Japanese kobolds are a species of small, canine-faced creatures featured in Japanese media like the Suikoden series. The two most prominent examples are Polt from Monster Musume and Illfang from Sword Art Online. The name is borrowed from the German word “kobold”, which was a mischievous goblin-like sprite in Germanic folklore. The Japanese qualifier is used here to distinguish them from the unrelated reptilian kobolds popularized by Dungeons & Dragons.

Not to be confused with

• kobold - The species most commonly associated with the name “kobold,” these are short anthropomorphic reptilians that first appeared in Dungeons & Dragons.
• kobold_(warcraft) - Another unrelated species that borrowed its name from German folklore, these are anthropomorphic rodents from the Warcraft franchise.