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Tokaku

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Tradition: Chinese Mythology
Alternative Names: 龟毛兔角, Turtle Hair and Rabbit Horns, Tortoise-Furred Rabbit Horns
Category: Rabbit

The Myth

Tokaku refers to the expression “turtle hair and rabbit horns,” describing two impossible phenomena: turtles growing hair and rabbits developing horns. According to the Soushen Ji, drawing on works such as the Wuxing Zhi and Jingbo Yi Zhuan, unusual occurrences in nature were sometimes interpreted as ominous signs for the state. During the reign of King Zhou of Shang, a large turtle was said to have grown hair and rabbits were said to have grown horns. These phenomena were regarded as portents of war.

The expression subsequently became a metaphor for things considered impossible or beyond ordinary understanding. A similar expression, “black crow and white horse horns” (烏白馬角), likewise describes unnatural combinations that cannot exist in the ordinary world. Both expressions use extraordinary physical features to represent events that defy common sense.

In Buddhist writings, turtle hair and rabbit horns also serve as examples of things that exist in name but have no actual substance. Texts such as the Mahāprajñāpāramitā Śāstra and Mohe Zhiguan employ the imagery to explain the emptiness of all phenomena, teaching that neither the self nor other things possess a fixed, independently attainable existence. Other Buddhist works similarly list turtle hair, rabbit horns, and other nonexistent things as illustrations of the insubstantial nature of reality.

Sources

“Tokaku.” 新版TYZ 妖怪図鑑 (New TYZ Yokai Encyclopedia). https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1084081649.html

Moon Rabbit

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Tradition: Chinese Mythology, Japanese Mythology, Korean Mythology, Vietnamese Mythology, American Mythology
Alternative Names: Jade Rabbit, Yutu, 玉兔, Moon Hare, Lunar Rabbit
Category: Rabbit

The Myth

The Moon Rabbit, also known as the Jade Rabbit or Moon Hare, is a mythical rabbit or hare believed to inhabit the Moon. Its image originates from interpretations of the dark markings on the lunar surface, which resemble a rabbit. The creature appears in traditions across East Asia, including China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam, as well as in some Indigenous American cultures. In East Asian mythology, the Moon Rabbit is commonly depicted pounding ingredients with a mortar and pestle. The substance it prepares varies between traditions: Chinese and Vietnamese accounts often describe it making the elixir of immortality, while Japanese and Korean versions commonly portray it preparing rice cakes, such as mochi or tteok. Some Chinese depictions also show the rabbit making medicine for mortals or preparing mooncakes.

In Chinese tradition, the Moon Rabbit is frequently associated with Chang’e, the goddess of the Moon, for whom it prepares the elixir of life. References to a lunar hare appear in early Chinese literature, including the Chu Ci, a collection of poems compiled during the Western Han period. Later sources also mention the Jade Hare and Gold Hare, names used poetically for the animal on the Moon and, by extension, for the Moon itself. The image of the rabbit preparing medicine remained influential in Chinese poetry and art, including depictions embroidered on imperial robes.

A Buddhist story offers another explanation for the rabbit’s presence on the Moon. In the Jataka tales, a monkey, an otter, a jackal, and a rabbit resolve to practise charity on the full-moon day. When an old man asks them for food, the other animals gather what they can find, but the rabbit can offer only grass. To demonstrate its generosity, it throws itself into a fire so that the man can eat its flesh. The rabbit remains unharmed, and the old man reveals himself to be Śakra, king of the gods. Moved by the rabbit’s selflessness, he places its likeness on the Moon so that its virtue will be remembered. The rabbit is consequently regarded in this story as a Bodhisattva. A Japanese version recorded in the Konjaku Monogatarishū features a fox and a monkey as the rabbit’s companions.

