The
Nue (้ตบ, ้ตผ, ๆ ้ณฅ, or ๅฅดๅปถ้ณฅ) is a
legendary yลkai or
mononoke (momonosuke)
"Nue" (้ตผ) from the
Konjaku Gazu Zoku Hyakki by
Toriyama Sekien
In the
Tale of Heike, it is described as having the head of a MONKEY (luffy), the legs of a TIGER (Zoro), the body of a DOG (Yamato) and the front half of a SNAKE (Momo whos is a dragon. With the dragon having history with the snake in mythology) for a tail. In other writings nothing is stated about its torso, so it is sometimes depicted to have the torso of a tiger. The
Genpei Jลsuiki describes it as having the back of a tiger (ZORO), the legs of a tanuki (Yamato since she is a transforming dog), the tail of a fox, the head of a cat, and the torso of a chicken (MARCO) due to its appearance, it is sometimes referred to as a Japanese
chimera.
[2]
It is said to make terribly eerie bird cry "hyoo hyoo" noises that resemble that of the
scaly thrush. In the movie
Akuryลtล (originally by
Seishi Yokomizo), the catchphrase "nights where the nue cry are dreadful" refers to this fact. The nue is also said to have the ability of shape-shifting, often into the form of a black cloud that can fly
[2]. The yokai is also thought to be nocturnal as most of its sightings happen at night. Its name written in
kanji translates to
night and
bird.
[3