The Moon rabbit, Moon hare or Jade rabbit is a mythical figure in both East Asian and indigenous American

folklore Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, myths, legends, proverbs, Poetry, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also ...

, based on interpretations that identify the dark markings on the

near side of the Moon The near side of the Moon is the lunar hemisphere that faces Earth, opposite to the far side. The near side of the Moon has always the same lunar surface (or "face") oriented to Earth, due to the Moon rotating on its axis at the same rate that ...

as a

rabbit Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also includes the hares), which is in the order Lagomorpha (which also includes pikas). They are familiar throughout the world as a small herbivore, a prey animal, a domesticated ...

hare Hares and jackrabbits are mammals belonging to the genus ''Lepus''. They are herbivores and live Solitary animal, solitarily or in pairs. They nest in slight depressions called forms, and their young are precociality, able to fend for themselves ...

. In East Asian mythology, the rabbit is seen as pounding with a

mortar and pestle A mortar and pestle is a set of two simple tools used to prepare ingredients or substances by compression (physics), crushing and shear force, grinding them into a fine Paste (rheology), paste or powder in the kitchen, laboratory, and pharmacy. ...

, but the contents of the mortar differ among Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese folklore. In Chinese folklore, the rabbit, Yutu, is often portrayed as a companion of the Moon goddess

Chang'e Chang'e ( ; ), originally known as Heng'e (), is the goddess of the Moon and wife of Hou Yi, the great archer. Renowned for her beauty, Chang'e is also known for her ascending to the Moon with her pet Yu Tu, the Moon Rabbit and living in the Mo ...

, constantly pounding the

elixir of life The elixir of life (Medieval Latin: ' ), also known as elixir of immortality, is a potion that supposedly grants the drinker Immortality, eternal life and/or eternal youth. This elixir was also said to Panacea (medicine), cure all diseases. Alch ...

for her and some show the making of cakes or rice cakes; but in Japanese and Korean versions, the rabbit is pounding the ingredients for

mochi A mochi ( ; Japanese ) is a Japanese rice cake made of , a short-grain Japonica rice, japonica glutinous rice, and sometimes other ingredients such as water, sugar, and cornstarch. The steamed rice is pounded into paste and molded into the ...

tteok ''Tteok'' () is a general term for Korean rice cakes. They are made with steamed flour of various grains, especially glutinous rice, glutinous and non-glutinous Japonica rice, rice. Steamed flour can also be pounded, shaped, or pan-fried to make ...

or some other type of

rice cakes A rice cake may be any kind of food item made from rice that has been shaped, condensed, or otherwise combined into a single object. A wide variety of rice cakes exist in many different cultures in which rice is eaten. Common variations include ...

; in the Vietnamese version, the Moon rabbit often appears with Hằng Nga and Chú Cuội, and like the Chinese version, the Vietnamese Moon rabbit also pounding the elixir of immortality in the mortar. In some Chinese versions, the rabbit pounds medicine for the mortals and some include making of mooncakes. Moon folklore from certain Amerindian cultures of North America also has rabbit themes and characters.

History

White-Rabbit-making-elixir-of-immortality

An early Chinese source called the '' Chu Ci'', a

Western Han The Han dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC) and a warring int ...

anthology of Chinese poems from the

Warring States period The Warring States period in history of China, Chinese history (221 BC) comprises the final two and a half centuries of the Zhou dynasty (256 BC), which were characterized by frequent warfare, bureaucratic and military reforms, and ...

, notes that along with a

toad Toad (also known as a hoptoad) is a common name for certain frogs, especially of the family Bufonidae, that are characterized by dry, leathery skin, short legs, and large bumps covering the parotoid glands. In popular culture (folk taxonomy ...

, there is a hare on the Moon who constantly pounds herbs for the immortals. This notion is supported by later texts, including the

Song A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usu ...

-era '' Taiping Imperial Reader''. As rabbits were not yet introduced to China during Western Han, the original image was not a rabbit but a hare. Han dynasty poets call the hare on the Moon the "Jade Hare" () or the "Gold Hare" (), and these phrases were used often, in place of the word for the Moon. The famed Tang poet

Li Bai Li Bai (, 701–762), Literary and colloquial readings, also pronounced Li Bo, courtesy name Taibai (), was a Chinese poet acclaimed as one of the greatest and most important poets of the Tang dynasty and in Chinese history as a whole. He and hi ...

