Fictional thought exercise

[chipotle]

In a setting that is an alternate version of feudal Japan, with races of anthropomorphic animals instead of humans but no other (overt) magic and myth, what would it mean for a fox-person to be a kitsune?

Comments

[kynn.livejournal.com]

Well, they're not really like werewolves/lycanthropes then -- they're more like Dr. Jeckyl/Mr. Hyde, right?

[tashiro.livejournal.com]

Except that Hyde was a scawny, thin, figure, smaller than Jeckyl, ugly and mis-shapen. Basically, think of Gollum as Jeckyl's counterpart.