Baku

Baku (獏 Baku, lit. Tapir) is a dream-eating yōkai tapir.
==Appearance==
Baku in the series have the traditional images on the beast in general with elephant-like trunk and tusks, lion-like mane, tiger-like limbs, rhino-like eyes, and ox-like tail.The Anthology of Bai Juyi. vol.22
Within the 1968 anime, actual tapirs kept in a zoo appeared and defeated Makura-Gaeshi instead of the yōkai. This tapir most closely resembles South American Tapir among extant species as possessing a mane, and the introduction on the cage pointed the South America.
==Personality==
==History==
===Manga===
In Kitarō's World Obake Tour, soon after Kitarō declared to have a world-tour to defeat yōkai in foreign countries, Baku sensed how "big" Kitarō's dream and tried to feast on his dream when he was sleeping on a beach in Japan before the trip. Baku took his soul, but Medama-Oyaji as a soul went inside Baku's body and recovered it.
===1968 Anime===
Makura-Gaeshi entrapped tapirs in a dream dungeon for his safety, but was freed by Medama-Oyaji and the animals chased Makura-Gaeshi. Although tapirs cornered Makura-Gaeshi, he escaped on a tree and taunted the animals to devour the dream. As they kept eating dream, they fell off from the fragments of dream, and Makura-Gaeshi laughed at them that they were brain-less as they should have known what's the consequence of eating dreams in the Dream World. While their fates are unclear, Kitarō and others succeeded to escape, and lured Makura-Gaeshi to the cage of tapir in a zoo. The tapir instantly devoured Makura-Gaeshi and spitted out his remaining clothes.
===1985 Anime===
They appeared in episodes #19 and #32 and #86.
===2007 Anime===
Multiple Baku appear in episode 24 of the fifth anime adaption, Battle in the Dreams! Makura-Gaeshi.GeGeGe no Kitarō (2007): Episode 24
One Baku later appears in GeGeGe no Kitarō: Nippon Bakuretsu!!. the Baku appears as one of the multitude of Yōkai parading through cities due to Yato-no-Kami's influence. He is later returned to where he came from after Hana agrees to follow Yato-no-Kami.GeGeGe no Kitarō: Nippon Bakuretsu!!
==Powers and Abilities==
Dream Eating: Baku is capable of consuming people's dream to gain. Baku can vanish any attacks by Makura-Gaeshi.
Vacuum Breath: Baku can perform powerful suction with their trunks to capture targets.
Soul Taking: Baku traps a prey within a cocoon and casts an endless dream forever and gradually feeds on the soul of the prey.
Flight
Insect controlling
Spirit Thread
==Legend==
Baku is a chimeric yōkai with the body shape of a bear, an elephant's nose, rhinoceros eyes, a bull's tail, legs like a tiger, and spotted fur. In China and Japan, they are invoked upon to devourer bad dreams and ward off evil spirits.
Tapir in the real world were named Baku in Japan after their uncanny resemblance to the legend of Baku.
Either the name or characteristics of Baku in old legends has been confused with the depictions of Giant Panda and Bai Ze.
==References==
==Navigation==
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