Yurei

**Yurei** are a broad class of Ghost that are found in Japan which return from the dead to haunt the living, and are usually motivated by vengeance or hatred.

## **Characteristics**

According to traditional Japanese beliefs, all humans have a spirit or soul called a 霊魂 (*reikon*). When a person dies, the *reikon* leaves the body and enters a form of purgatory, where it waits for the proper funeral and post-funeral rites to be performed so that it may join its ancestors.

If the person dies, however, in a sudden or violent manner such as murder or suicide, if the proper rites have not been performed, or if they are influenced by powerful emotions such as a desire for revenge, love, jealousy, hatred or sorrow, the *reikon* is believed to transform into a Yurei which can then bridge the gap back to the physical world. The emotion or thought need not be particularly strong or driven. Even innocuous thoughts can cause a death to become disturbed. Once a thought enters the mind of a dying person, they will come back to complete the action last thought of before returning to the cycle of reincarnation.

The Yurei then exists on Earth until it can be laid to rest, either by performing the missing rituals, or resolving the emotional conflict that still ties it to the physical plane. If the rituals are not completed or the conflict left unresolved, the Yurei will persist in its haunting.

## **Types**

Yurei are classified mainly by the manner they died or their reason for returning to Earth:

* **Onryo -** Vengeful Yurei who come back from the dead for a wrong done to them during their lifetime.
	+ **Kinyo no yurei** - Kinyo no yurei are Ghosts of murder victims which have come to inhabit goldfish. They are created when a person is murdered by drowning in a fishbowl, and the enraged soul gets stuck inside of a goldfish instead of moving on.
* **Goryo** - Vengeful Yurei of the aristocratic class, especially those who were martyred.

* **Funayurei -** The Ghosts of those who died at sea.
	+ **Ayakashi** - Appear as ghostly apparitions above the ocean's surface who attempted to capture people to join them by drowning them.
	+ **Inadakase** - They speak to people on ships, saying "lend me an inada". If one doesn't open a hole in it before giving it over, it would suddenly fill the boat with water and cause it to sink.
	+ **Murasa** - Capable of possessing the ocean and forming large crystallized salt lakes in which they would make boats sail over them and sink.
	+ **Yobashiri** - By coiling a white sail and making it run forward, it would also run along. By scattering ashes and making a sound, it would disperse.
	+ **Ugume** - A type of Funayurei that possesses ships and boats and causes them to crash and sink.
	+ **Mayoibune** - On the evening of moonlight nights around the time of Bon, they posses sailboats at sea. It is said that atmospheric ghost lights would appear and people's voices could be heard.
	+ **Mouren Yassa** - On days of deep fog and stormy days, it is a kind of Funayurei that would appear to fishing boats, and it is said that a spirit of someone who died in a shipwreck is attempting to increase their fellows.
	+ **Namourei** - A kind of Funayurei that appears frequently along black boats, and they make an impossible demand "give me a paddle in times of storms" but it would do no good to reply, or lend them a paddle.

* **Ubume -** A mother Ghost who died in childbirth, or died leaving young children behind. This Yurei returns to care for her children, often bringing them sweets.
	+ **Obo** - It is said that when they encounter someone, they make that person hug a baby and then disappear in peace and the one hugging the baby will have their throat bitten by the baby.
	+ **Ugume** - Not to be confused with the sub-type of Funayurei, it is said that they appear at night and they would make people embrace a baby a night, but when dawn comes, they would generally be a rock, a stone tower, or a straw beater.
	+ **Unme** - They occur when a young person dies or when a woman dies from difficult childbirth, and they would sway back and forth before disappearing, having the appearance of a creepy blue light.
	+ **Ubametori** - When children go dry their clothes a night, this type of Ubume would think of the child as their own, and give them some poisonous milk.
	+ **Kokacucho** - A kind of shapeshifting Ubume that takes the form of a bird, usually a gull, and will shapeshift into the form of a woman carrying a baby. They would request "please hold on to this child" to people they meet and those that flee would be cursed with chills and fevers and eventually death.
	+ **Yagomedori** - Known for stopping clothes drying at night, and it is said that putting on those clothes would result in dying before one's husband.
	+ **Kosodate-yurei** - Kosodate-yurei are the Ghosts of mothers who died in childbirth or shortly after childbirth. They return to the world of the living because of their strong attachment to their child, and their lingering motherly duties.

* **Fuyurei** - These Yurei do not seek to fulfill an exact purpose and wanders around aimlessly. In ancient times, the disease of the Emperor of Japan was thought to arise as a result of these spirits floating in the air.
* **Jibakurei** - Similar to a Fuyurei and is rare, these spirits do not seek to fulfill an exact purpose and are instead bound to a specific place or situation.

## **Appearance**

Yurei are usually dressed in white, signifying the white burial kimono used in Edo period funeral rituals. In Shinto, white is a color of ritual purity, traditionally reserved for priests and the dead. The hair of a Yurei is often long, black and disheveled with their hands dangling lifelessly from the wrists, which are held outstretched with the elbows near the body. They typically lack legs and feet, floating in the air.

## **Powers and Abilities**

All Yurei possess the standard abilities of Ghosts, but some powers are unique among certain kinds.

### Basic Powers

* **Super Strength**- As Ghosts, Yurei are much stronger than when they were alive, they can casually overpower humans with the strongest being able to disembowel, dismember, and drown humans.
* **Super Stamina**- Since they are undead beings, Yurei do not feel fatigue and do not require sleep or sustenance to survive.
* **Super Speed**- After death, they can move at incredible speeds without strain.
* **Medium Invulnerability** - Being incorporeal, they cannot be harmed with conventional means.
* **Thermokinesis**- The presence of a Yurei will cause the temperature in a room to drop dramatically.
* **Invisibility**- Like almost all Ghosts, Yurei are naturally invisible and can only be seen if they want to be.
* **Electromagnetic Interference**- Their presence will cause lights to flicker and electronics to malfunction.
* **Teleportation**- Yurei can teleport. They often display a flickering appearance when using this ability.
* **Astral Perception**- Since they are Ghosts, they are able to perceive things that are invisible such as other Ghosts and Demons.
* **Telekinesis**- They are able to move virtually anything with their minds if they have enough concentration on the objects. Angry, vengeful Yurei can easily snap a person's neck telekinetically.
* **Apporting**- If they want to be noticed, they can teleport various objects around to another location.
* **Flight**- Yurei are known for levitiating above the ground.

### Rare Powers

* **Possession**- Onyros are able to possess humans while various types of Funayurei can possess inanimate objects such as ships, boats, and even ocean water.
* **Weather Manipulation**- Onyros are capable to causing small scale natural disasters to exact vengeance on their targets.
* **Shapeshifting** - Various types of Ubume are able to shapeshift into different forms, usually animal forms.
* **Biokinesis**- Yurei such as the Onyro are able to inflict wounds or diseases on their victims without physical contact.

## **Weaknesses**

* **Salt**- Like all Ghosts, Yurei are unable to pass a salt barrier.
* **Iron**- Iron is toxic to Yurei, and they can be repelled with it.
* **Salting and Burning Remains** - Digging up the body of a Yurei, and salting/burning it will force them to rest.
* **Destroying Haunted Object** - Salting and burning the object the Yurei is using to stay active in the human world, will put a them to rest.
* **Magic**- Shinto burial rites will properly put a Yurei to rest.