Nioh/Nioh 2 Main Character Index
Main Characters | Guardian Spirits | Other Characters | DLC Characters | Enemies and Bosses
Main Characters | Guardian Spirits | Other Characters | DLC Characters | Enemies and Bosses
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In General
- Action Bomb: If triggered, "Amrita Yoki" will explode without the Hit Points reaching zero.
- Adaptational Villainy: Traditional Yōkai in Japanese folklore are mischievous at best, but the monsters of Nioh are malevolent and vile (some of them are Made of Evil)...
- Always Chaotic Evil: ...However, some are more friendly and micschievous, such as the Mujina, who only attacks if you don't copy the emote they do, and the Nurikabe who will vanish without a fight if the correct emote is given. Nioh 2 also shows that some Yokai are perfectly reasonable and friendly such as the main character Hide's mother
- Attack Its Weakpoint: "Yoki" can have their horns shattered (via High Stance) to open them up to a finisher, while "One-Eyed Oni" can be struck in the eye to stun them momentarily. Although a finisher cannot be used on the latter, attacking their eyes for a stagger can be done multiple times before they die.
- Arrows on Fire: Human and skeleton archers are always armed with these types of arrows.
- Chest Monster: Played with — "Mujina" might hide inside large chests, but aren't malicious by nature unless they are physically provoked or players don't mimic their gesture correctly.
- The Corruption: Many Yōkai in Nioh were previously humans consumed and corrupted by kegare, miasmatic spiritual corruption caused by negative emotions. Oni can create patches of this miasma called "Yokai Realms" that slow players' ki regeneration and amplify their own.
- Expy: Certain Nioh enemies fulfill similar roles to enemies from Dark Souls — "Dwellers" are "Hollows", Majina are "Mimics", "Revenants" are "Red Phantoms" and "Kappa" are "Crystal Lizards".
- Gem Tissue: Amrita Yoki have chunks of Amrita growing from their bodies.
- Giant Spider: "Kumo", spider-monsters capable of spitting purple webbing, are fought as the most common enemies in the haunted ruins of Shigisen Castle.
- The Heartless: Specific types of Yōkai in Nioh are created from negative emotions that physically manifest after a person's death — the Ogress and Yuki-Onna serve as examples.
- Living Structure Monster
- "Nurikabe" are Yōkai manifesting as hidden walls: players can deduce them by looking for a pair of eyes mounted onto walls. By picking the proper gesture, nurikabe can open a passageway peacefully; if not, they will turn hostile. Alternatively, players might discover a talisman pasted onto a wall — interacting with it and players will remove the talisman, triggering the Nurikabe's appearance, but not fight it as the Yōkai disappears.
- "Sentries" are Living Statues armed with a BFS.
- Metal Slime: Kappa are highly evasive enemies that will flee on sight, potentially leading players into more deadly foes. Defeating them and tons of Amrita, armor, gold, items and weapons will drop.
- Multi-Armed and Dangerous: Magatsu Warrios have four arms, wielding a katana in each one.
- Oni: Nioh features the traditional types, such as classic, horned ogres (Yoki), mono-eyed variants (One-Eyed Oni) and kodama. Heck, the title of the game is, in a syllabic sense, the inverse (using Japanese symbols) for oni ("oh" and "Ni").
- Overly-Long Tongue: "Onyudo", in addition to using melee strikes and shoulder ramming, can stretch their tongues out to lash at players.
- Recurring Boss: Many Yōkai bosses show up again in side-missions as the mission-ending boss, but also as mini-bosses. Justified Trope, however, as the enemy descriptions explicitly describe them as a species rather than individuals.
- Stripperiffic: "Flying Bolts", who are covered with white strips of linen around their bodies. However, since their movement is quick, the model viewer in the encyclopedia is where this can be seen.
- The Undead
- The majority of Mooks in Nioh tend to be skeletons or the zombie-like Dwellers.
- Vengeful Revenants of other players who have died can be summoned and fought to obtain rare armor and weapons.
- Was Once a Man: Quite a number of Yōkai were humans consumed by negative emotions. However, it's possible to transform a perfectly normal person into an abomination by violently fusing them with Amrita crystals — Derrick the Executioner is one example; Mitsunari is another.
Bosses — Nioh
Derrick the Executioner
Voiced by: James Clyde
Derrick is the Tower of London's executioner. He himself had committed a crime deserving the death penalty, but was pardoned on the condition that he take on his current position. He has ended the lives of over 3000 people in the years since then, including political prisoners and dissidents, in grisly public spectacles that often featured his gigantic axe. A brutal man to begin with, he grew more and more violent over the course of his duties, and although he obeys the order of Kelley and his associates faithfully, he no longer speaks. In fact, he shows no sign of emotion or intelligence at all.
- Degraded Boss: Returning to the Tower of London in the epilogue and players can find a revived Derrick again in his transformed state, albeit now as an Elite Mook rather than a boss.
- Fate Worse than Death: He survived his fight with William in the prologue, but was forced to live on as a yokai, twisted and physically rotting in the dungeon of the Tower of London. If William kills Derrick in the epilogue, his biology all but says it was a Mercy Kill.
- Leitmotif: Has a unique one shared with Kelley, Hundred Eyes and Maria.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: Once Kelley infuses him with an Amrita crystal, his eyes turn red and he transforms into a Yokai.
- Red and Black and Evil All Over: Starts off just black and evil, but becomes this once Kelley infuses him with an Amrita crystal.
- Spikes of Villainy: Especially post-transformation via Amrita crystal.
- Truth in Television: There really was an English executioner during Queen Elizabeth's era called Thomas Derrick, famed for having executed more than 3,000 people throughout his career. Furthermore, the word "derrick" is associated with what the hangman's noose was supported on; in the modern era, it's a reference to its use on mechanical cranes.
- Warm-Up Boss: Fought at the end of the tutorial, he is quite damaging with that Axe of his but he moves so slow that players can dances around him and attack back with no trouble. Even after transforming into a Yokai, he is still as slow as before and taking down all of his Ki will prompt the players to use Living Weapon which shows William finishing off Derrick in a cutscene.
Onryoki
It hurts... help... anyone...
Pronounced "on RYO key". A huge red oni born from a pack of angry ghosts. Half of its face is contorted in anger, the other twisted with grudge. The face of countless vengeful ghosts appear across its body, letting out shrieks that send terror down the spines of all within earshot.
- Attack Its Weak Point: Its horns can be broken which will stagger and drains all its Ki and leave it vulnerable to attacks. This can only be done once though.
- Degraded Boss: If an Onryoki shows up in a main or side-mission as an Elite Mook rather than a boss, it will not have use of its Epic Flail (see below).
- Epic Flail: Its arms are chained to enormous balls that it uses as flails in the first stage of its boss fight. In the second half, the Onryoki breaks its chains apart; occasionally, it will lob the iron balls at players.
- Horned Humanoid: It has a pair of glowing yellow upwards-curved horns.
- Leitmotif: Has one that is shared with Umi-Bozu, Gasha-Dokuro and Onmoraki.
- King Mook: Visually, the Onryoki is basically a giant Yoki, complete with the same Attack Its Weak Point via its horns for a temporary stagger state.
- Made of Evil: It's implied the Onryoki in the slave ship William boards in the fishing village is a physical manifestation of all the dead slaves' hatred, formed conveniently into the shape of a massive Oni.
- Mighty Glacier: Have massive amount of health and enormous damage output to the point of one-shooting William but it attack and move quite slowly. It becomes much faster once its chains are broken after taking enough damage.
- Wake-Up Call Boss: Unlike Derrick who is a Warm-Up Boss whose Yokai form is defeated via a cutscene, the Onryoki is much more durable and hard hitting than him and can also create Yokai Realms which slows the regeneration speed of Ki of William. Players that have not mastered dodging and proper Ki Pulse usage will find themselves getting killed very easily.
Hino-Enma
I need more. Bring more men to me.
Pronounced "HEE no EN mah". A yokai taking the form of a young woman. Deceives humans and drinks their blood. The name Hino-Enma literally means 'flying bad luck' and she is believed to cause all manner of troubles and misfortune. She is believed to have been born from the angry soul of an innocent woman senselessly struck down in the heat of battle.
- Blow You Away: One of her ranged attacks is her taking in a breath before firing a wave of wind toward William. It is a fast moving projectile and will instantly inflicts William with "Paralysis" and exposed to any of her follow up attacks.
- Combat Stilettos: Wearing "tengu-geta" on her feet, the Hino-Enma is able to use it as part of a series of kicks as melee attacks.