, relates how "The rabbit in the moon pounds the medicine in vain" in his poem, "The Old Dust".

East Asian folklore

In the Buddhist Jataka tales, ''Tale 316'' relates that a

monkey Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes. Thus monkeys, in that sense, co ...

, an

otter Otters are carnivorous mammals in the subfamily Lutrinae. The 13 extant otter species are all semiaquatic, aquatic, or marine. Lutrinae is a branch of the Mustelidae family, which includes weasels, badgers, mink, and wolverines, among ...

, a

jackal Jackals are Canidae, canids native to Africa and Eurasia. While the word has historically been used for many canines of the subtribe Canina (subtribe), canina, in modern use it most commonly refers to three species: the closely related black-b ...

, and a rabbit resolved to practice charity on the day of the full moon (

Uposatha An Uposatha () day is a Buddhism, Buddhist day of observance, in existence since the Buddha's time (600 BCE), and still being kept today by Buddhist practitioners. The Buddha taught that the Uposatha day is for "the cleansing of the defiled mind, ...

), believing a demonstration of great virtue would earn a great reward. When an old man begged for food from them, the monkey gathered fruits from the trees and the otter collected fish, while the jackal found a lizard and a pot of milk-curd. Knowing only how to gather grass, the rabbit instead offered its own body by throwing itself into a fire the man had prepared. However, the rabbit was not burnt and the old man revealed that he was Śakra. Touched by the rabbit's virtue, he drew the likeness of the rabbit on the Moon for all to see. It is said the lunar image is still draped in the smoke that rose when the rabbit cast itself into the fire. The rabbit is believed to be a

Bodhisattva In Buddhism, a bodhisattva is a person who has attained, or is striving towards, '' bodhi'' ('awakening', 'enlightenment') or Buddhahood. Often, the term specifically refers to a person who forgoes or delays personal nirvana or ''bodhi'' in ...

. A version of this story may be found in the Japanese anthology, '' Konjaku Monogatarishū'', where the rabbit's companions are instead a fox and a monkey. The Moon rabbit legend is popular and part of local folklore throughout Asia. It may be found in diverse cultures in China, Japan, India, Korea, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, and Myanmar. This legend also gave rise to the

Mid-Autumn Festival The Mid-Autumn Festival (for other names, see § Etymology) is a harvest festival celebrated in Chinese culture. It is held on the 15th day of the 8th month of the Chinese lunisolar calendar with a full moon at night, corresponding to mid- ...

s of China, Tết Trung Thu of Vietnam, Tsukimi of Japan, and Chuseok of Korea, and Sampeah Preah Khae in Cambodia, all of which celebrate the legend of the Moon rabbit. In Vietnamese mythology, the Jade Rabbit on the Moon is often accompanied by the Moon Lady and Cuội, who sits under a magical

banyan A banyan, also spelled banian ( ), is a fig that develops accessory trunks from adjacent prop roots, allowing the tree to spread outwards indefinitely. This distinguishes banyans from other trees with a strangler habit that begin life as ...

. The trio has become the personifications of the holiday, when they descend to the mortal world and give out cellophane lanterns,

mooncake A mooncake () is a Chinese bakery product traditionally eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋節). The festival is primarily about the harvest while a legend connects it to moon watching, and mooncakes are regarded as a delicacy. ...

s and gifts to children. In ''

Journey to the West ''Journey to the West'' () is a Chinese novel published in the 16th century during the Ming dynasty and attributed to Wu Cheng'en. It is regarded as one of the Classic Chinese Novels, great Chinese novels, and has been described as arguably the ...

