Tantanbō

:Not to be confused with Ōkamuro.
Tantanbō (たんたん坊 Tantanbō, lit. phlegm-phlegm monk) is a giant head yōkai who is the boss of the Yōkai Castle. He first appears in the Shonen Magazine story Yōkai Castle.
==Appearance==
Tantanbō's body is nothing but a giant head. He has a mop of shaggy hair covering his forehead and the back of his head, with a pointy bump of flesh growing out of the middle on top. He has an animalistic nose and cleft lip and a very thin mustache on his upper lip. He has big round eyes and has a case of hypertropia.
In the third and fourth anime, his skin is dark green, with white hair in the third and lime green in the 4th. In the fifth anime, his skin is red and his hair is brown.
==Personality==
==About==
Tantanbō is the leader of the Yōkai Castle gang, over Kamaitachi and Futakuchi-Onna (and Miage-Nyūdō in the spacial version of the fourth anime adaptationゲゲゲの鬼太郎 風雲!妖怪城ゲゲゲの鬼太郎　風雲！妖怪城). His plan is to kidnap human children and transform them into yōkai in order to turn Japan into a Yōkai Kingdom. He crushes Kitarō as thin as a carpet, but Kitarō controls Nezumi-Otoko (who is wearing his chanchanko) and makes him put a rope seal around Yōkai Castle, turning the castle and Tantanbō into stone.
==History==
===Shonen Magazine / First Anime===
He appears in the third episode of the first anime adaption, Yōkai Castle.
In the first anime adaption, his name was Yaniyanibō (やにやに坊, lit. mucus-mucus monk).
===1985 Anime===
Tantanbō is unsealed as a stone shrine is knocked over during construction, where he and the others cause havoc by making the construction machinery go haywire. He abducts a boy after he leaves school, taking him to the Yōkai Castle. After the Yōkai Castle rises from the ground, he watches the outside from one of the higher floors, his glowing eyes noticed upon by Kitarō. Within the castle, he orders Nezumi-Otoko to abduct as many human children as he can and bring them there. Explaining that children are easier to turn into Yōkai than adults. Immediately they hear the clip-clop of Kitarō, Tantanbō encounters him behind a ladder and welcomes him. He spits out blue saliva trying to immobilize and eventually succeeding as the Yōkai boy tries to escape. He leaves Nezumi-Otoko with the petrified Kitarō. Later Kamaitachi brings the children to him, having tried to escape, Tantanbō decides to petrify them. Soon the rat Yōkai arrives warning that Kitarō has entered the castle, though Tantanbō comments that Futakuchi-Onna probably ate him by now. Afterward, he orders Nezumi-Otoko to abduct more children, suddenly he hears the crying of a baby, asking the rat Yōkai if he abducted babies. Nezumi-Otoko denies and goes to check. Before long Kitarō tries to find him, where Tantanbō attacks him and tells him not to get in the way of his mission. The Yōkai boy asks why he is doing this to the humans, where Tantanbō responds that they have grown arrogant, exclaiming that he can not forgive their conceitedness. He appears from the floor and asks Kitarō to work for him and to stop siding with the humans. He rejects and Tantanbō attacks him in retaliation. Sunakake-Babaa and Nurikabe arrive to aid Kitarō, where the Yōkai boy stops Tantanbō with his Chanchanko and stumbling as he falls into a hole. He later, exclaims in terror as the castle sinks into the ground.GeGeGe no Kitarō (1985): Episode 1
Later, he appeared in episode #91 Yōkai Hunter Hi Clan! as a "minion of Nurarihyon".
In the GeGeGe no Kitarō: Saikyō Yōkai Gundan! Nippon Jōriku!!, a small Tantanbō was briefly seen to participate the Yōkai-Human friendly bon dance festival.
===1996 Anime===
He appears in both episode #66 and 67 of the fourth anime adaption, Ominous Clouds! Yōkai Castle (Part 1) and Ominous Clouds! Yōkai Castle (Part 2). He has original motivation again, but this time also kidnaps adults. He is defeated when Kitarō kicks one his geta through him, deflating his body.
Another individual was seen in the first ending.
===2007 Anime===
He appears in episode #61 of the fifth anime adaption, Tantanbō of the Yōkai Castle. In this version, he is working with Nurarihyon, who is going along with him to get the control box for Yōkai Castle. Nurarihyon and Kamaitachi take the control box and leave Tantanbō to face Kitarō alone. He is defeated when he is set on fire and jumped from the castle.GeGeGe no Kitarō (2007): Episode 61
He later appears in GeGeGe no Kitarō: Nippon Bakuretsu!!. Tantanbō 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!!
===2018 Anime===
At some point, Tantanbō and the others are sealed with the Yokai Castle in a stone from a mountain. Eventually, the mountain was broken down and used to make concrete, spreading fragments of the stone across varying construction sites, where most of it was used in a stadium.GeGeGe no Kitarō (2018): Episode 3
===Series===
One day, Tantanbō and the others are awakened in the stadium by Nanashi.GeGeGe no Kitarō (2018): Episode 2 They then go on to abduct children to use as human sacrifices for the Yokai Castle, doing so from various construction sites. From the stadium's dome, Tantanbō sneaks behind a boy and shoots phlegm at him, making him sink into the concrete, adding him to the pillars. They eventually gathered 12 children, only requiring one more.
