Ghost of Tsushima: Legends is bringing fans three new game modes that they can play with their friends, along with new characters, abilities, and perhaps most exciting, new enemies. The only new enemy type confirmed so far is the Oni, a creature rooted in Japanese folk-lore. Players may not be too familiar with the Oni, though, as they don’t appear too frequently within pop culture. Even so, the Oni are interesting creatures and the history surrounding their conception is equally fascinating, making the endeavor of learning about them well worth the effort while waiting for the fall release of Legends.
Once it releases this fall, Ghost of Tsushima: Legends will send players into a mystical realm full of supernatural beings. They will take control of one of four classes, the Samurai, Ronin, Hunter, or Assassin, and work together with teammates online to overcome a variety of challenges. In the announcement post about the upcoming game modes, Sucker Punch called out the new Oni enemies by name, and they can even be seen in action in the trailer a few times. Just as the main story of Ghost of Tsushima was rooted in historical facts, the Oni enemies will likely draw heavily from real folk-tales.
Traditionally speaking, Oni are a type of Yokai (demon), a sort of demonic ogre from Japanese folklore, typically much taller than a standard human and much more massive as well. They are characterized by sharp horns bursting forth from their heads and typically wield kanabo (large metal clubs) as weapons against their enemies. With that in mind, they would likely be similar to the brute enemies in Ghost of Tsushima, and the trailer shows the Assassin using Moon Stance against one. Though the meaning of the word Oni and the purpose of the creatures it defines has changed over time, but the Buddhist variant of the Oni is believed to guard Jigoku (Hell) and administer punishment to sinners that find themselves spending eternity there.
Buddhists of the time believed that people with wicked souls turned into Oni after death, but only if their souls were irredeemable. This meant that a person had to have committed terrible atrocities in their life and shown no remorse or willingness to repent. It would be interesting to see if this applies to Ghost of Tsushima‘s antagonist, Khotun Khan, or if his actions are viewed differently as a product of war. In some extreme cases, however, it was reported that people who lived especially heinous lives could morph into an Oni while they were still alive, spending the rest of their days meddling in human affairs and causing trouble in any way that they can.
While infrequent, the Oni does appear in pop culture in certain places. The most notable and recent instance of this would be Dead By Daylight, the asymmetrical horror game in which one player takes control of a killer and attempts to eliminate four survivors before they escape. The Oni was just added recently as a killer in that game and features a design mostly in line with what folk lore would have fans believe they looked like. Dead By Daylight‘s Oni is a heavily armored, horned, ogre-like monstrosity with supernatural strength and abilities it uses to chase down and kill survivors.
Other times Oni have appeared in pop culture include Square Enix’s Tomb Raider reboot, in which they appear as boss enemies towards the end of the game. Here they are mostly accurately depicted, wearing samurai-like armor and wielding large metal clubs. Oni are also present in Dungeons and Dragons, but in that lore, since ogres already exist, Oni are specifically a type of magical ogre. It will be interesting to see more of the Oni in Ghost of Tsushima: Legends and how the game explains their existence and the lore behind them, as well as what other types of mythical Japanese creatures will make an appearance.
Ghost of Tsushima: Legends releases Fall 2020.
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