Gahi (
Appearance
Gahi's appearance is that of a large head with red-violet skin, a squished nose and long yellow hair. Their eyes have orange sclerae and yellow pupils, their mouth has sharp premolars and a large orange tongue that obscure the inside.[1]
In the fifth anime, Gahi first appears a beautiful young woman with purple hair styled in twin braids each tied with yellow bows and fair skin. Her eyes have purple irises and her mouth has red lipstick. She wears a Cheongsam with a pink flower pattern and white trim and a pair of red shoes. Although Gahi's true form is that of a giant head with grey skin, long violet hair. Her eyes have orange sclerae, black irises with several thin points and yellow pupils, her mouth has sharp canines and a large red tongue that obscure the inside.[2]
In the sixth anime, Gahi's human form resembles a young handsome man with fair skin, wavy light blue hair, thin hair and pointy ears. He has thin eyebrows and sharp eyes with yellow irises and big red pupils. He wears a white Changshan with red trims and fasteners, white pants and black shoes. His true form however, is that of a large head with dull brown skin, a squished nose and long light blue hair. His eyes are red and pupil-less, his mouth has sharp premolars and a large tongue that obscure the inside.[3]
Personality
History
Third Anime
They appears in the third movie based on the third anime adaptation, GeGeGe no Kitarō: Saikyō Yōkai Gundan! Nippon Jōriku!!.[1]
Gahi was one of the most important and strong subordinates of Qi. Unlike in later series, Gahi in this film neither spoke nor transformed. This Gahi occasionally emitted beast-like sounds.
Fifth Anime
A female Gahi appears in episode #76 of the fifth anime adaptation, Strongest Tag Battle!! Southern & Chinese Yōkai!!.[2]
Sixth Anime
A male Gahi appears in episode #26 of the sixth anime adaptation, Glamour! The Beautiful Gahi.[3]
Abilities
Levitation: Gahi is able to float above the ground.
Gust Breath: Gahi in the third and fifth anime is able to blast powerful black winds from their mouth that are powerful enough to counter Nozuchi's suctioning.[1][2]
Human Transformation: Within the fifth and sixth anime, Gahi is able to transform into a human form, female in the former[2] and male in the latter.[3] In either case their human forms are noted to be rather attractive.
Hypnosis: By staring into her targets eyes, they fall under her hypnosis and follow her command. Those under her control become somewhat durable or insensitive to pain. When she uses this ability, her eyes glow red and those who under her control have their eyes do the same.[2]
Paper Clones: In the fifth anime, Gahi is able to creating copies of whoever she wants. She does so by tipping her hair with ink and generating paper from her mouth to draw what she desires. Afterwards the paper become exact physical copies of the target, with their all abilities at their disposal. However as they are beings made of paper, they are susceptible to water and will dissolve after coming in contact with it.[2]
Physical Durability: In the third anime, Kuro-Kaibutsu was likely knocked out by being hit by flying Gahi, and Gahi, while losing its conscious, didn't show any signs of physical damages by being slammed by Kitaro onto a rock.[1]
Soul Stealing: In the sixth anime, Gahi is able to steal human souls, feeding on them to gain nourishment. He does so by sucking their souls out of their mouths. Those whose souls are consumed go into a comatose state, only returning after their soul has been returned.[3]
Eye Beam: Within the sixth anime, Gahi was seen to shoot red energy beams from his eyes.[3]
Tongue Attack: Gahi in the sixth anime is able to extend his tongue and attack enemies.[3]
Equipment
Ridable Cloud: In the fifth anime, Gahi has a small yellow cloud that can fly at high speed. It is able carry at least two passengers.[2]
Scroll: In the sixth anime, Gahi used the scroll that contained him to bind his target in a manner similar to that of Kitarō's Chanchanko.[3]
Legend
Gahi in Shigeru Mizuki's series greatly differs its characteristics from the original story Painted Face from Liaozhai Zhiyi. Originally, Gahi is a demon with bluish face and saw-like teeth. It, by painting humans on human skins and wearing those, transformed into women of various ages to deceive men and prey on victims. In the live-action film in 2008, Gahi was depicted as a fox spirit.
Mizuki's design was likely based on lion heads on several artworks from the continent.[4][5]