Fantastic Foxes: Difference between revisions

The fox is no different. Foxes are a nocturnal hunter, with an eerie, haunting cry, and a reputation for almost supernatural cunning and cleverness. It is no surprise that their mythological counterparts draw their inspiration from these traits.

'''Wisdom and Intelligence'''

In folklore and myth, the fox is often depicted as a very wise or clever animal.

'''Trickster'''

Since the fox is very clever, it is often depicted as a trickster, using cunning to get what it wants. In this guise it may be benevolent, teaching a lesson to the deceived, but more often it is only out for its own amusement or advancement or even completely malicious.

Examples of trickster foxes appear in Native American myths, Asian myths about nine-tailed fox spirits (including [[Kitsune]]), and Aesop's Fables. There is also the extensive tale of Reynard the Fox, who outwits multiple foes with cunning.

'''Thieves'''

Since foxes steal from humans, this depiction is not surprising. Using cunning or treachery, a fox will outwit a human or other animal to steal what it wants. This is often closely related to the trickster version of the fox.

In Aesop's Fables, the fox uses flattery to steal cheese from the crow.

'''Shapeshifter'''

In keeping with being able to deceive, some legends paint foxes or fox spirits as shapeshifters, able to assume other forms under certain conditions or even at will. Quite often, the assumed form would be human but would retain some fox-like characteristics.

Asian nine-tailed fox spirits and Inuit fox spirits could transform into humans, usually beautiful girls.

'''Feminine'''

Foxes are nocturnal and associated with the Moon, they are also extremely graceful animals, like cats. For these reasons, they are often associated with the feminine. If it is a shapeshifter, it will assume the form of an attractive female.

As mentioned above, Asian fox spirits were often depicted as female. The Chinese version, the huli jing, was believed to be made up entirely of feminine energy (yin or jing), and had to consume masculine energy (yang) to survive.

'''Supernatural'''

The mysterious and eerie cry of the fox has led to many mythological versions having mystical or supernatural powers beyond shapeshifting.

These myths and legends have both appeared in altered forms in modern stories and have influenced our own view of fox traits, leading to fox [[Animal Motifs]].

By far the best known outside of its country of origin, the kitsune is the Japanese version of the myth. Kitsune were neutral tricksters in general, but could also be malicious or benevolent. See the main page for a full description and examples.

Gumiho are the Korean version of the legend, and are always sadistic and malicious in nature. It was believed that a fox that lived 1000 years would become a gumiho. Gumihos can change their form, although they always retain some fox-like aspect such as paws, a tail, ears, eyes, or their voice. They were believed to eat either human hearts or human livers to survive, and some myths state that eating enough of these will allow the gumiho to become human. In other myths, a gumiho who abstains from killing and eating meat for 1000 days would lose its evil nature and become a human woman.

The Chinese huli jing can be either a good or evil spirit. Like kitsune and gumiho, huli jings are shapeshifters, and often assume the forms of beautiful young women. Indeed, the Chinese believed that they were entirely made up of feminine energy (yin or jing) and needed to gather masculine energy (yang) to survive.

Evil huli jing would often seduce or possess important men in order to trick them or consume their life force (yang). They were also known to seduce or mislead the innocent away from Dharma. Good huli jing are often featured in love stories with human men.

European foxes tended to be very intelligent tricksters, often anthropomorphic, which sometimes had supernatural powers.

* The eponymous character of ''[[Yobi, the Five Tailed Fox]]''

* ''Forbidden Love'' was another Korean tv drama with a race of nine-tailed fox-people, one of whom falls in love with a human.

* In ''Imperial Lady'' by [[Andre Norton]], Silver Snow's maid Willow turns out to be a fox spirit in disguise.

* The sequels to the [[Judge Dee]] series has a Huli Jing show up (sort of): a priest explains that he was always sort of shunned because his father had been tricked into marrying a fox-woman, who turned back into a fox some time after he (the priest) was born. The judge (and everyone else) stare at him in silence for a while, because it's blindingly obvious that the wife ran off with another man, the father passing it off as the fox spirit going back to the wild.

* The manwa ''Shin Gumiho'' retells the myth of the Gumiho who wanted to become human.

* The eponymous character of ''[[Laon]]''

* Bystrouška from the Opera ''The Cunning Little Vixen'' is a anthropomorphic fox along the lines of Reynard.

* There are several [[Palette Swap|Palette Swapped]] fox girls in the Korean MMORPG ''[[La Tale]]''. One variety is even called Gumihos. They were so popular the company later added them as a pet.

** Similarly, they are an enemy in ''[[Maple Story]]'', although they appear as multi-tailed foxes rather than girls with multiple tails and ears.

* Xiaomu in ''[[Namco X Capcom]]'' and ''Super Robot Taisen OG Saga: Endless Frontier'' is a 765 Chinese year old werefox, while her nemesis Saya is a [[Kitsune|Japanese werefox]].

* Reynardine of ''[[Gunnerkrigg Court]]'' is based on the tale of Reynard the Fox.