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While the origin of onryō is unclear, belief in their existence can be traced back to the 8th century and was based on the idea that powerful and enraged souls of the dead could influence, harm, and kill the living. The earliest onryō cult that developed was around Prince Nagaya who died in 729 and the first record of possession by the onryō spirit affecting health is found in the chronicle Shoku Nihongi, which states that "Fujiwara Hirotsugu's soul harmed Genbō to death" (Hirotsugu having died in a failed insurrection, named the "Fujiwara no Hirotsugu Rebellion", after failing to remove his rival, the priest Genbō, from power). Emperor Antoku and Emperor Daigo in Japanese history were believed to have been onryōs.
According to the belief of Ikiryō, a person's soul or spirit exists naturally when it is stable or in balance. When too much hatred or resentment brews, it can become separated from the body, resulting in the spirit becoming an onryō. This can allegedly also occur in individuals who died an untimely death.
Traditionally in Japan, onryō driven by vengeance were thought capable of causing not only their enemy's death, as in the case of Hirotsugu's vengeful spirit held responsible for killing the priest Genbō, but causing natural disasters such as earthquakes, fires, storms, drought, famine and pestilence, as in the case of Prince Sawara's spirit embittered against his brother, the Emperor Kanmu. In common parlance, such vengeance exacted by supernatural beings or forces is termed tatari.
The Emperor Kanmu had accused his brother Sawara, possibly falsely, of plotting to remove him from the throne. Sawara was then exiled, and died by fasting. According to a number of scholars, the reason that the Emperor moved the capital to Nagaoka-kyō thence to Kyoto was an attempt to avoid the wrath of his brother's spirit, according to a number of scholars. This not succeeding entirely, the emperor tried to lift the curse by appeasing his brother's ghost, by performing Buddhist rites to pay respect, and granting Prince Sawara the posthumous title of emperor.
A well-known example of appeasement of the onryō spirit is the case of Sugawara no Michizane, who had been politically disgraced and died in exile. It was believed to cause the death of his calumniators in quick succession, as well as catastrophes (especially lightning damage), and the court tried to appease the wrathful spirit by restoring Michizane's old rank and position. Michizane became deified in the cult of the Tenjin, with Tenman-gū shrines erected around him.
Possibly the most famous onryō is Oiwa, from the Yotsuya Kaidan. In this story the husband remains unharmed; however, he is the target of the onryō’s vengeance. Oiwa's vengeance on him isn't physical retribution, but rather psychological torment.
How a Man's Wife Became a Vengeful Ghost and How Her Malignity Was Diverted by a Master of Divination
In this tale from the medieval collection Konjaku Monogatarishū, an abandoned wife is found dead with a full head of hair intact and her bones still attached. The husband, fearing retribution from her spirit, asks a diviner for aid. The husband must endure while grabbing her hair and riding astride her corpse. She complains of the heavy load and leaves the house to "go looking" (presumably for her husband), but after a day she gives up and returns, after which the diviner is able to complete her exorcism with an incantation.
Of a Promise Broken
In this tale from the Izumo area recorded by Lafcadio Hearn, a samurai vows to his dying wife never to remarry. He soon breaks this promise, and the ghost of the deceased wife murders her husbands new young bride, ripping her head off. A watchman chases down the apparition, and while slashing his sword recites a Buddhist prayer, destroying the ghost of the dead wife.
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AND THIS IS THE NEXT BOSS FIGHT OF KIRA'S STORY!
Oshinokouji has been locked up in an old creepy home where she wandered the halls alone with only her blind rage to be her company until she finally gathered enough strength from harnessing it to draw in a single passerby with a sort of hypnotic siren effect that convinces the young man to find a way into the Sutra covered house and investigate it. After putting him through intense psychological horror, Oshino ended up killing him, brutally, and devouring his Soul. Not only adding him to her Curse but also increasing her own power enough that she is able to start reaching out to others close to him and, gradually, tempt them to go to her house as well over time. Eventually they would submit to her will and travel to the house to investigate it, go through horrific psychological torment, and end up being killed by Oshino and her supernatural attack dogs and devoured by Oshino to be turned into more servants as she draws power from them.
As Oshinokouji draws and gains power she starts influencing the area outside of her house further as she starts causing a sense of famine as the plant life around her home begins dying off, drying up and crumbling. The sutras also start to tear off. Civilians passing by are caught up in her influence and will, gradually, be drawn to the house to be horrifically killed and then she would do the same to those close to them. Each victim increasing her power and adding to her growing rage resulting in her effects on the world outside of the house spreading. A plague starts spreading outwards around the city as random storms start up off and on.
As this situation starts escalating Manea has it investigated and then puts Kira on the case. After she goes and does some research on the house and uncovers some more information about Oshino she journeys to the house through the pounding storm and deals with the locusts en route, she enters the house and gets settled in as she and Lilly wait for the vengeful spirits to come at her. As she explores the house she starts taking notice of the standard Eldritch Location Alien Geometries from Oshino's influence. As the spirits begin attacking and trying to scare her. Buuuut after their Jumpscare Tactics just result in Face Punching they start changing tactics to more horrific nightmarish mind screw tactics while the house itself attacks Kira and begins changing itself to a more organic hellish nightmare of a home that is like the inside of a creature's body.
Kira transforms herself and the battle begins!
The following battle is a nightmarish mind screw battle between a Magical Girl Zombie VS A Vengeful Spirit as the storms get worse outside and the Sutras continue peeling and burning off!
As the battle between them wages on she is abel to gradually weaken Oshino enough that she starts losing her grip on her devoured Souls freeing them from her and it all concludes with a Battle In The Center Of The Mind between Kira & Lilly VS Oshinokouji after the Onryo tries to possess and tear her apart from the inside. During which they finally see her past and learn how Oshino became the way she is. Eventually, Kira wins, spits her back out and delivers the final utter beatdown to The Vengeful Spirit until she is weakened enough for Kira to capture her and send her to Hell.
With that the storms and fires and pestilence and famine stop and first responders are able to get the situation under control while Archstopholes Employees provide aid.
THIS all accomplished, Kira has one last thing to do: She tracks down Oshinokouji's killer, the person who started all this in the first place and, after tormenting him with a game of cat and mouse for a while, corners him and sends him off to Hell.
And wouldn't you know it? There's a pissed off Onryo waiting for him. Now free to torment her killer for eternity.
While this doesn't count towards her total, Oshinokouji was a Vengeful Spirit but not a Demonic Spirit, Kira still learned something about herself and she may very well have saved the world AND took out a jackass in the process! So she gets to feel good about herself in the aftermath.
She isn't blind though. Later that night, while taking a relaxing bath, she has a discussion with Lilly about the whole affair and she wonders: If she were to let her rage get the better of her, would she turn out just like The Onryo?
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