Shapeshifters, animal-human beings worldwide

Type: demon / spirit / magical being Class: shapeshifters Distribution: cross-cultural (Asia, Europe, the Americas) Main features: change of form, intelligence, unpredictability, often seductive or dangerous Related sub-categories: forest spirits, night beings, demons

Shapeshifters differ from mere witches or sorcerers in that their change of form is neither acquired nor learned, but innate, an inner property. While a magician transforms through spells, transformation is as natural for a shapeshifter as breathing.

In a shamanic context, a shaman may temporarily take on animal form; this, however, is not necessarily classified as a shapeshifter being, but as a magical practice. The true shapeshifter, by contrast, is an independent entity, a supernatural being whose essence is fluid.

The Chinese Huli Jing (fox spirit) is one of the most archetypal examples: a white or golden fox that lives for centuries and gradually takes on human form in order to seduce people, especially men, and to absorb their qi (life energy).

Classic novellas of the Tang dynasty tell of Huli Jing who appear as beautiful women but are recognized by grains or water, signs of their fox nature. The Korean Gumiho resembles her, but is often more destructive and man-eating.

In European legends and fairy tales, the troll is a shapeshifter that varies between a giant beast and an almost human form; its shape often depends on the time of day or on magic. The Nordic troll from Scandinavia can conceal itself or make itself appear large in order to outwit or terrorize people.

In Mesoamerican traditions (Aztec, Maya), nagual or animal skins were mystical doppelgangers: a person had an animal alter ego. In West Africa and the diaspora (Vodou), shapeshifter abilities are signs of spiritual power or demonic corruption.

Shapeshifters are extensively documented in Chinese classical novellas (Liaozhai, 17th c.), Korean classics, European folklore and fairy-tale cycles (Brothers Grimm, Scandinavian sagas). Anthropological research connects shapeshifter belief with shamanism and with animal cults. Psychoanalysts and ethnologists interpret shapeshifter narratives as an expression of fear of the foreign, unfathomable Other and of unconscious drives.

Further standard works in the literature index.