Nurarihyon

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Nurarihyon
2007 anime art
Name
Japanese	ぬらりひょん
English	Slippery Gourd
Alias	Yamada
Title	Yōkai Supreme Commander
Profile
Species	Yōkai
Gender	Male
Age	Millions of Years
Abilities	Command over a large number of yōkai
Affiliation	Nurarihyon Faction
Other Information
Greatest Nemesis	Kitarō
Greatest Headache	Shu-no-Bon
Favorite Pastime	Breaking and entering
Least favorite pastime	Being sent millions of years into the past
Most threatening incarnation	2007 anime
Least threatening incarnation	1996 anime
First Appearance
Manga	Yōkai Nurarihyon (1967)
Anime	Series 1 Episode 12 (1968)
Portrayals
see Cast
[v · t · e]

Nurarihyon (ぬらりひょん, Slippery gourd) is the "Yōkai Supreme Commander" and the main recurring antagonist of the GeGeGe no Kitarō franchise.

Cast

• Takeshi Aono
  • Third Anime
  • Fifth Anime
• Anime
  • Ryūji Saikachi (First Anime)
  • Kōichi Chiba (Third Anime, Ep. 4 only)
  • Tomomichi Nishimura (Fourth Anime)
  • Akio Ōtsuka (Sixth Anime)
• TV Drama
  • Yōko Natsuki (Monday Dramaland)
  • Akira Shioji (Demon Flute)
• Video Games
  • Junpei Takiguchi (GeGeGe no Kitarō: Ibun Yōkai Kitan)
• Live Action films
  • Kiyoshirō Imawano (The Great Yōkai War)
  • Ken Ogata (Thousand Year Cursed Song)

Appearance

Nurarihyon resembles a wrinkled old man with a large gourd-shaped head and usually some form of stubble on his face. He is slim and usually dressed in a fine kimono and haori, though he wore a suit in his first appearance. In some adaptations he has pointy ears.

Personality

Nurarihyon is a cruel yōkai who commits evil deeds and uses deceit and cunning to oppose Kitarō. Depending on the adaptation, he can be portrayed as both a legitimate threat or a more comedic villain. He frequently employs other powerful yōkai to help him defeat Kitarō and friends. Sometimes he tricks these yōkai into joining him, other times they are loyal minions who are in on a larger plan.

Legend

The original Nurarihyon, also said to be the leader of all the yōkai, would sneak into someone's house while they were away, drink their tea, and act as if it was their own house. Because it looks human, anyone who saw him would mistake him for the owner of the house, making it very hard to expel. He is the leader of Hyakki Yakō (百鬼夜行) or the "Parade of the Hundred Demons".

History

Nurairhyon as a Syokuyōki and conquering Japan and heading to GeGeGe Forest within Jukai of Fuji Mountain

Nurairhyon first appeared in the Shonen Magazine story Yōkai Nurarihyon and made his anime debut in the 1st anime Ep. 12, Yōkai Nurarihyon, the adaptation of his manga debut. He did not appear in the 2nd anime, but was a recurring antagonist from the 3rd series and on.

Although he appeared as the main antagonist in the Shukan Jitsuwa manga and the Monday Dramaland TV movie, it wasn't until the 3rd anime that he was established as the "Supreme Commander of the Japanese Yōkai".

In his first appearance, he had been living among humans under the alias Yamada for a century. By the time of the story Yōkai Nurarihyon, he has amassed a significant amount of wealth but passes himself off as poor. He sneaks into other people's apartment, much like the Nurarihyon of legend, and sets off bombs as an act of terrorism. Worried Kitarō will catch onto him sooner or later, he works with Nezumi-Otoko to trap him in concrete. Only Kitarō's hand is not encased in the concrete, so Nurarihyon mockingly shakes it. Because of this, Kitarō is able to curse him and control his hands. He seeks help from Jakotsu-Babaa and they try to capture the newly escaped Kitarō by tricking him into drinking from a magic jar that will swallow him. Kitarō instead outsmarts them and uses a magical millstone to send them backwards in time to the prehistoric ages.

In the Shukan Jitsuwa story Baseball Mania, he is the principal of Under the Grave High School. He plans to use his school's baseball team to take control of the baseball scene in the human world, but humans catch wind of the plan and hire Kitarō to stop him.

In the manga Saishinban GeGeGe no Kitarō, which was serialized at the same time as the 3rd anime was airing, he is a recurring villain. It is established that, after being sent back to prehistoric times, he has lived until present day, having grown more powerful and developing a deep hatred of humans. He is defeated when he falls into Mount Mihara during an eruption, but he later returns and destroys Izu Ōshima, eating everything in sight and earning the name "The Eating Demon" from the locals. In this state he completely loses his senses and intelligence, and even Kitarō and Medama-Oyaji try to just escape from him. Eventually Kitarō is able to destroy him with a desperate attack.

In the manga Kitarō Kunitori Monogatari, during the battle with the Mu Empire in Hakone Castle, Kemedama convinces Nurarihyon to back up Kitarō for the sake of all yōkai. In one of the only instances where Nurarihyon lives up to his title "Supreme Commander", he commands armies of Wanyūdō, Hitotsume and Tanuki, a Karasu-Tengu air force, and fights the Mu himself as well.

He appears in Ch. 25 of the manga Yōkai Sen Monogatari. He tries to frame Kitarō and put him on trial, but he is ultimately thwarted. He is sentenced to be executed via 500 Years of Melting at the hands of the Tengu Police.

Image Songs

• Nakuko mo Damaru Nurarihyon by Shinobu Sasaki w/Takeshi Aono as Nurarihyon (1985 anime)