Jibanyan

**Jibanyan** (Japanese: **ジバニャン** *Jibanyan*) is a Yo-kai of the Charming tribe. He is the mascot of the franchise and is one of the very first Yo-kai that Nate befriends.

In ***Yo-kai Watch!***, he is now a Onechanside Yo-kai of the **Mononoke** tribe.

## Appearance

Jibanyan is a red and white colored cat with a chip in his left ear. He has yellow coloured eyes with large black pupils, his nose and inner-ears are dull shade of pink. Attached to his collar is an aquamarine coloured bell, matching the flames at the end of his two tails. He was red and had a curved muzzle instead of a wavy muzzle, he also had white inner ears and paws tips with a regular tail and also had a belt before he was a Yo-Kai.

Before Jibanyan died due to a car accident, he was a normal cat named Rudy that was adopted by a girl named Amy.

As a Yo-kai, he resorts to possessing people to fight on-coming trucks after numerous failed attempts to do so by himself. Luckily, he is stopped from doing this and is then befriended by Nate and Whisper, whose house he later decides to move into. He initially shows a mischievous and carefree side, easily breaking the rules and nearly being exorcised and having to be saved by Nate. However, he quickly makes amends shortly thereafter.

Jibanyan has an affinity for "choco bars" and anything related to his favorite music group, "Next HarrMEOWny." Jibanyan is also eager to fight over other Yo-kai when needed, as shown in Signibble's assault at Nathan's sleepover. Also, he is quick to take action in dire moments, such as trying to force summoning when Nathan is possessed by Babblong and trying to prove superior than Robonyan, his robotic counterpart. He is very content in protecting Nathan from harm convicted by other Yo-kai.

Normal Medal in the English DubNyext Z Medal in the English DubNyaight Z Medal in the English Dub

## History

### Season 1

In episode 1, he was a normal cat owned by a young girl named Amy. The pair were inseparable and loved one another dearly. Though upon dying and becoming a ghost he had faint recollections of Amy standing over his dead body calling him a loser. Due to how upset he was over the ordeal, he chose to repress the memory, including his name he had as a living cat. He haunted the crosswalk he died at and would possess people to fight on-coming cars and trucks as a means of seeking revenge. There Jibanyan met Nate and Whisper, who befriended the former.

In episode 5, he moves into Nate's house and starts causing problems for the latter's parents. However, after being saved from the Exorcist, he seemingly improved his behavior.

In episode 25, it is shown what really happened. He was sent back in time by the malicious Yo-kai pair Kin and Gin. He relived the days he spent with Amy, where it was revealed that she wished to be a Fashion Designer. He himself thought she would be great, but as a cat he was unable to tell her. Later they went over to the intersection, the place where he had got hit by a car when walking across. It turns out though, that Amy was supposed to die instead, as chosen by the Yo-Kai resembling Grim Reapers. But Kin and Gin appeared before him, slowed time and told him that they did this so he could have a second chance and he can change the outcome (however, this was a ruse in order to separate him from Nate). But Jibanyan refused and rammed into Amy, to push her out of the way and allow him to get hit. However, instead of calling him a loser, it turns out that Amy was calling herself this out of shame for what happened, as she held tight his mangled corpse and burst into tears. When his spirit ascended from his body, he called out "Goodbye, Amy" to her, and she heard him and turned and looked. After realizing he can say a few last things to her, he told her she'd be a great designer. Rudy then went back to being Jibanyan and returned home to Nate.

In episodes 44-46, 48, and 50, he (Mr. Crabbycat) is continuously mistreated by his own students and ends up failing all of them in the last episode.

In episodes 50-53, Venoct portrays Rubeus J, and the whole descriptions resemble Jibanyan and his life. However, Venoct defeats Rubeus J when the Yo-kai is revealed to exist.

### Season 2

In episode 130, he meets his friend and rival, Tomnyan. When Nate summons him with his new Yo-kai Watch Dream, he ends up eating wasabi sushi, causing him to be summoned unluckily.

In episode 131, he is summoned luckily when Nate demonstrates to Jerry how to properly summon Yo-kai. After meeting Jerry, the latter tickles Jibanyan into giving his medal.

## Relationships

### Nate

Nate befriends Jibanyan when he discovers him possessing people on the crosswalk. Jibanyan takes it upon himself to live in Nate's home after overwhelming amounts of cat Yo-Kai begin to inhabit the area. Despite stirring up a bit of trouble at first, he becomes a welcomed part of Nate's daily life and a close friend. Due to this, Jibanyan is usually the first Yo-Kai Nate thinks to summon when confronting a problem. When Jibanyan was about to kiss Fiona from Next HarMEOWny, Nate summoned him to fight Hanahojin in episode 44. As punishment, Jibanyan did Paws of Fury to send the two of them flying. The same thing happened in episodes 84 and 98. Although they anger each other sometimes, they are fairly good friends.