- Counter-Attack: Depletes all of her Ki and she will fall to the ground, vulnerable to attacks. Once she get back up and if the players are still in range, she will retaliates with her Grapple Move that also works as a Life Drain to punish any overly aggressive players.
- Death from Above: Will occasionally take to the sky to attack William with ranged attacks or a quick charge at him.
- Fan Disservice: Hino-Emma is a female youkai who has a smoking hot body and wears an outfit that flatters her. Unfortunately, her unsettling looking face dampers the mood.
- Humanoid Abomination: Her face is slightly off, her skin is ash-cloud white, is unusually tall for a woman, and upon using its Grapple Move, her Nested Mouth erupts a bunch of tentacles not unlike a "Majini".
- Leitmotif: One that is shared with Nue, Joro-Gumo and Giant Toad.
- Lightning Bruiser: Hino-Enma has the size and agility of other humanoid bossess, but with the power and stability of a Yōkai boss. Furthermore, she can inflict the "Paralysis" statusnote which leaves William vulnerable to follow up attacks.
- Our Vampires Are Different: Basically a cross between a succubus and a vampire. She's a pale, bat-winged yokai woman who drinks the blood of the men she seduces to stay young.
- Parasol of Pain: Will occasionally take out an umbrella as a weapon. In addition, if you get a chance to look closely, you'll see that her wings aren't leathery bat wings, but oil paper and spokes of Eastern-style umbrellas.
- Vampiric Draining: Befitting her image as a succubus, her Grapple Move doubles as a Life Drain.
- Stalker with a Crush: One mission involves rescuing Saika Magoichi at a bathhouse, the one captured man this particular Hino-Enma won't kill.Men are too foul to live... I must kill them... All except for him...
- Succubi and Incubi: Essentially a cross between a succubus and vampire, Hino-Enma lure men away before abducting them and drinking their blood at her leisure. Lampshaded after defeating the one in the mountain caves.The blood of young men keeps me beautiful. I need more. More! Until all the world's men are my slaves.
- Wake-Up Call Boss: While the Onryoki is a Mighty Glacier that can be taken down with proper dodging and Ki Pulse usage to dispel the Yokai Realms it creates, the Hino-Enma is a Lightning Bruiser that constantly chases the players and her attacks inflict "Paralysis" which leaves William stuck in place if inflicted, exposing him as a sitting duck to the Hino-Enma.
- Winged Humanoid: Hino-Enma have a pair of wings made of umbrella paper for flight.
Nue
Pronounced "NEW-eh". A yokai chimera. Its fanged mouth terrorizes its prey with an eerie cry. Nue is wreathed in dark smoke, making it difficult to discern its overall appearance. Its ability to summon thunder have earned it the alternate name of Raijū, the thunder-beast.
- Attack Its Weak Point: Its belly glows brightly when performing certain attacks, most notably the roar to summons lightning bolts and its lightning breath. Attacking its belly when it glows will instantly stagger and drain all of its Ki and leave it vulnerable to attacks until it retaliates with a telegraphed roar that summons a single lightning bolt at the players location that also restores its Ki.
- Breath Weapon: Can fire lightning from its mouth that resembles a laser.
- The Bus Came Back: After being absent from the entirety of Nioh 2, it returns as an Optional Boss in the game's Tengu's Disciple DLC, now with the ability to go into Dark Realm mode like other Nioh 2 bosses.
- Familiar: Slaying the first Nue boss reveals that it was summoned by a female Onmyoji inside the temple to act as a guardian.
- Glass Cannon: The Nue have many quick and powerful attacks but can be staggered very easily when performing certain attacks, which allows players to tears down its health with minimum resistance. It is also weak to Water which inflicts the Damage-Increasing Debuff "Saturated", which lowers defense.
- Kill It with Water: Its primary weakness; Irony ensues when it generates electricity, which water conducts.
- Leitmotif: One that is shared with Hino-Enma, Joro-Gumo and Giant Toad.
- Nue: A monster with the head of a monkey, the body of a tanuki, the limbs of a tiger, and a serpent for a tail; however, unlike traditional nues, it possesses Shock and Awe powers instead of bringing ill luck or turning into a black cloud.
- Shock and Awe: Its entire gimmick, Nue can spit lightning-beams from its mouth and call down bolts of lightning from the sky. It's even referred to as "Raijū" (Thunder beast, normally a different Youkai alltogether).
- Shout-Out: Possibly to Genji, which also featured a Nue boss confronted in a temple's yard, appearing out of nowhere before being slain and has some attacks in common. Furthermore, the Nue in Genji reappears as the lightning-spitting Raijū and in both games you can get them to drop their claws as an item.
- Sphere Eyes: Its eyes seem quite loose in their sockets, often rolling around erratically before focusing back at players.
- Tail Slap: Its tail is a snake which can attack the players in a spinning attack or a poison breath attack.
- Wake-Up Call Boss: Though the Onryoki and Hino-enma are leaps in difficulty over Derrick the Executioner, both make very limited use of creating Yokai Realms to restore their Ki, and are fought in very straight-forward, spacious enviornments. Nue, however, has numerous attacks which create Yokai Realms as an after-effect, compounded with devastating, Unblockable Attacks which can be the follow-up to attacks players would THINK might give them an opening. Those who haven't normalized themselves to the Ki Pulse mechanic yet in order to purify regions of the arena left by the Nue will find themselves with next to no ki the few times they have an opening to attack the boss.
Giant Centipede
Pronounced "OH moo kah day". Literally "hundred-legs" in Japanese, this yokai takes the form of a giant centipede. Normal centipedes are commonly encountered in forests and mountains throughout Japan, and even at their small size pack enough poison in their bites to cause swelling or even paralysis. A giant yokai centipede, however, have fangs powerful enough to crush bone.
- Benevolent Architecture: The boss area is a massive area, with stairs to climb to attempt a plunging attack and stone pillars to take cover behind.
- Breath Weapon: Can fires poison or paralysis breaths from its mouth.
- Creepy Centipedes: It's a giant centipede with a skull-like face.
- Poisonous Person: Its body segments release poisonous gas upon being separated. It's these segments that are responsible for filling the mine it's in with so much poison gas.
- Segmented Serpent: Played with; while not a snake, the individual segments of its body have their own health bars and can be destroyed, leaving it as a walking head.
Umi-Bozu
Pronounced "OOH-me BOW-zoo". A large and very strange looking yokai that inhabits ocean waters. Also known as "umi-nyudo" and "umi-hoshi". A famed yokai of many legends; it takes its name, which literally means "sea-monk", from its round, bald head. Its appearances inevitably herald violent storms.
- Abnormal Ammo: Whereas its spawn Lesser Umi-Bozu spit out katana and water, this one shoots chunks of flotsam and the occasional Wave-Motion Gun.
- Attack Its Weak Point: It have a yellow core that it only exposes when performing certain attacks that can be attacked for more damage.
- Blob Monster: Its default appearance, including the Lesser Umi-bozu; the former also doubles as a Sea Monster since it has an enormous body mostly composed of seawater and is The Dreaded for causing shipwrecks.
- Combat Tentacles: It can extend tentacles and smash them down on players.
- Flunky Boss: 3 Lesser Umi-Bozu will spawns in during the start and the second phase of the boss fight, unless the players have found and lighted the 3 sacred bonfires in the area which will kill them off instantly as they enter the boss area.
- Kill It with Fire: It is weak to Fire, presumably due to the flame evaporating the water surrounding its core.
- King Mook: Essentially, a gigantic version of the Lesser Umi-Bozu that the players have fought until now with unique attacks.
- Leitmotif: Has one that is shared with Onryoki, Gasha-Dokuro and Onmoraki.
- Mighty Glacier: Very slow, but have massive amount of health and extremely high defense that you will only be doing Scratch Damage to it unless you use Fire and almost all of its attacks are One-Hit Kill.
- Turn Red: Once its health is reduced to half, it will leave the water and jump on the stage and gains new attacks to take a more direct approach in killing William.
- Wave-Motion Gun: It can fire a One-Hit Kill torrent of water from its Amrita core; fortunately there's an easy tell to determine when the attack is coming.
- Weaksauce Weakness: Although embuing weapons with fire via talismans or from using the signal fires in the boss arena is a viable option, the "Hykotto Masks" likely cluttering up players' inventory can also make short work of the Umi-Bozu.
Joro-Gumo
Ahh, how hateful! How vile! The fragments of my broken self... where have you scattered...?
