Jibanyan

is a Rank D Fire-attribute Yo-kai of the Charming tribe.

The Yo-kai Medallium bio reads; "After being run over by a truck, he inspirits an intersection and seeks to get his revenge on passing trucks. 

Jibanyan is popularly known as one of the mascots of the Yo-kai Watch franchise, as well being the mascot of Yo-kai Watch, Yo-kai Watch 2, and Yo-kai Watch Busters: Red Cat Team.

Biology
Jibanyan is a red and white coloured cat with a chip in his left ear. He has yellow coloured eyes with large black pupils, his nose and inner-ears are dull shade of pink. Attached to his collar is an aquamarine coloured bell, matching the flames at the end of his two tails. He was red and had a curved muzzle instead of a wavy muzzle, he also had white inner ears and paws tips with a regular tail and also had a belt before he was a Yo-kai.

Before Jibanyan died due to a car accident, he was a normal cat named Rudy that was adopted by a girl named Amy.

As a Yo-kai, he resorts to possessing people to fight on-coming trucks after numerous failed attempts to do so by himself. Luckily, he is stopped from doing this and is then befriended by Nate and Whisper, whose house he later decides to move into. He initially shows a mischievous and carefree side, easily breaking the rules and nearly being exorcised and having to be saved by Nate. However, he quickly makes amends shortly thereafter.

Jibanyan has an affinity for "choco bars" and anything related to his favorite music group, "Nextharmeowny." Jibanyan is also eager to fight over other Yo-kai when needed, as shown in Signibble's assault at Nathan's sleepover. Also, he is quick to take action in dire moments, such as trying to force summoning when Nathan is possessed by Babblong and trying to prove superior than Robonyan, his robotic counterpart. He is very content in protecting Nathan from harm convicted by other Yo-kai.

Season 1
In episode 1, he was a normal cat owned by a young girl named Amy. The pair were inseparable and loved one another dearly. Though upon dying and becoming a ghost he had faint recollections of Amy standing over his dead body calling him a loser. Due to how upset he was over the ordeal, he chose to repress the memory, including his name he had as a living cat. He haunted the crosswalk he died at and would possess people to fight on-coming cars and trucks as a means of seeking revenge. There he met Nate whom he befriended an soon came to live with.

In episode 20, he got inspirited by Dandoodle and takes on a new form known as "Leonardo DiCaprinyan", which is a reference to  actor Leonardo DiCaprio.

In episode 25, it is shown what really happened. He was sent back in time by the malicious pair of Yo-Kai named Kin and Gin. He relived the days he spent with Amy, where it was revealed that she wished to be a Fashion Designer. He himself thought she would be great, but as a cat he was unable to tell her. Later they went over to the intersection, the place where he had got hit by a car when walking across. It turns out though, that Amy was supposed to die instead, as chosen by the Yo-Kai resembling Grim Reapers. But Kin and Gin appeared before him, slowed time and told him that they did this so he could have a second chance and he can change the outcome (however, this was a ruse in order to separate him from Nate). But Jibanyan refused and rammed into Amy, to push her out of the way and allow him to get hit. However, instead of calling him a loser, it turns out that Amy was calling herself this out of shame for what happened, as she held tight his mangled corpse and burst into tears. When his spirit ascended from his body, he called out "Goodbye, Amy" to her, and she heard him and turned and looked. After realizing he can say a few last things to her, he told her she'd be a great designer. Rudy then went back to being Jibanyan and returned home to Nate and Whisper.

Season 2
In episode 130, he meets his friend and rival, Tomnyan. When Nate summons him with his new Yo-kai Watch Dream, he ends up eating wasabi sushi, causing him to be summoned unluckily.

Nate
Nate befriends Jibanyan when he discovers him possessing people on the crosswalk. Jibanyan takes it upon himself to live in Nate's home after overwhelming amounts of cat Yo-Kai begin to inhabit the area. Despite stirring up a bit of trouble at first, he becomes a welcomed part of Nate's daily life and a close friend. Due to this, Jibanyan is usually the first Yo-Kai Nate thinks to summon when confronting a problem. When Jibanyan was about to kiss Fusasa-tan from Next HarMEOWny, Nate summoned him to fight Hanahojin in episode 44. As punishment, Jibanyan did Paws of Fury to send the two of them flying. The same thing happened in episodes 84 and 98. Although they anger each other sometimes, they are fairly good friends.

