being traditional Japanese and having ghost powers).
Edited by Amonimus on Apr 19th 2022 at 3:04:00 PM
TroperWall / WikiMagic Cleanup
Fantastic Foxes is the supertrope, referring to non-East Asian perceptions.
(she/her)
Well we also have Fantastic Foxes for supernatural/mythical foxes from other places. I think it's worth having the multi-tailed variant be it's own thing
Edited by MacronNotes on Apr 19th 2022 at 8:06:31 AM
Macron's notes
the Retromancer
Ah, interesting. Fantastic Foxes describes Huli Jing, Kumiho and Kitsune already. I'm not sure how to describe the suppsoed trope without feeling redundant, unless that entire section is split off to Multi Tailed Fox Spirit.
TroperWall / WikiMagic Cleanup
Well, sometimes we accidentally have duplicate tropes.
Fantastic Foxes seem for all unnatural foxes, from Funny Animal on up, if the Quote(s) page is an example.
Fox Girl, like Cat Girl, seems to be the one unfilled?
Edited by Malady on Apr 19th 2022 at 5:24:27 AM
Disambig Needed: Help with those issues! tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13324299140A37493800&page=24#comment-576
So then, do we need a separate trope for Asian fox spirits if they're already covered under Fantastic Foxes?
(she/her)
^^ I think Foxy Vixen covers that for the most part. We can just use Little Bit Beastly for the non sexual used examples. We don't need a Fox Girl trope.
Anyways, I support merging Kitsune into Asian Fox Spirit trope and updating Fantastic Foxes accordingly. I don't think they are redundant to each other.
Edited by MacronNotes on Apr 19th 2022 at 8:31:26 AM
Macron's notes
According to the description, Fantastic Foxes aren't necessarily supernatural.
Now a lurker. Thanks for everything. | he/him
Added a TRS banner.
TRS Queue | Works That Require Cleanup of Complaining | Troper Wall
Showtime!
I support the renaming/expansion to an Asian Fox Spirit trope
Absolute destiny... apeachalypse?
Asian Fox-Spirit is a good re-name.
Edited by Arawn999 on Apr 19th 2022 at 9:30:22 AM
Are there Asian Fox Spirits that are called the local name, that can't do Human Shifting?
Is it not the ability to humanshift that reveals they're more than just a fox?
Disambig Needed: Help with those issues! tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13324299140A37493800&page=24#comment-576
In modern media or in traditional folklore? In the former there are more than a few examples of fox-spirits who cannot or do not transform into human form (Kurama from Naruto, Hakumen no Mono from Ushio and Tora, the Nine-Tailed Demon-Fox from Ga-Rei, Ninetales from Pokémon), and there are some who do so via Demonic Possession rather than shapeshifting or illusions (Lord Ninetails from Ōkami, Nine-Tailed from Jiang Ziya). For example, the infamous evil nine-tailed fox-spirit known in China as Daji and in Japan as Tamamo-no-Mae — the inspiration for a lot of evil fox-spirits in modern media, including the aforementioned Hakumen no Mono and Nine-Tailed — possessed the human Su Daji.
In Chinese, Japanese, and Korean folklore, any fox has the potential to become a fox-spirit if they live long enough and/or cultivate enough power. Usually it's the multiple tails that are the main giveaway that someone's not dealing with a normal fox, but fox-spirits can appear as normal foxes so failing that an unnatural fur-colour (i.e. white, gold, silver, black), orbiting fireballs, the fox walking on its hind legs, and/or the fox trying to wear a human skull/leaf as a hat are clues that they're not normal. And even the fox can shapeshift into human form, there's usually a flaw that gives them away — fangs, claws, slitted pupils, one or more tails, etc.
Edited by Arawn999 on Apr 19th 2022 at 10:33:11 AM
Crown Description:
Consensus was to rename Kitsune because it covers Asian fox spirits other than the Japanese kitsune. What should its new name be?
To-do list:
Original post
I would like to draft a proposal to rename Kitsune to Nine-Tailed Fox (which it is presently a redirect for), Asian Fox Spirit, or something similar if neither of those proposals work.Japan isn't the only country to have myths, legends, and stories featuring multi-tailed fox-spirits, nor is it the country in which multi-tailed fox-spirits originated. And while Japan may have been — and still be — the most-prominent source of Western-imported media featuring fox-spirits over the course of the 20th and 21st centuries, more and more Korean and especially Chinese and Chinese-themed works featuring multi-tailed fox-spirits have been coming out over the last few decades — i.e. Painted Skin, Jiang Ziya, White Snake (2019).
Wick Check
~Macron Notes: Added in the OP's wick check from here
Edited by GastonRabbit on May 17th 2022 at 11:35:18 AM