Nue is a legendary youkai aka a mononoke.
It is described as having the head of a monkey, the limbs of a tiger, the body of a tanuki and the front half of a snake for a tail. It is sometimes depicted with the body of a tiger or the back of a tiger, the limbs of a tanuki, the tail of a fox, the head of a cat and the body of a chicken. Due to its appearance, it is sometimes called the Japanese chimera. But by any means, its name is synonymous with gloom, elusiveness, and cunning.
It is said to make terribly eerie bird cry "hyoo hyoo" noises that resemble that of the scaly thrush. Nue is also said to have the ability to shapeshift, often taking the form of a dark cloud that can fly. There is a theory that Nue is a thunder beast because the monster appears every time there is a lightning strike. Yokai is also said to be nocturnal as most sightings of it occur at night.
Nue is one of the oldest recorded yokai, first appearing in the Kojiki (712 AD), a record of Japan's early history. It also appears in the Heian-era encyclopedia Wamyo Ruijusho (938 AD), and again in the Heike Monogatari (1371 AD), which chronicles one of Japan's bloodiest civil wars and most tragic clan wars Copy. Nue are considered cruel monsters.
Legends: A famous nue attack occurred in the summer of 1153 in Kyoto. Emperor Konoe began to have nightmares every night, and became seriously ill. Neither medication nor prayer affected his illness, and the source is believed to be some kind of evil spirit that is visiting the palace every night, early in the morning. These events culminated a few days later in a storm that appeared over the royal palace at around 2am. Lightning struck the roof, setting it on fire. The emperor summoned the legendary samurai Minamoto no Yorimasa, to deal with the evil spirit. Yorimasa brings along his trusted companion, I no Hayata, and the legendary bow he received from Minamoto no Yorimitsu, to hunt the beast. During the night, a strange wind blew past them, bringing with it a dark cloud. Yorimasa shot his arrow into the clouds above the palace, and from the sky came a terrible scream and Nue fell to the ground. I no Hayata leaps onto the body, dealing it a finishing blow. The emperor immediately recovered from his illness and rewarded the heroes with the legendary Shishiō katana for their service.
After the beast was slain, the inhabitants of Kyoto feared the curse of revenge for killing the monster, so they loaded its body onto a ship and sent it down the Kamo River. The boat with the singer's body finally washed ashore near the village of Ashiya, in Hyogo Prefecture. The good citizens of Ashiya cleaned up the nue's body, built it a burial mound, and held a proper funeral. You can still visit the mound, known as Nuezuka, today.
Another legend tells of the spirit of the dead nue turned into a horse, raised by Yorimasa and named Kinoshita. Since this horse was a good horse, it was stolen by Taira no Munemori, so Yorimasa raised an army against the Taira. Since this led to Yorimasa's ruin, it is said that the nue took revenge in this way.
In Kumakōgen, Kamiukena District, Ehime Prefecture, there is a legend that the nue's true identity is Yorimasa's mother. Previously, in the era when the Taira clan was at its peak, Yorimasa's mother lived in hiding in this place that was her hometown, and at a pond called Azoga-ike in a mountain region, she prayed. with the guardian dragon of the pond for her son's luck in the battle and revival of Genji (the Minamoto clan), and thus the mother's body turned into that of a nue due to this prayer and hatred towards the Taira family, and then she flew towards Kyoto. Nue, who represented the mother, in making the emperor ill, thus allowed her own son, Yorimasa, to accomplish something of victory by being killed by him. The nue that was pierced by Yorimasa's arrow then returned to Azoga-ike and became the guardian of the pond, but she lost her life from the arrow wound.
📚 Explore more of the Mystical Creatures series here: Dive into the Enchanted Realms of Mythology
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