"When I was a child growing up in Japan, my mother told me tales of the Oni; hideous horned demons, who would sneak into the rooms of disobedient children. The Oni would... eat their souls!" |
The Oni are malevolent demonic beings from Japanese folklore, who are rumored to eat the souls of disobedient children in Japanese fairy tales. In reality, the Oni are powerful demons, led by their lord, Tarakudo. They once ruled Feudal Japan until their spirits were ultimately imprisoned within the Oni Masks.
Appearance[]
The Oni are tall, humanoid creatures with horns. They are all colored differently and usually consist of two different colors. While they are humanoid, some of them have non-humanoid limbs, for example wings, blades, etc. The Oni all wear traditional Japanese armor that cover most of their body.
Most of the members of the Oni resembles the Shadowkhan he summons.
History[]
Background[]
In ancient times, Tarakudo, lord of all Oni and king of the Shadowkhan, along with his nine demon generals, terrorized Japan. Ancient Chi warriors carved masks and through use of good Chi spell ingredients, trapped the Generals in those masks.
One was made for Tarakudo who found the mask and hid it in the Shadow Realm. His whereabouts were unknown afterwards as he was dormant for centuries. The masks were then scattered across the Earth. If united, the nine Oni generals would be released and summon an army of Shadowkhan to engulf the planet in eternal darkness which will cause all good magic to erode.
Present[]
At an unknown point in time, Shendu acquired one of the nine Oni Masks and discovered a means of tapping into its power indirectly, effectively allowing him to summon the Ninja Khan without having to wear it. He instead concealed the mask in his palace until it was eventually uncovered by a freshly awakened Tarakudo aided by the Enforcers.
Amidst Shendu's quest to open the Demon Portals, Jackie Chan acquired the Demon Archive, an encyclopedia of Demon Magic with the front cover bearing the Mark of Tarakudo. When Jade Chan tattooed the symbol onto her leg, she inadvertently gained the power of the mask, granting her control over the Ninja Khan until the tattoo was magically removed from her leg with one of Uncle's potions.
Whilst seeking to claim the power of Astral Projection that resided within the Noble Sheep, Daolon Wong briefly enlisted the employ of the Ninja Khan by conjuring a spell to channel the power of the very same mask. After his ultimate disenchantment and arrest along with the Enforcers, Wong sought to escape from prison by once again conjuring a spell to summon the Ninja Khan, only to inadvertently awaken Tarakudo himself.
When Jackie, Jade, Uncle and Tohru unknowingly conjoined the nine Oni Masks together in one location, they inadvertently released the nine Oni Generals imprisoned from within, allowing them to summon enough Shadowkhan to engulf the Earth in eternal darkness. After the Hana Fuda Cards revealed the existence of a tenth Oni Mask originally intended to imprison Tarakudo himself, Uncle devised a spell to imprison all ten Oni within the same mask, effectively defeating them and sealed away their shadow magic once and for all.
Powers and Abilities[]
All Oni possess enhanced strength and can summon a different tribe of Shadowkhan. Only the respective Oni can control his Shadowkhan. When all nine tribes merge, they form a shadow shroud capable of covering the whole planet in shadow.
The Oni have no problems working as a team since they all serve one goal and one master. They are all obedient and collected, being the most dangerous army generals on the planet.
Weaknesses[]
Oni are repelled by onions which cause them temporary blindness and severe eye irritation.
Each Oni General is weak to a different Japanese item. When the respective item is mixed with the right ingredients, a powerful chi spell can be made which allows the user to imprison the Oni in masks as well as remove the said masks from the faces of potential wearers. The spell can also revert the Oni's astral form back to their physical body in order for mask to stick to face in which they are far less powerful.
A spell used by Shendu and Daolon Wong allowed them to draw power from The Rairakku Mask's power and gain full control over its Shadowkhan tribe.
List of Oni[]
Trivia[]
- "Oni" is the direct Japanese translation of the word "Ogre."
- Throughout the series, The Oni are depicted as being vulnerable to onions. However, in actual Asian folklore, it is said that, to drive Oni away, one must toss beans while on the grounds of the area they wish to protect chanting "Oni wa soto! Fuku wa uchi!" ("Oni be out! In with blessings!"). This is believed to banish any Oni present from the premises.