hengeyokai

English

Etymology

Japanese 変化妖怪

Noun

hengeyokai (plural hengeyokai)

1. (folklore) A legendary Japanese animal with the ability to shapeshift into human form.
   • 1985, David Cook, Oriental Adventures, TSR Inc., →ISBN

     Hengeyokai are intelligent, shape-changing animals. Several subraces exist, each a different type of animal. They are found throughout the Oriental world, usually on the fringes of human-settled lands.

   • 1998-01-28, Lee Gold, Re: B5 Filk: You Picked A Fine Time To Leave Us Sinclair, rec.music.filk

     If a hengeyokai fails to concentrate (or perhaps gets distracted -- due to being beaten, seeing a mouse, fatigue), the human form's ears may get pointed or a tail may appear.

   • 2001, Laurence C. Bush, Asian Horror Encyclopedia: Asian Horror Culture in Literature, Manga and Folklore, Writers Club Press, page 69:

     Hengeyokai transfer between forms almost instantly, though when in human form, they often retain some mark of characteristic of their true animal nature.

   • 2013-10-12, Jasin Zujovic, Hengeyokai level adjustment, rec.games.frp.dnd

     I've been watching Inuyasha yesterday (too bad that's a German dub and I can understand almost nothing) and that got me wanting to make myself a hengeyokai character... and then I remembered the level adjustment.