Kuchisake-onna

Kuchisake-onna is the vengeful ghost of Japanese folklore, the Kuchisake-onna. Kuchisake-onna appears as a woman in her mid-twenties, with long, straight though slightly ragged hair. Her baggy red eyes bear a dull glow. Her skin is smooth and unblemished, though her pallid skin betrays her ghostly nature. She's quite tall for a Japanese woman, and quite slender, though her chest contrasts her wiry frame. Kuchisake-onna usually wears dark clothing, typically a long skirt and baggy coat, which conceals most of her figure. At first, she looks beautiful, if a bit modest and unkempt. She wears a white surgical mask, though, which hides her true nature. Her face is scarred, carved open from mouth to ear, revealing the fleshy insides of her mouth and her sharp teeth. Though Kuchisake-onna is a ghost, her form is corporeal, though she can manifest or disappear when unobserved. She has supernatural strength and speed, which she only uses when attempting to kill a victim. Otherwise, she seems just as delicate as an ordinary woman. On her person, she always carries a pair of long, serrated, bloodstained scissors.

Kuchisake-onna is a spirit from the Edo period, the ghost of a woman mutilated by a man. The culprit is not known—perhaps a lover who accused her of adultery, or a spurned suitor, or perhaps just a madman. The details of her circumstance, former life, and even are name are unclear to her, but she knows she has men to blame. Clinging to this world through spite and hate, Kuchisake-onna seeks out men to kill or maim, and to feel the pain she once felt. Most often, she can be found prowling lonely crossroads at night. Like many youkai, she follows a strict procedure with her victims. First, Kuchisake-onna will ask her victim if they think she's pretty. If he answers "No", she will kill him on the spot. If he answers "Yes," she removes her mask, revealing her disfigurement, and she asks the question again. If he says she's still pretty, she will mutilate him with her scissors to bear the same wounds, while if he answers "No" or otherwise negatively, she will kill him. There seems to be no right answer, but there is a way to avoid a grisly fate: If one answers her second question with an evasive or non-answer, or a question of his own, she will be unsure what to do (she can also be distracted by sweets, which she is quite shameful of). Her victim will be able to get away while she ponders his strange answer. If her victim stays and makes further conversation, her murderous intent might be quelled, should he remain honest and amicable. However, any negative comment or insult about her face or appearance will have the victim meet a swift end. If somehow quelled into having a normal conversation, Kuchisake-onna seems awkward, standoffish, and gloomy, even to women. She's forgotten many of the joys of living, and seems wistful over a past she can't quite remember. When angered, she doesn't brood, nor does she yell or rage, but simply carries out her vengeance with calculated, routine precision. Though she maintains a modern appearance, Kuchisake-onna is from the Edo period, and is quite old-fashioned. Modernity, including cars, phones, computers, the internet, slang, and modern culture perplexes her. Her interests today are mostly just killing men, but she remembers a faint fondness for sweets, theater, weaving, and shogi. Kuchisake-onna is familiar with other youkai, though for obvious reasons she is not fond of male youkai. She associates with female youkai on occasion—she says that Hachisaku-sama is her closest friend, though she finds her proclivities "disturbing".