Pronounced "JOH-ro GOO-mo". A horrific fusion of a woman's torso and with the lower body of a spider. Ensnares humans in her sticky threads, then devours them alive. In spite of her giant size, can freely climb walls ceilings. Her arachnid legs are covered in a thick shell, making them highly resistant to damage.
- All Webbed Up: Like the tsuchigumo, the Joro-Gumo can spit purple webbing that inflicts the "Slow" status, halving attack, movement and rolling speeds.
- Anthropomorphic Personification: Of Hisahide's Hirogumo teakettle.
- Ass Kicks You: Attack her abdomen too many times and she'll armor it up and start swinging it at you.
- Blade Below the Shoulder: Running parallel just underneath her arms' hands, Joro-Gumo has raptor-like limbs that she uses to slash at close proximity and crawl along the ground.
- Degraded Boss: Inverted. Subsequent encounters beyond the Joro-Gumo's original level will feature her wearing heavy armor on her legs, yet will still be just as fast as before.
- Leitmotif: One that is shared with Hino-Enma, Nue and Giant Toad.
- Male Gaze: Her boss introduction cutscene ends with the camera zooming into her ample chest.
- Mother of a Thousand Young: It's implied that the tsuchigumo infesting Shigisen Castle are her offspring.
- Tsuchigumo and Jorogumo: The Joro-Gumo has a female human head and torso atop the body of a Giant Spider.
Yuki-Onna
I haven't had a visitor for a long time. It's been boring. Come!
Voiced by: Rie Tanaka
Pronounced "YOU-key OH-na". Yokai women enveloped in a haze of icy cold air. Also treated as incarnations of snow. Yuki-onna is a well know presence in snowy regions; some legends holds that a woman who dies an unnatural death during a snowstorm will return as a yuki-onna. Her breath is so powerfully cold that it freezes on contact, and cases of one breath freezing an entire home to death are not unknown.
- Animal Motifs: Her Guardian Spirit is Usura-hicho, a flock of frozen butterflies; it's implied Lady Nō's return as a Yuki-Onna is due to her pain and sadness of losing her husband Oda Nobunaga, given the Usura-hicho are seen as a manifestation of those who perished from grief and sorrow.
- Nioh 2 reveals these were always her Guardian Spirit and came back with her when resurrected.
- Battle Couple: Is available as a Dual Boss alongside Nobunaga in New Game Plus.
- Blood Knight: This Yuki-Onna challenges William to a fight, after complaining about how bored she is from the time spent at Honnōji Temple. She have been waiting for someone strong enough to reach and defeat her to send her back to the afterlife to be with Nobunaga.
- Breath Weapon: She can exhale freezing mist that does significant stamina damage.
- Came Back Strong: Is actually Nobunaga's wife, Lady Nō, resurrected and empowered by Kelley's dark magic.
- Cute Ghost Girl: Her physical appearance renders her just as beautiful as many other human female character models in the game, especially with the implication Lady Nō burned to death with Nobunaga when Honnōji Temple went up in flames, yet Yuki-Onna is still a spirit with ice-based powers.
- Graceful Loser: Upon defeat, Yuki-Onna peacefully thanks William for setting her soul free to head into the afterlife to be with Nobunaga.
- Grapple Move: Has a powerful, fast and long reaching attack in which she summons a small ice knife before dashing toward William to stab him with.
- Happily Married: When she fights alongside her husband in a bonus mission it's clear they were deeply in love.
- An Ice Person: Given her Meaningful Name of "snow woman", Yuki-Onna can generate icicles as projectiles and a Shockwave Stomp.
- Lady of War: Not just powerful, but she's incredibly graceful and elegant.
- Leitmotif: Has one that is shared with Fake Tachibana Muneshige and Saika Magoichi.
- Lightning Bruiser: Graceful and swift, Yuki-Onna pairs her already fast melee strikes with ranged-based attacks via icicles and an unlockable Grapple Move that can reach players from half the length of the boss arena.
- Long Lost Sibling: Nioh 2 reveals that she is actually the sister of Hide, the player character.
- Mystical White Hair: Being a yuki-onna, her hair is pure white. The prequel, Nioh 2, reveals she always had this, but as a skunk stripe on the edge of her bangs.
- Naginatas Are Feminine: She creates a naginata made of ice, which she can occasionally toss as a ranged attack.
- Together in Death: With her husband, Nobunaga.
- Yuki-onna: A beautiful, ice-white woman dressed in traditional robes and possessing ice powers; she's later revealed to also be the ghost of a deceased mortal woman.
White Tiger Spoilers
Kill me to destroy them all!
Pronounced "BYAH-koh". The White Tiger is one of the four legendary beast-gods of the cardinal directions, said to be the protector of the West. It takes the form of a magnificent tiger covered in gleaming white fur. Traditionally worshipped alongside the Blue Dragon of the East, the Vermillion Bird of the South, and the Black Turtle of the North. After the shield around Mount Hiei was broken, it released the aratama fiends, which subsumed a yokai cat known as a Nekomata and transformed it into the White Tiger.
- Great White Feline: Subverted. Despite what it's name implies, it's really just a large white cat.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Nekomata took a direct hit from escaped aratama fiends for William and transforms into the White Tiger, begging to William to kill him.
- Leitmotif: Has a unique one that is only shared with another boss, Ishida Mitsunari.
- Magic Eye: Its right eye is an Amrita crystal that can be used to fire a beam of energy.
- Mega Neko: It's an elephant-sized winged nekomata.
- Physical God: One of the four East Asian beast-gods of the Cardinal Directions, protecting the West.
- Power Gives You Wings: The White Tiger sprouts a pair of black wings that it uses to glide across the boss arena.
- Tail Slap: It can coat the tips of its tail with miasmatic flames and smash players with them.
Ogress
Nobu... yasu...
The Ogress is a yokai taking the form of a woman who die filled with grudge and hate. Her ferocious expression and unkempt locks speak to her tormented sadness. If you look closely, you can see that her kimono is quite high quality, the mark of a noblewoman in life.
- Adaptational Sympathy: The game lore implies that her grief comes from the execution of her son Nobuyasu by her husband Ieyasu—suggesting that her son predeceased him. In reality, Senahime/Lady Tsukiyama was executed first by Ieyasu due to her perceived collaboration with the Takeda—not to mention her lingering ties to the Imagawa he usurped. Then, in order to ensure his son will not be further motivated to avenge her, Ieyasu then ordered Nobuyasu to commit seppuku.
- The Berserker: Fighting with sheer, monunmental rage, the Ogress might unleash a flurry of claw strikes when her Hit Points reach less than 50%.
- Breath Weapon: Her ranged attack is breathing fire in a sweeping arc.
- Came Back Strong: The Ogress' identity is Ieyasu's deceased wife, Senahime, resurrected by Kelley; her lingering grief is for her son Matsudaira Nobuyasu, who was put to death at Ieyasu's orders in order to appease Nobunaga.
- Femme Fatalons: Her fingernails are extremely long and is her main form of offense, using them to slice William into pieces.
- Green Thumb: Her tears cause supernatural red-spider lilies to grow around the boss arena. Touching one of them directly when the Ogress spawns the lilies and numerous Yokai Realms will appear from the lilies were.
- Leitmotif: Has a unique one that is only shared with another boss, Otani Yoshitsugu.
- Tears of Blood: Her tears are red in color and as soon as a single drop touches the ground, red-spider lillies blooms on the spot instantly.
- Tragic Monster: Given the spirit of Senahime is still incensed at her and her son's death by Ieyasu without nary a complaint, the Ogress is likely the most tragic of the resurrected souls to return. Even Okatsu, upon William defeating the Ogress, kneels and prays for her.
Giant Toad
So you broke their barrier to get through Iga. Impressive. But getting past me is another matter!
The Giant Toad is, as its name implies, a yokai in the form of an enormous toad. This one is even larger than a human being, capable of standing on two legs and even wielding a spear. Legends say that toads, which are long lived, are particularly capable of attaining consciousness and turning yokai, but there are other theories as well.
- Amphibian at Large: With a name like "Giant Toad", you know exactly what to expect.
- Amphibian Assault: A toad-shaped yokai with a love of combat.
- Blood Knight: The Giant Toad clearly enjoyed his spar with William. So much that he writes a letter to his son Hanzo to have William fight him again at "Yomotsu Hirasaka" which is basically the afterlife as a side-mission Duel Boss.
- The Bus Came Back: Like the Nue before it, one reappears as an Optional Boss in the sequel's Darkness in the Capital DLC with new moves and the ability to call forth the Dark Realm.
