Stories in Japanese folklore depict kitsune as intelligent beings and as possessing great magical abilities, employing them to trick others or to act as faithful guardians, friends, lovers, and wives. Because of their potential power and influence, some people make offerings to them as to a deity.
In some stories, kitsune have difficulty hiding their foxlike traits such as tails, a coating of fine hair, a fox-shaped shadow, or a reflection that shows its true form. Kitsune-gao or fox-faced refers to human females who have a narrow face with close-set eyes, thin eyebrows, and high cheekbones. Kitsune have a great fear and hatred of dogs even while in human form, and some become so rattled by the presence of dogs that they revert to the shape of a fox and flee.
Kitsune are associated with Inari, the Shintō deity of rice, and Inari himself may be depicted as a fox. Likewise, entire shrines are dedicated to kitsune, where devotees can leave offerings. Fox spirits are particularly fond of a fried sliced tofu called aburaage.
Inari's kitsune are white, a color of good omen. They possess the power to ward off evil, and they sometimes serve as guardian spirits. In addition to protecting Inari shrines, they are petitioned to intervene on behalf of the locals and particularly to aid against troublesome nogitsune. Black foxes and nine-tailed foxes are likewise considered good omens.
Kitsune are often presented as tricksters, playing tricks on overly proud samurai, greedy merchants, and boastful commoners, while the crueler ones abuse poor tradesmen and farmers or devout Buddhist monks. Their victims are usually men; women are possessed instead. For example, kitsune are thought to employ their kitsune-bi or fox-fire to lead travelers astray in the manner of a will-o'-the-wisp. Another tactic is for the kitsune to confuse its target with illusions or visions. Other common goals of trickster kitsune include seduction, theft of food, humiliation of the prideful, or vengeance for a perceived slight.
Kitsune are commonly portrayed as lovers, usually in stories involving a young human male and a kitsune who takes the form of a human woman. Typically, the young man unknowingly marries the fox, who proves a devoted wife. The man eventually discovers the fox's true nature, and the fox-wife is forced to leave him. In some cases, the husband wakes as if from a dream, filthy, disoriented, and far from home. He must then return to confront his abandoned family in shame.
Other stories tell of kitsune marrying one another. Rain falling from a clear sky — a sun shower — is sometimes called the kitsune's wedding, in reference to a folktale describing a wedding ceremony between the creatures being held during such conditions. The event is considered a good omen, but the kitsune will seek revenge on any uninvited guests.
Embedded in Japanese folklore as they are, kitsune appear in numerous Japanese works. Noh, kyogen, bunraku, and kabuki plays derived from folk tales feature them. Western authors of fiction have begun to make use of the kitsune legends. Kuzunoha, mother of Abe no Seimei, is a well-known kitsune character in the bunraku and kabuki play The Mirror of Ashiya Dōman and Ouchi. Tamamo-no-Mae is the subject of the noh drama The Death Stone and of kabuki and kyogen plays. Tamamo-no-Mae commits evil deeds in India, China, and Japan but is discovered and dies. Her spirit transforms into the "killing stone" of the noh play's title. She is eventually redeemed by a Buddhist priest. Genkurō is a kitsune renowned for his filial piety. In the bunraku and kabuki drama Yoshitsune Sembon Zakura, Yoshitsune's lover, Lady Shizuka, owns a hand-drum made from the skins of Genkuro's parents. The fox takes human form and becomes his retainer, but his identity is revealed. The kitsune explains that he hears the voice of his parents when the drum is struck. Yoshitsune and Shizuka give him the drum, so Genkuro grants Yoshitsune magical protection.