Japanese raccoon dogs have a long history in Japanese legend and folklore. Bake-danuki, literally "transforming tanuki", are a kind of supernatural beings found in the classics and in the folklore and legends of various places in Japan.

Although the tanuki is a real, extant animal, the bake-danuki that appears in literature has always been depicted as a strange, even supernatural animal. The earliest appearance of the bake-danuki in literature, in the chapter about Empress Suiko in the Nihon Shoki written during the Nara period, there are such passages as "in two months of spring, there are tanuki in the country of Mutsu, they turn into humans and sing songs." Bake-danuki subsequently appear in such classics as the Nihon Ryōiki and the Uji Shūi Monogatari. In some regions of Japan, bake-danuki are reputed to have abilities similar to those attributed to foxes: they can shapeshift into other things or people, and can possess human beings, but unlike the fox, which changes its form for the sake of tempting people, tanuki do so to fool people and make them seem stupid.

he comical image of the tanuki having a large scrotum is thought to have developed during the Kamakura era, where goldsmiths would use tanuki pelts for the process of hammering gold nuggets into leaf. Tanuki may be shown with their testicles flung over their backs like travelers' packs, or using them as drums.

Tanuki are also said to drum on their bellies, making sounds such as "pom poko" or "ponpon", and typically depicted as having large bellies. Tanuki may or may not be the cause of mysterious drumming sounds tanuki-bayashi.

* Nihon Shoki
* Nihon Ryōiki
* Uji Shūi Monogatari

* Ugokie Kori no Tatehiki (1933)
* Shojoji no tanuki-bayashi Dan Dan'emon (1935)

*In Nintendo's video games Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario 3D Land, Mario Kart 8, and Super Mario 3D World, Mario can wear a "Tanooki Suit"
*The 1994 Studio Ghibli film Pom Poko features a group of tanuki who use their shapeshifting powers to defend their habitat against human developers.
*Tom Nook, a recurring character in the Animal Crossing video game series, is a tanuki, as well as his two employees, Timmy and Tommy.
*A tanuki appears as a newscaster in the Japanese version of the American Disney computer-animated film Zootopia; the standard release of the film and releases in other countries use other animals.
*Pokemon [https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Zigzagoon_(Pok%C3%A9mon) Zigzagoon] and its evolutions along with it's Galar variants are based on the tanuki.

*[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bake-danuki Wikipedia]
*[https://comicvine.gamespot.com/tanuki/4060-60844/issues-cover/ Comic Vine]
Category:Legendary Creatures
Category:Yōkai
Category:Animal Characters
Category:Shape-Shifting Characters
Category:Talking Animals
Category:Magic Characters
Category:Japanese Characters
Category:Nintendo Characters
Category:Video Game Characters
Category:Manga / Anime Characters
Category:Studio Ghibli Characters
Category:Disney Characters
Category:Animated Characters
Category:Movie Characters
Category:Fables Franchise Characters
Category:Dark Horse Characters
Category:IDW Characters
Category:Vertigo Characters
Category:Udon Characters
Category:One Piece Characters
Category:Valkyrie Crusade Characters
Category:Yu-Gi-Oh! Monster
Category:Monster Girl Encyclopedia Characters
Category:Shin Megami Tensei Characters
Category:Pokemon Characters
Category:Dragon Quest Characters
Category:Pathfinder Characters
Category:Monster Girl Quest! Characters
Category:Scribblenauts Characters
Category:Monster Strike Characters
Category:Monster Musume Characters
Category:Shueisha Characters
Category:Drawn & Quarterly Characters
Category:Genshin Impact Characters
Category:MiHoYo Characters
Category:Monster Rancher Characters
Category:Onmyoji Characters
Category:Yo-Kai Watch Characters
Category:Kemono Friends Characters
Category:Echocalypse Characters
Category:Overly Sarcastic Productions Characters
Category:TCG Characters
Category:Mobile Game Characters
Category:Television Characters
Category:Roblox Characters
Category:Gacha Game Characters
Category:Super Smash Bros. Characters
Category:Crossy Road Characters
Category:GeGeGe no Kitaro Characters
Category:Zenless Zone Zero Characters
Category:Brawl Stars Characters
Category:Fortnite Characters
Category:Legend of Zelda Characters
Category:Super Mario Characters
Category:Overwatch Characters
Category:Empires & Puzzles Characters
Category:Shadow Hearts Characters
Category:Mitos y Leyendas Characters
Category:Monster Sanctuary Characters
Category:Panini Characters