Simian List

Monkeys and Primates.

Monkey Boy

Arctic Monkey

Yowie (Desert)

Kakuen

They are similar to monkeys, and thus possess a characteristic of carrying away human females and violating them. They walk like humans. They live in villages in the middle of mountains, and when humans pass by, they distinguish between males and females by their scent and abduct women, and as their own wives, make them bring birth to children. The women who are unable to bring birth to children are not allowed to go down from the mountain, and after 10 years, their appearance and mind becomes the same as those kakuen, and lose their will to return to the human village. The women who give birth to children are allowed to return to the human villages along with their children, but since those who don't raise their children all died after coming back down to the village, the women would be fearful of that and thus raise the child. Like this, the child that was born from a kakuen and a human woman would have an appearance similar to that of a human, and when raised, they are no different from an ordinary person at all.

They form troops and live deep in the mountains. They can freely leap about between trees with their light body and dexterous hands and feet. They use their long tail for maintaining balance in the treetops, and other than that, they can use it to hang by wrapping it around a branch; they also specialize in a form of martial arts using this durable tail.

Out of all the beastmen, they are regarded as being closer to human, and they have extremely high intelligence. Nevertheless, they have a rough disposition, and an arrogant, selfish personality. Prioritizing their own desires, they often treat humans with a disparaging attitude. On the other hand, they are highly lustful and curious; when breeding season comes around, they become very interested in the bodies of human men and mating, and they will kidnap and violate them.


If a kakuen wants to suck, she will suck - regardless of the time, place, or presence of onlookers. Her utter lack of dignity is indeed suggestive of an aroused primate.
They are cunning due to their high intellect, and, when dealing with a human man who strikes their fancy, they won't flatter him, instead assuming a teasing attitude. They will sexually assault their target when they feel like mating, but they have a difficult time enduring pleasure; so it is said that once they learn what feels good, they just repeat that again and again. If they mate with a human man even once, their mind becomes obsessed with it.

They'll end up spending all day on top of human men continuously shaking their hips like a monkey. What's more, those individuals who become interested in a specific human man will masturbate while thinking of that man. Regardless of whether they've actually mated with him or not, they'll think about the man whenever they have a free moment and inch their hands towards their lower abdomen and tail; proceeding to make a lot of wet noises.

After learning the taste of their husband with their body in this manner, they become a prisoner of the pleasure, and are completely unable to control their insatiable lust and desire; becoming exactly like a monkey in heat. Just from being around their husband, their lust swells up as their body seeks pleasure, and they'll become unable to think of anything but mating with their husband. Even just being touched or catching their scent will cause them to become unable to control their lust, and leap at their husband to mate with him. After ending up like this, no matter how smart they are, they're still monkeys after all. So, if one suggestively alludes to mating and pleasure, it will make them easier to control; and it will become easy for a husband to take charge, both in life and sex.

After living with them for a while, a man will, just like them, gradually become unable to endure lust and pleasure. They will end up leading a hedonistic lifestyle, going at it like monkeys. It will be much the same for a human woman living among a troop as well, and she'll progressively become unable to control her increasing lust. She'll start to smile in a lascivious manner, exuding carnal passion. Then her body and heart will change into a "kakuen".

They are not a race that is at all adept at converting human women into monsters, nor do they excel at manipulating demonic energy, and yet, it's easy for monsterization to occur. It is said that they could easily influence humans because their demonic energy is highly compatible with humans, but according to another explanation, a susceptibility to pleasure and a lack of self-control such as what they exhibit is something that is originally inborn in humans as well. So, because humans and kakuen are closely related, if a human crosses a certain line, they can easily fall as a monkey.

Enkō
猿猴
えんこう

Translation: monkey
Alternate names: enkozaru, enkobō, enkodon, shibaten, takiwaro, kappa
Habitat: rivers and shores
Diet: omnivorous; prefers cucumbers and fresh human livers

Appearance: Enkō are river-dwelling yōkai found throughout the Shikoku and Chūgoku regions. They resemble monkeys or hairy kappa. They are about the size of a three year old child, with bright red faces. Their long limbs are flexible and elastic, and if you pull on one arm it will stretch while the other arm shrinks. Their fingers are tipped with sharp claws. They are covered in thick fur, but are slimy and slippery like catfish. They have a dish-like depression on the top of their heads.

Behavior: Enkō are related to kappa and share many traits with other members of the kappa family. They are quite strong. They live in rivers and along the seashore, and are excellent swimmers. They often appear at night in popular fishing spots. They are also skilled at transforming and can disguise themselves as human women, dolls, and other forms.

