ROKUROKUBI

Lore

By day, a Rokurokubi appears to be an ordinary woman. But at night, her neck stretches to an incredible length, serpentine and uncanny. Sometimes her roaming head hunts small animals or licks lamp oil with a lengthy tongue; other times she simply delights in startling onlookers. Some believe certain Rokurokubi possess darker tendencies—attacking humans, draining blood, or stealing life energy (ki).

In contrast to many yokai, a Rokurokubi was once a regular human woman until cursed for some wrongdoing or sin, be it an offense against the gods, nature, or perhaps unfaithfulness. Come sunrise, her neck retracts, returning her head to its normal position. The only evidence might be a faint scar on the back of her neck or extreme dawn exhaustion.