Myeong-hwa

Myeong-hwa

• Pre-revival (no animal features)
• Post-revival

About

Name

Myeong-hwa

Aliases

明華(Hanja characters), 명화(Korean Spelling), 박명화(documented name), Gumiho of Black Fur / The Nine-tails of Black Fur

Age

Roughly 1000 years old, (dormant/dead for roughly 400 years)

Pronouns

She/her

Height

6'6ft/201.2cm

Birthday

January 31st

Occupation

Unknown

Hobbies

Storytelling, listening to local gossip

Likes

Fashion trends, history books, samgyeopsal

Dislikes

Snakes, liars, gambling

Power Source

Gumiho

Other Information

Family

Ji-eun (sister), Seo-yeon (sister), Gyeon-jeon(surrogate nephew)

Strength

Isn't easily influenced by others

Weaknesses

Doesn't understand current-day Korean and struggles with slang

Legends tell of a fox with nine black tails that has existed since Goryeo, only to be slain by a group of exorcists through unclean means. However, centuries later, she returns to roam amongst the living. Myeong-hwa laid dormant in the fox bead that was absorbed by Gyeon-jeon Park, acting as his spiritual guide until she was revived and given a second chance with the living.

Prior to her death, Myeong-hwa donned hanboks that were primarily in black and red colours. Her hair would be tied up with braids and a single red ribbon, with a hair accessory that keeps her bun and braids together tightly. Like her name sake, her hair, tails and ears are pitch black. She has red markings on her face that resembles whiskers and eyeliner. Depending on the era, the style of her hanbok changes. Her lips are red and she wears minimal make-up.

After her revival, she adapts to the new age by wearing a modern red jeogori with floral patterns on the hem and black cargo pants. Underneath her jeogori is a black shirt that clings to her body. Her shoes are black hiking boots. Most of her wardrobe in the modern era is a mix of modern hanbok and sportswear. Similarly to her old hairstyle, she keeps her hair in a bun but in a lower angle. All of her red markings are hidden, but she wears red eyeliner at the bottom of her eyes. Like her old self, she wears minimal make-up and wears lipstick that is close to her natural colour

She has the choice to have her nine tails and ears out, both being the same colour as her hair. She normally does not have them out unless she is alone with her sisters or Gyeon-jeon, though they come out when she needs to be in combat. When in combat or when she feels like it, her nails turn into long claws, similarly to a fox.

Myeong-hwa's fox form is a fox entirely in black fur, red stripes on her face.

Myeong-hwa is a stoic and aloof person, and dislikes coddling as a form of comfort. She speaks in a blunt and archaic speech, due to her time being dormant between large cultural changes in Korea. Seo-yeon calls Myeong-hwa "grandmother" in a teasing matter, due to some of Myeong-hwa's behaviours resembling a grandmother at times.

She has a soft side towards humans, but only if she spends enough time with them. With Gyeon-jeon, she treats him like a nephew and while she doesn't compromise her stoic behaviours for him, she doesn't mind listening to him ramble on. Myeong-hwa is a good listener above all else, and is able to remember specific details about each individual she meets after a certain amount of time.

Some time in the midst of the Goryeo period, a black fox with nine tail manifests into the world. Even among gumiho, she was wise and fearful to many creatures and spirits in Goryeo. However, a century or two later, she would be seen with two other young gumiho; Ji-eun and Seo-yeon. They would later be nicknamed 'the Gumiho sisters' by spirits and other creatures, and humans would not know of their bond until a few rumours by other spirits had teased the humans with their presence.

Myeong-hwa would know of many creatures, monsters and spirits in her time. A dokkaebi who punishes humans based on their own morals, a magpie with the heart of a swordsman, and even a half-imugi who became a lone exorcist. However, in her years of existing, she would meet someone who she could never forget, even in death. In a small village some ways from the Nakdong river, Myeong-hwa met a young human woman. This woman was unlike the few humans Myeong-hwa had left alive; she would treat Myeong-hwa as not a terrifying monster but instead as someone who was on equal grounds with her. Myeong-hwa, curious about how a human could show little to no fear to a gumiho, continued their meetings until they became close friends.

The village had feared the young woman, deeming her strange and even dangerous at times. When they learned of her associations with a gumiho, some villages went to find a famous exorcist family to eradicate the woman under false pretense. Myeong-hwa, having learned the danger that the woman was in, made the decision to teach a lesson to the village with her own matters. She had her sisters take the woman somewhere safe and arrived at the village, revealing herself to the villagers and reprimanding them for their fear. When the exorcists arrived, she incapacitated all but one, to ask him a single question. "Do you believe in protecting the weak, or do you do as you please because of your power?"

