I loved "Sprited Away," Master Vigil! I couldn't tell if the creature that oozed into the baths (the one that Sen pullled the bike and debris from) was also a dragon or not, since it was the spirit of a polluted river, but I loved that scene! (I was so worried that when Haku learned what his real name was, and his feathers/ scales shattered around them, that both he and Sen would fall straight down to earth!)
I imagine it comes as no suprise to anyone that my favorite creature is the unicorn. I grew up fascinated with them and continue to be. It is my spirit animal, and it took me awhle before I was able to comprehend that.
There are said to be four different types of unicorns. All of them originated from different places, but they tend to share the same attributes. The 'European' version is the one that people tend to think of instantly, the one that most people see as being a horse with a horn. (I think it's more goat-like in its energy, and more like a deer in its approach to its surroundings.)
For the next descriptions, since I'm not as familiar with them, I apologize for paraphrasing from the book "A Natural History of Dragons and Unicorns", by Paul and Karin Johnsgard. It's a wonderful book, and I'd recommend it for dragon lovers, too!
I'd previously mentioned the karkadann in another thread. It was said to inhabit the plains of India, Persia, and bits of north eastern Africa. This is the only unicorn known for its ferocity, and it was reputed to look like an oryx. It was as big as a rhinocerous and had a lion-like tail. It is said that when it ran, the earth shook, although it appears to have loved the ring dove so much that it would spend long amounts of time under their nests, guarding them and admiring their beauty.
My favorite version, and the one that I empathize most with, is the ki-lin (sometimes called kirin). It tended to frequent Asia, especially Tibet and Japan. The creature was known for walking carefully, minding each step so that it would not harm another creature. Its back is covered with heavy spots, which resulted in one of my favorite unicorn stories. The Chinese emperor Fu Hsi, while musing by the Yellow River, was thinking of the difficulty in making lasting contributions to society. He glanced up to see a strange, deerlike creature, standing by the shore. Whereever it stood in the muddy water of the river, the water became clear. As the creature retreated, the emperor noticed the strange markings on the creature, and he was so taken with them that he began tracing these symbols on the ground in front of him. He suddenly realized that these markings could be used to portray concepts and words, and thus the written Chinese language was born. (Here's one of my favorite pictures of that scene.)
I find it funny, since all but one of my helper animals (Unicorn, Raven and Spider) are associated with the written language. Fox just
has to be a trouble-maker!
The last one, normally said to be a variation on the ki-lin, is also called the kirin, the Japanese unicorn. (Also called the
sin-you.) This version, physically like the ki-lin, but possessing sinews more akin to a lion) has the same hatred for injustice that the others posses, but it seems to take a more direct route to dealing with it. If a person was put in front of a kirin and they told a lie, the kirin would pierce the person's heart with their horn.
Its name is also now used for describing a giraffe, and it lends its image to a popular brewing company.
A unicorn's gentle nature, and pleading looks is also credited with persuading Ghenghis Khan to turn back on his way to India.
Julius Caesar once wrote about seeing a unicorn, and it is said by some that Bucephalus, the critter that Alexander the Great rode, was a unicorn.
I'll admit, the attributes that I see in myself that the unicorn posesses are ones that I have to remind myself aren't bad things. Its gentle nature, (normal) kindness to other forms of life, and outrage against injustice are things that I was picked on for as a child, and I'm only now learning to celebrate these traits instead of be ashamed by them.
) but sometimes they are kind/generous/protective of humans( 
