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Ferocious Fiends: 007

Nue

鵼

Pronunciation:

(NU-ay)

English Name:

Japanese Chimera

Gender:

Unknown

Locomotion:

Quadripedal, flight

Distinctive Features:

Variable. See below.

Supernatural Abilities:

Riding inside storm clouds

Breathing fire

Weapons:

Unsettling screech

Abundance:

Rare

Habitat:

Storm clouds

The NUe is often described as resembling a mixture of these animals.

Claim to Fame:

A harbinger of bad luck and illness, the fearsome Nue was first described in the twelfth-century epic Tale of the Heike as comprising a monkey head attached to a tanuki (Japanese raccoon-dog) body, with a tiger’s limbs and a snake for a tail. Over the generations other hybrids have been described as well, including one with a monkey’s head, a tiger’s body, a tanuki’s legs, and a fox’s tail. Occasionally it even appears as a bird-like creature with a human face.

The Nue is a vague and volatile sort of being, elusive and difficult to pin down with any specificity. Because of the extreme danger in closely approaching this yokai, it remains unknown whether the differing appearances represent one or multiple “species” of creature. Some theories hold that the bizarre appearance of the otherworldly Nue is actually a type of optical illusion. The human mind is unable to assimilate the true form and nature of the beast, resulting in a visual patchwork of different animals as the brain attempts to come to terms with what, exactly, it is seeing. If this is the case, its true form must be even stranger than we can imagine.

A great many sightings of the beast have been reported over the years. Morihiko Fujisawa’s A Collection of Japanese Folklore lists no fewer than eleven appearances between 905 and 1774. The most notorious occurred in the spring of 1153, when a strange black cloud appeared over the Imperial Palace night after night, disturbing then-Emperor Konoe’s sleep with constant and terrible nightmares, slowly but surely sapping his health. Eventually, an exasperated royal retainer fired an arrow into the heart of the cloud, causing a mortally wounded Nue to drop from the sky.

Utagawa Kuniyoshi’s 1852 depiction of the Nue.

The Attack!

Close encounters are extremely dangerous. Although it is theoretically capable of causing serious injury via tooth, poison fang, or claw, the real threat isn’t physical violence but rather the Nue’s ability to induce illness in those who come into close or repeated contact with it. It is unknown whether the creature actively intends humans harm or if sickness is a mere side effect of the human mind attempting to reconcile the Nue’s strange quintessence and physiognomy. Whatever the case, there is no question that any sort of contact with the creature is hazardous to your health.

Fortunately, the vast majority of Nue encounters occur at a distance, “attacks” taking the form of an unsettling, bird-like cry that scares the daylights out of people. Like most yokai, it generally appears at night, making it even more difficult to make sense of the Nue’s already confusing forms. Even at some remove, repeated contact can drive victims over the brink into illness, as was the case with Emperor Konoe.

NUE NAMING:

The Asian Thrush (Zoothera dauma), currently known as toratsugumi in Japanese, was long ago known as the Nue. Its call was said to resemble that of a mysterious and as-yet unnamed yokai then plaguing the countryside. Over the generations, the yokai came to be known as “Nue” rather than the bird.

Surviving an Encounter:

1) Follow weather reports to track storm clouds.

2) Brush up on your skills with the bow and arrow.

3) Invest in a pair of earplugs.

4) Look an the bright side and consider yourself fortunate: sightings of this strange and dangerous creature are extraordinarily uncommon in the modern age.

Yokai Party:

Japan is a nation of festivals, and more than a few of them are related to the Nue. For example, every January 28th a festival intended to keep the creature at bay is held in Shizuoka Prefecture, roughly one hour south of Tokyo by bullet train. It is called the Nue-barai Matsuri, or “Nue Exorcism Festival.”

A stuffed Nue on display in Nagoaka, Shizuoka Prefecture