Lin Hu

**Lin Hu** (**林虎**, a.k.a. **Tiger**) is one of the primary characters in Nekojishi and Nekojishi: Lin & Partners.

## Introduction

*"The Guardian Tiger in Mazu’s temple. Brought to Taipei by Liao.*

*As Liao gains the ability to talk with spirits, Lin Hu seeks to bring him home and have him tend to the family business. However, Liao believes being an Oracle is old fashioned, putting the tiger in a difficult position.*

*Having lived with Liao in Taipei for a great deal of time, he often spends his time reading and following Liao, safeguarding him from any danger. Subsequently, the inquisitive tiger develops a fondness for all things pertaining to modern life, whenever it may be induction cooktops or mobile phones.*

*Likes to eat fried chicken."*

## Background

Lin Hu is a Guardian Tiger serving under the goddess **Mazu** (**媽祖**) as one of the many protectors of the Lin family.

He originated as a primal spirit that resided in one of the guardian tiger statues at the Lin family household and temple. Tiger has been with Lin Tian-Liao since birth, watching over him as he grew up. When Liao decides to go to college in Taipei, Tiger accompanies him as Liao's father gave the guardian tiger statue to Liao to bring along, believing that the statue would keep Liao safe and bless him with academic success.

Once Liao placed the statue on the bookshelf in his apartment, Tiger became a *Fenling* (分靈). Liao's apartment became Tiger's temple, while Liao acts as both a worshipper and a temple priest, who provides Tiger the *Chi* (靈氣) he needs. However, most of Tiger's memories of his primal spirit days became hazy from turning into a fenling, leaving his general knowledge of the gods and the times he spent with Liao in his youth intact.

Before the story of Nekojishi began, Tiger spent his time with Liao in his room and went to school with him. He watches everything Liao does in his private time, from focusing on his studies and practicing at the dance club, to messaging on his smartphone and browsing the internet on his computer at home; eventually, this leads Tiger to discover Liao's homosexuality and fondness for beast-men.

While at home, Tiger passes the time by taking the Chi of Liao's books and reads them on the bed. At night, Tiger sleeps with Liao in his embrace until morning, due to growing bored with nothing to do while Liao is asleep. Occasionally, Tiger retreats into his statue until Liao needs to go outdoors. When Liao visits the bookstore, Tiger takes the opportunity to browse the wide selection of books there and reads them as quickly as possible.

## Personality

Lin Hu resembles a parent; he is caring, strict and protective. He has also proven to be extremely intelligent, and very curious; managing to grasp the world's technology very quickly, as well as having a good memory and exceptional reading speed. In stark contrast to Liao, the tiger is pragmatic and rationale in his thinking, always trying to minimize risks for Liao, even at his own expense. Despite this, he boasts a very short temper and is excessively precautious, trying to drive away Likulau and Leopard Cat.

He is fascinated by modern technology, such as when he asks Liao to purchase a book about computers for him.

## Appearance

Out of the three cats, Lin Hu is the tallest (6'5") with the stockiest body build. Appearing as a anthropomorphic tiger, he has orange and white fur as well as brown stripes on his face, arms, shoulders, legs, tail, back and either side of his torso. Equally as brown are the rims of his ears, his more intricate facial patterns and the spots above his mouth. His eyes are blue. The upper pelage of his tail is partially orange, while the rest is white.

In his first appearance in Nekojishi, Lin Hu wears a traditional Chinese attire with much of his upper body exposed, including half of his arms as well as the inner areas of his front torso. He has a yellow cloth that he wraps around his waist and left arm. He also wears baggy white pants, a neckwear with three coins attached and an orange loincloth.

## Abilities

* **Chi Absorption:** As a god, Lin Hu can absorb Chi from his offerings.
* **Immortality:** Lin Hu can never truly die, unless his statue is destroyed.
* **Shapeshifting:** A deity does not have a fixed apperance and he can transform to whatever he wants.
* **Worshipper affinity**: Lin Hu is empowered when his worshipper is nearby.
* **High intelligence**: He has shown a great capacity for technical reasoning.
* **Jitong Possession:** He can possess his Jitong and empower both of them.
* **Chi Transfer:** He is known to have the ability to transfer Chi, as he did with Leopard Cat.

## Trivia

* Liao is the one to give him the name *Lin Hu* (林虎). **Lin** is Liao's family name, **Hu** means *tiger* in Chinese, so the name literally means **Tiger of Lin's family**.
* Lin Hu has also been called *Guardian Tiger* (虎爺) and *Tiger* (虎) by Liao, *Han God* (漢神) by Leopard, as well as *Old Man* (老人家) and *Big Uncle* (大叔) by Senpai.
* Calls Liao a good boy and refers to him as his childhood sweetheart.
* Refers to Leopard as an aborigine and calls Senpai a kitten.
* Loves to eat fried chicken.
* Likes to read books and browse the internet with Liao's help.
* Takes great interest in modern technological innovations such as laptops and smartphones, and appreciates the convenience in such designs.
* Can recall from memory every file on Liao's computer and smartphone.
* On the home screen, Lin Hu is reading *AppleSeed: Decode - Episode 1* , a Chinese furry light novel that includes the works of some of Nekojishi's artists such as Nviek5 and 山藥人.
* The game icon for Nekojishi is a stylized Lin Hu sitting on his guardian tiger statue plinth.

## Quotes

* (To Senpai) *“I believe you would describe me as Liao’s… ‘childhood sweetheart’, right?”*
* (To Liao) *“Is it surprising that a god can get bored?”*
* (To Liao) *“Your family had hotpot for dinner sometimes. I've been eager to taste one for myself for a very long time.”*
* (To Likulau) "A god will never abandon his worshippers!"

## Gallery

* Guardian Tiger Lin Hu splash art.
* Tiger's blazing energy symbolizing his divine chi.
* Tiger reading a book, deep in thought.
* Tiger and Liao browsing the department store's electronics section.
* Tiger tucking in a fast-asleep Liao.
* "Sweet dreams, Liao. You are a good boy."
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Guardian Tiger facial expressions concept art Lin Hu concept art Guardian Tiger phone wallpaper
## References

1. ↑ Nekojishi Official Website: Characters - Guardian Tiger Lin Hu
2. ↑ AppleSeed Decode Website
3. ↑ Nekojishi BKIH on Twitter: "虎爺"
4. ↑ Nekojishi BKIH on Twitter: Lin Hu Concept Art
5. ↑ Nekojishi BKIH on Twitter: "久等了！ 70萬的虎爺桌布完成啦！"

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