Maogui
Mythology & Folklore

for further reading: The Cat Demon, Gender, and Religious Practice & Wikipedia (Mogwai)

There are two similar Asian concepts that can be discussed and confused for one another. "Maogui" (猫鬼) and "Mogwai" (魔怪).

The latter was popularized in the West by the 1984 American film, Gremlins. Mogwai is an English aproximation of the Chinese word "mogui" which translates to "devil" or "demon". They are said to breed during rainy seasons and are known to attack humans. The term was popularized in the 1984 American film Gremlins.

However, this is different than "maogui" which is a cat familiar magically conjured to serve a master. Historically we see references made to the creatures in the court of Emperor Wen of the Sui dynasty (541-604 CE) when members of his extended court were supposedly worshipping and controlling a maogui cat demon in order to sicken court rivals.

Relevance to MAO

In chapter 58 of MAO it is suggested that Haimaru was not an ordinary cat prior to becoming Byoki. It was suggested that it was a maogui. Additionally the Chinese characters used to write "maogui" (猫鬼) can be pronounced as "Nekomata" (cat demon") or as "Byoki" the name of the monstrous creature in MAO.