History Main / YukiOnna

Literally meaning "snow woman", Yuki-onna appear as beautiful women in snowy, cold, or mountainous regions. They're typically depicted as pale women with long, black or (particularly in modern depictions) [[YouGottaHaveBlueHair blue]] hair that wear kimonos (however, some traditional depictions also show them being nude). DarkerAndEdgier depictions often reveal this to be an illusion [[ThisWasHisTrueForm and their true form]] is actually a blackened, frostbitten mummy. Yuki-onna are the spirits of [[TragicIceCharacter women who died during snow storms]].

Literally meaning "snow woman", Yuki-onna appear as beautiful women in snowy, cold, or mountainous regions. They're typically depicted as pale women with long, black or (particularly in modern depictions) [[YouGottaHaveBlueHair blue]] hair that wear kimonos (however, some traditional depictions also show them being nude). DarkerAndEdgier depictions often reveal this to be an illusion [[ThisWasHisTrueForm and their true form]] is actually a blackened, frostbitten mummy. Yuki-onna are the spirits of women who died during snow storms.

* In one story of ''Manga/FrankenFran,'' Frans lstest victi-er, that is, patient, is a recently-blinded man, whom she gave the eyes of a sea creature that can see the whole of the light spectrum. As he runs off in terror, dodging the normally-invisible [[EldritchAbomination Things,]] he runs into a Yuyki-Onoko who was vacationing in Tokyo for the summer. They fall in love and he returns to Fran to thank her.

* Yuki-Onna is the ruler of Yokai Town in ''Literature/AnnoDracula: One Thousand Monsters''. Like all {{youkai}}, she's actually a vampire. She's also the kind of Elder who has honed her vampric abilities (in this case, cold) to become something possibly more than, and definitely ''other'' then, human.

* In ''Manga/KemonoJihen'', Akira ([[DudeLooksLikeALady despite his looks]] is a yuki-onoko, the {{Gender Flip}}ped version of this trope. He struggles to control his freezing abilities and is rarely able to freeze anything larger than a lollipop, but when he manages to get it to work, [[HerdHittingAttack he can freeze entire tunnels]] while thoroughly averting HarmlessFreezing. [[spoiler:The fact that he's male is an important plot point, as he and his twin brother Yui are the only yuki-onoko to be born in a hundred years.]]

* In ''TabletopGame/YuGiOh'', there's the [[http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Ghostrick_Yuki-onna Ghostrick Yuki-onna]], which is shown as a CuteMonsterGirl. Here it works as a {{Necromancer}}, since if this card goes to the graveyard, you can restore a monster card destroyed in battle previously. Also, cannot be normally summoned unless you already control a "Ghostrick" monster.

* In the ''Series/MythQuest'' episode "Minokichi", Alex steps into the role of the titular mythical character via the [[InterdimensionalTravelDevice Cyber Museum]]: a Yuki-Onna freezes his mentor to death in his sleep but spares Minokichi for his youth and beauty, then later appears to him in disguise to become his lover.

** Mentioned in an episode of the original ''Series/{{Ultraman}}'' when Science Patrol meets a girl living in a mountain village named Yuki who is shunned by her neighbours for supposedly being the daughter of a Yuki-onna. Her real "mother" is in fact Woo, [[BigfootSasquatchAndYeti a hairy yeti-like kaiju]] that is based on the Yuki-onna but instead a GuardianEntity implied to be the ghost of Yuki's mother protecting her from beyond.

* Shizuki from ''VideoGame/AyakashiRomanceReborn'' is a [[GenderBender male]] yuki-onna.

* The [[AnIcePerson icy]] {{kaiju}} Snowgon from ''Series/ReturnOfUltraman'' is able to transform into a Yuki-onna, blasting people with its freezing breath in that form. However, its true form more closely resembles a polar bear mixed with a dragon.
* Mention in an episode of the original ''Series/{{Ultraman}}'' when Science Patrol meets a girl living in a mountain village named Yuki who is shunned by her neighbours for supposedly being the daughter of one. Her real "mother" is in fact Woo, [[BigfootSasquatchAndYeti a hairy yeti-like kaiju]] that is based on this youkai but instead a GuardianEntity implied to be the ghost of Yuki's mother protecting her from beyond.

* There's a segment in ''Film/TalesFromTheDarksideTheMovie'' where a monster kills someone and makes a witness promise not to tell anyone about the murder which he ends up doing later to what turns out to be the human form of the same monster. Sound familiar?

SubTrope to {{youkai}}. Compare to StringyHairedGhostGirl, a similar trope often seen in Japanese media. See also EtherealWhiteDress, which is used in non-Japanese media to create a similar archetype.

* ''Manga/SpiderManManga'': In Ryoichi Ikegami's Spider-Man, one of the new foes Yu Komori/Spider-Man has to fight is a yuki-onna, called as "[[WomanInWhite The White Woman]]", who appears in the city freezing people at will, including Yu himself.

SubTrope to {{youkai}}. Compare to StringyHairedGhostGirl, a similar trope often seen in Japanese media.

Whether Yuki-onna simply like cold climates, are cursed to live in cold climates, or literally can't survive outside of cold climates depends on the incarnation. Some incarnations sleep with lone travelers to steal valuable body warmth, others will simply make them get lost during their travels in order to freeze to death, yet others will kill travelers by tricking them into touching them or a baby they hold in their hands. More benevolent Yuki-onna will either lead the victims to safety and then sleep with them (or just lead them to safety), or simply leave them alone; the more wicked ones will lead them astray to begin with, kill them with the methods described above, or use them. Some evil Yuki-onna have been described as letting their victims go if they are [[WouldNotHurtAChild too young]] or [[BeautyEqualsGoodness too attractive]].

Their beautiful designs and dark stories have caused Yuki-onna to become one of the most popular yokai out there, to the degree where they even appear in works [[CrossCulturalReference made outside of Japan]].

Literally meaning "snow woman", Yuki-onna appear as beautiful women in snowy, cold, or mountainous regions. They're typically depicted as pale women with long, black or (particularly in modern depictions) [[YouGottaHaveBlueHair blue]] hair that wear kimonos (however, some traditional depictions also show them being nude). Yuki-onna are the spirits of women who died during snow storms.

* One appears in the segment "The Blizzard" of ''Film/AkiraKurosawaDreams'', in which a man wandering through a blizzard and succumbing to the cold sees the creature. It's generally seen in the west among those unfamiliar with Japanese folklore as an example of surrealism
in the film.

* One appears in the segment "The Blizzard" of Creator/AkiraKurosawa's last movie ''Dreams'', in which a man wandering through a blizzard and succumbing to the cold sees the creature just before dying. It's generally seen in the west among those unfamiliar with Japanese folklore as an example of surrealism in the film.

* BrokenBird Mizore from ''Manga/RosarioToVampire'' is a Yuki-onna with a crush on the protagonist. Mizore can't stand cold weather. She [[OralFixation constantly chews]] on a lollipop to keep cool. Mizore has the [[MesACrowd ability to create ice clones]].

%%* The Yuki-onna appears in ''VideoGame/MuramasaTheDemonBlade''. They fly and, unlike popular images, they're quite buxom. - '''Administrivia/ZeroContextExample'''

%%* Sode no Shirayuki ("snow-white sleeve"), the spirit of Rukia Kuchiki's sword in the ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' anime adaptation. - '''Administrivia/ZeroContextExample'''

%%* Two of them appear in ''Manga/UshioAndTora'', both having fallen in love with humans. [[spoiler:The younger becomes a human, the older shows up during the final battle.]] - '''Administrivia/ZeroContextExample'''