Enkō have a strong revulsion towards metal objects and thus will run from farming implements. They dislike cows and horses, and frequently attack them if they enter rivers.

In Shikoku, it is said that enkō only live in the rivers in the summer. In the winter they migrate en masse into the mountains and transform into shibaten. Then, in the summer, all of the shibaten return to the rivers and transform back into enkō.

In Chūgoku, there is a species of kappa called takiwaro who live for three years in the mountains, then migrate to the rivers and transform into enkō for the next three years.

Interactions: Enkō are sometimes encountered by fishermen at night. They disguise themselves as kimono-clad wooden dolls and approach the fishermen. If poked, the dolls grin cheerfully and giggle.

Hihi
Hihi狒々
ひひ

Translation: none; based on the Chinese name for the same creature
Habitat: deep in the mountains
Diet: carnivorous

Appearance: The hihi is a large, monkey-like beast which lives deep in the mountains. It has long, black hair and a wide mouth with long, flapping lips. Old legends say that a monkey which reaches a very old age will transform into a hihi.

Behavior: Hihi can run very fast and primarily feed on wild animals such as boars, battering them down and snatching them up just as a bird of prey snatches up small animals. The hihi gets its name from the sound of its laugh. When it sees a human it can’t help but burst into laughter. letting out a loud, “Hihihihi!” When it laughs, its long lips curl upwards and completely cover its eyes.

Interactions: While hihi primarily feed on wild beasts, they will also prey on humans if given the opportunity. They are known to catch and run off with human women in particular. If a hihi catches a human there is only one way to escape: by making it laugh. While it is laughing and blinded by its own lips, it can be taken down by striking it in the middle of the forehead with a sharp spike.

Hihi are sometimes confused with other monkey-like yokai that live in the mountains, such as yamawaro and satori. The hihi is much bigger, more violent, and far more dangerous than these. Some stories say that, like satori, hihi have the ability to speak human words and read human hearts and thoughts. They are valued for their blood, which is a vivid, bright red. If used as a dye, the bright red color will never fade or run. If drunk, the imbiber is said to gain the ability to see demons and spirits.

Origin: The hihi’s origins lie in ancient Chinese mythology, where it was believed to be a supernatural monkey that lived in the mountains. It was brought over to Japan by folklorists during the middle ages. In modern Japanese, hihi is the word for baboon, which takes its name from its resemblance to this yokai.

Sarugami
Sarugami猿神
さるがみ

Translation: monkey god, monkey spirit
Alternate names: enjin
Habitat: mountains
Diet: omnivorous

Appearance: Sarugami look just like the wild monkeys that are found across the Japanese islands. However, they are bigger, more vicious, and much smarter. They can speak, and sometimes they are seen wearing human clothes as well. They are thought to be the remnants of an ancient monkey worshiping cult. All that is left of this religion today are wicked monkey spirits who have degenerated into yōkai.

Behavior: Sarugami behave for the most part like wild monkeys. They live in the mountains and tend to stay away from human-inhabited areas.

Interactions: When sarugami interact with humans it almost always ends in violence. Most legends follow a similar pattern: a sarugami kidnaps a young woman from a villager, and heroes are called upon to go into the wilderness and exterminate the sarugami. Like oni, giant snakes, and other monsters, sarugami are beasts meant to be slain by brave samurai.

Origin: According to folklorist Yanagita Kunio, sarugami are a prime example of “fallen” gods—spirits once revered as gods, but who have since been forgotten. These beliefs never entirely vanish, though, and such spirits often remain as degenerate versions of their former selves, i.e. yōkai. Long ago, before Buddhism arrived, monkeys were worshiped as gods in parts of Japan. The southern part of Lake Biwa in modern-day Shiga Prefecture was an important center of monkey worship, based at Hiyoshi Taisha. Monkeys were seen as messengers and servants of the sun, in part because they become most active at sunrise and sunset. Because of this, monkey worship was popular among farmers, who also awoke and retired with the sun. Over the centuries, as farming technology improved, people became less reliant on subsistence farming. More and more people took up professions other than farming. As a result, monkey worship began to fade away, and the monkey gods were forgotten. Today, monkeys are viewed as pests by farmers, as they dig up crops, steal food from gardens, and sometimes even attack pets and small children.

Though the early monkey cults have vanished, sarugami worship continued throughout the middle ages in esoteric religions such as Kōshin. Monkeys came to be viewed as servants of the mountain deities, or as mountain deities themselves, acting as intermediaries between the world we live in and the heavens. The famous three wise monkey statues—mizaru, kikazaru, and iwazaru (“see no evil, hear no evil, say no evil”)—come from Kōshin and are a prime example of sarugami worship.

