The kitsune is seen commonly as foxes that have multiple tails and live for over a thousand years. It is said these foxes are spirits that are bathed in fire or lightning and are known to love playing mischievous tricks on people. They appear commonly in Japanese folklore but there are legends of them in Chinese and Korean mythology as well. From what I've seen, the common kitsune legends are some of the most accurate depictions of the supernatural world. Especially in them being tricksters.
Kitsunes, like most supernatural shapeshifters, look undistinguishable from a normal human. Yet kitsunes don't shapeshift or transform in the same manner as most though they do make their eyes glow like many others do. Commonly, they glow to be a bright orange color though it is seen that the eyes of celestial and void kitsunes are different colors from the others. A dark kitsune or nogitsune has eyes that are a pitch-black color. A celestial or holy kitsune has eyes that are a whitish color with bluish tints at the edges.
They are associated with foxes as they have an 'aura' around them takes the shape of a fiery bipedal fox. This aura is hidden and can't be seen by the naked eye unless the kitsune chooses to expose it to others though they seldom do this. Typically, it can only be spotted by people with an infrared sight like werewolves. However, kitsunes can hide their aura from even infrared view if the they wish to keep themselves concealed.
Kitsune are very nimble and are usually able to run at incredible speed. Their speed seems to be superior to that of werewolves and can outrun them at their fastest. Not only are kitsune high in agility but they have great poise as well. They can utilize these skills when in battle for both defensive and offensive purposes. However, they might not be aware of it. A young kitsune I had known had been a downright klutz and was far from graceful. Yet once she had a sword in her hand, she tapped into her inner fox and her movements would become fluid and quite elegant.
A kitsune is able to exist in a spirit form and can possess bodies to use as a physical vessel. They tend to take the bodies of normal human beings though they can take a supernatural's body as a host if it is compatible enough for them to such as another kitsune. It has been seen that a werewolf's body is an unsuitable host as wolves and foxes don't mix too well. Expelling a kitsune can be done by 'changing the body' of the host.
As the myths of kitsune say, they possess tails though not in the literal sense. Their 'tails' seem to take the form of a relic or token made of obsidian. They seem to gain one as they grow and pass through a personal trial. The more tails that a kitsune possesses then the more powerful they will become though the first tail is always the strongest of them all. However, their tails also serve as their vulnerability. If the tails are stolen or destroyed then the kitsune will be weakened and crippled. A kitsune's tails could be used to summon and take control of Oni when they are destroyed, making them even more valuable and sought after. That is why a kitsune usually keeps the existence and location of its tails hidden to help protect itself from their enemies.
A kitsune isn't able to heal in the common way that other shifters such as werewolves are able to. Healing from wounds tends to come to them when it is triggered or if they consume foxfire, which I will explain later. They are physically as frail as a normal human being and just as prone to injury. Yet, kitsunes are seen to be quite resilient when it comes to illnesses. They are unable to contract something like the flu or catch a cold. Time also doesn't have the same effect on a kitsune. They age at a much slower rate than other humans and supernaturals do. Not all kitsunes age the same. One lived for over 80 years and looked to only be in her early forties. A different kitsune was roughly just over 70 years old and yet looked to be freshly into his twenties. The oldest kitsune I encountered was in a spiritual form and was over 1000 years old.
A unique aspect of kitsunes that sets them apart from other shapeshifters and supernaturals is that they can possess and tap into specific sorts of energy. This energy is known as their foxfire. As I wrote before, the legends of kitsunes were that they are bathed in fire or lightning. Kitsunes are able to draw and absorb fire and lightning to empower and strengthen themselves as well as utilize in other sort of ways that can border on mystical. Their capability with foxfire and their usage of it seems to depend on what element or type of kitsune they are.
There are 13 kinds of kitsune and they seem to fit into elemental type of categories. The 13 kinds are fire, ocean, river, forest, earth, wind, thunder, mountain, music, spirit, time, celestial and dark. I myself have personally come into contact with three of the different kinds of kitsune. Kitsune are somewhat private about their personal natures and don't like to share too much intimate details about their attributes so information about them is hard to come by. Of the 13, there have been four types that I have come across personally or heard accountings of from my friend Stiles and his pack.
A Thunder Kitsune is the first kind of kitsune that I have come across. Her name was Kira Yukimura and she was a good friend of mine during high school. A thunder kitsune has a foxfire that resembles the nature of electricity. They are able to absorb electricity directly into their bodies in greater degrees than other kitsune could, to an extent. They can use their foxfire to shock people or empower other kitsune.
A Wind Kitsune is one that I've only heard of through stories told to me from my friends. Wind kitsunes are able to manipulate the wind in their immediate area. They could use it to help protect their bodies from attacks and use it to attack their enemies in a variety of ways. Wind doesn't hinder them and tend to feel stronger when they are caught in strong gusts of wind.
I have met a Dark Kitsune before which could also be called Void or Nogitsune. He existed in a spiritual form and possessed a friend of mine. Nogitsune are among the strongest and most feared kinds of kitsune perhaps rivaled by one other. What makes them so feared is that they can draw and feed off of the dark feelings from people. They feed on Chaos, Strife and Pain; thus they tend to cause mischief and calamity to make themselves stronger. While most kitsune could be at worst mischievous tricksters, dark kitsune have wicked and even evil sort of mindsets. I have heard of a Nogitsune that possessed a member of the Yakuza and fed off the negativity the Japanese mafia created and surrounded itself with.
The Celestial or Holy kitsune is the last kind of kitsune that I have personally met. His name is Rayner Hien and he's pretty rough around the edges, bordering somewhat on ruthless and quite proud as well. He was a loner but eventually went on to become an ally and honorary member of the Beast Pack. Celestial kitsune are perhaps the most revered of the kitsune types. At one time, they were worshipped as deities and even had shrines and offerings made to them in feudal times. They are the only kitsune types to truly rival the dark kitsune in terms of raw strength and power. Celestial kitsune are able to absorb light and can focus it out as beams of light from their hands that can be both hot and/or blinding.
Kitsune are quite diverse in their places within the supernatural community. Some go on and lead solitary lives due to their extensive lifespans as they feel they can't be with people. Others try to form and keep families and relationships with their own kind or with humans they have fallen for. And a rare few have gone on to interact and join werewolf packs even though it is typically difficult for kitsunes to get along with werewolves. Most other shapeshifters are usually indifferent in their feelings for kitsune. As for the kitsune themselves, most of the types tend to get along with the others though some are wary around Dark kitsunes. Celestial kitsunes actually have rival and adversarial relationships with them. This seems to be quite natural as it mirrors the popular and well known struggles between the light and the dark.
A/N: I hoped you liked this look into the kitsunes. We only got to see two types on the show, Kira and Void!Stiles, and we weren't told which type of kitsune Kira's mother Noshiko was. All we knew was that she wasn't a Thunder Kitsune. As for the Celestial Kitsune's power, I was inspired by Sean Teale's character Eclipse on The Gifted. I love that show and you should check it out if you haven't.
The next entry of the bestiary will be another undebuted creature for the Teen Wolf universe, Strigoi.