Hag Yokai

**Hag Yokai** are humanoid beings who has vast expertise in magic. Not to be confused with Beldam Yokai.

## Physical Appearance

Hag Yokai have the appearance of an elderly woman. They have gray or white hair with big noses. They may have fanged teeth and often wear worn-out clothing which are raggedy.

## Description

Hag Yokai are often seen living in Witch Towns along with the other magical beings. They're wise and highly knowledgeable, especially about occult and arcane matters, and sought for advice. They know all kinds of magic which makes them highly demanded by young Yokai who wants to become their apprentices. While Hag Yokai are malevolent, not all Hag Yokai are evil in nature. Some are benevolent and often uses their magic to help those in need.

## Abilities

Here are the abilities that Hag Yokai can have in their arsenal:

* Curse Inducement
* Decelerated Aging or Semi-Immortality
* Dream Manipulation
* Enhanced Condition
	+ Enhanced Durability
	+ Enhanced Strength
* Fear Manipulation
	+ Fear Amplification
	+ Fear Inducement
* Hallucination Solidification
* Magic
	+ Dark Arts
	+ Potion Creation
* Matter Ingestion
* Natural Weaponry
	+ Claw Retraction
	+ Powerful Bite
* Nature Manipulation
* Shapeshifting

### Variations

* Disaster Manipulation
* Environment Manipulation
* Season Manipulation

### Type of Hags

* Ame Onna
* Ao Nyobo
* Azuki Baba
* Beldams
* Boo Hags
* Elbow Witches
* Jakotsu Baba
* Kokuri Baba
* Lechuza
* Mikari Baba
* Night Hags
* Oshiroi Baba
* Water Hags
* Yamauba
* Yonaki Baba

### Associations

* Bogeyman Physiology
* Celtic Deity Physiology
* Classic Monster Physiology
* Slavic Deity Physiology

## Pop Culture

When categorizing mythical creatures there is often a degree of confusion and overlap, none more so than when dealing with hags - thus in order to try and ensure information is as clear as possible we have a short guide on how to differ hags from witches and beldams:

**Hags:** nature-based (whether it be good, bad or otherwise), do not have human (or mortal) origin - they can be ugly in appearance but usually are depicted more as extremely old women, the more malicious hags do have uglier appearances and more monstrous traits but they still retain links to nature (for example a swamp hag is monstrous and violent but she embodies the darker elements of nature, thus will manifest powers related to her element, many hags also have a sphere of influence over which their magic works (sea-hags only control water, forest-hags only control woodland etc).

**Witches:** neither hag nor beldam, a witch is simply a human (or other mortal creature) that has developed skills in magic or esoteric energies - thus they should not be added to hag or beldam (instead use Mystic Human or the like) - if a witch corrupts her body and soul sufficiently however she may become a Beldam.. despite their names being linked in popular culture and folk tales a mortal witch can never become a hag (since hags have always been spirits and thus were never mortal to begin with).

**Beldams:** they may of started life as humans (or mortals) but gave up any resemblance to true humanity in exchange for black magic, in other tales they were never human at all - in all cases they are absolutely malevolent, they seek to destroy natural balance and have no positives whatsoever.. they exist as extensions of humanity's fear of the unknown and are fantastically hideous, they also have a wider range of influence than hags but are limited to the use of evil magic.. some beldams are also the ghosts of witches that continue to linger after their mortal forms have perished (especially if these ghosts are malevolent in nature).

## Variations

### Ame Onna Yokai

Ame Onna Yokai are a type of malicious yokai-hag from Japanese folklore that manifests as an ugly woman carrying a large sack, only ever appearing during rainstorms these gruesome spirits continually lick at rainwater from their hands like a wild animal and keep watch for children or infants, who they will abduct and spirit away using their sacks.

### Ao Nyobo Yokai

Ao Nyobo Yokai are a man-eating spirit of poverty and misfortune that haunts abandoned homes, often large ogre-like creatures they are always female and forever applying makeup and dressing in fine wares but visibly rotting and decaying - they will hunt down and devour anyone that happens upon them and then return to their eternal fussing, as if trying to keep beauty that has long faded into nothingness.

### Azuki Baba Yokai

Azuki Baba Yokai are a type of man-eating yokai-hag from Japanese folklore that takes the form of a hideous old hag dressed all in white, singing in a husky, ugly voice, appearing only during the hours of twilight on rainy or misty nights they practice a similar song to the Azuki Arai but they do not do so for pranks as they will follow through on the morbid threat to catch and devour humans.