During one afternoon, Tantanbō intercepts a boy as he runs to practice and tries to get him as the last pillar. However, Kitarō arrives and demands he release the kidnapped children. Tantanbō refuses as they are needed for his objective. He then shoots his phlegm but the Yokai boy dodges. Tantanbō protects himself from Kitarō's getas using the concrete as a shield. he sinks further into it and ambushes Kitarō from behind. Taking their fight across the street, Tantanbō shoots his phlegm again and manages to coat Kitarō with it, turning it into stone. He calls the boy a fool and to stay there forever as he leaves, sinking into the concrete.
At the stadium during the night, a girl is caught by his comrades and Tantanbō appears from the ground, agreeing with Kamaitachi that they can use her as the last pillar. After putting in the center, Tantanbō makes her sink into the ground and turns her into the last pillar, thus bringing back the Yokai Castle. Tantanbō and the others tell the children in the pillars that they will forever support the Yokai Castle, never to age or die despite the pain they are in. They leave soon after to defend the castle from Kitarō and his friends.
At the top floor of the castle, Tantanbō is found by Kitarō. He shoots phlegm and sinks into the floor to dodge the Hair Needles. He reappears from the ceiling and squashes the boy. He dodges the boy's getas by phasing through the walls. Tantanbō taunts the boy, claiming that they are invincible so long as the castle exists, and blasts him out of the room. Tantanbō rises from the ground, joining his comrades as they face Kitarō's group. Kitarō asks what they plan to do by resurrecting the Yokai Castle. Tantanbō answers him with a question, about how he feels looking at this world. When they awoke from their slumber, they saw what the humans had done and realized that this world does not need humans. They plan to use the castle's power to exterminate humans and create a world of nothing but Yokai. They listen as Kitarō calls them out on this, saying that they are worse than humans for this plan.
Tantanbō sinks into the ground as Kitarō shoots his geta at them. He exits from the wall only to get shocked and stabbed in his forehead. However, he tells the boy how futile this is, as they will continue to regenerate so long as the castle exists. When Kitarō finds the pillars using Mana's phone and destroys one, an enraged Tantanbō follows him. He charges at him to attack but is shot by the boy's Finger Gun and laments about how they could lose. His body dissipates and the Yokai Castle follows suit.
==Powers and Abilities==
Mucus Manipulation: Tantabō's body is able to produce a large amount of mucus, normally coming in the form of phlegm and spitting it out from his mouth. It comes out in a ring shape, following its target, sticking to and suffocating them. In the 1968 anime, it is instead Rheum that he flings to his target. Within the 1985 anime, he spits out glowing blue saliva, which quickly hardens into stone after encasing his target. In the 2007 anime, he is able to grab what he wants with his saliva, making it act as an appendage. He is also capable of using it as an adhesive, leaving his victims to hang upside-down.
Yōkai Castle Jurisdiction: In the 2018 anime, Tantanbō and the others are linked to the Yōkai Castle and gain additional powers because of it. Once the pillars are no more, Tantanbō loses these powers.
*Concrete Manipulation: Because the mountain that held the stone that sealed them was broken down and mixed to make cement that was used across Tokyo, this gave Tantanbō the ability to control concrete. He is capable of using it as a defensive shield by partially sinking into the pavement and can also travel anywhere through the concrete that was made from the cement containing the stone fragments. He can also make others sink into the concrete.
*High-Speed Regeneration: So long as the castle exists, Tantanbō is able to quickly heal from any injury, effectively making him invincible.
*Phasing: Limited to the Yōkai Castle, Tantanbō can travel through the ground and walls of the castle, similar to how he can with concrete, where the surface ripples as he enters or exits it.
Petrifying Gaze: He is able to petrify his targets by staring at them, where his eyes glow blue. This also shrinks them to a more carriable size.
Hypnosis
Telekinesis: In 1985 anime, He can telekinetically carry his victims after encasing them in his phlegm.
Levitation: In the 1968 and 1985 anime, Tantabō is able to float and hover above the ground as well as fly back to the castle.
Light Generation: Tantanbō is able to emit light from his eyes, in a fashion similar to a flashlight. It is bright enough for him to be seen from the ground while he is high up in the Yōkai Castle.
Whirlwind: In the 1996 anime, all the members of the trio were seen to move swiftly to a distant location in seconds.
==Former Equipment==
Yokai Castle Controller: Tantanbo uses this blue octahedron-shaped tool that controls the Yokai Castle, giving out orders to call the four towers by chanting. When not in use, he stores it within his body. The tool was stolen by Kamaitachi and given to Nurarihyon.
==Legend==
Tantanbō is based on the Ōkamuro, however Tantanbō's design is more loyal to the original illustration by Shungyōsai Hayami.
==Trivia==
*In the 1985 anime, a smaller Tantanbō was seen at the end of the GeGeGe no Kitarō: Saikyō Yōkai Gundan! Nippon Jōriku!! as a friend to Kitarō and humans, while the Tantanbō appeared in the final episode as a foe resembled more of the Tantanbō appeared in the first episode based on their sizes and holding grudges against Kitarō.
==References==
==Navigation==
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