Enenra

En'enra (煙々羅, lit. "monster made of smoke"), sometimes called enraenra (煙羅煙羅), is a Japanese yōkai, or monster, made of smoke or shadow.

It was first mentioned in the Konjaku hyakki shūi, about 1781.

Enenra Mythology 

The en'enra reside primarily in bonfires; when they appear, they take on a human form or appearance. It is said that an en'enra can only be seen by a pure heart.

The character 羅  in the name of the en'enra, with its connotation of net, is meant to make a comparison between the en'enra and the transparent or elevated characteristics of light fabric.

The en'enra are mainly considered demons or divine beings made of shadow or smoke; legend has it that there are two types of en'enra, the first and most common type being the en'enra who are born solely as en'enra, while the second and rarer type is a human who died and was transformed into an en'enra.

In some cultures, the en'enra has been confused with the Grim Reaper.

Enenra In popular culture

• In the 2011 video game Mortal Kombat, it is revealed that the character Smoke (who makes his first human appearance in the game in nearly two decades) is an en'enra.
• In the animated series Shaman King, the female character Sharona uses a spirit called Enra Enra that resembles the power of an en'enra.
• In Forbidden Scrollery, a manga series that is part of the Touhou Project universe, an en'enra is introduced in the story, where she goes to different houses creating fake smoke, and is then killed by Reimu and Marisa.
• In the manga Mushishi, the main character, Ginko, smokes tobacco whose smoke is a mushi (mushi being compared to a yokai instead of a simple insect).
• In the Yo-kai Watch video game and anime series, an en'enra is present, referred to by its alternate name Enraenra (Smogmella in the English version), and was introduced in the Yo-Kai Watch 2 games, with Enraenra referred to as a classic yokai. Enraenra also has a pre-evolved form, named "Koenra" (Smogling in English).
• There is a Japanese performing arts company that "fuses video art with live performance" called Enra, their name being derived from en'enra.
• In the mobile game Onmyoji, Enenra is a shikigami wearing a kiseru.
• In the alpha demo of Nioh 2 on PlayStation 4, Enenra is confirmed as a boss and is described as a monstrosity "born from the resentment of humans who met their untimely ends in the dark realm", he takes two forms: that of ash in the regular realm and smoke in the dark realm. It appears in the mission "The Beast of Smoke and Fire" and "Smoking Hell".
• In Taran Matharu's Summoner Series, the en'enra makes two appearances in the Summoners Handbook, which is a campaign guide for the series. The first appearance is in James Baker's journal where he dissects an en'enra corpse to find a new spell glyph. The second is in the demonological codex at the end of the book, which describes it as a rare demon made of black-purple smoke that lives in dark places in the aether and has the ability to envelop living organisms and drain their life force.