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Description
Alright, finally decided to upload this fella after 3 days of being finished. I may gladly introduce my take on the famous Japanese Water Yokai, the Kappa! This design aimed to make the Kappa realistic yet retain alot of personality (its also based on a drawing i made in private where they were featured as side-characters). My goal was to make a creature that was an amphibian but had multiple weird features...which i think i achieved rather well. Anyway, onto the profile!

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The Kappa is the most common and wide-spread Water Yokai of them all. These small amphibians, standing at 2-4 ft on average, are incredibly talented at travel and setting up camps and turning them into proper settlements.
Kappa's are amongst the most ancient of Yokai. More precisely they are Temnospondyl's, an ancient clade of amphibians from the Permian Period. The Kappa's themselves appearently evolved during the Triassic Period and became very succesfull during the Jurassic.
However unlike the Kappa's of the modern day, Prehistoric Kappa's were exclusively nomadic and loners and kept to themselves while hunting for food amongst the river way's. During the cretaceous their greatest threat/natural predator became the cretaceous Tengu (A creature not related to the modern Tengu and instead being a Pterosaur Yokai).
However when the extinction event at the event of the cretaceous period hit the Kappa's almost died out all together along with the other prehistoric creatures of their time. However a few managed to escape to underground fresh-water reservoir's owned by ancient Sea Serpents (ancestor's of the modern Dragons) who'm with they established a temporary symbiotic relationship with. Making use of their abilities to improve Water quality and stimulate water fauna growth upon which the sea serpents fed. In exchange the Kappa's were allowed to feed off their scales and eggs.

The Kappa's resurfaced a few thousand years later to find a destroyed world in ashes. Almost all of the freshwater was poisoned. The Sky was darkened and stenched with foul odor. Most remained near the entrance's to their reservoir's, however multiple off shoot tribes spread out into the world to explore and find new resources...

The modern day Kappa, or common Kappa, can be found in the rivers and swamps of Japan. Kappa's usually live in pods of 3-5 individuals and set up a camp close to the river banks. Although alot of Kappa's are still Hunters and Gatherers most do infact practice farming and take after small rice fields or manage them for Tengus or even Humans in exchange for them getting a good share. Kappa's nowadays are almost exclusively found in the servitude of an Eastern Dragon who'm grants them fresh and healthy Water and protection in exchange for their services. The extend of the Kappa's service depends on the deal they make with the Dragon.
Kappa's that serve under a Dragon can be distinguished by their "civillian attire" and especially by their "moisture cap" which holds a bubble water on their bald spot and absorbs moisture from the surroinding area to keep the bubble intact and the bald spot wet, in turn ensuring the Kappa's health.

Kappa's are very weird for amphibia's. Most notably they have a scaly hide with the major exception being the bald spot on top of their head. Along with that they have claws, turtle like shells and even hair. However they are infact Amphibia's as seen by their tadpole young which grow up in small ponds within their camp. The bald spot that has already been mentioned needs to be consistently moist and wet or else the Kappa will gradually or even immediately show an intense decrease in health. The quality of the water is also important as it determines the Kappa's physical and magical capabilities.
If a Kappa holds a bubble of Pure or Divine Water for example it will become incredibly powerfull and even be able to temporarily control the elements as they please. This does however only remain until the bubble has been absorbed completely by the bald spot (Not to mention that divine Water can only be granted to one by a Dragon of Royal Status).
Meanwhile if a Kappa holds a bubble of gloomy swamp Water it will become able to utilize stealth abilities such as changing its skin color to hide amongst the vegetation and waters of the swamps.

The Relationship Kappa's have with humans is a very colorfull one. Some Kappa's offer their wisdom and assistance to certain individuals they like or respect while others will torment villages.
Kappa's have an incredibly advanced ability to memorize things which in accordance to their extended life spans (which allow them to live for multiple centuries) make them incredibly wise. Even a Kappa who lives in the middle of nowhere is well informed with the actions of an ancient Daitengu or a River Dragons promise and will certainly not forget an oath it made to an individual it met hundreds of years prior only to randomly seek out their descendant and bless them.

However there are Kappa's with a very negative attribute. Specifically their kidnapping of children or assaults on people close to the rivers or their camps. One of the primary reasons why they attack people is because they seek the femur bones of human which they process into orbs maintaining the condition of their rivers for extended periods of time.
Due to the increasing amount of water pollution Kappa's have increased their need for human femur bones. However they have long abandoned their violent tendencies...for the most part and instead buy them on the shadow market (the black market equivalent of the yokai).

Different type's of Kappa's can be found all over the world in different forms with different adaptations...however all of them face the threat of being endangered by humanity and some are even close to extinction. Only with the assistance of mighty Dragons or other Yokai have they been able to endure the recent centuries and decades...however their future cannot be assured.