The Moon Rabbit also appears in the Chinese novel Journey to the West. In one episode, a celestial rabbit escapes from the Moon Palace and disguises herself as a woman, intending to marry the monk Tang Sanzang and absorb his vital yang essence. Sun Wukong discovers her identity and battles her. Before he can defeat her, the celestial figure Taiyin Xingjun arrives and reveals that the creature is the Jade Rabbit, a guardian of the mystical elixir in the Moon Palace. Taiyin Xingjun explains that the rabbit secretly escaped from the palace and asks Sun Wukong to spare her. The Monkey King agrees, and the rabbit is returned to the Moon. The Moon Rabbit is also closely connected with lunar festivals across Asia, including China’s Mid-Autumn Festival, Japan’s Tsukimi, Korea’s Chuseok, and Vietnam’s Tết Trung Thu, where it forms part of the imagery and traditions associated with the Moon.

Sources

“Moon Rabbit.” Chinese Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%9C%88%E5%85%94

Shamonda

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Tradition: Japanese Mythology
Alternative Names: 遮文荼, Chamunda, Cāmuṇḍā
Category: Pig

The Myth

Shamonda is a female demon-deity appearing in Buddhist scriptures and esoteric Buddhist iconography. She has the head of a boar and the body of a woman, and is regarded as the consort of Enmaten, the Buddhist deity associated with Yama, the lord of death. She is also counted as the foremost of the Seven Mothers, a group of goddesses associated with Enma and his retinue. In the Womb Realm Mandala, which expresses esoteric Buddhist teachings through the arrangement of sacred figures, Shamonda is placed in the western part of the Outer Vajra Court alongside other members of the Seven Mothers, including Taishakuten’s female counterpart and Kumarī.

Shamonda is commonly depicted with dark reddish-black skin, a boar’s head, and a crown. She sits on a mat, holding a vessel or a skull cup in her right hand, while her left hand is clenched into a fist and rests near her waist. She also appears beside Enmaten in mandalas dedicated to him. Shamonda was sometimes regarded as a fearsome demon with a dangerous nature and was identified with Kissa, a spirit believed to possess corpses and associated with the Vidāra ritual, a magical practice involving the reanimation of the dead.

The name Shamonda is a Japanese transcription of the Sanskrit name Chamunda, a Hindu goddess associated with death and said to be a consort of Yama. Chamunda is also identified with Durga, the fierce warrior goddess and consort of Shiva. Shamonda likewise came to be associated with a wrathful form of Daijizaiten’s consort, corresponding to Durga. However, the Hindu goddesses named Chamunda are generally depicted with human heads rather than boar heads. The boar-headed appearance of Shamonda is therefore thought to have developed through confusion with Varahi, another member of the Hindu Seven Mothers who is distinguished by her boar’s head.

Sources

“Shamwonda.” 新版TYZ 妖怪図鑑 (New TYZ Yokai Encyclopedia). https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1073665901.html

Wakmangganchi Aragondi

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Tradition: Indian Mythology
Alternative Names: Wakmabitchi Warak Wakkimbi, Seven-Headed Boar
Category: Pig

The Myth

Wakmangganchi Aragondi was the greatest and most terrifying monster in Garo mythology, a primordial boar whose rampage devastated the Garo Hills before the god Goera finally slew it. Its story began when Goera’s maternal uncles descended into the subterranean world with the fisherman Gonga Tritpa Rakshanpa and his dog. They returned to the surface with the progenitor of all the world’s birds and a tiny piglet, which they named Wakmabitchi Warak Wakkimbi. The piglet was kept in a stone enclosure, where it continued to grow until the walls had to be dismantled to release it. As it grew enormous and increasingly uncontrollable, people fed it from a safe distance. Eventually, it knocked its three caretakers into its feeding trough and devoured them. From then on, nobody dared approach the beast, which continued to grow in size and power until it became known as Wakmangganchi Aragondi.

The monstrous boar was so immense that its body stretched across the landscape: when it stood upright, its snout touched Dura Hill, while its tail lay in the Songdu River. It possessed seven heads, each bearing seven tusks as sharp as double-edged scimitars and a single eye in its forehead that shone like the full moon. Seven clumps of bamboo, seven plots of thatch grass, and seven bulrushes grew on its back, alongside seven perennial streams. This miniature landscape sheltered a pair of langurs and their offspring, as well as seven pairs of moles. Wakmangganchi Aragondi roamed freely, devouring anyone it encountered and destroying crops, particularly gourds, melons, pumpkins, and yams. Its attacks continued even after Goera’s birth, when two more of his maternal uncles were eaten while travelling to buy a goat. When Goera came of age, he resolved to end the monster’s reign of terror.

