ON AIRTerminal of Terror

🥒 The Kappa

A polite but dangerous river imp with a dish of water on its head

Also known as Kappa, Kawataro

📺 "Tonight's guest lives at the bottom of the river and loves a wrestling match. Remember your manners, and bring cucumbers."

💀 Facts

  • The kappa carries a dish of water in the top of its head
  • If that water spills, the kappa loses its strength
  • It is so polite that it must bow back if you bow to it
  • Its favourite food is cucumber, which gave kappa-maki its name
  • Kappa love to challenge people to sumo wrestling
  • A kappa that makes a promise always keeps it

📜 Legend

Kappa are yōkai that lurk in Japan's rivers and ponds. They're about the size of a child, with a beak, a shell and a dish-shaped hollow on top of the head that holds water, the source of their strength. Kappa drag people and horses into the water and love to challenge passers-by to sumo. But they're bound by manners: bow to a kappa and it must bow back, spilling its water. And a kappa that makes a promise always keeps it.

🎭 Myth vs Movie

True or false? Make your guess, then click a card (or press r) for the verdict.

  • Bowing to a kappa can save your life.

    ✔ TRUE

    It is so polite that it bows back, spills the water from its head and loses its strength.

  • Kappa-maki sushi is named after the creature.

    ✔ TRUE

    Cucumber rolls are named after the kappa's favourite food.

  • Kappa are always evil.

    ✘ FALSE

    Some tales have grateful kappa helping farmers or teaching people how to set broken bones.

🃏 Stat Card

Strength
7
Speed
6
Cunning
6
Dread
4

⚡ Powers

  • Powerful swimming
  • Surprising strength
  • Sumo wrestling skill
  • Secret medical knowledge

🧄 Weaknesses

  • Spilling the water on its head
  • Good manners
  • Cucumbers
  • Its own promises

Stats power the Monster Mash: terminal-of-terror mash kappa

🎞️ Legacy

  • Ryūnosuke Akutagawa's satirical novel Kappa (1927)
  • A mascot for towns, sushi and water-safety campaigns across Japan

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