Although an old saying claims that spirits of the war dead do not transform into yurei, many yurei of defeated Heike soldiers fleeing the enemy and yurei of soldiers killed in the two world wars are said to have appeared in the shape of the person at death.
「いくさ死には化けて出ない」との言い伝えもあるが、平家の落ち武者や大戦での戦死者のように、死んだときの姿のまま現れると言われる幽霊も多い。