To prepare for the battle, Goera enlisted the aid of the giant crab Songduni Angkorong Sagalni Damohong and forced his grandmother to reveal what she knew about the monster. He also befriended supernatural beings, including the progenitors of Steel and Dolomite, and obtained a magical double-edged sword, bow, and arrows from the smith-god Dygkyl Khongshyl. His weapons could shatter trees and cure disease. He further allied himself with Tengte Kacha, king of the Elfs, and Maal, the dwarf god, both of whom possessed great magical powers despite their small stature.

Goera eventually found Wakmangganchi Aragondi sleeping in mud at Ahnima Gruram Chinima Rangsitram. He sent his servant Toajeng Abiljeng to strike the beast from behind and awaken it. Enraged, the boar charged at Goera, who answered with a hail of burning darts. The monster fled east, then north, before turning back and making wild charges across the land. Goera pursued it, firing volleys of arrows that tore into its body. Its movements caused the earth to rumble and quake, while Goera repeatedly escaped its charges by creating piles of rocks to climb and hide upon. Finally, one of his maternal uncles, still in the subterranean region, shot an arrow through the boar’s armpit. The wounded monster collapsed at Ahguara Rongpakmare Shohlyng Janthihol, where Goera decapitated it.

The battle lasted seven summers and seven winters. When the monster’s body was cut open, Goera’s two uncles were found inside, alive but blind; they eventually recovered their sight. The boar’s meat was distributed among the people, and the remainder was left to decompose. The battle’s traces are said to remain in the landscape: the rock piles created by Goera are known as Goerani Ronggat, or the “Stone Piles of Goera,” while the monster’s droppings became rocks containing visible seeds. Red patches of land mark places where its blood was spilled.

Sources

“Wakmangganchi Aragondi.” A Book of Creatures, June 14, 2021. https://abookofcreatures.com/2021/06/14/wakmangganchi-aragondi/

Toroi

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Tradition: Japanese Mythology
Alternative Names: とろゐ, Toro-i
Category: Pig

The Myth

Toroi is a monstrous creature mentioned in Uetsufumi, a text describing Japanese history from the age of the gods through the seventy-two generations of the Ugayafukiaezu dynasty, before the reign of Emperor Jimmu. In one episode, the gods conduct a great hunt at the command of the Heavenly Prince Ninigi, seeking to exterminate evil beasts that threaten the people. Toroi appears among the creatures targeted for destruction.

According to the thirteenth fascicle of the Munakata manuscript tradition, eighty Toroi lurked inside a cave. They resembled white boars, stood approximately two hiro tall, and walked on their feet. Their hands were divided into seven parts and could grasp objects. Exceptionally strong, they could devour rabbits and seize and tear apart creatures called tokoi, possibly another name for boars. Toroi lived in groups and attacked the three gods who came to exterminate them, surrounding the deities with glaring eyes and bared tusks in an attempt to devour them. However, the creatures were no match for the gods’ hatchets and swords, and all were killed.

The dying Toroi’s groans echoed through the region and shook the mountains. These details derive from a modern decipherment and reconstruction of the text, and alternative interpretations exist. The researcher Katsuya Tanaka has suggested that Toroi may have been an imaginary beast combining characteristics of a tiger and a wild boar.

Sources

“Toroi.” 新版TYZ 妖怪図鑑 (New TYZ Yokai Encyclopedia). https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1073637305.html

Fengxi

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Tradition: Chinese Mythology
Alternative Names: 封豨, Sealed Boar, Two-Headed Pig Monster
Category: Pig

The Myth

Fengxi was a monstrous, two-headed pig that lived in a mulberry forest in the south during the era of Emperor Yao. Possessing immense strength, the beast rampaged through the surrounding lands, attacking people and bringing suffering to the local population.

