Mononoke (モノノ怪,Mononoke?) are spirits born from the grudges and pent-up emotions of people, regardless of whether they are living or dead. Mononoke tend to haunt areas that hold significance to person who held the grudge from where they were formed, and vary vastly in power, strength, and abilities depending on their emotions.
Traits & Abilities[]
Mononoke differ in their physical appearance and habitats, and all exhibit a large degree of intelligence. Mononoke haunt areas that hold significance to the bearer of the grudge, and will stay within that area, interacting only with those who are in or around that area. Mononoke also have a variety of individual abilities that they can use at their disposal to harm or otherwise interact with humans, even the human which brought the Mononoke into existence, as seen with the Umibōzu and Bishop Genkei and other similar instances.
Exorcising Mononoke[]
The Medicine Seller preparing to form a barrier with talismans and ward off an incoming Mononoke.
Regardless of their multitude of individual differences, all Mononoke share three components: shape (形,Katachi?), truth (真,Makoto?), and reason (理,Kotowari?). The shape of a Mononoke is their identity, their truth is the circumstances surrounding their existence, and their reason is why they exist; an exorcist must find these in order to slay Mononoke, especially in the case of the Medicine Seller, as he requires all three in order to activate the weapon known as the Sword of Salvation. Beyond this, there are other methods of warding off Mononoke, as well as exorcising them, though none are as effective. One of such ways is through the use of talismans, which not only react when a Mononoke is present, allowing them to detect a Mononoke's presence, but can be used to form barriers; when connecting large amounts of them, this can be used to form walls, or more abstract boundaries a Mononoke can't cross. Other methods such as charms and artifacts (such as the Medicine Seller's scales) can also be used along with others to defeat Mononoke.
Trivia[]
In Japanese mythology, mononoke are spirits which possess individuals, cause suffering, spread illness, and cause death.