'', when

Tang Sanzang Tang Sanzang is a Buddhist monk and pilgrim who is a central character in the 16th century novel ''Journey to the West'' by Wu Cheng'en. His birth surname name was Chen (), but having been found in a river as a baby--he was abandoned after bir ...

passes through

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

on his journey, a demoness wants to marry him so that she can absorb his yang essence and increase her powers. Sun Wukong sees through her disguise and fights with her. Just as Sun Wukong is about to defeat the demoness, accompanied by the fairy Chang'e, Taiyin Xingjun descends on a colored cloud. The Monkey King hastily puts away his iron rod, saying, "Old Taiyin, where are you going? I, Sun Wukong, have been avoiding you." Taiyin replies, "The demon you are facing is the Jade Rabbit, who guards the mystical frost elixir in my Guanghan Palace. She secretly unlocked the jade gate and escaped from the palace, and it has been a year since then. I foresee she is currently in grave danger, so I have come to save her. I hope the Great Sage will spare her for my sake." Sun Wukong reluctantly agrees, and Taiyin Xingjun takes the Jade Rabbit to the Moon and assigns her duties.

Indigenous American folklore

Presumed to be arising likewise, through

lunar pareidolia Lunar pareidolia refers to the Pareidolia, pareidolic images seen by humans on the face of the Moon. The Moon's surface is a complex mixture of dark areas (the Lunar mare, lunar ''maria'', or "seas") and lighter areas (the highlands). Being a nat ...

, legends of Moon rabbits also exist among some indigenous cultures of North and Central America. Goddess O Ixchel

In Mayan art, glyphs, hieroglyphics, and inscriptions, a rabbit frequently is shown with the Moon Goddess and another deity related to the Moon. According to an

Aztec The Aztecs ( ) were a Mesoamerican civilization that flourished in central Mexico in the Post-Classic stage, post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different Indigenous peoples of Mexico, ethnic groups of central ...

legend, the god Quetzalcoatl, then living on Earth as a human, started on a journey and, after walking for a long time, became hungry and tired. With no food or water around, he thought he would die. Then a rabbit grazing nearby offered herself as food to save his life. Quetzalcoatl, moved by the rabbit's noble offering, elevated her to the Moon, then lowered her back to Earth and told her, "You may be just a rabbit, but everyone will remember you; there is your image in light, for all people and for all times." Another

Mesoamerican Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area that begins in the southern part of North America and extends to the Pacific coast of Central America, thus comprising the lands of central and southern Mexico, all of Belize, Guatemala, El S ...

legend tells of the brave and noble sacrifice of Nanahuatzin during the creation of the fifth sun. Humble Nanahuatzin sacrificed himself in fire to become the new sun, but the wealthy god Tecciztecatl hesitated four times before he finally set himself alight to become the Moon. Due to Tecciztecatl's cowardice, the deities felt that the Moon should not be so bright as the Sun, so one of the deities threw a rabbit at his face to diminish his light. Another version of the legend says that Tecciztecatl was in the form of a rabbit when he sacrificed himself to become the Moon, casting his shadow there. In Canada and the United States, a

Cree The Cree, or nehinaw (, ), are a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, North American Indigenous people, numbering more than 350,000 in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations in Canada, First Nations. They live prim ...

cultural legend tells a different story, about a young rabbit who wished to ride the Moon. Only the crane was willing to take him there. The trip stretched the crane's legs as the heavy rabbit held them tightly, leaving them elongated as the legs of all cranes are now. When they reached the Moon, the rabbit touched the crane's head with a bleeding paw, leaving the red mark cranes wear to this day. According to the legend, on clear nights, Rabbit still may be seen riding the Moon.

Modern references

Spaceflight

* The Chinese lunar rover, '' Yutu'', that landed on the Moon on December 14, 2013 was named after the Jade Rabbit, as a result of an online poll, and was followed up by a second rover, ''

Yutu-2 ''Yutu-2'' () is the robotic lunar rover component of China National Space Administration, CNSA's Chang'e 4 mission to the Moon, launched on 7 December 2018 18:23 UTC, it entered lunar orbit on 12 December 2018 before making the first soft land ...

'' which deployed on the far-side of the Moon on 3 Jan 2019. * The Moon rabbit was the subject of a humorous conversation between NASA mission control and the crew of

Apollo 11 Apollo 11 was a spaceflight conducted from July 16 to 24, 1969, by the United States and launched by NASA. It marked the first time that humans Moon landing, landed on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and Lunar Module pilot Buzz Aldrin l ...