- Death from Above: Being a toad, he can jump to great height in the sky to both relocate and in an attempt to impale William with his spear with a Sword Plant.
- Distinguished Gentleman's Pipe: He smokes a clay pipe, occasionally swinging it as a secondary weapon for melee attacks if players get close enough. The smoke the Giant Toad exhales from the pipe can also create a Yokai Realm.
- Friendly Enemy: To William and Hanzo, even after the former defeats him and beyond when he requests William for a duel.
- Frog Ninja: More like "Toad Ninja".
- Graceful Loser: Took it rather well after being defeated by William, calling it a good way to pass the time.
- Leitmotif: One that is shared with Hino-Enma, Nue and Joro-Gumo.
- I Shall Taunt You: Since he's one of the few Yokai that's capable of speaking to mortals normally he will make use of that to taunt William and Hide throughout their fights should they step into one of his many traps.
- Multi-Ranged Master: His various bombs, kunai and jutsu are all thrown from a distance. Unlike most bosses, the best strategy for dealing with him is to actually spend most of the time being right next to him until he casts a jutsu to force you back.
- Old Master: Is Hanzo's father and master "Hanzo the Oni", the second Hattori Hanzo and son of the original, thus Meaningful Name is in effect when he's literally an Oni.
- Stock Ninja Weaponry: Frequently pairs his long-ranged attacks by using bombs and explosive kunai.
- Stuff Blowing Up: Will use explosive bombs and kunai with explosive fuse once his health is depleted enough.
- Swallowed Whole: One of his attacks has him attempt to do this to players; if successful, the Giant Toad will spit players back out after taking a chunk of their Hit Points.
Gasha-Dokuro
Pronounced "GAH-sha DOH-koo-row". A giant skeleton yokai summoned by Kelly. It represents the combined grudge and jury of the warriors who fell at Sekigahara, transformed into a terrifying skeleton. Its huge body emits horrible Ki. A single fearsome glance has the power to send humans scattering.
- Attack Its Weak Point: The head is the weakpoint, but getting to it is problematic given how huge it is. Good things that its limbs can be reached easily.
- Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: It's easily one of the largest Yokai in the game, possibly only being topped in size by Yamata-no-Orochi.
- Cognizant Limbs: Its hands and feets are weakpoints that must be destroyed to stagger it and allow Tenkai and Hanzo mount a Combination Attack to knock it off balance to let William have a clear shot at its head.
- Dem Bones: A giant, multi-armed skeleton formed from the anger and hatred of those who died on the field of the Battle of Sekigahara.
- Gashadokuro: He has the basic idea — a giant, killer skeleton — down right, though folklore never mentioned multiple arms and breathing fire.
- 11th-Hour Superpower: If William purify all 3 Amrita crystals surrounding the area before dropping in to fight it, purified Yokai Realms will be present in the boss area which will replenishes the Amrita Bar of Living Weapon. With proper timing and usage, William can easily tears through the massive health of Gasha-Dokuro in seconds.
- Leitmotif: Has one that is shared with Onryoki, Umi-Bozu and Onmoraki.
- Puzzle Boss: The Gasha-Dokuro spends the stage it's in in the background while you purify various giant Amrita crystals, firing corrupted mortars at you if it spots you. Challenging it straight-forward is extremely discouraged, if even possible.
- Red Sky, Take Warning: The clear sky turn a blood red when it is summoned, and stays that way until it is defeated.
Yamata-no-Orochi
I shall fuse my Uroboros with the Amrita to resurrect this country's most feared yokai: the serpent Yamata-no-Orochi!
Pronounced "YA-ma-ta no OH-row-chee". A giant serpent with eight heads and tails. According to myth, it first appeared in Izumo (modern-day Shimane prefecture). A powerful hero defeated it, but at some point thereafter it appeared in Lake Biwa. Its appearance is reminiscent of a dragon, and it is feared as a symbol of destruction.
- All Your Powers Combined: Once seven of its eight heads are slain, the last one will alter its appearance by combining the powers of the other seven, while applying the Damage-Increasing Debuff "Confusion", that slows your movement and regeneration speed of Ki, make you deal less damage and take more damage. And it also regenerates to full health.
- Anti-Frustration Features: Whereas other boss arenas, such as the Umi-Bozu, might have players fall off for an instant death, the arena with the Orochi prevents players from falling off the roof of the castle.
- Breath Weapon: Each of the Orochi's eight heads will use a variety of elemental breath attacks.
- Elemental Powers: Three of its heads lack an element and rely on raw damage and creating Yokai Realms but the other five heads have all the other elements.
- Final Boss: Of the main story, excluding the epilogue and Downloadable Content.
- Finishing Move: Take out its last head, and William will executes a unique finishing move to finish off the head and with it, the game. Excluding the epilogue and Downloadable Content of course.
- Increasingly Lethal Enemy: You starts off fighting one head with predictable attacks, then two heads together. Once another head is slain, the rest of the heads destroyed the only cover you got and leave you exposed to the remaining six heads with four Amrita Crystals as cover and a way to knock down any heads that smashes them to leave them exposed for a beating.
- Leitmotif: Has a unique theme exclusive to its boss fight.
- Orochi: Played with; it is, or at least is named after, the legendary eight-headed, eight-tailed dragon-god slain by the storm-god Susanoo.
- Scaled Up: This version of Orochi is the One-Winged Angel form of Edward Kelly and his Guardian Spirit Ouroboros, who fuses with the latter after absorbing a monumental amount of Amrita.
- Shout-Out: To Ōkami in particular, as the design of this Orochi has the eight serpent heads emerging around a giant stone castle, just like Okami's Orochi's body was tied to a giant stone shrine.
- Swallowed Whole: Orochi will send one of its head to briefly swallow players whole before spitting them back out.
- Wolfpack Boss: Players will eventually wind up having to fight multiple heads simultaneously.
Hundred Eyes Spoilers
After absorbing a huge amount of Amrita, John Dee transformed into this large yokai. Hundred of eyes cover its body, even the tentacles-like tips of its hair. It is an embodiment of wicked ambition, utterly devoid of humanity.
- Attack Drones: As its Hit Points depletes, the Hundred Eyes begins summoning several floating eyes, which move around and shoot Frickin' Laser Beams at players.
- Energy Weapon: Can shoots lasers from its tentacles that inflicts the Damage-Increasing Debuff, "Confusion" that slows your movement and regeneration speed of Ki, make you deal less damage and take more damage. The floating eyeballs that it summons have this as their only means of attack, potentially resulting in a Cycle of Hurting if William is caught in a barrage of lasers.
- Eyes Do Not Belong There: Not simply on its head, but throughout its entire body; even its tendril-like hairs have eyes at the tips.
- Humanoid Abomination: An Eldritch Abomination with a rough human shape, given it still stands on two legs.
- Leitmotif: Has a unique one shared with Derrick, Kelley and Maria.
- Mook Chivalry: Will sit down and patiently wait for William to deal with its summoned Attack Drones before resuming the fight. Subverted once its health reaches 50% and lower where it will summons the eyeballs and resume attacking, making the fight much harder and hectic.
- Prehensile Hair: Its hairs act as extra limbs and will often try to crush players under its weight.
- Post-Final Boss: The last boss fought in the story before the Downloadable Content.
- One-Winged Angel: The yokai form of John Dee after absorbing a large amount of Amrita in the boss area.
- Squishy Wizard: Has rather low defense for a boss fought after the Final Boss, but it makes up for it by having extremely powerful ranged attacks that can also inflicts "Confusion" and the ability to Heal Thyself when it summons its Attack Drones.
- Tactical Suicide Boss: The fight with the Hundred Eyes would be much harder if it didn't spawn its Attack Drones that, once destroyed, give out lots of Amrita, allowing players to charge the Amrita Gauge to activate their Living Weapon multiple times.
- Teleport Spam: Will teleport around the boss area to confuse William and attack with its powerful ranged attacks.
Onmoraki
Pronounced "On-moh-RAH-kee". Onmoraki are said to be demon birds born from the feelings of resentment and negative Ki emitted from corpses that failed to have funeral rites performed on them. According to ancient texts found across the land, the demon birds release shrill cries as they flap their wings, and their eyes are the only part of their large pitch-black bodies that emit any light, glimmering like flames. One corpse contains enough negative Ki to produce and onmoraki comparable to that of a large bird in size, however a large number of corpses can give birth to an onmoraki of extraordinary proportions.
- Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: Giant zombie bird, to be exact.
