Kitsunebi

Kanji: 狐火
Kana: きつねび
Pronunciation: kitsunebi

TRANSLATION: Fox Fire
ALTERNATE NAMES: Hitobosu; Rinka
ORIGIN: Edo period folklore

HABITAT: Fields, Mountains
DIET: None

ABILITIES:

• Fire creation
• Illusion
• Flight

WEAKNESSES:

• Water
• Prayer

OVERVIEW: Kitsunebi is a ghost-light yokai made by kitsune. The orbs appear at night across rural Japan and float above fields and mountain trails.

APPEARANCE: These mysterious lights float through the dark air. They glow with a red or orange hue, and some reports note blue-green flames. Each orb matches the brightness of a paper lantern. Kitsunebi appear in long chains that line up across the landscape. The orbs hover less than a meter above the ground. The flames flicker and vanish whenever a human comes too close.

BEHAVIOR: Kitsunebi gather to mimic the wedding processions of foxes. The orbs lead travelers astray into deep forests and marshes. Erratic movement vexes onlookers and breaks any sense of direction. A close approach makes the lights vanish at once.

INTERACTIONS: Humans see them from a distance in rural areas. The orbs remain mostly harmless but can cause people to get lost on familiar paths. Farmers count the lights and read their color to predict the year's rice harvest. Travelers ward off the illusion with sacred prayers or by keeping near running water.

OTHER FORMS: Foxes breathe out the fire from their mouths. Some accounts say a kitsune holds a bone in its mouth and the bone starts the flame. Other tales suggest the lights are the foxes themselves in spirit form.