Nurikabe is a large, sleepy-eyed wall-shaped yōkai, who uses his massive size to protect Kitaro and his friends. The original Nurikabe is a spirit which blocks the passage of people walking at night.

Nurikabe first appears in a cameo as one of many yōkai attending a sukiyaki party in the story A Walk to Hell (Rental version) before making a more prominent appearance in The Great Yōkai War (Shōnen Magazine version).

In the 2002 Kodansha International Bilingual Comics edition, he is referred to as Wally Wall.