The nine-tailed fox () is a mythical fox entity originating from

Chinese mythology Chinese mythology () is mythology that has been passed down in oral form or recorded in literature throughout the area now known as Greater China. Chinese mythology encompasses a diverse array of myths derived from regional and cultural tradit ...

. In Chinese folklores, foxes are depicted as spirits possessed of magic powers. These foxes are often depicted as mischievous, usually tricking other people, with the ability to disguise themselves as a beautiful man or woman.

Origin

The earliest mention of the nine-tailed fox is the ''

Shanhaijing The ''Classic of Mountains and Seas'', also known as ''Shanhai jing'' (), formerly Wade-Giles, romanized as the ''Shan-hai Ching'', is a Chinese classic text and a compilation of mythic geography and beasts. Early versions of the text may hav ...

'' (''Classic of Mountains and Seas''), compiled 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 ...

(475 BC–221 BC) to the

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 ...

(202 BC – 9 AD; 25 AD –220 AD) period. The work states: In chapter 14 of the ''Shanhaijing'',

Guo Pu Guo Pu (; AD 276–324), courtesy name Jingchun (), was a Chinese historian, poet, and writer during the Eastern Jin period, and is best known as one of China's foremost commentators on ancient texts. Guo was a Taoist mystic, geomancer, collec ...

had commented that the nine-tailed fox was an auspicious omen that appeared during times of peace. However, in chapter 1, another aspect of the nine-tailed fox is described: Prince Hanzoku terrorised by a nine- tailed fox

Prince Hanzoku terrorised by a nine- tailed fox

In one ancient myth,

Yu the Great Yu the Great or Yu the Engineer was a legendary king in ancient China who was credited with "the first successful state efforts at flood control", his establishment of the Xia dynasty, which inaugurated Dynasties in Chinese history, dynastic ru ...

encountered a white nine-tailed fox, which he interpreted as an auspicious sign that he would marry Nüjiao. In Han iconography, the nine-tailed fox is sometimes depicted at

Mount Kunlun The Kunlun Mountains constitute one of the longest mountain chains in Asia, extending for more than . In the broadest sense, the chain forms the northern edge of the Tibetan Plateau south of the Tarim Basin. Located in Western China, the Kunlun ...

and along with

Xi Wangmu The Queen Mother of the West, known by various local names, is a mother goddess in Chinese religion and mythology, also worshipped later in neighbouring countries. She is attested from ancient times. The first historical information on her ...

in her role as the goddess of immortality. According to the first-century ''Baihutong'' (''Debates in the White Tiger Hall''), the fox's nine tails symbolize abundant progeny. Describing the transformation and other features of the fox,

(276–324) made the following comment: In other articles, it is said that" “The fox demon from Heaven was incarnated as this woman to bring disaster to the Shang Dynasty.” “Once in human form, fox spirits would take advantage of mortal humans…. However, there are several exceptions to this general rule. Some stories describe fox spirits as having a strong sense of honor.” The '' Youyang Zazu'' made a connection between nine-tailed foxes and the divine:

In popular culture

Each of the nine-tailed fox appearances are listed in each section in order by year:

Games

* Ninetales in ''

Pokémon is a Japanese media franchise consisting of List of Pokémon video games, video games, Pokémon (TV series), animated series and List of Pokémon films, films, Pokémon Trading Card Game, a trading card game, and other related media. The fran ...

'' (1996) * Ninetails, a boss in '' Okami'' (2006) * Ahri in ''

League of Legends ''League of Legends'' (''LoL'', commonly referred to as ''League'', is a multiplayer online battle arena video game developed and published by Riot Games. Inspired by ''Defense of the Ancients'', a Mod (video games), custom map for ''Warcraf ...

'' (2009) * Kyubi, Frostail and Darkyubi in ''

Yo-kai Watch is a Japanese role-playing video game series and associated media franchise created and developed by Level-5. The first game in the series was released for the Nintendo 3DS in 2013. Three main sequels and several spinoffs, on both Nintendo a ...