The exorcist was speechless, but Myeong-hwa didn't wait for an answer before turning to leave. The exorcist she allowed to remain awake was not a man like the others, but instead a young boy of barely 10 years, and she wanted him to learn early in his life to understand distrust and doubt in the old ways. Conflicted about his family's occupation as exorcists, he puts down his weapon and refuses to fight. At that moment, the young woman reappears on her own and embraces Myeong-hwa. Despite the reunion, the young woman was not the woman at all but instead an exorcist who donned her clothes and imitated her, killing Myeong-hwa as soon as she embraced them. Just before she died, the young boy took her fox bead in his hands and hid it from the others. Because of this boy's actions, Myeong-hwa's spirit would lay dormant for centuries until one day, a desperate father steals her bead from his family's treasury and infuses her spirit with his son's dying body...

Powers

Because she is a gumiho, she has the ability to shapeshift, absorb the life-force of a living being, enhanced capabilities, flight, etc.

Ji-eun

Ji-eun is the second oldest of the sisters, and Myeong-hwa sees them as the most reliable out of the three. Ji-eun would often come to Myeong-hwa for comfort or advice, especially from Seo-yeon's teasing. Myeong-hwa believes that Ji-eun's introverted nature doesn't need to be changed, although she wishes that Ji-eun didn't isolate themself too much. Myeong-hwa, like Seo-yeon, dislikes the fact that Ji-eun tends to 'disappear like mist' when the situation requires them to be out in the open and amongst other people and monsters, but doesn't force Ji-eun and acknowledges that Ji-eun as their own ways of obtaining information and understanding the world.

Seo-yeon

Seo-yeon is the youngest of the sisters, and Myeong-hwa sees her as the most brutal out of the three. Myeong-hwa often scolds and lectures Seo-yeon, who doesn't listen to her and repeats her mistakes repeatedly. Still, Seo-yeon respects Myeong-hwa and sees her as a "true big sister," and Myeong-hwa enjoys Seo-yeon's company and energy. Myeong-hwa was the reason why Seo-yeon began taking interest in humans. Their relationship is very "eldest sister vs youngest sister," and have frequent arguments about the smallest things. However, they understand their deeb bond together, with Seo-yeon grieving openly about her death and massacring exorcists in her grief.

Gyeon-jeon Park

Since Gyeon-jeon was the host and parasite (jokingly) of her fox bead, she was linked to him spiritually and would often talk (or more so listen) to Gyeon-jeon in his dreams. In extreme cases, they would briefly communicate when he was awake and in mortal danger. Due to their symbiotic relationship that began in the first year of Gyeon-jeon's life, Myeong-hwa offers some of her guidance and "tough love" to Gyeon-jeon as he grows up. Whether or not he listens to them is up to him. Myeong-hwa treats him like a nephew, and in return he treats her like an aunt. Myeong-hwa pities the fact that he goes through a lot of pain growing up, but believes that he has the ability to decide for himself.

Hyeon-ju

Though Myeong-hwa dislikes snakes (including imugi), she finds Hyeon-ju tolerable if not foolish. Hyeon-ju would come to her for gossip or advice, but she would instead give him riddles to solve. Some of her riddles are just for fun, but some of them are riddles meant to have Hyeon-ju question his path as an exorcist and his identity as a half-imugi.

Eun

Eun and Myeong-hwa have a quiet relationship, but they both are friends. Myeong-hwa finds Eun's morals and rules to be interesting while Eun finds Myeong-hwa's wisdom to be helpful in understanding the world beyond rules. However, it was because of Myeong-hwa that Eun was forced to be friends with Hyeon-ju.

• Unlike Ji-eun and Seo-yeon, who wear hanbok that was popular in Goryeo, Myeong-hwa wears hanbok that resembles that of the Joseon-era of hanbok. Rather than a continuity error, this just showcases Myeong-hwa's understanding and closeness of humans prior to her death by taking note of changes in culture.
• Myeong-hwa learned how to write and read through examining humans, being the only one of the three who could read and write prior to her death. However, after her revival, she had to relearn the modern language, something she has difficulties with due to her archaic speech.
• Despite this, Myeong-hwa became somewhat proficient in Japanese and English due to her symbiotic relationship with Gyeon-jeon for a majority of his youth. It pales in comparison to Seo-yeon and Ji-eun, as they can speak and write it, but Myeong-hwa can understand English and Japanese even if she can't write, read or speak it.
• Myeong-hwa has the heighest alcohol tolerence out of the three sisters.
• Myeong-hwa prefers to keep her revival as a secret unless asked by other monsters. She wants to get adjusted to the new time she's found herself in before she can intergrate with them.