animated-household-object
morphological TMI D1601
Figures bearing this motif (11)
Alraun · salience 0.95
“The word covers the mandrake root and its substitutes — bryony was widely used where true mandrake was unavailable — dug up with elaborate precautions, trimmed or carved into a human figure, and then kept in the house as a possession with a life of its own.”
Ittan-momen · salience 0.9
“This sentient strip of cotton cloth, typically about one meter in length, possesses the uncanny ability to animate itself and take flight through the air.”
Dokkaebi · salience 0.85
“Dokkaebi are traditionally said to arise from discarded household objects, such as old brooms, bloodied rags, or worn-out tools, that have absorbed enough human energy or blood over long years to awaken as spirits.”
Kyōrinrin · salience 0.8
“Like the umbrella, the lute, and the tea-kettle among its tsukumogami kin, the Kyourinrin is a household thing come awake, an object that outlived its use and gained a spirit.”
Para · salience 0.8
“Published folklore describes the para's making as an act of folk magic: its owner gathers scraps — wool, thread, bits of cloth or wax, sometimes items taken from another's property — and animates the assembled bundle, in some accounts with the maker's own blood, so that it can be sent out to steal butter, milk, grain, or coin from neighboring farms and bring the theft home.”
Bulgasari · salience 0.7
“In the most commonly told version, the creature's origin is tied to a period of hardship for Buddhist monks, sometimes framed against a historical persecution of Buddhism, during which a monk or a household of monks is said to have shaped a small figure out of rice grains, or in some tellings rice paste or cooked rice, either as a plaything or as an offering. Accounts vary on exactly how the figure comes to life, but the common thread is that the little rice creature is accidentally touched by a needle, a drop of blood, or some other stray bit of metal or bodily substance, and it stirs to life and begins to eat.”
Bakezōri
“This animated straw sandal, typically of the zōri style, embodies the whimsical and sometimes unsettling nature of Japanese yokai.”
Biwa-bokuboku
“This particular entity is a sentient biwa lute, a pear-shaped string instrument traditionally used in Japanese court music.”
Morinji-no-okama
“However, as darkness falls and the world of humans slumbers, this seemingly inanimate object undergoes a remarkable transformation.”