Translated as the “human-eating ghost”, jikininki are ghosts that feast on dead bodies. They often appear to have sharp, pointed teeth, but look like any other human being otherwise. Those special teeth are used to peel the flesh off of their recently deceased prey. Jikininki can be found around abandoned temples or ancient ruins in villages. They stay in these locations so that they can avoid contact with humans, but they must also be near people so that they can get food. These ghosts do not enjoy feeding on the dead, but they are forced into that situation in order to relieve some pain of their eternal hunger. They exhibit ghost-like traits that include appearing invisible during the day. Typically, Jikininki wait in temples at night to eat the dead flesh of those that are there for funerary prayer.

Jikininki are directly related to the hungry ghosts of Buddhism, who are constantly starving but cannot eat. When a living individual corrupts their soul by performing evil acts, they may be cursed to the existence of a jikininki if they cannot pass properly after death. Others may have been cannibals during their lives that transformed into jikininki as they ate more flesh.

More specifically, the legend of a monk named Musō Soseki exists. His legend tells of his travels on a pilgrimage that lead him to a small village deep in the mountains. At this village, the chief had just passed away and there was a rule in place that when a villager dies, those living must spend the night outside of the village or they could be cursed. Therefore, Soseki stayed the night in the village alone. He prayed over the chief’s body until a strange presence interrupted him. A dark shape creeped into the house and devoured the rest of the village chief’s remains. Soseki told his story to the chief’s son, who responded saying that this is just as the legend says. Soseki was concerned and asked why a monk does not pray for their dead, but the son told him that no monks have been in that region for generations. Soseki passed another monk on his way to the village and went back to ask him about this situation. The monk confessed to Soseki that the dark figure was him. He stated, “Long, long ago I was a priest. Because of my lack of conviction, when I died I was reborn as a jikininki.” The old monk disappeared immediately after this encounter.

Chinese tradition says that mogwai, or mogui, are a type of demon that inflict harm on humans. The term “mo” comes from the Sanskrit “Mara”, meaning ‘evil beings’. The term “gui” does not particularly relate to demonic spirits. It simply means ‘deceased spirits’ or ‘souls of the dead’, but it has evolved to refer to vengeful spirits that may attack non-family members that caused them pain while they were living.

In the legend, it is said that the mogwai sexually reproduce during mating seasons that are triggered by the coming of rain because the rain signifies rich times ahead. The way to get rid of a mogwai also involves money. The trick said that those cursed with the mogwai must burn paper banknotes so that the mogwai has money to use in the afterlife.

This legend has truly evolved since its creation because of the pop-culture phenomenon know as “Gremlins”. This movie was created by Joe Dante in 1984 and it has a sequel created in 1990. The mogwai in the movie are shown to be rare, furry, and cute creatures. There were three rules that came with owning a mogwai:

1. Do not expose them to water because it will immediately reproduce
2. Do not feed it food after midnight because it will transform into a ferocious monster
3. Do not expose them to sunlight because they will die, and any other bright light will be painful to a mogwai

Of course, the main character of the movie makes all of these mistakes creating an army of used-to-be-mogwai, or gremlins. The mogwai in the movie are also shown to cause chaos in a pack formation. Their leader, Spike, leads them into many situations that cause problems throughout the city, so the only way to stop it is to kill them.

The reason that this movie may have been created was through a combination of the concepts of mogwai and gremlins. The Chinese legend of mogwai was explained earlier, but a gremlin is a character in folklore. This character causes mischief, especially with malfunctions in machinery.  Gremlins are often depicted as having spikey backs, large strange eyes, small claws, and sharp teeth. This idea comes from World War II. “Gremlin” was a slang term that Britain’s Royal Air Force used to refer to those that sabotaged planes.

While the movie was entertaining, the concept mogwai was changed in a drastic way. Now, no one knows the true basic legend of a mogwai that originally came from China. This happens with many more legends than just this one because creativity stems from the past and makes its way into present-day pop-culture. There is more information on the movie than there is about the original legend.