In some of their earliest iterations, they were considered to be responsible for natural disasters or destructive forces like thunder and lightning. In other tales, they appear as grotesque, loincloth-clad ogres with sharp teeth and horns. Sometimes, they are depicted as mountain-dwelling crones shunned by society. In some modern iterations, they can even be cute and gentle.
These entities can all be categorized as oni — supernatural figures that appear across Japanese literature, folklore, art and religion, frequently taking the form of ogres or demons.
“[They] are considered to be evil, but not entirely evil,” says Noriko T. Reider, a professor of Japanese language and literature at Miami University and author of Japanese Demon Lore: Oni from Ancient Times to the Present. “There are lots of contradictory elements in there. And historically, it kind of changes, like an amoeba.”
In short, an oni can wear many faces. Yet their amorphous — and multifaceted — nature has allowed them to take on a host of metaphorical meanings that mirror the evolution of Japanese society and culture. What’s more, their ubiquity in popular culture continues to this day, with appearances across anime, video games, TV and film.
