Kitsune are from Japanese folklore and are Japanese foxes. A kitsune can have up to nine tails, depending on its age, wisdom and power. The only way to kill a kitsune is to cut off all of its tails, as it is said that one of the tails is its main tail and the source of all its power. Not knowing which tail is the main one, one would have to cut off all its tails to kill it. One, five, seven, and nine tails are the most common numbers in folk stories. When a kitsune gains its ninth tail, its fur becomes white or gold.
A kitsune is a shapeshifter, and usually when it reaches the age of 100 years, it learn the ability to take on a human form. Thus, they have to be a fox for a hundred years before it can shapeshift from a fox to a human and back again. It is also said that a kitsune can duplicate other human beings, in other words shapeshift into the look-a-likes of different people. Kitsune can be either male or female, and usually take the form of young Japanese girls, beautiful women, and older men. Kitsune are believed to possess superior intelligence, long life, and magical powers. They are a type of spiritual entity, and the word "kitsune" is often translated as "fox spirit". However, this does not mean that kitsune are ghosts, nor that they are fundamentally different from regular foxes. Because the word "spirit" is used to reflect a state of knowledge or enlightenment, all long-lived foxes gain supernatural abilities.
There are two common classifications of kitsune. The zenko (meaning good foxes) are benevolent, celestial foxes associated with the god Inari; they are sometimes simply called Inari foxes. On the other hand, the yako (meaning field foxes, also called nogitsune) tend to be mischievous or even malicious. For example, a "ninko" is an invisible fox spirit that human beings can only perceive when it posseses them. Another tradition classifies kitsune into one of thirteen types defined by which supernatural abilities the kitsune possesses. Physically, kitsune are noted for having as many as nine tails. These nine-tailed foxes gain the abilities to see and hear anything happening anywhere in the world. Other tales attribute them infinite wisdom. There are thirteen different kinds of Kitsune, each with a corresponding element, listed as follows: Heaven (or Celestial/Prime), Void (or Dark), Wind, Spirit, Fire, Earth, River, Ocean, Mountain, Forest, Thunder, Time, and Sound. One of the most important things to a Kitsune is freedom. They do not fare well to being locked away, and do not like to be forced to do something they don't want to. Doing something like that would be likely to get you killed if they are freed. Kitsune also love playing tricks. They like to take things and hide them from people, or do just about anything else to piss someone off.
Kitsune have things called Kitsune balls, or star balls, which is a small white-gold ball that is a Kitsune's most prized possession, since it is almost like their life force in a ball. If you get your hands on a Kitsune's star ball, you would have the ability to control the Kitsune and make it do your bidding. However, Kitsune hate being stripped of their freedom, and when the Kitsune gets its star ball back, there will be serious repercussions for you to deal with.