Kitsune

Spirit | Shinto

The fox spirit of Shinto tradition; a shapeshifter with up to nine tails; can be a trickster, a guardian, or a messenger of Inari; older and more powerful foxes grow additional tails. A nine-tailed fox (kyubi no kitsune) at 1,000 years old achieves near-divine status with golden or white fur; the most notorious is Tamamo-no-Mae, who haunted the imperial court and transformed into the Killing Stone upon death.

Parallels: Huli jing (Chinese), Kumiho (Korean), Selkie (Celtic — supernatural spouse revealed); Loki (Norse trickster) See also: Inari, Ōkuninushi