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Oni (myth): Difference between revisions
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:''This is about the Japanese | :''This article is about the mythical Japanese ogre. For the game, see [[Oni]].'' | ||
{{cleanup}} | {{cleanup}} | ||
{|style="float:right" | {|style="float:right" | ||
| | |[[Image:Oni kanji.jpg|thumb|300px|The [[wikipedia:kanji|kanji]] for Oni.]] | ||
|} | |} | ||
==Traditional depictions of oni== | |||
===Imps=== | |||
In traditional Buddhist-Japanese mythology, the oni are the exact counterparts of Christian imps (or devils with a small D). Some would guard the gates of Buddhist hell, while others would hunt down bad people and bring them ''to'' hell, and others would actually torture the bad people ''in'' hell. It's exactly what Christian imps do, so it's a pretty exact analogy. Recurrent features of oni were somewhat improbable skin color, two small horns on the forehead, a big club (imps have forks instead), and they were dressed in tiger skins. The iron club is called a kanabô. | |||
===Ghosts=== | |||
There are also recurrent pictures of another kind of oni: barely human manifestations of evil, not related whatsoever to Buddhist hell. Instead of being the "official enforcers of the underworld", they would infest sacred places and prey on humans. While at first they may have been depicted as immaterial spirits like the [[wikipedia:yurei|yurei]], which needed to be driven out through [[wikipedia:Onmyodo|yin-yang magic]], the concept of oni eventually crystallized into a more solid form. | |||
===Ogres=== | |||
Just as the Buddhist oni resemble Christian imps, the theme of the monstrous, man-like enemy that must be slain by samurai or a demon-hunter connects to Western (Greek, Medieval, Slavic) heroes and the mythological beasts they slay. | |||
=== | |||
There are also recurrent pictures of another kind of | |||
As opposed to the Buddhist "imps", this is more secular mythology, closer to the fantasy genre than a moral tale belonging to religion. A few stories involving them: | |||
As opposed to the Buddhist "imps", this is | |||
;[http://www.kyoto.zaq.ne.jp/mibu/eng/pages/plays/tales.html#Anchor-Ogre-43793 Rashômon gate]:'''''[Taken from one of the stories of the demon-hunter, Raiko.] While in Kyoto, he and his five retainers heard tale of an oni that lived inside the great gate Rashoumon, the southern gate on the main road through Kyoto. One of his retainers, Watanabe, volunteers to see if this is true, and if so, slay the oni and hang a talisman with all of their names on the gate's handle. Sure enough, he encounters an oni there, but only succeeds in severing one of its arms and driving it off.''''' | ;[http://www.kyoto.zaq.ne.jp/mibu/eng/pages/plays/tales.html#Anchor-Ogre-43793 Rashômon gate]:'''''[Taken from one of the stories of the demon-hunter, Raiko.] While in Kyoto, he and his five retainers heard tale of an oni that lived inside the great gate Rashoumon, the southern gate on the main road through Kyoto. One of his retainers, Watanabe, volunteers to see if this is true, and if so, slay the oni and hang a talisman with all of their names on the gate's handle. Sure enough, he encounters an oni there, but only succeeds in severing one of its arms and driving it off.''''' | ||
;Mukade: mukade are large centipedes native to Japan. Pagan mythology depicts giant versions of these things alongside gods, dragons and other beasts. As opposed to e.g. dragons, the Mukade were irredeemably vile, so of all the beast-gods they're the most likely to fall in the category of oni, super-oni even... See [[Mukade]]'s page for more. | |||
;Mukade: | |||
On the whole, it can be seen that a modern oni is always some kind of minor evil ''in the flesh''. This is in contrast to the usual use of the word "demon" in English, which refers to the fallen angels in the Bible, who are immaterial. In fact, a much closer translation, looking at the Eastern depictions of an oni, would be "ogre", "beast" or "monster", but not "demon", which more closely corresponds to the Japanese word "akuma" ("evil being"). | |||
On the whole, it can be seen that | |||
===Aliens=== | |||
As seen in contemporary anime, Japan's view of the oni has mellowed somewhat; oni might simply be immortal, aloof, selfish beings, superior to humans but with no clear intentions about them. In some cases they are clearly depicted like Western ogres (see right). | |||
Some oblivious, some malicious, some downright malevolent. Some, however, could feel sympathy or pity for the humans and defend them against a greater evil (end-of-all-worlds kind). | |||
Some oblivious, some malicious, some downright malevolent. | |||
Some, however, could feel sympathy or pity for the humans and defend them against a greater evil (end-of-all-worlds kind). | |||
A small piece of reference [http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Arena/2448/types.html#demon here]. | A small piece of reference [http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Arena/2448/types.html#demon here]. | ||
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==Speculative meanings of "oni" in Bungie's Oni== | ==Speculative meanings of "oni" in Bungie's Oni== | ||
That is, who or what is the "demon" in Bungie's Oni? There are a few more or less trivial explanations that can work within the world of the game. There is also the [[#Real origin of name|real-world explanation]], if you hate ambiguity. | That is, who or what is the "demon" in Bungie's Oni? There are a few more or less trivial explanations that can work within the world of the game. There is also the [[#Real origin of name|real-world explanation]], if you hate ambiguity. | ||
===Russian Oni : Them=== | |||
*In Russian, "oni" means "them". Since the title was transcribed with Cyrillic characters, Russian gamers hardly wonder about the japanese meaning of Oni :) It's worth to say that "Oni" means "them" also in Polish language, but in comparison to Russian, title wasn't transcribed. | |||
===Miscellany=== | ===Miscellany=== | ||