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Animal Bridegrooms and Brides
In stories such as Beauty and the Beast the bridegroom may be under a curse for which the heroine must break and help set in motion his transformation back to a human.
In other tales, a prince may be transformed into an animal such as a fox or wolf, and may come upon the hero or heroine of a tale and offer his help with the knowledge that the
person helped may be able to offer service to break a spell put upon him. The spell many times may be for a transgression or a refusal to marry a witch or fairy.
Tales like Bearskin fall under the Animal Bride category, though this one can also count as an Animal Bridegroom. In the story the father marries his daughter to Rhinoceros, a horrible monster.
At her first chance, her loyal servant helps effect an escape from her husband. The young princess in the guise of a she-bear is later found by a prince and taken to his home. There she lives
happy in his garden and he vists her each day in the guise of the bear, and finds himself just as happy in his beloved she-bear's company as she is in his. When the time is right, her identity
is revealed and the two live happily ever after. In Animal Bride stories, the heroine may be under a curse, such as the case of d'Aulnoy's The White Cat, where after refusing a husband
chosen by her fairy guardians, she is cursed to live as a white cat. But once a man comes to love her, the princess is able to be transformed back to a human.
Bride of Deimos
Minako is the young woman Deimos finds himself enchanted with, and vows to make his bride. He follows after he, determined neither shall escape that destiny. In some respects
Minako is much like a heroine of myth or fairy tale, pursued by a deity or devil she does not care to have any part of, and finding her fate wretched as she is loved by an immortal. Good
examples of this are some of the young maidens loved by Zeus, or who are promised to an unwanted suitor in old tales. Because it seems to Minako her life can never be normal now, and
bad things seem to happen to those she loves or meets.
Men Are Wolves?
By Kanoko Urushibara.
Shiino is out walking past a great mansion when she stumbles upon a
beautiful dog with his paw cut on glass. He bounds off and the next
day a mysterious young man named Taro shows up to return her
handkerchief. She notes that he too is handsome and wears a necklace
just like the one the dog had. Smitten, she invites him in thinking
he must be the dog's owner. Being a dog owner and lover herself,
she's tickled even more when her dogs take to him right off (they
never seem to like people, so she's shocked). Not having his number
or address she takes one of her dogs for a walk past the mansion,
hoping to run into him again. She does meet up with him, only to
find he lives at the mansion. On their date he confesses to her he's
a descendant of the beast-human tribe (a werewolf) that serves a
royal family. She doesn't believe him (thinks he must hate her to
tell her a story like that) and runs from him, crying. Days pass but
she still can't forget him. One night her path crosses a vampire on
his way to the mansion, but before he can take her, Taro attacks
him. Recognizing the necklace about the great dog's neck she
realizes Taro's story is true and the handsome dog she tended was
none other than the man she'd fallen for. The story ends happily
with Taro pledging his obedience to the kind girl who loves not only
dogs, but the men who turn into them.
Sailor Moon
The storyline with Chibi Usa and
Helios from Sailor Moon might be an Animal Bridegroom
tale-type. You have the cursed priest (instead of a
prince) who appears to the princess in the form of an
animal and needs her love and help to break the spell
and aide in his transformation back to a human. In the anime, Helios undergoes his transformation to a pegasus after needing a form to hide in from Nehellenia. She is a dark queen
who wanted not only the crystal he guarded, but the young priest as her lover. Angry at his refusal on both counts, she swears her hatred on him, but he flees in beast form. The young
Small Lady Serenity (Chibi-Usa) meets him as Pegasus and a bond forms between them, as the two battle Nehellenia for Earth's fate, and finally, she is able to see the young man and the
end of the manga arc hints the two may possibly be married later.
Luna from the Kaguya-story, though not an animal bride like discussed in the above, bears a resemblance to an animal bride from Japanese folklore, the tale Cat Wife. In it a cat who finds
herself discarded by her former owner becomes the companion to a farmer. The farmer wishing she could be human, and the cat wishing she had some way to help the kind man, and knowing
as a cat she is powerless. She visits a shrine and by the goddess' help is transformed, and she returns to the farmer to help him work hard and make him happy. This is very much like Luna's
wish, to help young Kakeru, even is she is not human and can not do much as a cat. And the goddess in this instance is Sailor Moon herself who grants enough magic to Luna to stay
by his side one night as a human and show him what he has been seeking.
Spirited Away
There are also ancient stories of serpent deities taking the miko as his bride, rendering her not only in the role of a chosen figure, able to communicate between the people and
deity, but also as the lover. These stories are old Japanese folk tales of water deities. This fits very well with Spritied Away in the central story of Haku and Chihiro. As a water god, and
a dragon, the love between himself and Chihiro may have been inspired by the beliefs of old. In addition, though, his story bears resemblance to the animal bridegrooms recounted. He
is under a curse by Yubaba (the bathhouse witch) and it is Chihiro who helps him break it.