SUIKO

Lore

Suiko (水虎), literally “water tiger,” is a term often used for the most ferocious kappas; sources stress a strict hierarchy in which a suiko commands forty-eight lesser kappa. As an officer in the aquatic world, the suiko is markedly more aggressive than an ordinary kappa. It kills for career advancement, showcasing its brutality and amassing trophies in the form of consumed souls. Within this hierarchy it answers to only one authority—the water dragon.

Physically, a suiko resembles a child of three or four, yet its body is armored with thick scales and completely hairless. Sharp, claw-like protrusions—knee blades—jut from each knee. Unlike typical kappa, it lacks the head-bowl of water, removing a key vulnerability and greatly boosting its combat effectiveness. Suiko dwell in rivers, lakes, and ponds throughout Japan, though chronicles most often cite the Iwakigawa basin in Aomori, where a shrine stands in its honor under the name Suiko-sama.

A suiko’s intellect is keen: it organizes subordinate spirits, mounts nighttime raids onto land—often targeting nearby villages—where it may limit itself to prankish door-pounding or possess a human and make them act bizarrely. Yet mischief aside, its main drive is climbing the ranks, so it chooses victims by social standing: the higher the status, the richer the reward. The typical attack is an ambush at the water’s edge—a sudden grab, drowning, complete drainage of the victim’s blood, and finally the devouring of the soul. The yokai then always returns the bloodless body to the surface.