Nine Tails Sketch

Hey everyone! Welcome back!

So I've been practicing sketching supernatural creatures and, keeping in line with the 'fox lord' sketch I did a few weeks ago, the first thing I decided to sketch - admittedly in the notebook I was also writing my ideas and such down in - was a nine tailed fox. The other reason I decided to focus on this was because of the character Huxian in the TanraStudios blog, who is one of these supernatural foxes himself

It wouldn't shock me if this is a supernatural creature you've heard about before. Foxes with supernatural gifts, not just nine tailed ones, are pretty common in media like anime, Manga and games, as well as appearing within Japanese, Chinese and Korean mythology, to name a few, though foxes have shown up in other mythology as well.

Notable examples in media are:

For anime, the ninetailed fox that was sealed into the title character in the anime/manga Naruto, the character Kurama from YuYu Hakushou, Shippo from Inuyasha, Tomoe from Kamisama kiss, Renamon and her various digivolutions in Digimon, to name just a few.

In games, Pokemon such as the Vulpix, Zorua and Fennikin lines are all based on foxes - even their pokedex entries seem to reflect some of the myths. Also, Tails from Sonic, Keaton in Legend of Zelda, the boss 'Ninetails' in Okami, Ahri from League of Legends and even the Hermit Social link in Persona 4 are all foxes that seem to have some inspiration from the mythologies. Once again, to name but a few.

As for the mythologies themselves, mainly if you heard of them through games and such, it's likely that the name 'Kitsune' has cropped up, which is the Japanese name for foxes, whether supernatural or otherwise, though this is not the only term they're known by. 'Nogitsune' and 'Yako' are usually what more trickster types are known by, who are more often than not mischievous at best and malicious at worst, whereas a 'Zenko' is a fox usually associated with the god 'Inari', and seen as said god's messengers and thus more benevolent. 'Tenko' are foxes that are considered celestial, having  gained nine tails after living for 1000 years and ascended to the heavens. These are the highest ranked kitsune.

In Chinese Mythology, supernatural foxes are referred to as 'Huli Jing' - fox spirits - and their nine tailed versions are called 'Jiuweihu'. Like their Japanese counterparts, Huli Jing can be good or bad spirits. Foxes also seem to be linked to divine beings as well, with forms of Huxian (Fox Immortal/ fox gods) that either are equivalent to Inari, or have an animal form of a nine tailed fox, though this can refer to several different beings, either individually or as a collective trio of fox god(desses).

(Ironically, when I created the character Huxian for Pandora, I actually had't known about the actual versions in the mythology, though when I found out, I saw no reason to change it. Hell, it even fits, given his storyline...)

Korea's version of supernatural foxes are referred to as 'Kumiho', litterally meaning 'nine tailed fox'. Unlike both Japanese and Chinese equivalents, which ca lean to any spectrum of a moral compass, Kumiho are almost unanimously malevolent and would feast on human flesh, specifically the heart of liver, depending on the tale.

Though these are some differences in mythologies, such as Kumiho having a bead containing knowledge that could be absorbed from others or, if swallowed by a human could give them gifts; Kitsune able to use fire or possess humans etc, there are many similarities to the mythologies where abilities are concerned. They are generally shape shifters that can take on human forms, mostly that of beautiful women, though sometimes older men. In Japanese and Chinese mythologies especially, they seem to even gain some magical power, especially as nine tails, and able to perform other feats such as divination or sorcery.

There are tons of stories about supernatural foxes, whether they have nine tails or not, all of them pretty interesting to read and these is a ton more information about foxes in mythology.

Honestly speaking, Foxes are my favourite (real) animal, with them being my second favourite supernatural one - that honour goes to dragons (I used to be really obsessed with those as a kid and still love them now). Still, I hope you liked the bits of info. I really would suggest looking them up for more in-depth stuff though, cause there are some really good bits of info on them and folk lore that I really couldn't get into without this blog ending up taking a week or so to read. Still, if you're interested, there are tons of places online to find out more :)

Until next time!

Tara