Mushi

Mushi-shi is one of my favorite anime series ever, right up there with Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit.  While Moribito is an amazing example of how I want my D&D games to feel, Mushi-shi has an absolutely captivating world, full of wonder at the mysteries of the world.  The protagonist, Ginko, exists apart from, yet observing human society, full of its struggles and troubles, and the series showcases humanity's potential for nobility and cruelty through Ginko's impartial eye.

The core of each episode, and the key to the amazing feel of the world (beyond the visuals) is the existence of mushi, a category of animal in Japanese that is now translated as 'bugs'.  However, 50+ years ago, mushi corresponded to a broader category - all of the strange creatures that wouldn't fit in the other categories.  Snakes and beetles and worms and frogs and spiders and all of the slimy, gross, terrifying creatures were lumped into this category of mushi, the history of which actually goes all the way back to antiquity, as an analogous character is actually found on the Shang Dynasty oracle bones, one of the oldest records of the Chinese language.

In a D&D context, mushi provide a wholly neutral set of entities that exist in both the natural and supernatural worlds.  While I can't use any of the mushi presented in the show for my Bestiary, the idea of similar creatures is captivating.

So, here's a list of mushi that eat specific things (and would therefore be noticeable by the absence of the thing or the presence of its opposite).

Eats thoughts

Eats pain

Eats laughter

Eats smoke

Eats dead growth

Eats sunlight

Eats darkness

Eats starlight

Eats firelight

Eats strong feelings

Eats alcohol

Converting alcoholic beverages into foul-tasting drinks that might spread disease

Eats bodily fluids (pus, blood, urine, etc.)

Outputs healing elixir

Eats hair

Eats memories

Eats silver

Eats gravity

Psychically links people - if too far apart, one is ripped from their body to watch the other as a ghost

Eats salty water

Can attach to people, growing like a wart

Eats harmony (overtones)

Eats dry weather