To end its terror, Emperor Yao sent the legendary archer Yi to hunt the monster. Yi shot Fengxi in the leg while it was in the mulberry forest and captured it alive, bringing an end to its rampage.

Sources

“Fengxi” (封豨). Chinese Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Accessed October 27, 2026. https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%B0%81%E8%B1%A8?

Yama Kujira

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Tradition: Japanese Mythology
Alternative Names: 山鯨, Mountain Whale
Category: Pig

The Myth

Yama Kujira, meaning “Mountain Whale,” was a euphemism for wild boar meat during the Edo period, when cultural and religious taboos against eating the flesh of land animals remained influential. Establishments known as momonjiya, which sold or served wild game, used the term to disguise the sale of boar meat. The name likely referred to the resemblance between boar and whale meat, while also providing the convenient fiction that the meat came from a fish rather than a land animal.

In 1799, the writer Kyokutei Bakin playfully exploited this expression in the illustrated satirical book Kujira Sakuhin Kawabaori, which introduced the “mountain whale” as a humorous variety of whale. The creature was depicted resting among bush clover in an auspicious composition, with its eyes open despite supposedly sleeping. It had a long snout and sharp tusks, and was said to inhabit the “sea of the sleeping boar’s bed.” Its alleged length of sixteen ken was a wordplay on shishi, a Japanese term for boar or wild game, interpreted through the multiplication of four by four. The account also incorporated famous hunting and theatrical stories involving wild boars, including Nitta Tadatsune’s slaying of a giant boar during the Fuji hunt and Hayano Kanpei’s mistaken shooting of a boar in Kanadehon Chūshingura.

Other Japanese traditions feature a literal mountain whale, describing a time when whales lived on land before moving into the sea. In a different tradition from Inawashiro, Fukushima Prefecture, the 1888 eruption of Mount Bandai and its accompanying disturbances were attributed figuratively to a raging mountain whale, imagined as a gigantic wild boar. To appease the mountain deity, villagers constructed a float shaped like a great boar and prayed for relief. When conditions became peaceful again, the community came to venerate the mountain boar as a sacred animal and held an annual festival to thank the mountain deity and pray for a good harvest.

Sources

“Yamakujira.” 新版TYZ 妖怪図鑑 (New TYZ Yokai Encyclopedia). https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1073492280.html

Akai

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Tradition: Japanese Mythology
Alternative Names: 赤猪, Red Boar, Great Red Boar
Category: Pig

The Myth

Red boars appear in several Japanese mythological traditions, including stories recorded in the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki. One famous account concerns Ōkuninushi, also known as Ōnamuchi, who incurred the jealousy of his many brothers after marrying Yagamihime. The brothers lured him to Mount Temma in Hōki Province, claiming that a red boar lived on the mountain. They told him they would drive the animal down the slope and ordered him to catch it, threatening to kill him if he failed. However, the brothers had heated a large stone until it glowed red and rolled it down the mountain. Mistaking the burning stone for a boar, Ōkuninushi tried to catch it and was fatally burned.

Ōkuninushi’s mother, Sashikuniwakahime, mourned his death and sought help from the heavenly deity Kamimusubi. The deity sent Kisagai-hime, a clam goddess, and Umugi-hime, a mussel goddess, who treated his burned body with their divine medicine and restored him to life. At Akaiwa Shrine in Nanbu, Tottori Prefecture, a rock associated with this episode is enshrined. Although the boar in the Kojiki story is an illusion created by the brothers, the red animal itself appears in another legend recorded in the Nihon Shoki.

Following the death of Emperor Chūai, his sons Kagosaka no Miko and Oshikuma no Miko feared that their younger half-brother, the future Emperor Ōjin, would inherit the throne. While secretly preparing for conflict, they performed a divinatory hunt at Utaga-no in Settsu Province, hoping that a successful catch would indicate that their plans would prosper. A red boar suddenly appeared, charged into the pavilion where the princes were seated, and devoured Kagosaka. Terrified by this supernatural occurrence, Oshikuma abandoned the location and withdrew with his army. The corresponding account in the Kojiki describes an enraged boar but does not specify its colour. An Edo-period essay, Ōō Hitsugo, explains the red boar as a divine beast whose coat was as red as fire.

