Nekomata

(taken from Wikipedia) A nekomata is an old bakeneko with a tail that has partially split in two (distinguishable from having two tails, since they join before they reach the body). The literal translation of nekomata is "forked cat." Again, these have become quite big - some are said to be about one and a half meters long (minus the bifurcated tail) - and walk comfortably upon their hind paws. Cats are often associated with death in Japanese, and this particular spirit is often blamed. Far darker and malevolent than most bakeneko, the nekomata is said to have powers of necromancy, and upon raising the dead, will control them with ritual-like dances - gesturing with paw and tail. These yokai are associated with strange fires and other unexplainable occurrences. The older, and the more badly treated a cat has been before its transformation, the more power the nekomata is said to have. To gain revenge against those who have wronged it, the spirit may haunt humans with visitations from their dead relatives. Like bakeneko, some tales state how these demons have taken on human appearance - but have usually appeared as older women, behaving badly in public and bringing gloom and malevolence wherever they travelled. Sometimes the tails of kittens were cut off as a precaution as it was thought that if its tail couldn't fork they couldn't become one.