'' (2013) * Da Ji in '' Smite'' (2017) * Yae Miko in ''

Genshin Impact ''Genshin Impact'' is a 2020 action role-playing game produced by MiHoYo, MiHoYo/HoYoverse. The game features an anime-style open world environment and an action-based Role-playing battle systems, battle system using Classical element, element ...

'' (2020)

Literature, graphic novels, comics

* Kurama in ''

YuYu Hakusho is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yoshihiro Togashi. It tells the story of Yusuke Urameshi, a teenage delinquent who is struck and killed by a car while saving a child's life. After several tests presented to him ...

'' (1990) * Kurama in ''

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 ...

'' (1999) * Kyubimon in ''

Digimon Tamers is a Japanese anime television series and the third television series in the ''Digimon'' franchise, produced by Toei Animation. The series takes place in a new setting separate from the preceding series, '' Digimon Adventure'' and ''Digimon ...

'' (2001) * Nine tails Guardian '' The God of Highschool'' (2011) * Lico in '' The Demon Girl Next Door'' (2014) * '' Fox Spirit Matchmaker'' (2015) * '' The Helpful Fox Senko-san'' (2017) * Shuos Jedao in '' Machineries of Empire'' (2016) * One Hundred Ghost Tales From China and Japan by

Tsukioka Yoshitoshi Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (; also named Taiso Yoshitoshi ; 30 April 1839 – 9 June 1892) was a Japanese printmaker.Louis-Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric. (2005)"Tsukoka Kōgyō"in ''Japan Encyclopedia,'' p. 1000. Yoshitoshi ha ...

(1865) * Mobile Task Force Epsilon-11 and SCP-953 in

SCP Foundation The SCP Foundation is a fictional organization featured in stories created by contributors on the SCP Wiki, a wiki-based Collaborative fiction, collaborative writing project. Within the project's shared universe, shared fictional universe, the ...

(2007) * Kyubi in

Blue Exorcist is a Japanese dark fantasy manga series written and illustrated by Kazue Kato. The story revolves around Rin Okumura, a teenager who discovers that he and his twin brother Yukio are the sons of Satan, born from a human woman, and he is ...

by Kazue Kato (2011) * Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao (2021)

Film

* '' Painted Skin'' (2008) and its sequel (2012) * '' A Chinese Fairy Tale'' (2011) * '' League of Gods'' (2016) * ''

Once Upon a Time "Once upon a time" is a stock phrase used to introduce a narrative of past events, typically in fairy tales and folk tales. It has been used in some form since at least 1380 in storytelling in the English language and has started many narrative ...

'' (2017) * '' Hanson and the Beast'' (2017) * '' The Legend of Hei'' (2019) * '' Jiang Ziyia'' (2020) * ''

Soul Snatcher ''Soul Snatcher'' () is a 2020 Chinese live-action/Computer-generated imagery, CGI fantasy film produced by Bill Kong, Jiang Zhiqiang starring Li Xian (actor), Li Xian and Chen Linong. Plot To achieve immortality and be promoted to Xian (Taoism ...

'' (2020) * ''

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings ''Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings'' is a 2021 American superhero film based on Marvel Comics featuring the character Shang-Chi. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is List of Marvel ...

'' (2021), the Jiu Wei Hu is among the creatures residing in Ta Lo * ''

Umma Umma () in modern Dhi Qar Province in Iraq, was an ancient city in Sumer. There is some scholarly debate about the Sumerian and Akkadian names for this site. Traditionally, Umma was identified with Tell Jokha. More recently it has been sugges ...

'' (2022)

TV series

* ''The Legend of Nezha'' (2003) * ''Strange Tales of Liao Zhai'' (2005) * '' The Legend and the Hero'' (2007) and its sequel (2009) * '' My Girlfriend Is a Gumiho'' (2010) * '' Gu Family Book'' (2013) * ''

The Investiture of the Gods ''The Investiture of the Gods'', also known by its Chinese titles () and is a 16th-century Chinese novel and one of the major vernacular Chinese works in the gods and demons (''shenmo'') genre written during the Ming dynasty (1368–1644). Co ...

