Grand Mononoke - 具乱怒物乃怪［ぐらんどもののけ] - [Yokai]

 The "Grand Mononoke" (Grando Mononoke) - 具乱怒物乃怪［ぐらんどもののけ] - [Yokai | UMA | Critter?]

• About this yokai: A spectacularly bizarre chimeric yokai with an “overwhelming presence” supposedly from the Tohoku region of Northeastern Japan where it lives secluded in the mountains & is venerated as a mountain kami. It has the stark-red face & demonic golden eyes of a devilish, long-nosed, Great Tengu, The fangs and mighty horns of an Oni. A gigantic, gaping serpents maw sits hungrily atop the head and an eyeless-beaked kappa face rests on its shoulder. From its tengu-mouth splays eight dragon heads, biting and flailing in every which direction. Its legs consist of two hissing felines crying out at the base of its thighs and its feet end with black-draconic talons! It has a huge tail like that of a big fish (possibly a ningyo’s given all the other yokai that are part of it). Grasped in its mighty, ape-like limb an is an ever-extending staff like that of the Monkey King’s and on the opposite side it has an oddly placed gigantic foot which uses its massive wooden one-pronged geta as a shield. The creature is said to be able to grow up to 10m tall, is surprisingly limber, and can devour livestock in a single bite!! It’s said to have been named by an English missionary in the 1580s-1600s.

• History & Earliest Appearance: This yokai was first introduced in a 1987's Keibunsha #319. "Encyclopedia of the Spiritual and Demonic Realms." [霊界・魔界大百科]  Keibunsha was a company that published popular guides for kids on about everything you can think of. This issue contained occult topics such as the 'afterlife, psychic phenomena, strange stories, cannibalism, and other odd customs.' The book also includes a "Mysterious Animals (UMA)" chapter and introduces this yokai as such:

"A monster that is a combination of various creatures. It can grow up to 10 meters in length. Despite its large size, it’s very agile in its movements. When it suddenly appears, it kidnaps livestock, eating them in one bite. 
Normally, the monster does not appear in public, but instead resides quietly in a mountainous region in the northeast of Japan where it is revered as a mountain god by the local people. It's said that the name was given by an English missionary who visited this region in the late Azuchi-Momoyama period (1568-1600.)"

[The "Grand Mononokei" as it appears in "霊界・魔界大百科" image source & a Full book review!]

• List of possibble yokai combined in the original: [Note: the original book does not include a exact list, so some elements are up to speculation!]

• Dai Tengu. [Main Stomach Face.]
• Oni. [Horns.]
  
• Kappa. [Armpit.]
• Giant Snake [Top Mouth.]
• Yamata no Orochi. [x8 "dragon Head/Tongues"]
• Son Wukong. [Staff, Monkey Arm.]
• NIngyo? [Tail.]
• Bakeneko &/or Nekomata [x2 Thighs.]
• 暗黒生命体 足 "Dark Lifeform"  [Feet.] - (introduced earlier in the book (page earlier) a blanket term for 'monster'.) 
• Possibly: Ashiarai Yashiki ? -[Giant Leg.]
• Giant Tengu Geta. - [Sheild]

Many seasoned researchers and fans of yokai will sense something fishy about this yokai and not just the tail. Japanese folklore has it’s share of composite creatures just like any other culture (such as Kotobuki and nue) but composite creatures are usually composites of animals. It’s rare for composites to have even ONE monster part and Grand Mononoke has six or seven at least. It’s like they wanted to cover a bunch of yokai at once so they stapled together some of the most popular ones.
It’s weird enough for a yokai but this creature was actually in the UMA (cryptid) section. How can you even entertain the idea of this being a living creature? How could something amble around with that many disparate body parts? How could it even function with that many heads controlling the body? How does it eat with a mouth full of snakes??? 

And if the design wasn’t sus enough, its background makes even less sense. If this yokai was worshipped in Tohoku, why did a English missionary get to name it? Wouldn’t the locals already have a name for it? Wouldn’t a missionary be against people worshipping anything other than the Christian God?  

And finally, the most damning point against it, there's absolutely zero earlier evidence of this yokai's pre-modern existence, nor any records of the above being factual. The sensationalized book is the earliest source for this creature & story. As such, it’s very likely a creation of the author’s and was likely either made up as a joke and/or to get some attention. Frankly it's quite absurd that the book tried to pass it off as something “real”.

...But it’s also that very absurdity that has caused some yokai fans to fall in love with it. Regardless of its dubious origins, it has indeed become something of a 'cult favorite' among various Japanese yokai enthusiasts, bestiary authors, and artists alike for its absurd yet charming appearance. And in that way, it has become a “real yokai”. Most folklore is fiction after all. So the definition of “real” in cases like this can be very subjective. But at the end of the day, folklore is stories and concepts shared between people. And when people share a yokai between each other like they have with Grand Mononoke then there’s no denying that this is real folklore. (And certainly, stranger things have happened; Tofu Kozo for instance had started as a food stall mascot before he became a poison tofu carrying prince of yokai. For more yokai with odd origins, see the list at the bottom of the page.)

 a few excellent examples of drawings & creature biographies from my Japanese yokai artist friends & contemporaries can be found on their websites here: [x][x][x][x][x][x][x] 

 --Recently (in 2022) The Grand Mononoke also made a feature appearance as part of the cover image for a yokai encyclopedia! "Nihon Kaii-Yokai Jiten Tohoku" "日本怪異妖怪事典 東北" (2022) - The book cements it as "A Modern Yokai from the Tohoku region." though the one included there seems to have several additional yokai added! including shirime, a nine tailed tanuki and both Ashinaga & Tenaga? (Among several others, Artistic licence, you love to see it!!)

[日本怪異妖怪事典 東北" (2022)] 

Because of the Grand Mononokes definitive origin as something of a "hoax" (or perhaps more aptly a 'joke') I'm tempted to lovingly label it as a "Japanese Fearsome Critter." (all its missing is a latin name; I might propose "yokailius rediculousum" )

• Other Yokai with Odd or Dubious Origins:

•  Biron, Haradashi, Gotaimen [a few other widely accepted/popular Yokai of similar dubious origins from books and magazines from the 70's!]
•  Nurarihyon. - [The supposed 'Grand Commander of yokai' whos design does originate in the Edo period, but was given the title for a similarly dubious reasons.]
• Gashadokuro. - [a yokai based on an edo period painting of a gigantic skeleton, which was an an artistic interpretation of a story, which has been misinterpreted over the years and gradually became its own folklore.] 
  
• Tofu Kozo. - [An edo period food stall mascot that became a yokai. (possibbly due to rumors & urban legends.)]
• Kanibanbani. - [a Hoax/UMA that even -almost- fooled me! & has since become quite popular subject here in the west.]
• The Squonk. - [a 'Fearsome Critter' who was drawn used as an example of an 'American Yokai" by beloved folklorist; Shigeru Mizuki.] 

[Art Sticker drawn by @SamKalensky (yo thats me!) Part of my Night parade of 100 Demons, Yokai collection of stickers, check my shop, follow & support me for many more!! Big thanks goes to @Cattype for editing & helping me get my thoughts together in a consice way; if you can, please support her as well!]