:Woods, W. David; MacTaggart, Kenneth D.; O'Brien, Frank
"Day 5: Preparations for Landing"
''The Apollo 11 Flight Journal''. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Retrieved 9 October 2017 ::

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

: Among the large headlines concerning Apollo this morning, is one asking that you watch for a lovely girl with a big rabbit. An ancient legend says a beautiful Chinese girl called Chang-E has been living there for 4,000 years. It seems she was banished to the Moon because she stole the pill of immortality from her husband. You might also look for her companion, a large Chinese rabbit, who is easy to spot since he is always standing on his hind feet in the shade of a cinnamon tree. The name of the rabbit is not reported. :: Michael Collins: Okay. We'll keep a close eye out for the bunny girl.

Arts

Comics and animation

* The eponymous ''

Sailor Moon is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Naoko Takeuchi. It was originally serialized in Kodansha's Shōjo manga, ''shōjo'' manga magazine ''Nakayoshi'' from 1991 to 1997; the 60 individual chapters (later reorganized into ...

s human name is Usagi Tsukino, a pun on (Rom. ), which means Moon Rabbit in Japanese. Her daughter's name, Chibiusa, means little rabbit. * The central antagonist of the final arc of ''

Naruto ''Naruto'' is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto. It tells the story of Naruto Uzumaki, a young ninja who seeks recognition from his peers and dreams of becoming the Hokage, the leader of his village. T ...

'', Kaguya Ōtsutsuki, is partially based on the Moon Rabbit, according to which a rabbit can be seen in the markings of the Moon, brewing the Elixir of Life for the Moon Goddess. * The Moon rabbit theme makes an appearance in the "Legend of the Stars" section of the '' Kamen Rider Spirits'' manga, told by Sergei Koribanof to his son Masim. * In the ''

Dragon Ball is a Japanese media franchise created by Akira Toriyama in 1984. The Dragon Ball (manga), initial manga, written and illustrated by Toriyama, was Serial (literature), serialized in ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from 1984 to 1995, with the 519 indi ...

'' animation, Son Goku fights against the Rabbit Gang and solves the issue presented in the episode by taking the enemy leader, Monster Carrot, an anthropomorphic rabbit who turns anyone he touches into a carrot, and his human companions, to the Moon, where they are seen pounding rice cake mixture. * In the '' Problem Children Are Coming from Another World, Aren't They?'' anime, the character Black Rabbit is a Moon rabbit, with several references to the legends. * In the movie '' Over the Moon'', there is a rabbit called 'Jade' and he is the companion of the goddess

. *In the manga ''Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan - Episode 4: The Harvest Moon'' a supernatural creature by the name of The Moon Rabbit ( ) is responsible for the curse of the Mochizuki family. *In the anime ''

Saint Seiya , also known as ''Saint Seiya: Knights of the Zodiac'' or simply ''Knights of the Zodiac'' (translated from the French title ''Les Chevaliers du Zodiaque''), is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masami Kurumada. It ...

'' episode 60 Shiryu remembers an old fable of a rabbit sacrificing its life to save a traveler, and it resembles Shun's destiny of Andromeda, who sacrificed her life to save her people. *In the Korean webcomic '' The God of Highschool'' the Moon rabbit is one of the four pillars of fate. *The Japanese anime '' Madö King Granzört'' has characters who are humanoids with rabbit ears and they are natives of the Moon. *In the manga and anime ''

My Hero Academia is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kōhei Horikoshi. It was serialized in Shueisha's manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from July 2014 to August 2024, with its chapters collected in 42 volumes. Set in a wor ...

'', Rumi Usagiyama, also known as Mirko, is a Hero with the rabbit quirk. Her Hero outfit prominently features a crescent moon symbol on its chest, and her ultimate attack names all start with the word "Luna". *In ''

One Piece ''One Piece'' (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. It follows the adventures of Monkey D. Luffy and his crew, the Straw Hat Pirates, as he explores the Grand Line in search of the myt ...

'', a rabbit character traveling with the Strawhats named Carrot can transform into a 'Sulong' rabbit with long hair and tail by looking at a full moon. *In '' Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat'' there is an episode called "The Jade Rabbit" where Sagwa and Fu-Fu imagine themselves within a variation of the story about the character being a rabbit green like jade who works making mooncakes for a tyrant after being separated from his friend who is the Moon Princess. *In the movie '' Doraemon: Nobita's Chronicle of the Moon Exploration '' for anime series ''

Doraemon is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Fujiko F. Fujio. First serialized in 1969, the manga's chapters were collected in 45 volumes published by Shogakukan from 1974 to 1996. The story revolves around an earless robotic ...

