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Hagoromo Gitsune | |||
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(羽衣狐, Hagoromo Gitsune) | |||
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Personal Data | |||
| Gender |
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| Age |
1000+"+" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 1000. (Deceased) | ||
| Birthdate |
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| Species | |||
| Height |
162 cm1.62 m <br />5.315 ft <br />63.78 in <br /> | ||
| Weight |
49 kg108.026 lb <br /> | ||
| Fear Type | |||
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Voice Actors | |||
| English |
Melissa Fahn (credited as Johanna Luis) | ||
| Japanese | |||
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Debut | |||
| Manga |
Nurarihyon no Mago Chapter #60 | ||
| Anime |
Nurarihyon no Mago Episode #4 | ||
| Game | |||
| OVA | |||
| Appears in |
Anime and Manga | ||
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Origins
Hagorome Gitsune is the demon fox who was originally considered the master of the spirits and is the head of the to Kyoto Yōkai. According to Keikain records, Hagorome Gitsune had first appeared during the turbulent times, possessed the body of a notable child, and had taken control of the body to attain the adult form. Hagorome had been gathering power by absorbing the hatred, envy, anger, despair and large quantities of malice from the center of the government, she had continued to grow stronger and it is said that the stronger the malice in the world, the stronger she will become. Despite this, she can only live as long as a human lifetime, for when her host body's life reaches its end, she must hide her "true form" somewhere safe until a suitable humancandidate for her reincarnation appears. If her "true form" isn't sealed, then regardless of how many times she is defeated, she will continue to reincarnate into the next generation. As a result of this, she is said to be capable of living a thousand years.
Appearance
Hagoromo Gitsune, in her current incarnation, appearance took over the body of Yamabuki Otome - with long black hair, pale white skin and black eyes. She is perpetually dressed in a black uniform much like that of typical Japanese school girls.
400 years ago, Hagoromo Gitsune took over the body of Lady Yodo, and like her, would always be dressed in a blue kimono with a pink top as well as sport heavy makeup, including powder and lipstick.
Personality
Hagoromo-Gitsune is for the most part narcissistic, mocking her opponents at every chance possible, while being playful even in the midst of battle. She also believes herself a rightful queen of Yokai and has a complete dislike of humans, believing them inferior and impure (she may not have always disliked humans as she married one and had a son who is half-yokai) and thus seeks to make a world of darkness only for Ayakashi.
She does not use any of the honorifics while talking, something that can be considered rude in Japan, however given her status as leader of the Kyoto Yokai this is understandable, and despite of this seemingly lack of respect she does in fact care very much for her henchmen, treating them as her "childs" to the point of having a sister-like relationship with Kyokotsu and in turn they are fiercely loyal to her. She does not use honorifics either with Tsuchi-Gumo, an Ayakashi who is arguably as powerful as her, somehow deepening her arrogance. (although this could also be because the two are not really afilliated beyond being acquitances)
Her perhaps most notorious trait is that she's a highly devoted mother, nothing for her is more important than her beloved son Abe no Seimei whom she wants to give birth no matter the cost so they can be reunited again, even her life is secondary before her son, as before she was cruelly killed by the order of a noble for her liver, the only thing she care about was to live so she could give birth to Seimei once again. This desire is so strong that it subsequently became the main goal of the Kyoto Yokai for at least a millenium.
She may not be completelly devoted to him however, as she was visibly angered when she discovered her son had cruelly manipulated her for his own resurrection. Nonetheless she was more than happy to have her son with her, even though he betrayed her by sending her to hell to prove himself a fitting lord of darkness, she claimed she loved him, while unsuccessfully trying to escape hell. After she managed to revive from Hell, she declares that Seimei will no longer be her son, but Rikuo is as her son-figure (as stated by Seimei) after she realized that she's not a good mother on parenting her former son and finds out that the reason Nura clan and Keikain House sealed her is to prevent her son's rebirth.
However, after being brought back by Nurarihyon, she went to Nue to reconcile, but when she heard he didn't care about yokai either and all yokai, including her own Kyoto Yokai were just scarifices for him, she decided to stand against him and protect her Kyoto yokai.