Description
Alright, finally decided to upload this fella after 3 days of being finished. I may gladly introduce my take on the famous Japanese Water Yokai, the Kappa! This design aimed to make the Kappa realistic yet retain alot of personality (its also based on a drawing i made in private where they were featured as side-characters). My goal was to make a creature that was an amphibian but had multiple weird features...which i think i achieved rather well. Anyway, onto the profile!

---

The Kappa is the most common and wide-spread Water Yokai of them all. These small amphibians, standing at 2-4 ft on average, are incredibly talented at travel and setting up camps and turning them into proper settlements.
Kappa's are amongst the most ancient of Yokai. More precisely they are Temnospondyl's, an ancient clade of amphibians from the Permian Period. The Kappa's themselves appearently evolved during the Triassic Period and became very succesfull during the Jurassic.
However unlike the Kappa's of the modern day, Prehistoric Kappa's were exclusively nomadic and loners and kept to themselves while hunting for food amongst the river way's. During the cretaceous their greatest threat/natural predator became the cretaceous Tengu (A creature not related to the modern Tengu and instead being a Pterosaur Yokai).
However when the extinction event at the event of the cretaceous period hit the Kappa's almost died out all together along with the other prehistoric creatures of their time. However a few managed to escape to underground fresh-water reservoir's owned by ancient Sea Serpents (ancestor's of the modern Dragons) who'm with they established a temporary symbiotic relationship with. Making use of their abilities to improve Water quality and stimulate water fauna growth upon which the sea serpents fed. In exchange the Kappa's were allowed to feed off their scales and eggs.

The Kappa's resurfaced a few thousand years later to find a destroyed world in ashes. Almost all of the freshwater was poisoned. The Sky was darkened and stenched with foul odor. Most remained near the entrance's to their reservoir's, however multiple off shoot tribes spread out into the world to explore and find new resources...

The modern day Kappa, or common Kappa, can be found in the rivers and swamps of Japan. Kappa's usually live in pods of 3-5 individuals and set up a camp close to the river banks. Although alot of Kappa's are still Hunters and Gatherers most do infact practice farming and take after small rice fields or manage them for Tengus or even Humans in exchange for them getting a good share. Kappa's nowadays are almost exclusively found in the servitude of an Eastern Dragon who'm grants them fresh and healthy Water and protection in exchange for their services. The extend of the Kappa's service depends on the deal they make with the Dragon.
Kappa's that serve under a Dragon can be distinguished by their "civillian attire" and especially by their "moisture cap" which holds a bubble water on their bald spot and absorbs moisture from the surroinding area to keep the bubble intact and the bald spot wet, in turn ensuring the Kappa's health.

Kappa's are very weird for amphibia's. Most notably they have a scaly hide with the major exception being the bald spot on top of their head. Along with that they have claws, turtle like shells and even hair. However they are infact Amphibia's as seen by their tadpole young which grow up in small ponds within their camp. The bald spot that has already been mentioned needs to be consistently moist and wet or else the Kappa will gradually or even immediately show an intense decrease in health. The quality of the water is also important as it determines the Kappa's physical and magical capabilities.
If a Kappa holds a bubble of Pure or Divine Water for example it will become incredibly powerfull and even be able to temporarily control the elements as they please. This does however only remain until the bubble has been absorbed completely by the bald spot (Not to mention that divine Water can only be granted to one by a Dragon of Royal Status).
Meanwhile if a Kappa holds a bubble of gloomy swamp Water it will become able to utilize stealth abilities such as changing its skin color to hide amongst the vegetation and waters of the swamps.

The Relationship Kappa's have with humans is a very colorfull one. Some Kappa's offer their wisdom and assistance to certain individuals they like or respect while others will torment villages.
Kappa's have an incredibly advanced ability to memorize things which in accordance to their extended life spans (which allow them to live for multiple centuries) make them incredibly wise. Even a Kappa who lives in the middle of nowhere is well informed with the actions of an ancient Daitengu or a River Dragons promise and will certainly not forget an oath it made to an individual it met hundreds of years prior only to randomly seek out their descendant and bless them.

However there are Kappa's with a very negative attribute. Specifically their kidnapping of children or assaults on people close to the rivers or their camps. One of the primary reasons why they attack people is because they seek the femur bones of human which they process into orbs maintaining the condition of their rivers for extended periods of time.
Due to the increasing amount of water pollution Kappa's have increased their need for human femur bones. However they have long abandoned their violent tendencies...for the most part and instead buy them on the shadow market (the black market equivalent of the yokai).

Different type's of Kappa's can be found all over the world in different forms with different adaptations...however all of them face the threat of being endangered by humanity and some are even close to extinction. Only with the assistance of mighty Dragons or other Yokai have they been able to endure the recent centuries and decades...however their future cannot be assured.