Another legend comes from Akai in Iwaki, present-day Fukushima Prefecture, where a particularly large red boar was said to have ravaged local fields and farmland. In response to the villagers’ appeals, the court dispatched Iwaki kuni no miyatsuko Takerokoro no Mikoto and hunters to kill it. The leader’s first arrow struck the boar in the side, and a second arrow killed it as it fled north. The event was remembered in local place names: Akai-dake, also known as Akai-dake or Akai-dake’s mountain in the tradition, became associated with the red boar; Futatsuya-yama was named for the place where the second arrow was shot, and Inohana for the place where the boar’s snout was discarded. Futatsuya Shrine in Ogawa, Iwaki, is said to have originated with the enshrinement of the arrow used in the hunt.

Sources

“Akai.” 新版TYZ 妖怪図鑑 (New TYZ Yokai Encyclopedia). https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1073394068.html

Boongurunguru

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Tradition: Solomon Islands Mythology
Alternative Names: Pig-Who-Grunts, Demon Pig of Umaroa
Category: Pig

The Myth

Boongurunguru, meaning “pig-who-grunts,” is a terrifying supernatural boar from the mythology of the Solomon Islands. It is associated with Umaroa, the leader of the Muara clan who saved his people from the great flood known as Ruarua. According to the legend, the flood submerged all the islands, even the high hills of San Cristoval, and those who drowned became stone pillars at Mwata. Umaroa survived by taking his people, a sacred stone, and pairs of every animal aboard a great canoe. After the waters receded, he landed at Waimarai in the Arosi district and offered a sacrifice of gratitude. An adaro descended from a rainbow and guided the survivors to their new home. Umaroa was eventually buried there, with his sacred stone placed over his grave, making the surrounding area a place of powerful magic.

Boongurunguru is described as an enormous wild boar with ‘ama’ama ferns growing from its flattened head and a buzzing nest of hornets beneath its chin. It leads a herd of supernatural boars through the forest, goring and trampling anyone who crosses their path. The appearance of even one Boongurunguru foretells death, while a herd entering a village means that everyone there will perish. As the animals approach a settlement, they gradually shrink until they can enter at the size of mice, but their deadly nature remains unchanged.

The demon’s presence is also associated with venomous snakes. Anyone who hears its grunting and remarks that there must be pigs nearby is immediately surrounded by hundreds of snakes, appearing from every direction and even falling from the air. This violent response reflects the creature’s peculiar pride: Boongurunguru objects to being called a pig. The area around Umaroa’s burial place is governed by strict supernatural rules, including the need to make offerings before crossing a river beneath a rainbow and to use the word kunikuni, rather than ari, for ropes to avoid summoning snakes. These traditions portray Boongurunguru as a deadly guardian of a magically charged landscape.

Sources

“Boongurunguru.” A Book of Creatures, March 19, 2015. https://abookofcreatures.com/2015/03/19/boongurunguru/

Bès Rap

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Tradition: Malaysian Mythology
Alternative Names: Pig Spirit
Category: Pig

The Myth

Bès Rap, meaning “pig spirit,” is a supernatural being in the traditions of the Jah Hut people of Malaysia. It inhabits the deep jungle, living among the roots of the pokok ara tree. The spirit is especially active when the tree bears fruit, making this period dangerous for anyone who enters the forest to gather it.

Those who approach the pokok ara to collect its fruit risk being attacked by Bès Rap, which blows its saliva at them. This causes severe illness, characterized by foaming at the mouth. According to tradition, only the blessing of a poyang, a traditional spiritual practitioner, can save the afflicted person from the spirit’s attack.

Even the spirit’s droppings are dangerous. Anyone who steps on its toxic faeces may suffer from an intense heat that penetrates the body through the toes, eventually causing illness accompanied by bubbling and frothing saliva. Bès Rap thus makes both the fruiting tree and the ground around its dwelling hazardous to those who venture into its territory.

Sources

“Bes Rap.” A Book of Creatures, February 5, 2021. https://abookofcreatures.com/2021/02/05/bes-rap/