Raiju
The raiju was a yokai from Japanese mythology that represented lightning strikes. It was once one of the most well known and feared yokais. Today it's lost much of its hold over the minds of people and is now confined to fantasy. Raijus were rarely seen and their appearance was highly variable from region to region. They could be any sort of predatory animal that occurred in Japan, such as wolves, weasels, cats, tanukies, and some animals which were not native, such as large jungle cats. The most common form Raijus took was that of a badger or civet. Some variations of the raiju were more fanciful, such as being a chimera of different animals, or having multiple limbs, such as having two tails or two sets of back legs. Regardless of appearance, raijus were always wrapped in lightning as they travelled to Earth. They had strong claws that could rip apart trees and tear holes in buildings. They could also set fire to anything they touched. Raijus were the pets of the storm god R...