Amabie
Also called Amabiko.
In Japanese folklore, Amabie is a prophetic, scaled merfolk yōkai said to have risen from the sea to foretell either bountiful harvests or plague, instructing witnesses to copy and share her image as a protective ward.
At a glance
- Tradition
- Japanese folklore
- Region
- Japan (place of origin)
Traits
Read from the figure's description, which a model wrote. Open "why" for the sentence a trait came from.
Form
- Hybrid of multiple animals
why
an appearance that blends fish, bird, and human traits
Behaviour
- Image as protective ward
why
This instruction to reproduce and disseminate her image as a ward is the detail most tellings foreground, and it is what later gave the creature such a distinctive second life.
- Delivers message then vanishes
why
who likewise emerge to deliver a prediction and a means of protection before departing or vanishing from the record.
Omens
- Prophesies plague or harvest
why
she is said to have prophesied either several years of abundant harvest or the coming of an epidemic
Defensive powers
- Apotropaic image ward
why
saying that doing so would protect people from the illness or death the epidemic would otherwise bring
Utility powers
- Oracular foresight
why
she is said to have prophesied either several years of abundant harvest or the coming of an epidemic