The Karura (迦楼羅) is a divine creature with a human torso and birdlike head[1] in Japanese mythology.
[3] Karura is one of the proselytized and converted creatures recruited to form a guardian unit called the Hachibushū (八部衆, "Devas of the Eight Classes").
But more conventionally, the Karura is depicted as a winged being with human torso and avian head, as in the Vajra Hall (Kongō buin (金剛部院)) section of the Womb Realm mandala (Taizōkai mandara (胎蔵界曼荼羅)) and other iconographic books and scrolls.
[1] The Pokémon evolutionary line of Magby, Magmar, and Magmortar are based on the karura.
[citation needed] In the anime Blue Exorcist Karura is a powerful fire demon that can be seen in service of the Myōō Dharani.