Her second most notorious trait is that she along with most of her remaining servants who follows her, was once share a deep grudge against the Nura Clan and mostly anybody related to Nurarihyon such as Rikuo whom she wants to kill to end the bloodline. To the point that even though Nurarihyon never wanted to defeat her during the Tokyo Arc and just see her, she did everything she could to kill him.
She also does learn from her mistakes and battles, having learning how to fight the likes of Rikuo and his illusionary techniques by having faced Nurarihyon beforehand.
History
1,000 Years Ago
Hagoromo Gitsune in her true form appears, also known as Kuzunoha (葛の葉) or "the Shinoda fox." She lives alone in a dilapidated house near a graveyard and, though it is apparently unknown to the general public, she is Abe no Seimei's mother. He comes to visit her after another unsuccessful attempt to perfect a resurrection technique, coming to the realization that by returning to her womb and being repeatedly re-birthed, he would be able to achieve the aforementioned technique. Seimei asks if she will give birth to him again, to which she agrees after a short discussion whereby they compare their viewpoints of the balance between light and darkness (human and yōkai). Hagoromo Gitsune tells him that she will give birth to him as many times as he wants, adding that she won't tire of the next thousand years if he will be there.
After Seimei leaves, Hagoromo Gitsune hears the sound of approaching horses and, believing her son had forgotten something and returned, opens the door. Immediately, she is struck by two arrows - one in the eye and a second in the abdomen. A rain of arrows follow, courtesy of the archers of a court noble, and she tries to run further into the house as more strike her. As she is chased, screaming, by the archers, her only concern is that if she dies, she will be unable to give birth to Seimei again.
She was attacked because of a legend that by eating the Shinoda fox's liver, one could acquire eternal youth - something greatly desired by a certain court noble. However, when her arrow-riddled body, now in fox-form, is revealed to Seimei and he is ordered to create an elixir of youth with her liver, he snaps and attacks the court noble and those with him. Seimei attempts to heal her and remove the arrows, and when he holds her in his arms she is once again in human form. Unfortunately, she has sustained serious injuries and dies as he carries her away from the nobleman's mansion.
800 Years Ago
As Tomoe Gozen
As part of the Taira clan, she appears as the female samurai Tomoe Gozen (巴 御前).
400 Years Ago
Known as the courtesan Lady Yodo (淀殿), she is the mother of Hideyori Toyotomi and the master of Osaka Castle. At the time, the Toyotomi family was facing a crisis after the death of their leader Hideyoshi Toyotomi, their reputation was in decline, and the Tokugawa forces were against them. Believing her son to be a useless buffoon, Hagoromo Gitsune frequently meets with her yōkai underlings in secret late at night, where she would ingest the livers they had collected for her - all for the sake of giving birth to the Nue (Seimei). However, the livers of average people prove not to be effective enough for her, and she orders her forces to collect even more valuable ones - which leads them to target people with unusual abilities. One such target is Yōhime, which leads to a confrontation with the Nura Clan of the time.
8 Years Ago
Having been once again reincarnated, Hagoromo Gitsune is unknowingly manipulated by her son into possessing the body of Yamabuki Otome, Rihan's ex-wife, who had been imbued with false memories by Minagoroshi Jizō and returned to life as a child. She infiltrates the Nura Clan's main house and, after a haiku triggers her body to stab Rihan and the real Yamabuki Otome's memories to return. After realizing that she killed the man she once loved she begins to despair and in her despair Hagoromo Gitsune fully takes over the body. When the young Rikuo approaches, he sees the young girl splotched with blood. She recognizes him as being of Nurarihyon's bloodline and decides to kill him then to eliminate any potential threat he could pose in the future. However, her attack is intercepted by Rihan, who is killed as he rushes in to protect Rikuo. Only after this event does the Nura Clan realize that Hagoromo Gitsune has been revived.