'', Luca and Luna Tsukino are two characters who possess rabbit-like features and live on the moon alongside 9 other children. Similarly to Usagi Tsukino, their last name is a pun on (Rom. ), which translates to “of the moon” from Japanese.

Literature

* In a scene in the sixteenth century Chinese novel, ''

'', Sun Wukong fights the Moon Rabbit. * Douglas Wood wrote '' Rabbit and the Moon'' (1998), an adaption of the

legend.

Live-action television

* The

kaiju is a Japanese term that is commonly associated with media involving giant monsters. Its widespread contemporary use is credited to ''tokusatsu'' (special effects) director Eiji Tsuburaya and filmmaker Ishirō Honda, who popularized the ''kaiju'' ...

Lunaticks is based on the Moon Rabbit. He appears in the Tokusatsu series, '' Ultraman Ace'' as one of the series' 'Terrible-Monsters' under the command of its main antagonist, Yapool. Lunaticks's connection to the Moon Rabbit is further highlighted when it is revealed that he was responsible for draining the Moon of its magma (which was also the home of one of Ace's co-hosts, Yuko Minami), transforming it into a barren wasteland. *In Chinese TV series '' You Are My Glory'', the name of the main character, Yu Tu, is a pun on Yutu, the Chinese name of the moon rabbit. The Yutu moon rover is also mentioned multiple times in the show.

Music

* The American

electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

act, Rabbit in the Moon, founded in 1991, gets its name from this legend. * Singer/composer

Cosmo Sheldrake Cosmo Christopher Sheldrake is an English musician, composer, and Record producer, producer. He is the son of Parapsychology, parapsychologist Rupert Sheldrake and voice teacher Jill Purce, and the brother of mycologist Merlin Sheldrake. He rele ...

references " e rabbit in the moon" in his song, "The Moss." * The German band, Tarwater, released the albums ''Rabbit Moon'' and ''Rabbit Moon Revisited''. * The American emo act, Jets to Brazil, has a song "Perfecting Loneliness" that features the Apollo recording discussing the legend. * The British band Happy Graveyard Orchestra published "The Moon Rabbit", a mini suite inspired by the folklore, in 2015. * The Italian band, Moonlight Haze, has a song "The Rabbit of the Moon", inspired by the Japanese legend. * English musician

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...

wore a jumpsuit portraying Moon rabbits designed by Kansai Yamamoto during his Ziggy Stardust Tour. *American singer-songwriter

Clairo Claire Elizabeth Cottrill (born August 18, 1998), known professionally as Clairo, is an American singer-songwriter. She began posting music on the internet at age 13. Clairo rose to prominence following the viral success of the music video for ...

references "the rabbit moon" in her song, ''Reaper''. *Korean

boy band A boy band is a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in their Teenage, teenage years or in their twenties at the time of formation. Generally, boy bands perform love songs marketed towards girls and young women. Many boy bands ...

Big Bang The Big Bang is a physical theory that describes how the universe expanded from an initial state of high density and temperature. Various cosmological models based on the Big Bang concept explain a broad range of phenomena, including th ...

references the tale of the rabbit on the moon in their music video “Still Life” *Telugu song 'Chandrullo unde kundelu' from the movie Nuvvostanante Nenoddantana references the rabbit on the moon. *The music video for the song “●utlaws” ( Japanese: ) by vocal synth producer masarada (Japanese: ) is animated with frequent depictions of humanoid rabbit silhouettes and the moon.

Stage

* The rabbit in the Moon is a major theme in the 2011 musical, ''South Street'', with the rabbit appearing prominently in the Moon clock in Sammy's bar, and the main character being advised to "Look to the rabbit" for inspiration.

Video games

* Many video games have major characters based on the tale, including Reisen Udongein Inaba and the other Lunarians (some of whom pound Moon mochi to be made into magic medicine) from the ''

Touhou Project The , also known simply as , is a bullet hell shoot 'em up video game series created by Indie game, independent Japanese Doujin soft, soft developer Team Shanghai Alice. The team's sole member, ZUN (video game developer), Jun'ya "ZUN" Ōta, ha ...

