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. 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 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]
Etymology
Nue is an old word and appears in the oldest Japanese literature. Early quotes include Kojiki (712) and Wamyō Ruijushō (c. 934). Due to the usage of Man'yōgana, the historical spelling is known to have been nuye. At this early time, though, it had a different semantic meaning. It referred to a bird known as White's Thrush. In the 13th century, Heike Monogatari makes reference to a creature called a nue. In addition to having the head of a monkey, the body of a tanuki, the paws of a tiger, and the tail of a snake, it has the voice of a White's Thrush. Around 1435, Zeami wrote a Noh song titled Nue dealing with the events described in Heike.
Popular Culture
- In the anime OVA, Karas, Nue is a youkai in human form sent to Shinjuku, Japan to defeat Eko.
- 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.
- 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!!
- Zabimaru, the zanpakutō of Renji Abarai in the manga/anime series Bleach, manifests in the form of a nue.
- Also one of the monsters the player fights in the PlayStation 2 game Genji: Dawn of the Samurai
References
- ^ Nue; The Obakemono project, www.obakemono.com, 20 August 2006, (accessed 21 January,2007)
