Baku.

Baku (獏, ばく) is a composite holy beast, most often described with an elephant's trunk and tusks, a bear-like body, tiger paws, an ox tail, and other borrowed animal features. Premodern Japanese images vary, but the hybrid form remains constant, marking the creature as something assembled rather than born. Later readers sometimes associate it with the tapir because the modern Japanese word baku also names that animal, but the folkloric beast is older and stranger than that zoological overlap suggests.

Its monstrous form is not a sign of evil. On the contrary, baku's mixed body is part of what makes it protective. It is built to consume what harms human sleep and to stand at the border between imagination and affliction.

Baku is invoked after nightmares. Children and adults alike have called to it to eat bad dreams and restore peaceful sleep, and charms bearing its name or image were historically used for the same purpose. The yōkai's reputation is overwhelmingly benevolent, which makes it unusual among famous supernatural creatures. It is feared only by the nightmares and hostile forces it consumes.

Folklore adds a warning. One should not call the baku too casually, because a still-hungry baku may go on to eat hopes, ambitions, or good dreams as well. This gives the guardian beast a subtle edge. Relief is available, but it must be sought with restraint.