Whisper
Whisper and Jibanyan have a bit of a light-hearted rivalry and tend to bicker often. Regardless, they seem to be fairly good friends.

Amy
Jibanyan's owner before he died. Amy named him Rudy and spent most of her time relaxing with him and taking him along when going out. She loved her kitten dearly during their time together. She called him lame (though she was referring to herself) after hearing that he died by a truck, that is why he tries to defeat the truck.

Next HarMEOWny
A musical idol group consisting of young girls dressed in cat-themed attire, they are a parody of the group AKB48 or Fifth Haromny. Jibanyan is an enormous fan of theirs and strives to collect massive amounts of merchandise pertaining to them. He longs to meet them in person, win their hearts with his cuteness, and perhaps even receive a kiss or some pettings.

Tomnyan
They are friends and rivals at the same time.

Moveset
Additionally, in Yo-kai Watch 2 Jibanyan can unlock three new Soultimate Moves, by scanning QR codes from special Yo-kai Medals distributed with Japanese physical copies of Bony Spirits, Fleshy Souls and Shin'uchi, respectively.

Yo-kai Watch
Jibanyan is automatically befriended in chapter 2 of the main storyline. To do so, defeat Roughraff in the Shady Back Alley and return his photo of Amy.

Jibanyan also appears in the 5th and 6th Circles of Infinite Inferno. He can also be freed by using an Excitement Coin in the Crank-a-kai.

Yo-kai Watch 2
Jibanyan is automatically befriended in chapter 1 of the main storyline.

Yo-kai Watch 3
There's no need to befriend Jibanyan because he accompanies and fights for Nate throughout the whole story.

Yo-kai Watch: Wibble Wobble
Automatically befriended in stage 4.

Yo-kai Watch Busters
Jibanyan is automatically in your party.

Trivia

 * He is voiced by Alicyn Packard.
 * His Nyext Z Medal is replaced with his normal medal with a Z Medal frame.
 * Jibanyan has many different versions of himself, through fusions or not even related through Jibanyan.
 * Jibanyan is the only Yo-Kai that can change his Soultimate (having four versions in all, which also includes his Rank S version).
 * In Japan, Jibanyan's Soultimate ("Paws of Fury") in the Japanese version of Yo-kai Watch did not feature the attack being enunciated when performed, though it was later done so in later games beginning with Yo-kai Watch 2, which the English version of Yo-kai Watch reflects.
 * In episode 91 of the anime, Jibanyan was revealed to be able to hold fifteen chocobars in his haramaki.
 * Jibanyan's signature Soultimate attack's Japanese name could reference Fist of the North Star protagonist Kenshiro's iconic move Hokuto Hyakuretsu Ken, a move that has Kenshiro punch the target rapidly.
 * Jibanyan's Z unlockable Soultimate Moves in Yo-kai Watch 2 and Z medal poses. are all based on classic comedy visual gags. Nyoeeh (Nyext) is a reference to Iyami's "Sheeeh!" from Fujio Akatsuka's Osomatsu-kun, Nyaiiin (Nyaii) is based on Ken Shimura's "Aiiiin!" (アイーン！), and Komanyachi (Victory) is a parody of Takeshi Kitano's "Komanechi!" (コマネチ！).

Origin

 * Jibanyan is based on the nekomata, a kind of bakeneko (cat youkai) born from a cat that turned into one with age: when this happens, they gain magical powers, human intelligence and their tail splits into two (whether the tail just forks or fully splits depends on the source), ghostly fire sometimes appearing on the tips. They are much larger than a regular housecat, and also far more dangerous: they can curse humans, manipulate fire, and even control the dead with their tails as if they were puppets on strings.
 * Jibanyan wears a haramaki around his tummy, or "belly wrap". The word originally referred to a type of chest armor, but in modern times it describes a tube of thick cloth worn around the waist to keep the body warm during winter. It used to be regarded as an old-fashioned, unstylish article of clothing, but it recently saw new popularity in Japan.

Name Origin
His name is a combination of and nyan, Japanese onomatopoeia for a cat's call, equivalent to the English "meow".

In other languages

 * Japanese: ジバニャン Jibanyan
 * Spanish: Jibanyan
 * French: Jibanyan
 * German: Jibanyan
 * Italian: Jibanyan
 * Portuguese: Jibanyan
 * Korean: 지바냥 Jibanyang
 * Chinese: 地縛喵 (Hong Kong) or 吉胖喵 (Taiwan)