An apocryphal legend says that long ago the Buddha appeared at Hiyoshi Taisha. Just before this occurred, a large gathering of monkeys arrived in the area. The Buddha took the form of a monkey, and foretold the fortunes of the faithful worshipers at Hiyoshi Taisha. Thousands of years earlier, Cang Jie—the legendary inventor of Chinese writing (c. 2650 BCE)—foresaw this appearance of the Buddha. Thus, when he invented the word for god (神), he constructed it out of characters meaning indicate (示) and monkey (申) to foretell this event. In other words, “monkey indicates god.” Although entertaining, this is a false etymology, and the true origin of the word for gods has nothing to do with monkeys.

Legends: In Mimasaka Provice (present-day Okayama Prefecture) there was a giant monkey who lived in the mountains. Every year this sarugami would demand a sacrifice of a young woman from the villages around the mountain. One year, a hunter happened to be staying at the house of the young woman who was chosen to be that year’s sacrifice. Her family was devastated at the thought of losing their daughter, and the hunter took pity on them. He volunteered to take her place as a sacrifice. The hunter and his dog were loaded into a large chest and taken up into the mountains by some priests to be delivered to the sarugami. After some time, a giant sarugami more than two meters tall emerged from the woods, along with his entourage of over one hundred monkeys. The hunter and his dog leaped from the chest and attacked. One by one, the monkeys fell, until only the sarugami remained. Just then the creature possessed one of the priests and spoke through him. The sarugami asked for forgiveness and promised never to demand another sacrifice. The hunter allowed to sarugami to run away, and the sarugami has never asked for another sacrifice since.

In Ōmi Provice (present-day Shiga Prefecture) there lived an elderly farmer and his young daughter. The farmer toiled in his fields to exhaustion every day, while his daughter waited to be married off. But there were no suitors. One day, the farmer mumbled to himself, “Even a monkey would be ok, if only there was someone I could marry my daughter to so they would come work in my field!” Just then a giant monkey appeared and completed all of the old man’s farm work. The following day, the sarugami returned and demanded the old man’s daughter as payment for his work. When the old man refused, the saru grew angry at him for breaking his word, and he stole the man’s daughter and ran into the mountains. Back in his den, the sarugami kept the daughter tied up in a sack. Meanwhile, the old man begged a local noble to rescue his daughter. One day, while the sarugami was away from his den, the noble snuck in and freed the girl. In her place, he put his dog in the sack. When the sarugami returned to his den later he opened the sack to check on his prisoner. The dog leaped out and killed him.

Satori
Satori覚
さとり

Translation: enlightenment
Alternate names: kaku, yamako, kuronbō
Habitat: deep in the mountains of central Japan
Diet: carnivorous; occasionally humans

Appearance: Satori are strange, intelligent ape-men found in the mountains of Gifu. The are roughly man-sized, and appear similar to larger versions of the native monkeys found in the region.

Interactions: Satori appear to travelers on mountain roads, or folks living in mountain huts far from civilization. If the opportunity presents itself, they gladly dine on anyone they can get their hands on. In cases where they encounter a lone human female, they often take her away into the mountains and rape her. Satori are most well known for their uncanny ability to read people’s minds and then speak their thoughts faster than the individuals can get the words out themselves. This makes it very difficult to hunt, trick, or escape from a hungry satori. However, should something unforeseen happen, such as being unexpectedly hit by an object, satori grow very frightened and run away. One of the only ways to avoid being eaten by one of these yokai is to completely empty one’s mind; with no mind to read, the satori grows bored and wanders away.

Origin: The name satori literally means “enlightenment” in the Buddhist sense. The satori, with its uncanny ability to read thoughts, comes across as a kind of enlightened being to scared travelers, which is how it got its name. This also relates to the method of escaping a satori — true enlightenment comes from emptying one’s mind of distracting, worldly thoughts, just as salvation from the hungry satori comes from an empty, zen-like mindset.

The origin of the satori is not entirely clear. Edo-period encyclopedias relate satori with yamako, apes from western China and captures women to rape or to eat. It has also been theorized that satori are cousins of yamabiko, a small monkey-like yokai. The satori’s ability to read people’s minds and the yamabiko’s ability to mimic their words are rooted in the same folklore. More recent folklorists have suggested that satori are fallen mountain gods of the ancient proto-Shinto religion which have been corrupted into yokai over the ages.