MONSTERS, CRYPTIDS AND SUPERNATURAL CREATURES
JOROGUMO
Binding Bride, Spider Woman, Entangled Bride, whore Spider
The Jorōgumo is a type of Yokai, which is a creature, ghost or goblin from Japanese folklore. It is a gigantic man eating spider, which has the magical ability to shapeshift into the form of a beautiful, seductive woman, which it uses to lure its unsuspecting victims to their death. These are usually young men, looking for love, whom it will seduce and lure back to its lair, where they are ensnared within powerful silken threads and slowly fed upon. However, when in human form, the Jorogumo can still be discovered, as it has the reflection of a giant spider. They also have a powerful venom that can slowly weaken a man day by day, allowing the spider to savor the long and painful death her victim suffers. They can control other, lesser spiders, even employing fire-breathing spiders to burn down the homes of any who grow suspicious of them. A jorō-gumo can operate like this for years and years, even in the middle of a busy city, while the desiccated skeletons of hundreds of youth build up in her home.
Physiology:
The Jorogumo as yokai are giant human sized spiders, which are able to shapeshift into beautiful young women. They are often represented as an amalgamation of the two, normally a seductive woman with arachnid appendages protruding from the back or beneath a kimono and are able to spin unbreakable silken threads, used to bind their victims. These terrifying creatures are said to be immune to any poison and can hold command over any other lesser spiders, even having the ability to summon fire breathing arachnid as allies.
Etylmology:
The name Jorogumo is that of the Nephila Clavata, a real kind of spider. Their name is written with kanji that mean “entangling bride.” However, these characters were added on to her name much later to cover up the original meaning of the name: “whore spider.”
History:
The legend of the Jorogumo comes from Japans Edo period, a fuedal era ruled by shoguns that lasted from 1603 to 1868.
Territory:
Japan
Origination:
Jorō-gumo is probably the most well-known of the arachnid yokai. They start out in life as the Nephila clavata spider, known as the golden orb-weaver in English, but when reaching the long lived age of 400 years, they will develop powerful, magical abilities and their diet will transition from feeding on insects to human prey instead.
Nature:
The Jorō-gumo live long, solitary lives, both as a spider and later as a yokai. They possess a cunning intelligence and a wicked temperament, seeing their prey as nothing more than food. They are skillful in the art of deception and are powerful shapeshifters, usually spending their lives appearing as young, sexy, and stunningly beautiful women.
Modus Operandi:
They make their nests in caves, forests, or empty houses in towns. and prey on young, handsome men who are looking for love. When a jorō-gumo spots a man she desires, she invites him into her home, and he is usually never seen again. She will entagle him in her powerful webbing and drain him slowly, as he suffers a painful, lingering death.
Vulnerability:
There are very few records of these creatures being defeated by any specific means. This accompanied by tales of them deploying fire breathing spiders to destroy the homes of those too close to discovering their secret, leads to the possibility that they are fearful of discovery and reprisal. It is possible the Jorogumo is vulnerable to standard physical attacks and this is the reason for its secrecy. In many cases merely resisting or escaping the Jorogumos seduction is enough to survive and in the tale of "The Mistress of Joren falls" Buddhist sutras/prayers seem to be enough to repel the creature temporarily, but unfortunately not successful in completely banishing it.