#i think i should do a japanese diety version just for fun lmao

[ganon-binary]

what about top 5 youkai?

ooh this was a nice one! writing this took a while because i changed my mind so many times lmao. reply under the cut!

5. Oni (Ushi-Oni and Shikome), good ol' demons having fun.

Everyone likes oni but i find these two types of oni more interesting than the generic ones. ushi-oni is a weird cow spider who lives in water and shikome are just lovely ladies who like to smile. Also the shikome should have beaten Izanagi's ass if you ask me.

4. Ningyo / Yao Bikuni, not a Disney mermaid.

Ningyo are very different from their western counterparts, they are more fish than human and described as "otherworldly nightmares" and ain't that the coolest thing ever. Yao Bikuni is a story about a woman who got granted eternal life after eating the flesh of a mermaid. And imo they should make a movie about that

3. Kasha, the hell cat.

I've always loved cats and thought afterlife was cool as hell (pun intended) and kasha kinda combines those two things. They cart corpses to hell (or just eat them). Nothing much to say, i just think they’re neat

2. Komainu / Shīsā, the doggos.

I remember seeing a picture of one of those statues as a kid and going "well that looks weird.. I like it." They are very popular and i think for a good reason, they are nice doggos. Not to mention the statues look cool as heck. I prefer Shīsā just because of their coloring tbh. (i also have a komainu tattoo on my left arm)

1. Nue, the terror of Heian.

Honestly it's hard to describe why i love nue so much. It's a shape-shifting chimera with a weird cry. The multiple versions of the nue and the legends what happened to it's corpse fit with the chimera theme imo. I think my favorite version is probably the one where the nue was Yorimasa's mother (you know what? they should make a movie about that too)

Honorable Mentions: Hinoenma and Yamata no Orochi. Long story short, hinoenma are badass women who destroy men, who doesn't love that. And Yamata no Orochi is a drunk, multi-headed snake, way cooler than the Greek Hydra if you ask me