'' series, the Broodals from '' Super Mario Odyssey'', and Chang'e and the Jade Rabbit/Moon Rabbit are featured as playable characters in the video game '' Smite''. In '' Final Fantasy IV'', the myths serve as the inspiration for a race of rabbit-like humanoid inhabitants of the Moon called Hummingways which, in turn, are the inspiration for the Loporrit race in '' Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker'', also inspired by the Moon rabbits. According to Morio Kishimoto, the plot for '' Sonic Frontiers'' was inspired by the tale. * * The Jade Rabbit is the name of a scout rifle in the ''Destiny'' series of games. In ''

Destiny 2 ''Destiny 2'' is a free-to-play online first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie. It was originally released as a pay-to-play game in 2017 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Windows. It became free-to-play, utilizing the games as a se ...

'', players can visit the Moon and find miniature statues of chibi-styled jade rabbit dolls which accept offerings of rice cake. * * A Moon Rabbit Cookie was added to ''Cookie Run: Kingdom'' on September 17, 2021. This character was originally from ''LINE/Kakao Cookie Run''. They also appeared in ''Cookie Run: Ovenbreak''. * * The Moon Rabbit Dragon is a dragon in the dragon breeding game ''Dragon Mania Legends''. * * In '' Ōkami'', the god of the moon and the brush technique Crescent (which summons the moon in the sky and changes the time to night) is Yumigami, a rabbit based on the legend. She pounds

with a mallet, and tries to hit

Amaterasu , often called Amaterasu () for short, also known as and , is the goddess of the sun in Japanese mythology. Often considered the chief deity (''kami'') of the Shinto pantheon, she is also portrayed in Japan's earliest literary texts, the () ...

with it upon her introduction, likely in reference to the feud between

and

Tsukuyomi-no-mikoto , or simply or , is the moon kami in Japanese mythology and the Shinto religion. The name "Tsukuyomi" is a compound of the Old Japanese words and . The ''Nihon Shoki'' mentions this name spelled as , but this ''yumi'' is likely a variation ...

. * * Moon rabbits play a big role in the indie game '' To The Moon'' in which one of the main characters, River Wyles, consistently makes origami rabbits throughout the game. One origami rabbit is blue and yellow, referring to an event within the game where a young River Wyles refers to the moon as being a rabbit stomach's with the constellations around it forming the head, ears and paws. The term Moon Rabbit may be taken more literally in the game although it could still be referencing the mythology behind it. * * The Ubisoft characters "Rabbids" in lore are said to be from the moon, showing the relation of rabbits and the moon. * * '' Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward'' features a rabbit as its main mascot and overseer of the Nonary game, known as Zero III. Zero III can be seen wearing traditional Chinese attire which could be referencing Chang'e and Moon Rabbits as near the end of the game, the player finds out that the facility the characters are locked in is located on the moon. * '' Animal Crossing: New Horizons'' has a rabbit villager named Ruby whose house is space-themed, and features a large moon prominently.

Notes

References

External links

* Kazumaro, Kanbe.
Buddhist sayings in everyday life – Tsuki no Usagi
. Otani University. 2005. Retrieved on July 25, 2007. * Varma. C.B.

. ''The Illustrated Jataka & Other Stories of the Buddha''. 2002. Retrieved on July 25, 2007. * �
與月為伴愉閱中秋
��, Taipei Public Library. 2006. Retrieved on July 25, 2007. * Wood, Douglas –
Rabbit and the Moon
* Daigo, Shoji.
When and how did Japanese jade rabbit begin to pound rice cake?
. JAXA/ISAS. 2022. Retrieved on September 1, 2022. * Daigo, Shoji.
History and Culture of Hare/Rabbit on the Moon (Jade Rabbit)
. Retrieved on July 11, 2023. {{The Moon Rabbits and hares in Buddhism Legendary creatures in Aztec mythology Chinese legendary creatures Cree legendary creatures Fiction set on the Moon Japanese legendary creatures Jataka tales Korean legendary creatures Maya legendary creatures Mid-Autumn Festival Moon myths Mythological rabbits and hares Animals in Chinese mythology Vietnamese legendary creatures Animals in Japanese mythology