'' (2014) and ''The Investiture of the Gods 2'' (2015) * ''

Legend of Nine Tails Fox ''Legend of Nine Tails Fox'' () is a 2016 Chinese television series based on six tales in ''Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio'' by Pu Songling. It originally aired two episodes daily on Hunan TV, Sunday through Tuesday at 22:00, as well as being ...

'' (2016) * ''Fox in the Screen'' (2016) * '' Eternal Love'' (2017) * ''

Moonshine and Valentine ''Moonshine and Valentine'' ( Chinese: 结爱·千岁大人的初恋), also known as ''The Love Knot: His Excellency's First Love'', is a 2018 Chinese streaming television series based on the novel ''Jie Ai·Yihe Fenghuan'' (Chinese: 结爱·异� ...

'' (2017) * ''Beauties in the Closet'' (2018) * ''

Investiture of the Gods ''The Investiture of the Gods'', also known by its Chinese titles () and is a 16th-century Chinese novel and one of the major Written vernacular Chinese, vernacular Chinese works in the gods and demons (''shenmo'') genre written during the Min ...

'' (2019) * ''

Love, Death & Robots ''Love, Death & Robots'' (stylized as LOVE DEATH + ROBOTS; represented in emoji form as ❤️❌🤖) is an adult animation, adult animated Anthology series, anthology television series created by Tim Miller (director), Tim Miller and streamin ...

'' Episode 8 (2019) * ''The Life of White Fox'' (2019) * '' Eternal Love of Dream'' (2020) * Kumiho in ''

Lovecraft Country Lovecraft Country is a term coined for the New England setting used by H. P. Lovecraft in many of his weird fiction stories, which combines real and fictitious locations. This setting has been elaborated on by other writers working in the Cthulh ...

'' Episode 6 "Meet Me in Daegu" (2020) * Lee Dong Wook in ''

Tale Of The Nine Tailed ''Tale of the Nine Tailed'' () is a 2020 South Korean television drama starring Lee Dong-wook, Jo Bo-ah, and Kim Bum. It aired on TVN (South Korean TV channel), tvN from October 7 to December 3, 2020, every Wednesday and Thursday at 22:30 (Time ...

'' (2020) * '' My Roommate Is a Gumiho'' (2021) * In '' Kamen Rider Geats'' (2022), the main character's motif is based on the Nine-tailed fox. Additionally, the main character's final form takes the form of the Nine-tailed fox motif. * In ''

Sonic Prime ''Sonic Prime'' is an animated television series based on the ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' video game series, co-produced by Sega of America, Netflix Animation, WildBrain Studios and Man of Action Entertainment. It is the sixth animated television se ...

'' (2022–2024), Nine is an alternative version of Tails in another dimension who added seven mechanic tails to his body, making him a nine-tailed fox. * '' Unicorn: Warriors Eternal'' (2023) * The ''

Mickey Mouse Funhouse ''Mickey Mouse Funhouse'' is an American animated preschool children's television series created by Phil Weinstein and Thomas Hart and is the successor to ''Mickey Mouse Clubhouse'' and ''Mickey Mouse Mixed-Up Adventures''. The series debuted on ...

'' episode "HALT, Tiger" features the character Cho Sook (voiced by Jee Young Han), a shapeshifter residing in the Land of Myth and Legend's Shadow Mountain who can turn into a nine-tailed fox. * Jentry Chau vs The Underworld (2024): A nine-tailed fox spirit comes out of Jentry’s portal to ''Diyu'' and attacks Ed.

References

Literature

* * {{Japanese folklore long

Fox spirit Huli jing () are Chinese mythological creatures usually capable of shapeshifting, who may either be benevolent or malevolent spirits. In Chinese mythology and folklore, the fox spirit takes variant forms with different meanings, powers, charact ...

Yaoguai Chinese legendary creatures Vietnamese legendary creatures Japanese legendary creatures Korean legendary creatures Mythological foxes Animals in Chinese mythology Shapeshifters Therianthropes Inari faith - Legendary creatures with supernumerary body parts Creatures described in the Classic of Mountains and Seas