- Blow You Away: The Onmoraki makes frequent use of the Wind element, whether for its close-range spin attack or tornadoes.
- Body Horror: Human faces appear to be growing from various points on its body.
- Breath Weapon: The Onmoraki will take potshots throughout the stage and fight at you by spitting some kind of corruption that creates Yokai Realms, as well as spit poison at you.
- Enemy Summoner: It can summon various Yokai with its screeches.
- Leitmotif: Has one that is shared with Onryoki, Umi-Bozu and Gasha-dokuro.
- Shout-Out: Onmoraki's design and attacks are based on Pyropterix from Toukiden.
Enemies and Bosses — Nioh 2
In General
- The Blacksmith: In their background, Ippon-Datara is a yokai born from a blacksmith overwhelmed with negative energies, seen in their use of fire and oversized malleds/crudely-forged swords. It has some basis in myth, as "Datara" was an old bellow used by blacksmiths in the past.
- Blob Monster: Nuppeppo, introduced in Tengu's Disciple, are massive bloated masses of flesh with tumor-like growths on their eyes and nose and a giant, glowing Lamprey Mouth filled with Amrita teeth.
- Body of Bodies:
- Mitsume Yazura are huge, prowling monstrosites consisting in a "body" made of eight conjointed heads with only three eyes in all and four limbs sprouting from them to allow the monster to move.
- Itsumade is a monstrous crow-like abomination with wings and tail "feathers" made of skeletal corpses mashed up in a single mass.
- Cyclops: Ippon-Datara, a one-legged, one-eyed furred ogre with massive tusks, join the ranks.
- Dung Fu: One of the Tesso's literal dirty tactics in combat is to pick poop out from under his robe and fling it at you, causing the Stench status effect.
- Elite Four / Four Is Death: The final DLC introduce four special Oni: Ongyoki, Kinki, Fuki, and Suiki. These four also appear as mini-bosses in the final stage before confronting Otakemaru.
- Fartillery: Tesso can unleash a Stench-inducing fart as his special attack. You can copy it with Tesso's soul.
- Gameplay and Story Segregation: The Mitsume Yazura's Yokai Illustrations entry tells a legend of a hero who defeated one by burning down the forest around it, followed up by suggesting that the player would also do well to use fire against a Mitsume Yazura. In reality, it has no particular weakness against fire, and even uses fire-based attacks itself in certain missions.
- Giant Enemy Crab: The Bakegani introduced in Tengu's Disciple are enormous crabs with demonic human faces on their shells, based on the Heikegani of Japanese folklore. In a possible reference to the trope namer, you have to Attack Its Weakpoint to deal any damage.
- The Goomba: Gaki are wretched little ghouls who mostly replace Dwellers as the lowest-tier Yokai enemies.
- Killer Gorilla: Enki are white-furred Oni monkeys with spears. As dangerous as they sound.
- The Legions of Hell: The second expansion features both the Underworld Soldiers (Yominogun) and Hellish Hags (Shikome) as enemies, with the Lightning Gods of Yomi (Yakusa no Ikazuchi) as bosses. Essentially, you have Hide fighting the same hordes of Hell which went after Izanagi.
- Non-Mammal Mammaries: Nure Onna are massive snakes with the head, shoulders and breasts of a woman.
- Psycho Knife Nut: Yamanba are crazed Yokai hags that are Dual Wielding kitchen knives of prodigious size, often Laughing Mad as they do.
- Rat Folk: The new entry Tesso (Iron Rat) are humanoid rats in monk's robe with a tail made of Amrita shards.
- Snake People: The Nure Onna enemies are fast snake monsters with feminine heads, shoulders and chests.
- Tunnel King: Waira can move by digging through the ground to ambush you.
- Turns Red: All Yokai bosses in Nioh 2 have the ability to turn their arena into a Dark Realm after taking enough damage, buffing them considerably while debuffing you.
- Underground Monkey: The four unique Oni from the third DLC have unique looks but are based on already-existing monsters: Kinki is based on the One-Eyed Oni, Ongyoki is based on Koroka, Suiki is based on Yasha and Fuuki on the Dual Wielding Yoki.
- Unusable Enemy Equipment: Averted, you can obtain and use weapons from certain Youkai, such as Enki's spear, Ippondatara's hammer/Odachi and Yamanba's knives.
- Was Once a Man: Ippondatara are speculated to be the reincarnation of a dead blacksmith, filled with grudge.
- Wicked Witch: Yasha from the second DLC are tall female monsters who fight with witchcraft, including using straw dolls with the Ushi no koku Mairi sorcery to deal damage to the player. More feral examples include Yamamba and Hellish Hags (Shikome).
- Winged Humanoid: Ubume is a taloned female monster with massive wings emerging from her head.
Gozuki
Gozuki is a demon with the head of a bull. It can be seen in various pictue scrolls depicting images of hell, torturing the wicked alongside the horse-headed demon Mezuki. In Buddhist literature, it is more commonly seen under the name Abo. It is said to appear in our world even when its official underworld duties do not call for it, simply desiring to commit acts of evil.
- Bullfight Boss: As expected, he can sometimes lower his head and charge at Hide. Sometimes, he will end the charge with an AoE to suddenly strike the player if they try to attack him in the back.
- The Brute: Compared to Mezuki, the Gozuki mostly attacks with brutal physical attacks.
- Carry a Big Stick: Drags around a huge iron club made of spiked segments.
- Degraded Boss: Gozuki and Mezuki often appears later as minibosses.
- Dishing Out Dirt: If the player keeps the distance, Gozuki will use his club to lob boulders at him.
- Hopeless Boss Fight: Not strictly speaking, as a skilled player can defeat him at the start, especially with the help of a benevolent grave or some summoned friends. However, he is completely optional, nigh impossible for a first-time player (and even most veterans, with the low stats and limited equipment they have access to at the start), and is placed after a tutorial on sprinting with an in-story warning that he's extremely powerful.
- Optional Boss: It's one of the first enemies you run into in the Main Mission, but you can sneak behind him and proceed undisturbed if you're nimble and fast enough.
- Our Minotaurs Are Different: He's essentially a gigantic, hellish minotaur with a very big club.
- Wake-Up Call Boss: Just to show that this time the game is serious, Gozuki is the second enemy you encounter in story mode. Thankfully, he's optional.
Mezuki
A Mezuki is a demon with the head of a horse. It can be seen in various picture scrolls depicting images of hell, torturing the wicked alongside the bull-headed demon Gozuki. However, its appearances in legend have also placed it outside of its underworld domain. Most notably, it is one of the demons on parade in the famous Hyakki Yagyo ("Night Parade of a Hundred Demons") that is written about in the Uji Shui Monogatari of the early 13th century.
- Degraded Boss: Mezuki and Gozuki often appears in later missions as minibosses.
- Dual Boss: Averted in his first encounter, though later on he's sometimes fought alongside Gozuki.
- Gone Horribly Wrong: Implied, one of the last souls whose memories you can read just before the Sakura sanctuary is that of an old dying monk who's invoking divine retribution on the thieves ransacking the village and defiling the temple. It seems that Mezuki and Gozuki answered the call...
- Hellish Horse: Resembles a demonic, humanoid horse with rotten skin and fiery horns.
- Horned Humanoid: Has a pair of long horns on his head. And those aren't for show.
- Razor Wind: One of his enhanced attacks sends long-ranged blasts of air.
- Serrated Blade of Pain: Mezuki's weapon is a large saw, and is introduced trying to saw down a huge sakura tree before turning his attention to Hide. If he grabs Hide, he will hold them with one hand and slowly run the blade through their midsection.
- Soul Power: He can occasionally summon lost souls to act as homing projectiles.
- Temporary Bulk Change: When Mezuki enters the Dark Realm, his right arm, shoulder and pectoral swell to prodigious size, with several green rashes bulging between the muscles.
Enenra
Pronounced "EHN-ehn-rah." A yokai composed of smoke and darkness, born from the grudges of humans who met their untimely ends in the Dark Realm. It has no one true form, ever-changing as it drifts through the air. It is said to draw close to its victims by disguising itself amongst the steam and smoke of a bath or hearth in the home..
- Adaptational Badass: The Enenra from myth is more like a sinister but harmless phoenomenon in which lost souls can be seen in the smoke, passing on. Here it's a dangerous Oni-like entity made of smoke and cinders which can put up quite a fight.
- Adaptational Villainy: Again, the mythic Enenra is usually described as completely harmless. This one has calcified several people.
- Do Not Touch the Funnel Cloud: Inverted, when he transform into a ashen tornado it's vulnerable to a counter-strike.
