808 Tanuki

The 808 Tanuki (八百八狸 Happyakuya-Danuki) are an army of tanuki from Yamanaka, Shikoku who attempted to take over Japan in the Shonen Magazine story, The Great Tanuki War.
==About==
The 808 Tanuki were sealed away in an underground cave in Shikoku 250 years ago by the priest Tenkai. They appear cute and funny,wearing clothes and drumming on their bellies, but in actuality they are vicious man-eaters. While performing construction work on a nearby dam, humans accidentally removed the seal on their lair and they were revived. Led by the Gyōbu-Danuki, they set out to enslave mankind and build a Tanuki Kingdom.
While the Gyōbu-Danuki is shown to be a powerful sorcerer, the other 808 only show the shape-shifting ability which comes natural to tanuki. However, they have strength in numbers and prove to be quite a formidable army. Despite their savagery, they show enough knowledge to only negotiate with politicians. Furthermore, the can control giant beasts such as Kōryū and Ōnamazu and weapons such as the Capstone. With such military power, they are able to overthrow the Japanese government. They are able to capture Kitarō thanks to Nezumi-Otoko betraying him and joining them, but when Nezumi-Otoko realizes the 808 don't plan on including other Yōkai in their plans for world domination, he immediately switches back to helping Kitarō.
The 808 Tanuki prove to be one of the most difficults enemies Kitarō has ever faced. From being cursed to turn into a tanuki, losing his one eye, turning to stone, being crushed by the Kōryū and melted by his stomach acid, and freezing himself to defeat the Ōnamazu, Kitarō went through extreme conditions to defeat them. In the end, they were finally sealed away by Medama-Oyaji and Nezumi-Otoko replacing the seal on their lair.
The 808 Tanuki appeared in the 1968, 1985, 1996 and 2018 anime adaptations. Gyōbu-Danuki and Dansaburō-Danuki were supposed to appear in the 2007 anime as members of the 47 Yōkai Warriors, but the series was canceled before they could. They only appeared in the film GeGeGe no Kitarō: Nippon Bakuretsu!!, along with the other 23 warriors who never appeared in the anime.
== Legend ==
==Members==
====Gyōbu-Danuki====
====Silk Hat Tanuki====
====Kimono Tanuki====
====Dansaburō-Danuki====
====Eye Patch Tanuki====
Appears in the first anime. An unnamed tanuki who, along with Bucktooth Tanuki, performs most of the minion duties from the original manga story. Voiced by Yonehiko Kitagawa.
====Bucktooth Tanuki====
Appears in the first anime. An unnamed tanuki who, along with Eye Patch Tanuki, performs most of the minion duties from the original manga story. Voiced by Isamu Tanonaka.
====Messenger Tanuki====
Appears in the third anime. As his name implies, he is a messenger for the 808 Tanuki. Voiced by Hōchū Ōtsuka.
====Newscaster Tanuki====
Appears in the sixth anime, this unnamed tanuki became the newscaster when the 808 Tanuki gained control from Japan's government, broadcasting the news to the citizens of Japan. Voiced by Shunsuke Kanie.
====Japanese Hair Tanuki====
==Gallery==
GGGnK18 EP12.jpg|808 Tanuki in the 2018 anime.
==Trivia==
*The Drawn & Quarterly English release of the manga counted their number as only the 800 Tanuki.
==References==
==Navigation==
pt-br:Tanuki 808
Category:Factions
Category:Antagonists
Category:Japanese Mythology
Category:Antagonist (1985)
Category:Antagonist (1968)
Category:Antagonist (2018)
Category:Tanuki
Category:Antagonist (1996)