Oni

This article is about the creatures of Japanese folklore. For Oni (disambiguation), see Oni (disambiguation).

A statue of an Oni wielding a tetsubo.

Oni (鬼) are creatures from Japanese folklore, similar to Western demons or ogres. They are popular characters in Japanese art, literature, and theatre.

Appearance

Depictions of oni vary widely but usually portray them as hideous, gigantic creatures with sharp claws, wild hair, and two long horns growing from their heads. They are humanoid for the most part, but occasionally, they are shown with unnatural features such as odd numbers of eyes or extra fingers and toes. Their skin may be any number of colors, but red, blue, black, pink, and green are particularly common. Their fierce appearance is only enhanced by the tiger skins they tend to wear and the iron clubs they favor, called kanabō (金棒). This image leads to the expression "oni with an iron club" (鬼に金棒), that is, to be invincible or undefeatable. It can also be used in the sense of "strong beyond strong", or having one's natural quality enhanced or supplemented by the use of some tool.

Origins and behavior

In the earliest legends, oni were benevolent creatures said to be able to ward off evil and malevolent spirits and to punish evil-doers. Japanese Buddhism incorporated these beliefs by at least the 13th century, calling the creatures aka-oni ("red oni") and ao-oni ("blue oni") and making them the guardians of hell or the torturers of the wicked there. They also came to be recognized as Shinto spirits (or kami).

Over time, the oni's strong association with evil colored the perception of the creatures themselves, and they came to be seen as harbingers or agents of calamity. Folk tales and theater began to depict them as dumb, sadistic brutes, content only to destroy. Foreigners and barbarians were said to be oni. Today, they are variously described as the spirits of the dead, of the earth, of the ancestors, of the vengeful, of pestilence, or of anger. No matter what their essence, oni are seen today as something to avoid and to ward off. One folk belief today is that oni cause thunder and lightning so that they can steal children's belly buttons. This is a common story told to get children to wear warm clothing in the rain.

Since the 10th century, oni have been strongly associated with the northeast (kimon), particularly in yin yang tradition. Temples are often built facing that direction, and Japanese buildings sometimes have L-shaped indentions at the northeast to ward oni away. Enryakuji, on Mount Hiei northeast of the center of Kyoto, and Kaneiji, in that direction from Edo Castle, are examples. The Japanese capital itself moved northeast from Nagaoka to Kyoto in the 8th century.

Some villages hold yearly ceremonies to drive away oni, particularly at the beginning of Spring. During the Setsubun festival, people throw soybeans outside their homes and shout "Oni wa soto! Fuku wa uchi!" ("Demons out! Luck in!"). Monkey statues are also thought to guard against oni, since the Japanese word for monkey, saru, is a homonym for the word for "leaving".

Some vestiges of the oni's once benevolent nature still remain, however. Men in oni costumes often lead Japanese parades to ward off any bad luck, for example. Japanese buildings sometimes include oni-faced roof tiles, which are thought to ward away bad luck, much as gargoyles in Western tradition. In Japanese versions of the game tag, the player who is "it" is instead called the "oni".

Oni are prominently featured in the Japanese children's story Momotaro (Peach Boy).

