Nine-tailed fox

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

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

Describing the transformation and other features of the fox, Guo Pu (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

• Tails in Sonic The Hedgehog 2 (1992)
• Ninetales in Pokémon (1996)
• Ninetails, a boss in Okami (2006)
• Ahri in League of Legends (2009)
• Mobile Task Force Epsilon-11 in SCP – Containment Breach (2012)
• Kyubi, Frostail and Darkyubi in Yo-kai Watch (2013)
• Da Ji in Smite (2017)
• Yae Miko in Genshin Impact (2020)
• Shichibi in "Silent Hill F" (2025)

Literature, graphic novels, comics

• Kurama in YuYu Hakusho (1990)
• Kurama in Naruto (1999)
• Kyubimon in Digimon Tamers (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 (1865)
• Mobile Task Force Epsilon-11 and SCP-953 in SCP Foundation (2007)
• Kyubi in Blue Exorcist by Kazue Kato (2011)
• Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao (2021)

Film

• Painted Skin (2008) and (2012)
• A Chinese Fairy Tale (2011)
• League of Gods (2016)
• Once Upon a Time (2017)
• Hanson and the Beast (2017)
• The Legend of Hei (2019)
• Jiang Ziyia (2020)
• Soul Snatcher (2020)
• Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021), the Jiu Wei Hu is among the creatures residing in Ta Lo
• Umma (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 (2014) and The Investiture of the Gods 2 (2015)
• Legend of Nine Tails Fox (2016)
• Fox in the Screen (2016)
• Eternal Love (2017)
• Moonshine and Valentine (2017)
• Beauties in the Closet (2018)
• Investiture of the Gods (2019)
• Love, Death & Robots Episode 8 (2019)
• The Life of White Fox (2019)
• Eternal Love of Dream (2020)
• Kumiho in Lovecraft Country Episode 6 "Meet Me in Daegu" (2020)
• Lee Dong Wook in Tale Of The Nine Tailed (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 (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.
• ' (2023)
• The Mickey Mouse Funhouse 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.
• No Tail to Tell (2026)

See also

• Hồ ly tinh
• Huli jing
• Huxian, Fox Immortal
• Inari Ōkami, Japanese kami
• Kitsune
• Kumiho
• Nine-tailed turtle

Citations

General and cited references