- Elemental Embodiment: A youkai made of ashes and smoke.
- Glowing Eyes of Doom: Has red glowing eyes in an otherwise featureless face.
- Logical Weakness: He's vulnerable to Water. If you manage to trick the first Enenra into punching down the pillars, the buckets on them will douse him and deal damage.
- Playing with Fire: He can also attack with explosive embers.
- Recurring Boss: You fight several Eneras throughout the game in main and side missions.
- Super Smoke: Enenra is a living mass of ashes and smoke which can turn back into smoke to teleport, dash across the room as a tornado or send gusts of ashes in your way.
- Teleport Spam: Since he's not exactly agile in his physical body, Enenra can turn to ashes to teleport around the room in an attempt to sneak-attack Hide.
Yatsu-no-Kami
Pronounced "YAHT-soo-no-kah-mee." Yatsu-no-kami is a serpent god with a horn made of countless blades protruding from its forehead. These blades can be shot like arrows at the yokai'snn foes. Under the influence of the Dark Realm, its snakelike arms gain sentience and spring forth from its body to join the fight. Take heed when its white body turns black, for this is a sign that it is about to call forth the Dark Realm.
- Animalistic Abomination: A massive, monstrous snake-like Kami with smaller snakes for arms and grass growing over his back, as well as a massive spiked horn seemingly made of sword blades.
- Cognizant Limbs: It's possible to target its arms and for a good reason, since they fall off and fight alongside the Yatsu-no-Kami when it enters the Dark Realm. They regrow after a while.
- Color-Coded for Your Convenience: The Yatsu-no-Kami starts off white, but black spots will gradually appear on its body and grow in number and size until it's entirely black. Once it's entirely black, it's about to enter the Dark Realm and detatch its arms.
- The Corruption: The Yatsu-no-Kami was originally a benevolent guardian deity enshrined in the Viper's Sanctum, but was eventually corrupted by the power of amrita following Saito Yoshitatsu's usurpation of the Saito clan, turning it into an Animalistic Abomination.
- Flechette Storm: Can attack from a distance by sending a volley of poisonous spikes at you.
- Horn Attack: Its most defining feature is a long sword-like horn which it will use to attack.
- Planimal: Despite being a snake, it has patches of grass growing on its back.
- Poisonous Person: As expected from a gigantic snake, it can easily inflict poison damage.
- Tactical Suicide Boss: One of its moves consist in plunging both its arms in the ground to attack Hide from below... attack which makes it vulnerable for some time.
- Tail Slap: Its other method of attack.
Kamaitachi
A Kamaitachi is said to ride the wind, slashing at its victims with biting gales. Folktales about a yokai shrouded in wind are rife throughout Japan, with some regions using the word "Kamaitachi" to refer to whirlwinds themselves. In the Shikoku region, Kamaitachi is known as Nogama ("wild sickle" in Japanese) due to a belief that a sickle abandoned after clearing the grass for a grave will eventually turn into this yokai.
- Absurdly Sharp Blade: The Kamaitachi blades are sharp enough to slice through whole trees as if they were made of tissue paper.
- Adaptational Badass: The Kamaitachi in myth are usually mischievous weasel-like beasts who cut people and animals, but their wounds aren't severe. This Kamaitachi is enormous, quite fast and its sickle tail can chop down whole trees.
- Animalistic Abomination: A massive, feral-looking, mark-covered weasel with a huge scythe in lieu of a tail.
- Lightning Bruiser: For something that big with limbs so short, the Kamaitachi is quite fast, and can even jump on trees and cling to them in order to launch her next attack.
- Kamaitachi: It's even one of the four images!
- Razor Wind: As expected, it can either send waves of sharp wind with the paws or summon a whole whirlwind with the tail.
- Rolling Attack: Its most common attack, the Kamaitachi makes a vertical spinning dash at Hide.
- Self-Duplication: When in the Dark Realm, it can summon three phantom copies which rush you. A nod to the fact that Kamaitachi typically travel in groups of three.
- Sinister Scythe: The tail of the Kamaitachi is one, as well as the paws.
- Tail Slap: The main form of attack, since the tail is also a blade.
Tatarimokke
A Tatarimokke is formed when a large number of resentful spirits coalesce to form a giant owl. In the Tohoku region, locals use the word "tatarimokke" to refer to the spiteful curse of those who met grisly deaths. Folktales in a Tatarimokke's body, and the hooting calls of the yokai are actually the infant child's cries.
- Animalistic Abomination: A huge demonic owl with three all-too-human eyes born from the souls of dead children.
- By the Lights of Their Eyes: When he activates the Dark Realm and regains his sight, his three eyes can be easily seen in the dark when he's away from you.
- Casting a Shadow: Can summon forth the dark souls he's composed of and his Dark Realm plunges the entire area in darkness, safe from directly in front of the player.
- Exorcist Head: Being an owl, he can turn his head around to shoot lasers even if you manage to get behind him.
- Eye Beams: He can shoot a single sweeping laser from his third eye.
- Eye Scream: Unsurprisingly, his eyes are his weakspots. After a few attacks he will cover them for a while.
- Flechette Storm: He can also cast feathers as projectiles.
- Giant Flyer: An owl which towers over Hide but can still swiftly fly across the arena.
- Ominous Owl: A massive black owl Youkai with three eyes, composed of suffering souls... yes.
- The Power of Hate: When he takes Mumyo out of commission, you can hear the rancor-filled souls as they envelope the huntress.
- Powered by a Forsaken Child: Children souls are among those composing this fearsome beast.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: The Tatarimokke's eyes glow with a sinister red light.
- Third Eye: Has one in the middle of the forehead, and can shoot lasers from it.
Magara Naotaka
Retainer of the Asakura Family, transformed by Amrita into a gigantic ice-covered zombie, skilled with his Nodachi.
- Adaptational Badass: Historical Naotaka was a skilled nodachi user who died at Anegawa holding off the Oda-Tokugawa forces to cover the Asakura retreat. There, in his Amrita form he's strong enough to overwhelm Honda Tadakatsu.
- BFS: Wields a nodachi as his weapon of choice, just like his historical one.
- Body Horror: He's much bigger than a normal person, but has ghastly purple skin, looks partially rotten and there are ice spikes piercing his body.
- Dual Wielding: In Dark Realm, he can summon a phantom copy of his sword in his left arm and attack with two of them at once.
- I Am Not Left-Handed: He keeps his left arm folded inside his kimono, but pulls it out once he enters the Dark Realm.
- An Ice Person: Can attack by summoning ice spikes from the ground with his sword.
- Master Swordsman: An incredibly skilled Nodachi master who can attack with speed and precision.
- One-Handed Zweihänder: Despite having one arm and his weapon being longer than he's tall, he still does this. Even when he regrows his arm he barely changes his fighting style.
- One-Winged Angel: Variation, he apparently already underwent his transformation by the time you reach him.
- Shown Their Work: The historical Magara Naotaka did use a nodachi called "Tarotachi" as his weapon of choice.
- Weather Manipulation: He causes a blizzard to stall the Tokugawa army at Anegawa.
- You Shall Not Pass!: To keep Nagamasa safe he transforms himself into a monstrous zombie-like ogre and proceed to freeze Anegawa to deter the pursuing Tokugawa forces.
Gyuki
Gyuki is an enormous yokai with the legs of a spider and head of a bull. It is both savage and cruel, and is known to spit poison to incapacitate its human prey before devouring the those it has killed with relish. It is often connected to water in legends, with many eyewitness reporting seeing Gyuki by beaches, deep pools, or the bases of waterfalls. Many of these places are name after Gyuki in Western Japan.
- Achilles' Heel: The joints of his hind legs, right above the hooves, are vulnerable and if you hit there enough times Gyuki will fall down for a while, giving you a shot at stabbing his horns, the other vital spot.
- Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: Gyuki is much, much bigger than the other bosses you may have encountered before.
- Breath Weapon: Can attack with a stream of blueish energy.
- Death from Above: Upon entering the Dark Realm, Gyuki will use his wings to float up and then bodyslam Hide.
- Gameplay and Story Segregation: The Gyuki's Yokai Illustrations entry states that it is so toxic that even its blood is a deadly poison, and that care must be taken to not get splashed by or step in any pools of it while fighting the Gyuki. In actual gameplay, the Gyuki just bleeds the same harmless amrita blood as all other yokai, and the only danger from fighting it up close comes from the risk of getting stomped or crushed.