### Beldam Yokai

Beldam Yokai are beings similar to hags but are exclusively malevolent in nature and often seen as demonic creatures (while hags can be both demonic and divine, depending on the source) - hags are often associated with nature (both the good, bad and neutral parts of it) while Beldams are instead an embodiment of mankind's fear of the unknown and black magic, they toil endlessly to bring ruin and often delight in their malice, giggling madly and gathering all manner of evil spirit and vermin to their aid.

### Boo Hag Yokai

Boo Hag Yokai are a special kind of Night Hag that is found in modern American folklore, especially that of "hoodoo", envisioned as horrific demons resembling flayed old women they could wear the skin of others in order to disguise themselves as human but during the hours of night would fly into homes and drain people of life, often "riding" them and causing similar disturbances as the Night Hags.

### Elbow Witch Yokai

Elbow Witch Yokai are a uniquely malicious monster from Native American folklore, specifically the Ojibwe region - they are depicted as hag-like women with awls (or knives) in their elbows.

### Jakotsu Baba Yokai

Jakotsu Baba Yokai are a type of yokai-hag from Japanese folklore that took the form of a hideous old woman surrounded by snakes, often with a blue snake in her right hand and a red snake in her left.

### Kokuri Baba Yokai

Kokuri Baba Yokai are a type of ghoulish yoka-hag who would haunt old temples and feed on the flesh of the dead as well as any who happened upon them - being considered a personification of evil, isolation and despair due to their origins as wives of old temple priests who upon the deaths of their husbands went insane and locked themselves in the deepest sectors of the temples, where they would transform into the predatory Kokuri Baba.

### Lechuza Yokai

Lechuza Yokai are a type of hag from Mexican folklore that takes the qualities of a seemingly normal woman during the day but transforms during the night into an owl-like monster with a wide array of powers such as mimicking voices, manipulating the weather and even inducing death via her screeching.

### Mikari Baba Yokai

Mikari Baba Yokai are a type of yokai-hag from Japanse folklore who resembles ugly old women with one eye, dressed in straw hats and coats with a burning torch clutched between their teeth - they travel during winter nights and scavenge nearby villages for anything they can find, being exceptionally greedy creatures.

### Night Hag Yokai

Night Hag Yokai are a type of malevolent creature described in many world cultures that will visit mortals during the hours of night and torment them via sitting on their chest and "riding" them, giving terrible nightmares, paralysis and even in some cases, death.

### Oshiroi Baba Yokai

Oshiroi Baba Yokai are a type of yokai-hag that travel around during the hours of night looking for sake and makeup.

### Water Hag Yokai

Water Hag Yokai are a type of legendary creature from multiple world folklores and fantasy, like all hags they are similar to witches but are considered spirits of nature rather than evil-minded mortals (though as time progressed the two inevitably became mixed, much as many ancient gods and fairies became demons under the rule of the early church).

### Yamauba Yokai

Yamauba Yokai are a particularly powerful and evil yokai hag from Japanse folklore that frequented mountains and forests, envisioned as hideous old women they often could not be truly distinguished as monsters until it was too late and delighted in hunting down humans both as prey and for sheer sport.

### Yonaki Baba Yokai

Yonaki Baba Yokai are a type of yokai-hag from Japanese folklore who resemble ugly old women dressed in plain robes with unkempt hair, the appear outside the homes of those who have suffered tragedy and feeds on their suffering, weeping loudly throughout the night.

## Life in the Hidden World

Hag Yokai usually work as teachers for the young Yokai of Witch Towns. Passing their knowledge to their apprentices. Hag Yokai has two groups. Mythical Hags are ancestral deities of wild natural forces like winter, guardians of barren lands and the shapers and creators of natural features, especially mountains. Folkloric Hags are often lessened Mythical hags, cannibalistic beings that resemble bogeymen as they were used to frighten children into being good (however even these figures are not always fully malevolent and may do good, albeit in a more gruesome manner or with less frequency than the mythical hags). All hags share a common theme in that they represent nature (the good, the bad and the neutral aspects of it) - this is another trait that separates them from Beldams, who go directly \*against\* nature. Hag Yokai have deep connections with nature and uses it to their advantage. They can summon extreme weather like hurricanes and tornadoes. They can absorb the dark elements of nature. They may even perform the dark arts in some cases.

## Symbolism

A hag is a wizened old woman, or a kind of fairy or goddess having the appearance of such a woman, often found in folklore and children's tales such as "Hansel and Gretel". Hags are often seen as malevolent, but may also be one of the chosen forms of shapeshifting deities, such as The Morrígan or Badb, who are seen as neither wholly benevolent nor malevolent.