Hanzaki 鯢魚
Huge monstrosity (yokai), unaligned
Armor Class 15 (natural armor)
Hit Points 136 (13d12 + 52)
Speed 20 ft., swim 40 ft.
STR 20 (+5) · DEX 12 (+1) · CON 18 (+4) · INT 3 (−4) · WIS 12 (+1) · CHA 5 (−3)
Saving Throws Con +8, Wis +4
Skills Perception +4
Damage Resistances poison
Condition Immunities poisoned
Senses darkvision 60 ft., blindsight 30 ft. (in water), passive Perception 14
Challenge 5 (1,800 XP)
Traits
Amphibious. The hanzaki can breathe both air and water.
Regeneration. The hanzaki regains 10 hit points at the start of its turn if it has at least 1 hit point and hasn’t taken fire damage since the end of its last turn.
Stone-Still Camouflage. While motionless on a river- or pond-bottom, the hanzaki is indistinguishable from a dark boulder. A creature must succeed on a DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check to spot it before it moves.
Actions
Multiattack. The hanzaki makes two attacks: one with its Bite and one with its Tail.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 21 (3d10 + 5) piercing damage. If the target is a Large creature or smaller, it is grappled (escape DC 16). Until this grapple ends, the target is restrained, and the hanzaki can’t bite a different target.
Swallow. The hanzaki makes one Bite attack against a Medium or smaller creature it is grappling. If the attack hits, the target is swallowed, and the grapple ends. The swallowed target is blinded and restrained, has total cover against attacks and other effects outside the hanzaki, and takes 10 (3d6) acid damage at the start of each of the hanzaki’s turns. The hanzaki can have only one creature swallowed at a time.
If the hanzaki takes 25 or more damage on a single turn from a creature inside it, the hanzaki must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw at the end of that turn or regurgitate the swallowed creature, which falls prone in a space within 10 feet of the hanzaki.
Tail. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d8 + 5) bludgeoning damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 16 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone.
Reactions
Thrash. When a creature the hanzaki can see hits it with a melee attack, the hanzaki can make a Tail attack against that creature.
Lore
A colossal salamander that bites and startles fishermen.
The yokai Hanzaki is a gigantic Japanese salamander, the Osanshouo. Unlike many supernatural creatures in Japanese folklore, this yokai almost exactly reproduces the anatomy of its real amphibian counterpart, but on a terrifying scale—up to 30 feet (about 10 m) long and weighing many tons. The name Hanzaki is known all over Japan; its root han-saku, “cut in half,” reflects the key myth of its phenomenal regeneration: the monster is said to survive even after being completely sliced in two.
Physically, the yokai is an enormous dark brown-black salamander with a massive flat head packed with tiny razor-sharp teeth, short yet powerful limbs, and a tail as thick as a tree trunk. On land it moves sluggishly, but in water its strong tail lets it reach high speed and maneuver with ease. Its eyesight is weak, yet the creature navigates flawlessly by sensing vibrations and smells in the water. Hanzaki can drag cows, horses, and people under and swallow them whole.
From Yokai Bestiary 5E, Book Two, p. 32 · Fern Flower Press