Onryo

The most dreaded type of Yurei is the onryo. They are the ghosts of people who died with such strong passions—jealousy, rage, or hatred—that their soul is unable to pass on. Instead, they transform into powerful, wrathful spirits who seek vengeance on everything they encounter. Often they were victims of war, catastrophe, betrayal, murder, or suicide—and they display wounds or marks indicative of the way they died.

Their motive is always the same—vengeance. Onryo are easily powerful enough to kill anyone. However, they prefer letting the object of their hatred live a long life of torment and suffering, watching loved ones die in their stead. Onryo inflict a terrible curse on the people or places that they haunt. This curse can be transmitted to others like a contagious disease, creating a circle of death and destruction far more devastating than any ordinary ghost. Onryo make no distinction in their targets; they just want to destroy. Moreover, an onryo’s vengeance can never be satisfied. While most yurei only haunt a person or place until they are exorcised or placated, an onryo’s horrible grudge-curse continues to infect a location long after the ghost itself has been laid to rest.

Occasionally, an onryo’s curse is born not out of hatred and retribution, but from an intense, passionate love that perverts into jealousy. These onryo haunt their former lovers, exacting their wrath on new romances, second marriages, new children, and eventual end up destroying the lives of the ones they loved so much in life. Whatever the origin, an onryo’s undiscriminating wrath makes it one of the most feared supernatural entities in all of Rokugan.