Popular culture

• The Blue Spirit, a dual-dao sword-wielding vigilante character on the asian-influenced Avatar the Last Airbender, wears a dark blue oni mask to hide his identity.
• The most well known occurrence of oni in popular culture is as a part of the Shadowlands in the collectible card game Legend of the Five Rings.
• In in the Kamigawa Block of the tcg Magic: the Gathering, the oni are shown as a type of evil demonic spirits.
• In the Dragonball Z series of anime and manga, when the main character, Goku, accidentally falls into Hell, he meets up with the aka-oni and the ao-oni. The characters also affix "oni" to the end of each of their sentences.
• In the popular videogame Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, the characters Moloch and Drahmin are oni from the Netherealm.
• In the popular videogame Katamari Damacy, it is possible to roll up Oni Island and Oni Rock when rolling around the world. The rocks appear to be seals around the island, which resembles a cave in an ancient legend where a great oni was sealed with warded rocks. You can also roll up three oni, the gods of thunder lightning and rain, in both Katamari Damacy and We ♥ Katamari, in the final and cloud level respectively.
• In the popular Capcom based franchise: Onimusha, Oni was depicted as the divine races from the mystic realm, that hold up their seem aged, prolonged war against their evil nemesis- The Genma/Demon Race, whom plot to annihilate the mortal realm with their destructive power.
• There is a character named Oni in the anime and manga series Naruto. The 2nd Curse Seal forms of Sakon & Ukon are modeled after Oni. Also Zabuza is called the "Oni of the Hidden Mist", Or the "Oni Hidden in Mist".
• The anime series Digimon provides many references to mythical beasts. The Digimon Ogremon, though named after an Ogre, is most obviously an Oni in design. Fugamon & Hyougamon bare stronger resemblances to the Oni.
• In the first season of the anime series Slayers, Lina's enemies often use 'trolls' that greatly resemble oni to attack her.
• The Pokémon Electabuzz is vaguely based on an oni, most prominently, its horns and stripes.
• In "The Weeping Demon" segment of Akira Kurosawa's Dreams, the central character encounters a person that resembles a traditional oni.
• In the live-action Tokusatsu series Kamen Rider Hibiki, the "Riders" are always referred to as "Oni" and have suits with horns and Oni-like appearances to them.
• When Link puts on the Fierce Deity's Mask in The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, he is known by several fans as Oni Link.
• A number of oni play rather promiment roles in the manga and anime YuYu Hakusho, especially in the tournaments of the latter part of the series. In addition, there is a character named Jorge, whom is often called "Ogre" in the English dub and "Oni" in the Japanese dub, and in the second episode Yusukes mother says she had a dream that he was beating up ogres in the English dub, and oni, in the Japanese, and it shows a cartoony version of Yusuke standing ontop of a pile of oni. All the workers in Koenma Jr.'s office are oni.
• In Japan, the game of hide and seek has the one seeking be the "oni" instead of being "it". This is referenced in the short anime film Kakurenbo, in which fox children play tag for the entire movie, but it is not explained entill the end, when the oni that had been chasing them turns into a small child in a fox mask and says "Now you're it".
• In the Japanese anime InuYasha, the two main characters fight against hordes of Oni to restore peace in an alternate world.
• In the anime Ranma ½, oni appear several times throughout the series, including the tiny Oni who hops around possessing bodies. The oni can be knocked out of the body with a sharp blow (to the head).
• The American video game "Oni" is named to reflect the fighting tenacity of Konoko, the protagonist.
• In the CORPG Guild Wars an Oni is an enemy monster.

• In the manga "Sengoku Nights", the main character is the reincarnation of an Oni and he inadvertently becomes victim of chases by his past life's victims.
• One of the hardest levels of difficulty in some Dance Dance Revolution games is called Oni, and is available only for certain songs and in certain versions (ie: Butterfly in Ultramix 3 has an Oni difficulty)
• A series of the cartoon series Jackie Chan Adventures involves finding nine Oni Masks, each containing a powerful Demon General with power over his own deadly tribe of Shadowkahn (Shadow Warriors).
• In an episode of the Japanese cartoon Doraemon, a European man who got stuck in medieval Japan supposedly started the Oni myth when he 'terrorised' the Japanese in order to get food. The story was related to the Momotaro legend.
• In an episode and chapter of the anime/manga Sgt. Frog, Kururu invents a gun that can turn people into Oni. When Natsumi is transformed, she has a similar speech pattern as Lum from Urusei Yatsura.
• In the anime Black Cat, the character Eve refers to herself as an oni throughout the series.
• The anime and manga series Urusei Yatsura features a race of oni-like aliens also called Oni.
• The basis of the manga/anime Hell Teacher Nūbē revolves around a teacher who is forced to absorb an Oni, making it become his left hand and using it as his trump card weapon! The series does go into other aspects of Oni myth as others appear amidst the yōkai in the series.
• In the fighting game Touhou Suimusou/Immaterial and Missing Power, the final boss, Suika Ibuki, is an Oni.
• On an episode of Adult Swim's The Venture Bros., Dr. Venture returns from a trip in Japan with a Oni spirit following him around. The spirit, which only he and Dr. Orpheus can see, tries to lead them to a motel to bring Dr. Venture and an ex-girlfriend back together.
• In Ōkami, the enemies are composed of numerous varieties of Oni, having the proper differing skin colors
• Oni can be used as the Japanese equivalent of being "it" in tag.

External links

• Article on Oni at The Obakemono Project