The nue is most commonly depicted as having the face of a monkey, the legs of a tiger, and the body of a raccoon dog (also known as a tanuki) with its tail consisting of the front half of a snake. It is occasionally portrayed as having the torso of a tiger. Perhaps the strangest account of this creature describes it as having the back of a tiger, the legs of a tanuki, the tail of a fox, the head of a cat, and the torso of a chicken. While descriptions of this yōkai vary greatly, it is widely thought to be some kind of chimera.
Very few sightings of nue have ever been reported, so not much is known about this elusive yōkai. One of the few things widely known about it is the sound it makes. The nue's call is supposed to sound similar to that of a nocturnal bird called White's thrush. The mournful sounding noises it makes are seen as an omen, so people who hear it often pray in the hopes that nothing bad will happen to them.
The most famous story about a nue involves Emperor Konoe. He began to have nightmares every night and grew very ill. Neither prayers nor medicine could help him. His illness was blamed on an evil spirit. A few days later, a storm appeared over the imperial palace in the middle of the night. Lightning struck the roof and set it on fire. The emperor summoned a samurai to hunt the nue.
The samurai set out to hunt the nue with his bow and his traveling companion. That night, a strange wind suddenly started blowing. A black cloud also appeared over the pair. The samurai shot an arrow into the cloud, successfully hitting the nue. The nue screamed as it fell to the earth, and was dealt a killing blow by the samurai's companion. The emperor immediately recovered from his illness.
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The people of Kyoto feared that the nue's death could lead to them becoming cursed in retaliation, so they loaded its corpse into a ship and had it sent downriver. This ship was eventually washed ashore near the village of Ashiya. The people of this village removed the nue's body from the ship, built a burial mound for it, and gave it a proper funeral.
FUN FACT: The burial mound mentioned in the above story actually exists. It's called Nuezuka, and you can still visit it to this day.
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There are a few different versions of the story's ending. Most of them differ only in the exact location of where the nue was washed ashore and was buried. However, another story suggests that the nue's spirit was not successfully put to rest. Instead, it turned into a horse and was raised by the samurai's companion. It was a reliable horse, but it led to a great deal of conflict between the samurai's companion and a particular family when that family stole the horse. The samurai's companion raised an army against this family and ruined himself in the process. In this way, the nue got its revenge on the man that killed it.
Examples in various media:
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Zabimaru (Bleach)
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Unnamed Nue (Megami Tensei) This particular design was used in Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne. Nue appear in many of the different Megami Tensei games.
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Kagemitsu Daigo (Blood Will Tell) Although Daigo is correctly identified as a nue in the Japanese version of the game, he is called a chimera in the English version.
