Kuniyoshi Utagawa, Taiba (The End), 1852. The print depicts a nue descending upon the Imperial palace in a black cloud

A nue (鵺) is a legendary creature found in Japanese folklore. It has the head of a monkey, the body of a raccoon dog, the legs of a tiger, and a snake instead of a tail. A nue can also transform into a black cloud and fly around. Due to its appearance, it is sometimes referred to as a Japanese chimera. Image File history File links Kuniyoshi_Taiba_(The_End). ... Image File history File links Kuniyoshi_Taiba_(The_End). ... Utagawa Kuniyoshi (Japanese: 歌川国芳) (1798 - 1861) was one of the last great masters of the Japanese woodblock print or ukiyo-e. ... A legendary creature is a mythical or fantastic creature (often known as fabulous creatures in historical literature). ... Japanese mythology is an extremely complex religion and system of beliefs. ... For other uses, see Monkey (disambiguation). ... It has been suggested that tanuki be merged into this article or section. ... Binomial name Panthera tigris (Linnaeus, 1758) Distribution of tigers in 1900 (red) and 1990 (green) Synonyms Felis tigris Linnaeus, 1758 Tigris striatus Severtzov, 1858 Tigris regalis pink, 1867</large> Tigers (Panthera tigris) are mammals of the Felidae family and one of four big cats in the Panthera genus. ... For other uses, see Snake (disambiguation). ... In Greek mythology, the Chimera (Greek Χίμαιρα (Chímaira); Latin Chimaera) is a monstrous creature made of the parts of multiple animals. ...

Nue are bringers of misfortune and illness. According to The Tale of the Heike, the Emperor of Japan became sick after a nue took up residence atop his palace in the summer of 1153. After the samurai Minamoto no Yorimasa killed the creature, the emperor recovered. The Tale of the Heike (Japanese: 平家物語, Heike monogatari) is an epic account of the struggle between the Minamoto and Taira clans for control of Japan at the end of the 12th century. ... His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Akihito. ... Events January 6 - Henry of Anjou arrives in England. ... Japanese samurai in armour, 1860s. ... Minamoto no Yorimasa (源頼政)(1106-1180) was the leader of the Minamoto armies at the beginning of the Genpei War. ...

The most famous story involving the nue takes place in the year 1153, at the imperial palace in Kyōtō. Emperor Konoe begins having terrible nightmares every night, to the point that he falls ill, and it seems that the source is a dark cloud that appears on the palace roof every night at two in the morning. The problem is eventually solved by Yorimasu Minamoto, who stakes out the roof one night and fires an arrow into the cloud, out of which falls a dead nue. Yorimasu then takes the body and sinks it into the Sea of Japan.

A local expansion of the story exists, in which the nue's corpse floats into a certain bay and the locals, fearing a curse, bury it. The mound where the beast lies can still be seen today.^[1]

Trivia

The famous ronin Miyamoto Musashi killing a giant nue, by Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1798-1861).

• In the video game Breath of Fire III, The very first boss in game is a Nue who is terrorizing the "starter town"
• In the MMORPG, Final Fantasy XI, there is a notorious monster named Nue that is in the form of a tiger. Characters of the Monk class must slay him and recover one of his teeth as part of a quest to obtain the powerful Brown Belt.
• Eating a nue is thought to cure hiccups.
• Nue are also a type of nocturnal blackbird native to Japan. They, too, are thought to bring bad luck.
• In the anime OVA, Karas, Nue is a youkai in human form sent to Shinjuku, Japan to defeat Eko.
• In the PS2 video game Genji: Dawn of the Samurai Nue is an optional boss at the Migoyi temple.
• The Japanese band Kagrra, has an album titled "Nue", containing the track "Nue no Naku Koro" (鵺の哭く頃, When the Nue Cries). The avex artist Tomiko Van similarly has a song called "Nue no Naku Yoru" (鵺の鳴く夜, The Night when the Nue Cries)
• The Nue appears in many of the games in the Megami Tensei series as one of the kinds of monsters the player can fight, recruit or even create by fusing other monsters together.
• In the game Chrono Trigger, the name Nu is given to a mysterious type of blue creature.
• In the game .hack//G.U., there's a Lucky Animal called Nue. When kicked by the player, it will summon King Chim.
• In the game Okami, there is a demon called Chimera that closely resembles the Nue, excluding its fire based powers and has an incense burner on its back.
• In the anime and manga series Bleach, Shinigami Abarai Renji uses a sword (zanpakuto) named Zabimaru, which materializes into the form of a white nue. Appropriately, the word "Zabi" means "Snake Tail"
• A Nue appears at the gate to the King of All Night's Dreaming's castle in Neil Gaiman and Yoshitaka Amano's Sandman: The Dream Hunters.
• Nue is the name of Arshes Nei's sword in the anime/manga Bastard!!
• In the anime Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, Nue is referred to in the opening chant (during the creation of the female replicant), and in other parts of the film.

Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1620x2356, 937 KB) Summary This print illustrates Miyamoto Musashi killing a giant creature. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1620x2356, 937 KB) Summary This print illustrates Miyamoto Musashi killing a giant creature. ... Graves of 47 Ronin at Sengakuji For other uses, see Ronin (disambiguation). ... It has been suggested that Timeline of Miyamoto Musashis life be merged into this article or section. ... Utagawa Kuniyoshi (Japanese: &#27468;&#24029;&#22269;&#33459;) (1798 - 1861) was one of the last great masters of the Japanese woodblock print. ... Breath of Fire III is the third RPG in the Breath of Fire series. ... An image from World of Warcraft, the largest commercial MMORPG as of 2007, based on active subscriptions. ... Final Fantasy XI ), also known as Final Fantasy XI: Online or simply Final Fantasy Online, is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game set in Square Enixs Final Fantasy series. ... A hiccup or hiccough (generally pronounced HICK-cup (IPA: ) independent of the spelling) is an involuntary spasm of the diaphragm; typically this repeats several times a minute. ... This article refers to the animal Blackbird, for other uses see Blackbird (disambiguation) Binomial name Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 // Blackbird The Blackbird or Common Blackbird (Turdus merula) is a European member of the thrush family Turdidae. ... This article is about good and bad fortune. ... The main cast of the anime Cowboy Bebop (1998) (L to R: Spike Spiegel, Jet Black, Ed Tivrusky, Faye Valentine, and Ein the dog) For the oleo-resin, see Animé (oleo-resin). ... A human ovum An ovum (loosely, egg or egg cell) is a female sex cell or gamete. ... Area: 161,325 km² (62,288 mi²) Population: 69,677 Population density 0. ... Y&#333;kai (Often spelled Youkai, Japanese: &#22934;&#24618;) (apparitions, spirits or demons) are class of creatures in Japanese folklore ranging from the evil oni to the mischievous kitsune. ... EKO is the IATA code for Elko Regional Airport Eko can also refer to: Lagos - Nigerias largest city and former capital. ... Kagrra, (Kagrra, with comma, spoken the same as 神楽 kagura), formerly Crow, is a visual kei band dually signed to Columbia Music Entertainment and indie label PS Company, which also has contracts with Miyavi, Kra, Gazette, and Alice Nine. ... AVEX Records, also known as AVEX Trax, is the music department of the Japanese commercial giant Avex Group. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Megami Tensei (Japanese:女神転生, often abbreviated as MegaTen) is a Japanese computer role-playing game series, and is one of the major franchises of the genre in its native country. ... Chrono Trigger ) is a console role-playing game created by Square Co. ... The Nu is the most mysterious creature in the Square Co. ... . ... ÅŒkami (大神 in Japanese) is a cel-shaded video game developed by Clover Studio that will be coming coming for the PS2 sometime in late 2005 or 2006. ... Serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump Original run August 2001 – (ongoing) No. ... Renji Abarai (阿散井 恋次 Abarai Renji) is a character in the anime and manga series Bleach. ... Cover of The Sandman #1, by Dave McKean. ... Neil Richard Gaiman () (born November 10, 1960, Portchester, Hampshire) is an English author of numerous science fiction and fantasy works, including many graphic novels. ... Yoshitaka Amano (天野 喜孝 Amano Yoshitaka, originally 天野 嘉孝 (pronounced the same), born July 28, 1952) is a Japanese artist, best known for his illustrations for Vampire Hunter D and for his character designs for the video game series Final Fantasy. ... Sandman: The Dream Hunters is a graphic novel by Neil Gaiman and Yoshitaka Amano. ... The main cast of the anime Cowboy Bebop (1998) (L to R: Spike Spiegel, Jet Black, Ed Tivrusky, Faye Valentine, and Ein the dog) For the oleo-resin, see Animé (oleo-resin). ... Manga )   is the Japanese word for comics and print cartoons. ... Bastard!! Destructive God of Darkness (バスタード!! 暗黒の破壊神 Basutādo!! ankoku no hakai shin) is a manga by Kazushi Hagiwara. ...

References

1. ^ Nue; The Obakemono project, www.obakemono.com, 20 August 2006, (accessed 21 January 2007)