### Whisper

Whisper and Jibanyan have a bit of a light-hearted rivalry and tend to bicker often. Regardless, they seem to be fairly good friends.

### Amy

Jibanyan's owner before he died. Amy named him Rudy and spent most of her time relaxing with him and taking him along when going out. She loved her kitten dearly during their time together. She called him lame (though she was referring to herself) after hearing that he died by a truck, that is why he tries to defeat the truck.

### Next HarMEOWny

A musical idol group consisting of young girls dressed in cat-themed attire, they are a parody of the group AKB48 or Fifth Harmony (hence the pun name). Jibanyan is an enormous fan of theirs and strives to collect massive amounts of merchandise pertaining to them. He longs to meet them in person, win their hearts with his cuteness, and perhaps even receive a kiss or some pettings.

### Tomnyan and Jerry

Jibanyan and Tomnyan live next door to each other. They are friends and rivals and they like to argue on which is better, America or Japan, usually comparing things that they like, like favorite food or band. Jibanyan hates how he gets all the attention. He also hates how excited Tomnyan is about the USA, he also is a bit confused at first on why Tomnyan says "meow." The two exchange questions about the other's respective catchphrase.("ていか「ミヤウ」ってなんニャン?"- Well, What does "meow" mean, nyan?-Jibanyan. "ていか「ニャン」ってなんミヤウ?"- Well, what does "nyan" mean, meow?" However, the two cry and get along when thinking of they respective backstory, being how similar they are.

Jibanyan does seem to be rather irritated with Tomnyan as he's more often than not irritated by Tomnyan's presence.

## Running Gags

* Singing his catchphrase: "I am a cat and I like it like that!"
* Beating up Nate after being summoned.

## Trivia

* Jibanyan has many different versions of himself, through fusions or not even related through Jibanyan.
* Jibanyan has the most medal variations out of all the Yo-kai thus far.
* In EP091, Jibanyan was revealed to be able to hold fifteen chocobars in his haramaki.
* Jibanyan's signature Soultimate attack's Japanese name could reference *Fist of the North Star*protagonist Kenshiro's iconic move *Hokuto Hyakuretsu Ken*, a move that has Kenshiro punch the target rapidly.
* Jibanyan's first three Z medal poses are all based on classic comedy visual gags. Nyoeeh (Nyext) is a reference to Iyami's "Sheeeh!" from Fujio Akatsuka's *Osomatsu-kun*,Nyaiiin (Nyaight) is based on Ken Shimura's "Aiiiin!" (アイーン！), and Komanyachi (Victory) is a parody of Takeshi Kitano's "Komanechi!" (コマネチ！).
* In the dub of the anime, the Nyoeeh Medal was altered to be Jibanyan's original Medal with a green Z medal frame. However, it was unaltered for the Recap Time for the episode it debuted in.

### Origin

* Jibanyan is based on the nekomata, a kind of *bakeneko* (cat youkai) born from a cat that turned into one with age: when this happens, they gain magical powers, human intelligence and their tail splits into two (whether the tail just forks or fully splits depends on the source), ghostly fire sometimes appearing on the tips. They are much larger than a regular housecat, and also far more dangerous: they can curse humans, manipulate fire, and even control the dead with their tails as if they were puppets on strings.
	+ Jibanyan wears a *haramaki* around his tummy, or "belly wrap". The word originally referred to a type of chest armor, but in modern times it describes a tube of thick cloth worn around the waist to keep the body warm during winter. It used to be regarded as an old-fashioned, unstylish article of clothing, but it recently saw new popularity in Japan.

#### Name Origin

His name is a combination of *jibakurei* (Japanese: **地縛霊** "ghost bound to a location") and *nyan*, Japanese onomatopoeia for a cat's call, equivalent to the English "meow".

## In other languages

* Japanese: ジバニャン *Jibanyan*
* Spanish: *Jibanyan*
* French: *Jibanyan*
* German: *Jibanyan*
* Italian: *Jibanyan*
* Portuguese: *Jibanyan*
* Korean: 지바냥 *Jibanyang*
* Chinese: 地縛喵 (Hong Kong) or 吉胖喵 (Taiwan)
* Thai:
* Arabic: جيبانيان