Oni (no relation)

Bungie's game Oni is sometimes confused with other works and characters titled "Oni". This isn't surprising considering the popularity of the Japanese mythical oni. Below we've listed some prominent examples of other "Oni"s. Due to the shared inspiration, perhaps interesting similarities can occasionally be found.

ONI RPG series and OVA

In the OVA, Shuramaru meets two characters who can transform into oni like he can.

A classic RPG series created by Pandora Box, and once popular in Japan, depicted transforming heroes with beast forms. The series is primarily identified by its use of the romanized "ONI" rather than the kanji 鬼. Hover over any text below with dotted underlining for a best-effort English translation.

GB	1990-12-08	鬼忍降魔録 ONI	Oni Shinobu Komaroku ONIOni Ninja Demon Descent Record ONI
GB	1992-02-28	ONI II 隠忍伝説	ONI II In'nin DensetsuONI II Ninja Legend (cartridge photo)
GB	1993-02-23	ONI III 黒の破壊神	ONI III Kuro no Hakai-shinONI III Black God of Destruction
GB	1994-03-11	ONI IV 鬼神の血族	ONI IV Kishin no KetsuzokuOni IV Bloodline of Demon Gods
SNES	1994-08-05	鬼神降臨伝ONI	Oni Kishin Korin-den ONIOni Demon God Advent Legend ONI
GB	1995-03-24	ONI V 隠忍を継ぐ者	ONI V In-nin o Tsugu MonoONI V Ninja Inheritor
SNES	1996-02-02	幕末降臨伝ONI	Bakumatsu Korin-den ONIBakumatsu Advent Legend ONI
PS1	2001-03-22	ONI零〜復活〜	ONI Rei ~Fukkatsu~Oni Zero ~Resurrection~
DS	2007-08-30	ONI零 戦国乱世百花繚乱	ONI Rei Sengoku Ransei Hyakka RyoranOni Zero Sengoku Hundred Flower Turbulent Chaos
PS1	canceled	ONI零〜流転〜	ONI Rei ~Ruten~Oni Zero ~Fluidity~
Arcade	1995	隠忍 ーザニンジャマスター	In'nin —Za Ninja Masuta–Ninja —The Ninja Master—

The one game that actually released for PlayStation came out in 2001 and was called ONI Zero ~Resurrection~; thankfully it wasn't for the PS2, which might have been confusing since Oni's Japanese box used a romanized "ONI" too. A 1995 arcade fighting game loosely based in the same universe was called Oni: The Ninja Master. Despite the game's subtitle already being in katakana-ized English, it was released in the Western world with the inscrutable name Metamoqester.

Also in 1995, the game universe was the basis for an anime OVA called Touma Kishinden Oni (闘魔鬼神伝ONITale of the Fighting Demon Demon God ONI) consisting of 25 10-minute episodes released on five discs. Incredibly obscure and hard to find, the opening can be seen here. It's about a young warrior who has to come to terms with his inhuman nature and ability to transform into an "oni".

Halo's ONI

See Easter eggs – Halo.

Street Fighter's Akuma Oni

Oni (sometimes called Akuma Oni or Oni Akuma for clarity) is a "demon" form of long-time Street Fighter character Akuma who has been corrupted by the dark energy of his martial art. He first appeared in Super Street Fighter IV. There is also a Pandora's Box variant of Oni in Street Fighter X Tekken.

Urusei Yatsura's Oni

In this anime, "Oni" is the name of an alien race, but the name isn't mentioned much. What's more important is how the myth of the oni influenced the design of alien character Lum, so see Oni (myth) – Aliens for information.

ONI: Road to be the Mightiest Oni

A 2023 Nintendo Switch title with a very cute art style but mixed reviews. A partial game description from the publisher: "The protagonist, Kuuta, attacks the enemy using his club. Kazemaru sucks the enemy's spirit out of its body, and by destroying that spirit, Kuuta can then claim victory. Enjoy an all-new, unique co-op experience by playing both Kuuta and Kazemaru at the same time! […] The player can also level up by running away from pursuing monsters, like a game of tag, and collecting mushrooms that grow in clusters to purchase upgraded clubs."

The main character is himself an oni, a demon warrior, and it seems that his goal is to absorb other oni to get stronger. The children's game of tag, called "oni" in Japan, is also somehow a part of the gameplay.

Agent of Mayhem's Oni

Agents of Mayhem, an open-world action game set in the Saint's Row universe, has a cast of 12 playable characters including Oni, a Japanese hitman.

AT-43's ONI Corporation

AT-43 was a role-playing board game with a faction called ONI, standing for Okamura Non-aligned Industries. They're a mercenary corporation that uses the O serum to create zombie soldiers and builds weapons based off any technology they can get their hands on, then sells them to the highest bidder in the war between the other factions of the game.

Although the original publisher Rackham has been defunct since 2010, the rights to the company's games were acquired by Monolith Edition in 2024, another board game publisher, with the intent of putting the games back in production.

Okamura Kazuo finally met his fate after eight months of work in his new service. He undertook an experiment with a highly-advanced viral strain and put it in the presence of a reagent he had invented. […] The first signs of change that occurred in Okamura took place in the weeks which followed his traumatic experience. The virus changed, developing its own intelligence. The doctor soon discovered that he was inhabited by a gifted host of clear thought, able to speak using his mouth, and able to take partial control of his body. The virus’s personality merged with that of its host. The symbiosis was soon absolute: Okamura Kazuo literally became a new man: he was insensitive to pain, sleep was unnecessary, and all known diseases had no effect on him. […] He revealed his secret only to those he felt able to succeed him, and soon began dreaming of being the pioneer of the next stage of human evolution.

Also not Oni

Oxygen Not Included

A survival game set in a space colony, released in 2019 by Klei Entertainment. No connection to the concept of the Japanese oni, but abbreviated to "ONI" often enough that it competes for attention with Oni in search engine results. People post on our Oni subreddit asking for help with that game. We even had to expand our Discord server's name to "Oni (Bungie, 2001)" to cut down on confused Oxygen fans joining the server.