OVERVIEW
Nuki, (short for “tanukitsune”) are minor shapeshifting yōkai.
In their most known form nuki are small, bipedal and usually resemble foxes, tanuki, or other small mammals.
ANATOMY
Nuki naturally possess three main forms.
They typically retain their pelt color no matter which they choose, and their mask markings.
COMMON (Anthro)
The typical form most are seen in. They always have hands and usually wear some sort of garment. Nuki in this form are primarily bipedal, but are capable of basic quadrupedal locomotion. Their stance can be digitigrade or plantigrade. Their mask is essentially their face thus it cannot be removed.
FERAL
Some say this is their natural state. The form most useful for swift travel, and the one familiar nuki often take. Essentially, they mimic the real animal their mask is themed after, and can choose to retain whatever number of tails they posses or mask them as one to go unnoticed. Their mask takes on a more realistic appearance, but the markings remain.
HUMANOID
Their most anthropomorphic appearance, and also the rarest to actual humans.
The only remnants of their mask in this form are their markings. Their legs are basically the same as their common counterpart, but their upper body is far more human. The fur on this particular area ranges from very short to sparse, usually the arms being the furriest. They have hair, but the animal ears remain in place of human ones. Nuki that deal with other sapient creatures tend to stick to this form the most, and they also wear far more clothing.
While this is their tallest form they still tend to be shorter than the average human.
NUKI MASKS
Nuki are said to have been “crafted” by magic wielders or even other yōkai. Something like a golem, their masks were an effigy to the animal they took after in appearance. Others believe they were once regular animals adopted as familiars by kitsune, who gave them masks imbued with their magic. Eventually, these animals became yōkai themselves, their masks fusing with them and changing their morphology. There’s also those who think nuki are their masks.
What IS true is that nuki and masks are intertwined. A nuki’s mask is part of them and dictates their animal resemblance. It shifts and morphs with them, like any other part of them does. In every form they take, they retain at least some of their features.
TRIVIA
>Nuki come in many forms, and they take on the appearance of a variety creatures, particularly those spiritually associated with mischief, cunning or good luck (such as raccoons or red pandas)
>Their name comes from a witness account who described them as “a tanuki with tails like a kitsune”
>Nuki are very fond of clothing and garments, and accessorize even in feral form. Some are particularly interested in attire of complex patterns and layers.
>Nuki are relatively widespread and coexist with other yōkai, feral animals and even humans. They sometimes go as far as shifting long-term to blend into their enviroment.
>A lot of nuki serve under kitsune households or temples, as well as a variety of deities and other yōkai.
>While most nuki retain their pelt colors throughout their forms, some learn to adopt more or even entirely different colors in their fourth form. There’s also the very practiced nuki who can attain a much more human appearance, with natural skin to match. Both of these instances are relatively rare however.