Jiangshi

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China has its own form of vampires.

Jiangshi, also spelt Jiang-shi and Gyonshee, amongst others, are better known as Chinese Hopping Vampires, though it might be more accurate to compare them to zombies. This is because of their definitive traits: they are undead entities from Chinese mythology who act much like vampires (though traditionally feeding on qi, or spiritual energy, instead of blood) and, as everybody knows, their legs are frozen stiff with rigor mortis, forcing them to get around by hopping (or levitation).

There are a huge number of different variations on the tale and consequently on what the jiangshi's traits actually are; whether or not they are averse to sunlight, how intelligent or bestial they are, whether they have fangs or claws or a prehensile tongue, whether or not they are forced to move in straight lines, how you can actually hurt them, whether they can see or if they hunt through smelling/hearing peoples' breathing, whether they wear a talisman on their heads, and a lot of other different traits.

/tg/-Relevant Appearances

Jiangshi Traits Summaries By Source

Wikipedia, Jiangshi:

  • Depicted as a stiff corpse that gets around by hopping.
  • Avoids the sun.
  • Feeds on ki and/or blood.
  • Can be created by magic, possession of the body by an evil spirit, the deceased's "po" (evil soul aspect) lingering in the body, the soul refusing to depart due to malice or circumstances of its death, improper burial, or the corpse absorbing too much yang.
  • Sometimes portrayed acting in a feral, bestial manner.
  • May be blind and rely on smelling/hearing the target's breath to detect them.

TVTropes, Chinese Vampire:

  • Depicted as a stiff corpse that gets around by hopping.
  • Feral, bestial creature; can't speak.
  • Possesses claws and a long, prehensile tongue used as a weapon and/or for feeding.
  • Feeds on ki and/or blood.
  • May be blind and rely on smelling/hearing the target's breath to detect them.
  • Can arise spontaneously or be created by magic.

AFMBE, Atlas of the Walking Dead - Gyonshee:

  • Created by improper burial or sorcerous ritual.
  • Cannot move their legs at all; most hop to get around, some can levitate, and all cannot learn kicking-based martial arts techniques.
  • Some can make tremendous leaps.
  • May be incapable of moving in anything other than a straight line; has to stop, turn in the new direction, then start again.
  • Are blind, use their sense of smell to home in on victims.
  • Feed on blood and/or souls.
  • Have claws.
  • May have a prehensile tongue for use as a weapon/feeding implement.
  • May have fangs for biting victims with.
  • Strong, but variable in durability and intelligence.

Vampire: the Requiem, Night Horrors: The Wicked Dead - Jiangshi:

  • Sorcerers who sought immortality and became monsters as a result, much like the ghul.
  • Ritual of creation involves cutting out the heart of a virgin and your own heart in order to use the virgin's heart like a phylactery.
  • Are considered "imperfect" vampires; can be transformed into Kindred-style vampires in certain ways, mostly through diablerie.
  • Possess superhuman strength, durability and speed (can learn the Celerity, Vigor and Resilience disciplines).
  • Are intelligent and can act rationally, but are easily overwhelmed by their savage instincts, making them very vulnerable to Frenzy.
  • Possess Anchors for their soul, akin to ghosts; their grave and either family heirlooms or family members. If these anchors are destroyed, the jiang-shi perishes.
  • Cannot be destroyed through any means other than fire, otherwise are simply recreated in the presence of their grave.
  • Are paralyzed and immobile, but conscious, throughout the day.
  • Have unique powers, including entering the Twilight plane, teleport back to their graves, adopt the shape of a bird-like demon to fly, shapeshift into a human-like form of either gender, or adopt a terrifying mien.

Pathfinder, Bestiary 3 + Blood of the Night:

  • Created when a restless spirit refuses to abandon its body and instead rises again.
  • Feed on ki by consuming breath from living creatures.
  • Prayer scroll on the forehead is not a control talisman, as in classic depictions, but created by the vampire as its source of spell resistance and fast healing; destroying it weakens the jiang-shi.
  • Unaffected by sunlight, although they prefer to avoid it.
  • Can only physically move by hopping.
  • Possesses fangs and extendable, elongated claws that are much more vicious than normal claws.
  • Highest ability score modifier is Dexterity (+6), followed by Strength and Wisdom (+4 each), with Int and Cha the lowest (+2 each).
  • Born of obsession, which they channel into an ever-shifting focus on strange and obscure signs and portents.
  • Particular signs & symbols that can attract a jiang-shi's fixation are Broken Objects, Colors, Foreign Tongues, Knots & threads, Sets and The Written Word.
  • Gravitate towards the Monk class.

Dungeons and Dragons 5e, Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft:

  • Created when a soul becomes trapped in its own corpse.
  • Affected by rigor mortis, they hold their arms rigidly and walk with a stiff gait.
  • If it drains life energy from the living, for the next 7 days its walking speed doubles and it gains the ability to fly.
  • Hide in their tombs and ruins during the day to avoid the living.
  • Scared of their own reflection.
  • Touching or wearing a holy symbol causes them to automatically fail saving throws against effects that turn undead.

Monstergirls

This article or section is about Monstergirls (or a monster that is frequently depicted as a Monstergirl), something that /tg/ widely considers to be the purest form of awesome. Expect PROMOTIONS! and /d/elight in equal measure, often with drawfaggotry or writefaggotry to match.

Just like their mainstream vampire cousins, jiangshi are not immune to getting the monstergirls treatment. The most famous example of this is the character Hsien-Ko from Capcom's now-forgotten monster-themed beat-em-up "Darkstalkers". Whilst easy to just portray as "ethnic vampires", jiangshi have such a massive library of traits and quirks that making them distinctive from the ordinary vampire is really easy. The highly distinctive outfits, representing ancient Chinese imperial officers over the stereotypical Gothic capes & suits or Punk leather and chains, certainly adds to their appeal.

In the Monster Girl Encyclopedia, the jiangshi is a branch of the zombie family tree from the Mist Continent. Superhumanly strong and tough, they are often master martial artists and/or mages. Their claws secrete a demonic energy toxin, which allows them to transform other women into new jiangshi by touching them. They suffer from rigor mortis, giving them stiff joints that often compels them to hop around; part of their reason for hunting human lovers so fervently is that a healthy dose of a man's stiffness cures their own for a while.

In the Life With Monstergirls universe, the jiangshi is, again, a unique strain of zombie monstergirl most characterized by chronic rigor mortis in the limbs, forcing them to practice tai chi or other exercises to limber up each morning.

Gallery

Jiang-shi
Hsien-ko
Monstergirls
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