To understand what youkai are in the definitive sense we first have to lay out the functional definition of Youkai with a capital Y. The most basic is also the most understood: that Youkai is the umbrella definition for supernatural beings of Japanese mythos.
However, in more modern uses it has taken on another, more specific definition. Note that this is mostly within and because of the Touhou canon, and thus will be relying on that.
The newer usage of “youkai” fills the space that the Oni, Tengu, etc. leave within the larger “Youkai.” Within the umbrella term are specific examples and races of a kind that share similar traits and behaviors. The outliers among the bakeneko and chirei are those that don’t really get their own names - “youkai” of no particular group. The definition for this smaller sub-group is instead “that which can be responsible for X”.
Whereas Youkai as a whole are largely sentient supernatural beings, youkai in the lesser sense are myth phenomena created to explain or relate to non-scientific or yet unexplained events in life.
Take Rumia, of EoSD fame, for example. She is a youkai of darkness, an analogue to humans’ fears and concerns about creatures in the dark. Outside of the fantasy world of Gensokyo, our setting, she would remain an incorporeal facet of the collective unconsciousness of those humans that fear darkness. Inside the barrier, she is given a humane, physical body, a personality, and abilities beyond simply being scary.
In this setting youkai in groups are able to share knowledge and form pseudo-society. From there, because of the nature of the realm, they may be able to mature into a race of sorts. Do consider that maturation of youkai is dependant on the humans’ perception of them.
Oni, Tengu, Kappa and the like have already undergone this to an amazing extent. Chen Yakumo, a bakeneko serving under Ran Yakumo and Yukari Yakumo, attempted herself to form a society of feline youkai - though it did not succeed, because of what humans consider the nature of felines.
Hell Ravens, those that live below the realm, are on their way to a similar end - this, and their transition from thought to youkai, and then from youkai to a developed race, is something I’ll be exploring in my next ‘talk’.
[Other examples and discussion are of course very welcome! If you have good, relevant stuff I’d love to feature quotes and stuff.]
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On Youkai vs. "youkai"
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