Jawnomicon

Yuki-onna

Also called Yukionna.

In Japanese folklore, Yuki-onna, the "snow woman," is a spirit of winter storms who appears as a beautiful, unearthly pale woman and freezes travelers to death in the snow.

At a glance

Tradition
Japanese folklore
Region
Japan (place of origin)
Trait family
The False Hosts
Symbols
Ghost

Near this figure

Symbols

Judged against the description by a model. Meanings are our own paraphrase.

Traits

Read from the figure's description, which a model wrote. Open "why" for the sentence a trait came from.

Form

  • Pale skin blends with snow
    why

    Yuki-onna is typically described as a tall, strikingly beautiful woman with long black hair and skin so pale it is nearly translucent or the color of snow itself, sometimes said to be effectively invisible against a snowy landscape except for her dark hair and eyes.

Behaviour

  • Vulnerable to heat or fire
    why

    Weaknesses attributed to her vary by region: in some tellings hot water, fire, or the warmth of a bathhouse can destroy her or force her to flee, reflecting her fundamental nature as a being of cold that cannot coexist with heat.

Omens

  • Associated with winter and cold
    why

    She is a supernatural being tied specifically to snow and blizzards, said to appear on snowy nights, often during or just after a heavy snowfall.

Offensive powers

  • Lethal breath
    why

    Yuki-onna's central and most consistently attested power is killing through cold: she freezes travelers to death, often by breathing on them or by simply appearing before them until they succumb to the freezing temperature, and victims are commonly found afterward as though they had frozen where they stood.

Roles

Judged from the works' own entries, not from the description. Carries: the figure holds the role. Meets: the role is in its stories, held by something it meets.