< Encyclopedia: Beast | Back to Title of Contents | Ran Yakumo > Black Cat of Ill Omen chen Ability: Use of sorcery Threat level: Medium Human friendship level: Normal Main place of activity: Animal trails, Youkai Mountain A bakeneko whose appearance and threat level are the most standard of the youkai beasts. Even so, Chen is also a shikigami (*1) in service to Ran Yakumo (explained later). She is a classic bakeneko with long claws and two long tails (*2). While possessed in a shikigami state, she can use various kinds of sorcery and is extremely dangerous, but is weak to water. If she is doused in water, she will cease to be a shikigami, and become a normal bakeneko. As a normal bakeneko, she'll become more feral and resort to more physical means such as biting and clawing, but she still hates water. If you douse her again, her movements will further falter. She looks the same as a shikigami and as a bakeneko. She appears smart because she is capable of understanding human speech and uses various kinds of sorcery when possessed, but in reality she possesses the intellect of a human child about the age she appears. She spends most of her time on Youkai Mountain, and occasionally comes down to the human village to attack people. However, it's said she follows the will of Ran Yakumo and Yukari Yakumo when she is serving as a shikigami. 1: Shikigami aren't a particular class of youkai, but is more like a software that are put on them. When this software runs, we write that here as being "possessed". 2: It's unknown whether she has paws. Eyewitness Reports "There was a huge cat lying inside the kotatsu. It was about as big as a person. No, really!" (Anonymous) Cats curl up under the kotatsu in winter. "A bunch of cats had gathered behind our house. We splashed them with water and they ran off." (Anonymous) It seems the cats assemble regularly when people aren't watching. It appears that the leader of these gatherings is this bakeneko. "Sometimes the pillars on our house are all scratched up. I bet it's because of this bakeneko." (Anonymous) She might be sharpening her claws, but one among the class of bakeneko would probably just use nail clippers or scissors. Countermeasures Bakeneko are very nimble, and they're also quite strong. If she is serious in a fight, even running away would be difficult. However, she has many weaknesses. First, she hates water. She won't go out if it's raining, and if you run out to the middle of a river, she probably wouldn't pursue. She's also weak against catnip. If you sprinkle some dried catnip around, she'll quickly lose all interest in fighting. It's probably best to keep some dried catnip with you if you have to walk down animal trails. The types of sorcery she uses focus on using speed and tricky movements to confuse her opponents. For example, if you think you see her dash off to the left, she'll attack from the right. This is a technique that relies on speed and precise movement, so it's very similar to sleight of hand (*3). 3: When she starts moving to the left, and then returns to the right at high speed, she moves so quickly humans lose sight of her, which makes it appear to be instant teleportation. < Encyclopedia: Beast | Back to Title of Contents | Ran Yakumo >