Plot
Kyoto Arc
Eight years after killing Rihan, Hagoromo Gitsune attacks Kyoto to satisfy her deepest desire of giving birth to Nue. She destroys the seals set up by Hidemoto Keikain one by one to reach the castle Nijou where she goes into labour. Now that Kyoto yokaii are on the defensive, Rikuo's Hyakki Yakōattacktoreclaimthe seals and reach castle Nijou to prevent the birth of Abe no Seimei. Hagoromo Gitsune succeeds in giving birth. While Seimei is still developing in his infant form she defends him. But during her battle with Rikuo she gets distracted by the childhood memories she had with Rikuo and Rihan which gives Rikuo a chance to strike her - causing her to leave Yamabuki Otome's body and revert to her real form. In the mean time Nue gets fully developed and leaves his infant shell. When Hagoromo Gitsune embraces her son (Nue) he betrays her by throwing her into hell to follow the path of darkness.
Gokadoin House Arc
After being reincarnated again, "she" begins to wonder why it is "she" has been "reborn" in her current form again, and wonders if it's the work of Seimei or Rikuo, the two that "she" loves, and decides "she" will have to chose which.
She went to meet Seimei, and she had a small talk with him. She asks him to tell her what kind of world is he trying to make. Seimei stated that he will make a peaceful and beautiful world, a world without worthless creatures, and a society that is easy to live in. She simply answers that it sounds like nonsense. Seimei counters this by saying that if he had lived, that kind of world would have continued, also that weakness is ugly and fools commit foolish acts so they are unnecessary. He says that when Hagoromo Gitsune died, he realized that he was right and he must stay strong, and for that reason Hagoromo Gitsune had to die.
Hagoromo Gitsune disagrees with Seimei's ideal and mentions that she must have raised him poorly. She has witnessed many things by living for a thousand years such as human foolishness, ayakashi, and death. She implies that she understands Seimei but his method will not help Kyokotsu and the others, her loyal yokai. She declares that Seimei is no longer her only son, which Seimei replies that she now sees Rikuo as her true child. However, Hagoromo Gitsune replies that she talked about something bigger and that Seimei were clear when he cut their mother-child bond. She declares that she will now live as she pleases and that she will be a mother who loves both human and ayakashi.
She decides to fight Seimei and mentioned that the cycle of rebirth is the way to settle it, and that Seimei should return to her womb once more. When Kyokotsu is trying to help, she tells her not to interfere between the fight of mother and child. However, demons from hell came and Kyokotsu insists that they should help her.
Seimei let out his jutsu, Eternal Rebirth in which Ayakashi will become infants and disappear. However, it failed because Hagoromo Gitsune's Hyakki Yakko is there to protect her. Kyokotsu stated that they won't hold back, she swore that if she could see Hagoromo Gitsune's face once more, she would give her her life.
Weapons and Techniques
Aside from using the speedy movement of her tails to eviscerate opponents, she also has several weapons hidden within them:
- Iron Fan of the Two Tails (二尾の鉄扇, Nibi no tessen) is a technique utilizing a massive iron fan acquired during her time in the Taira House. It can be used for both offensive and defensive purposes.
- Long Sword of the Three Tails (三尾の太刀, Sanbi no tachi) is a lengthy sword stored within her tails.
- Spear of the Four Tails: Tora Taiji (四尾の槍 虎退治 Yonbi no yari: Tiger exterminator) is a spear which can be thrust from her tails to attack.
Trivia
- All of her identities, excluding the current one, are based on historic (or legendary) figures of the same name.
- 1,000 years ago, prior to any of her reincarnations, she only had one tail.
- Her Yamabuki Otome incarnation ranked 4th in the character popularity poll with 1154 votes, while her "black tights" ranked 61st (last) place with 1 vote and in the third popularity poll she ranked 10th with 532 votes.
- Hagoromo Gitsune's sexual preferences are ambiguous, as she has been seen to eat the livers of humans by lip kissing and prefers to eat the livers of female humans. 400 years ago, she was seen kissing several princesses until being stopped by Nurarihyon. In the current storyline, she kissed a female human in Nue Lake, while being watched by her subordinates.
- Her Favourite Food was a Human Liver from woman that possessed some Unique ability (the main reason why she wanted Yohime and other Princess fresh Livers for her Unborn Child)