The Kitsune (japanese for 'fox') are a race of self procalimed 'demi-gods' who are of japanese origin and is part of one of the main groups of animals which can transform by will. Other animals of japanese folklore indicate that besides chameleons; racoons and some types of cats can also transform.
There are no such things as demi-gods, but by their craving for being worshipped, they deem themselves as such. They are really just demi-demons, as are most demi-god creatures; they are just simply in another demon category.
It is widely agreed that many fox myths in Japan can be traced to China, Korea, or India. Chinese folk tales tell of fox spirits called huli jing that may have up to nine tails, or Kyūbi no Kitsune in Japanese, or Hồ Ly Tinh in Vietnamese. Many of the earliest surviving stories are recorded in the Konjaku Monogatari, an 11th-century collection of Chinese, Indian, and Japanese narratives.
There is debate whether the kitsune myths originated entirely from foreign sources or are in part an indigenous Japanese concept dating as far back as the fifth century BC. Japanese folklorist Kiyoshi Nozaki argues that the Japanese regarded kitsune positively as early as the 4th century A.D.; the only things imported from China or Korea were the kitsune's negative attributes. He states that, according to a 16th-century book of records called the Nihon Ryakki, foxes and human beings lived close together in ancient Japan, and he contends that indigenous legends about the creatures arose as a result. Inari scholar Karen Smyers notes that the idea of the fox as seductress and the connection of the fox myths to Buddhism were introduced into Japanese folklore through similar Chinese stories, but she maintains that some fox stories contain elements unique to Japan
Kitsune are often in the shape of humans and their slit like eyes, long fingernails and tall yet slender bodies can be the only factor to distinguish them from other people. Usually, if depicted in their human form they will wear yukata or kimonos as they stubbornly stick to their heritage and roots.
(pictured) The most common rendition of the Kitsune would be the Kyuubi, or 'nine tailed fox' (which is featured in the anime Naruto) and is usually orange to deep red in colour with hints of black, which are similar colours to the Phoenix.
In the Studio Ghibli anime Pom Poko, a kind of documentry themed anime about shape shifting racoons within a remote area in Japan, the foxes are shown to be very sly and mischevious, and are usually in the form of female, though male Kitsune are often depicted as well, just in more manga comics such as Kamisama Hajimemashita.
In Kelley Armstrong's Men of the Otherworld novel, within the last section there is information about the Kitsune, creating male Kogitsune offspring so as to have devoted worshippers and so that their race will last by 'intertwining the blood of other supernatural races', such as a werewolf, as they can both transform into animals.
Besides transforming, they also possess magical powers unlike the werewolf. They can live for an extremely long time becuase of their demon blood (however much they wish to deny it) and can use a specific power known as Fox Fire to burn/light things or locate people.