- King Mook: Downplayed, though he looks like a gargantuan and legged version of the Waira enemies.
- Mix-and-Match Critter: The Gyuki is traditionally depicted as a massive spider-like monster with claw-tipped legs and a demonic face with cow-like horns and ears. This Gyuki is based on said description but has four eyes, a much more bull-like head, a tail and four of his legs are places like a bovine's ones (despite looking like crooked spider limbs) and end in hooves.
- Power Gives You Wings: Entering the Dark Realm adds a pair of feathery light wings which Gyuki uses to float above Hide and attempt to crush him via bodyslam.
- Violation of Common Sense: When Gyuki is airborne, sticking close to his backside is actually a sound strategy, as there's a spot it cannot reach with his attack.
Kasha
Bad kitty!
A Kasha (literally "fire chariot") is a yokai that snatches corpses and spirits them away to hell. Its name originally referred to the mythical chariot believed to transport sinners to the underworld. It is believed that this folklore got fused with the ancient Japanese belief that a cat should never be allowed in the vicinity of a corpse, resulting in the conception of Kasha as a monstrous cat that drives a fiery chariot. Kasha is a servant of hell tasked with torturing the very souls it steals. In Japanese, there is a saying that one is in a fiery chariot, which means that one is suffering great financial difficulty. This saying originates from a belief in Kasha, with the struggle of poverty being likened to Kasha's Torture.
- Achilles' Heel: Oddly enough, she takes more damage if hit in the wheels.
- Burning Rubber: Low-tech variation which is weaponized: her wooden wheels leave fiery trails behind.
- Cat Girl: Normally the Kasha is described as some sort of cat monster. In this case is a Cute Monster Girl.
- Enemy Summoner: She can occasionally summon Gaki in combat to distract you.
- Incendiary Exponent: The wheels she rides on are engulfed in flames.
- Lightning Bruiser: Kasha is extremely fast and tend to move around the arena a lot.
- Ms. Fanservice: Contrasting the Hinoenma, Kasha, while feral-looking, is not as creepy and has rather large, almost-exposed breasts.
- Noblewoman's Laugh: She often lets out one as she darts across the arena.
- Playing with Fire: She employs fire in almost all of her attacks. When she enters the Dark Realm, the fire turns blue.
- Whip of Dominance: The Kasha boss can create whips of fire to attack you, which is an appropriate weapon for a yokai who's supposed to be in charge of torturing souls. Her smug smile and the way she laughs during the entire fight also suggest she has a sadistic streak.
Ryomen Sukuna
Ryomen Sukuna's unusual form is composed of two demons, red and blue, who are joined at their backs. It is said to have first materialized during the rule of Emperor Nintoku in Hida Province (modern-day Gifu prefecture), terrorizing and stealing from the populace using the weapon in its four hands. A man named Takefurukuma, who was famous for his heroism was dispatched to defeat Ryomen Sukuna and suceeded.
- Back from the Dead: Apparently, the "original" Ryomen Sukuna was slain by a hero long ago.
- Dual Wielding: The Fire side wields a sword in one hand and an axe in the other. If you defeat it you may obtain his weapons as an Oodachi and Axe, respectively.
- Elemental Powers: The Red side attacks with fire, while the blue side uses Ice.
- Light Is Not Good: A monster resembling a buddhist icon which is actually a dangerous and powerful boss.
- Multi-Armed and Dangerous: The Ryomen Sukuna the legends speak of was a giant monster with two heads and eight limbs, and indeed the monster has four specular arms, two wielding melee weapons (a giant sword and an axe) and two wielding a bow and arrows.
- Was Once a Man: The monster form of Saito Toshimitsu.
Daidara Bocchi
Daidara Bocchi is a giant that features in folktales all over Japan. Many link him to the origins of various features of the Japanese terrain- some say that he created mountains, while others claim that his massive footprints late became lakes. It is believed that he was either one of the gods that created Japan or one these gods' followers..
- Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: Possibly the largest boss in both games.
- Colossus Climb: Part of the boss battle involves running on the monsters's arms to reach the head.
- Eye Scream: Part of the battle involves running up Daidara Bocchi's arms and stabbing the Amrita clusters forming the colossus' eyes.
- Elemental Embodiment: It's seemingly made of roots, plants and rocks.
- Expy: Remarkably similar to the Gashadokuro from the previous game, both in design and in context.
- Eye Beams: His main form of attack, even before the boss battle starts.
- Fingore: In order to make it vulnerable it's required that you chop off his fingers.
Shuten Doji
Shuten Doji is considered one of Japan's three greatest yokai, alongside Tamamo-no-Mae and Otakemaru. These three yokai are given particular recognition for being only three yokai whose remains are supposedly presereved in Byodo-in, Uji. A long time ago, Shuten Doji lived in Mount Oe, Tanba Province, and would occasionally attack the capital accompanied by his demon underlings. Under orders from the emperor, Minamoto no Yorimitsu and his four retainers, known as the Shitenno, were sent to vanquish him. They suceeded in weakening him with poisonous sake granted to them by the gods, allowed them to kill him. This led to Yorimitsu's sword to thereafter be called Dojikiri or the "Doji Cutter.
- Achilles' Heel: As a nod to his backstory in which he was weakened with poisonous sake, Poison is very effective against him.
- The Alcoholic: To a T, not only he starts by taking a drink from his gourd and asking you for more alcohol, but he will occasionally become so drunk he'll leave himself open to attacks.
- Blood Knight: When he realizes that Hide isn't carrying any more saké with him, he asks to at least have a decent battle instead.
- Booze Flamethrower: Two of his attacks involve drinking saké and spit out fire.
- Carry a Big Stick: His weapon is a huge metal club covered in spikes. Interestingly enough, the shaft of his club is actually a shakujo, a typical monk's staff tipped with metal rings, as a nod to the idea that Shuten Doji used to be a human monk.
- Flaming Hair: Has spiky golden hair he can set on fire and use to attack.
- The Hedonist: If his yokai weapon's dialogue is anything to go by, Shuten Doji lives for three things: Food, alcohol, and violence. And not in any particular order.
- Hunk: He is noticeably much more handsome than any of his kin. One of his possible pasts has him as an extremely beautiful boy having been cursed into becoming a demon by a vengeful lover.
- MacGuffin Guardian: Hide and Mumyo must overcome him to learn how to reforge the Sohayamaru.
- Mighty Glacier: Shuten Doji's attacks are slow, but they have a long reach and hurt a lot if they actually connect. Averted when you encounter him in the past, where he's much faster.
- Monster Lord: Shuten Doji isn't just an oni. He's the king of all oni and one of the three strongest Yokai in all Japan.
- Multiple-Choice Past: Nobody is really sure where he actually came from. Theories range from him having originally been a human monk who fell to corruption to being the Semi-Divine child of Yamata no Orochi.
- Oni: The King of the Oni race, Shuten Doji is much stronger and more handsome than the standard Oni, resembling a massive man with long hair and two massive glowing horns.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: Yorimitsu sealed him in Byodo-In in the late 10th century, where he remained for centuries until Tokichiro came along and smashed open the can.
- Worf Had the Flu: According to the provided text, he's one of the Three Great Yokai of Japan alongside Tamamo-no-Mae and the Big Bad Otakemaru, said to have been so powerful that the three of them became 'Kishin', literally meaning 'Demon Gods'. He's possibly so drunk and newly unsealed that he's not as powerful as the other two would otherwise be.
- Subverted in the 2nd DLC, where a side mission allows you to fight Shuten Doji at the height of his power, showing that he is every bit as strong as his fellow Kishin when not newly awakened from half a millennium of being sealed and drunk out of his mind; all his animations are sped up, turning him from the aforementioned Mighty Glacier to a full-on Lightning Bruiser as well as adding new moves and variations of his previous ones. Worth noting that the game automatically gives you a very powerful AI companion for the battle and he's still one of the toughest fights in the game.
Lady Osakabe
Lady Osakabe is a yokai that has possessed an entire castle, lending the building her life force. Records of this yokai exist in a collection of ghost stories published in the Edo Period. In this anthology, the yokai possessed Himeji Castle, causing all sorts of strange incidents before finally making the castle owner ill. When a monk was summoned to exorcize the yokai, it materialised in front of him in the form of a mysterious woman, ordering him to leave. Angered by the monk's refusal, the yokai transformed into a giant monstrosity and killed him.
- Adaptational Badass: The folkloristic Lady Osakabe was merely a powerful ghost of a dead noblewoman with an entourage of cursed Youkai infesting a castle. This time, it's literally part of the castle itself.
- Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: Being the size of an actual castle makes her a contendant for the title of "Largest Boss" in both games.
- Expy: The boss fight takes place on a roof, fighting off the long-necked appendages of the boss, in a Call-Back to Orochi's bossfight in the previous game.
- Eye on a Stalk: Two of them, of gigantic size, plus a hairy mouth on a stalk.
- Living Structure Monster: She's an entire castle.
Uminyudo
Uminyudo is a grotesquely gigantic yokai from the depths of the ocean. Its name means "sea priest" in Japanese, a reference to the rounded, Buddhist priest-like head that emerges from beneath the waves. Uminyudo's body is composed of highly viscous watery substance, and a direct strike from is composed of a highly viscous watery substance, and a direct strike from it is enough to smash a small ship to smithereens. The remains of these unfortunate vessels still swirl within the watery mass of Uminyudo's body, allowing it to fire them like bullets at its enemies. One should anticipate this danger when fighting Uminyudo from afar..
- Achilles' Heel: The glowing yellow spots on the body: once enough damage has been dealt, he will change into a smaller form which is easier to fight.
- Beast with a Human Face: Despite being composed of watery interwined tentacles, the Uminyudo has the body structure and face of a man.
- Blob Monster: As mentioned, it's vaguely humanoid body is mostly made of water, as if it was a giant jellyfish abomination.
- Combat Tentacles: Its arms are two tentacles made of intercoiled appendages and tipped with huge curved blades he can use to attack you from afar.
- Flunky Boss: He will summon Lesser Umibozu and Bakegani during the fight.
- Tentacled Terror: A demonic creature from the depths of the ocean resembling a grotesque monk with rubbery tentacles for arms.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: To the Umi-Bozu, sharing a similar appearance and even the same attacks. Subverted with its second phase, where it takes on a more unique form and moveset.
- Was Once a Man: The Youkai form of the late Taira-no-Kiyomori, driven by vengeance.
Tsuchigumo
A monstrous humanoid spider boss fought in the second DLC, summoned by Doman at Rashomon Gate.
- Creepy Long Arms: His actual humanoid arms are overly long and present multiple joints.
- Giant Spider: Unlike Jorogumo and the previous game's Kumo enemies, the Tsuchigumo is much more humanoid-looking.
- Lightning Bruiser: Spends most of the combat taking advantage of its great speed and manovrability, leaping from one wall of the arena to the other and attacking in midjump.
- Serial Numbers Filed Off: In form, Tsuchigumo is nearly identical to Ninja Gaiden II (2008)'s Warm-Up Boss, Shadow Ninja Rasetsu. It even shares a couple of his moves. There's even an achievement for killing him while wearing a piece of equipment with the Dragon Ninja bonus.
- Skull for a Head: Half of the Tsuchigumo's actual head is a skull with four menacing red eyes, with spider chelicerae and pedipalps instead of his lower jaw.
- Spider People: Resemble a montrous, long-limbed humanoid whose head is an equal mix of spider's and human, with four giant spider legs emerging from its back.
- Spider Limbs: In addition to his arms and legs, Tsuchigumo has four giant spiked legs with sharp, pick-like tips.
- Spikes of Villainy: The spider legs have spikes all over them.
- Tsuchigumo and Jorogumo: Tsuchigumo takes a more humanoid form, possibly a nod to the original meaning of the word as a slur for bandits and misfits.
- Was Once a Man: Implied by its vaguely humanoid posture and skull.
- Wrestler in All of Us: One of his attacks has him grabbing the protagonist with all his limbs before leaping backwards for a deadly supplex.
Lightning Gods of Yomi
An incarnation of eight vengeful gods of lightning which were born from the primordial goddess Izanami-no-Kami in the underworld, after she died giving birth to Kagutsuchi, the god of fire. When her husband Izanagi came to the underworld to rescue her, she begged him not to look at her until they were free, but he could not resist the temptation, and when he saw that she had become a rotted corpse, he fled in terror and abandoned her to the depths of Yomi forever.
The final summon of Ashiya Douman after his defeat, The Lightning Gods of Yomi take the form of a single rotted body with multiple heads and limbs, possibly the body of Izanami herself. They control the battlefield with fast movement and wide area-of-effect attacks, and can instantly inflict the Shocked status ailment on the player, slowing all movement and making it even more difficult to escape their attacks.
- Adaptational Wimp: In mythology, they were so scary and powerful that not even Izanagi himself was forced to flee from them and resort to trickery to slow them down. Here they can be fought and beaten, possibly because they manifested through the body of a mortal, Ashiya Doman.
- Attack Its Weak Point: The masks are the boss's weak points. Destroying a mask will deal major damage to the boss and cause it to stagger, giving Hide an opening for more attacks.
- Body of Bodies: Variation, several horned masks and grasping ethereal hands emerge from its misty humanoid body.
- Crippling Overspecialization: All of their attacks are Lightning based. Lightning Stop Talismans and other means of boosting Lightning and Shock Resistance will trivialize the fight.
- Fan Disservice: The Lighting God's main body is a naked, malformed, long dead woman whose corpse is clearly being strained and ripped apart by the heads/spirits occupying it. Also, it has a bunch of mouths and teeth where it shouldn't.
- Humanoid Abomination: While it does have a vaguely humanoid form, the body is also an ethereal, intricated mass of horned masks and limbs with a yellow glow and a torii emerging from its back.
- Light Is Not Good: As with their mother, they are explicitly kami, not yokai, but they are fueled by hatred and vengeance all the same. It is said that after failing to catch Izanagi, they lie in wait at the entrance to Yomi, where they visciously attack any and all intruders.
- Mask Power: Judging from the design, the pale corpse is actually Izanami's, while the eight Lightning Gods manifest as glowing yellow masks on various parts of her bodies corresponding to the eigth places they spawned from in myth.
- My Death Is Only The Beginning: Spawns from Doman's body after his death.
- One-Winged Angel: Technically they are this to Izanami herself, who went from a relatively benign creation goddess to a vengeful goddess of death after being betrayed by her husband, but in-game they are always summoned after defeating Douman, both during the story and in the post-story rematch.
- Shock and Awe: As the name implies, the Lightning Gods of Yomi use lightning for all their attacks.
- Worf Had the Flu: As noted above, they aren't able to fight at anywhere near their full power due to having been summoned into Doman's human body.
Tate Eboshi
Tate Eboshi, the yokai that haunts Suzuka Pass, was once a bandit. She was born to an unmarried mother, who eventually died in an epidemic. Orphaned and scorned by the other villagers, she fled into into the wild and became a common thief. It was in this state that Otakemaru found her. He used the power of the Spirit Stones to transform her into a yokai, becoming her only friend.
- Animal Motifs: Her long unkept hair, elongated headdress, muscular legs and hoof-like geta bring a horse to mind, enforced by the horse skull she carries tethered to the end of her scythe.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: She's blindly loyal to Otakemaru because he took her up when she was wandering in the mountains, alone and rejected. Upon her defeat, her soul offers her service to you if you find her worthy.
- Butter Face: Tate Eboshi has a very attractive design, save for her head. Which comes with a nightmaish face, a huge Amrita horn and a crooked mouth full of jagged teeth.
- Cold-Blooded Torture: She's in the middle of torturing a group of Mujina tied to crosses for the location of more spirit stones during her introduction.
- Decomposite Character: In legend, Tate Eboshi is another name for Suzuka Gozen. Here, they're two different people.
- Leg Focus: As seen in the image, Tate Eboshi has very muscular and defined legs. This actually ties into gameplay as she's both very fast and utilizes a lot of jumping moves in combat.
- Maniac Tongue: Has an Overly-Long Tongue lolling out of her grinning mouth.
- Sinister Scythe: Wields a massive scythe with a purplish spiked blade she swings around.
- Slasher Smile: Her perpetual expression, baring a set of pitch black laquered teeth.
- Tragic Monster: Was abandoned by her mother for being born out of the wedlock and had to become a bandit to survive.
- Undying Loyalty: To Otakemaru, who took care of her and turned her into a Youkai.
Nightmare Bringer Spoilers
The Nightmare Bringer was born when Otakemaru fused with his guardian spirit Baku, hoping that it will help him realize his dream of eradicating humanity at last. Using his power to corrupt peaceful yokai, Otakemaru transformed Baku into an aratama. The resentment that lingered over the war-torn land fueled Baku's strength, lending it unimaginable power. It was this almighty form that Otakemaru ultimately merged with, leading to the birth of one of the most horrifying demons to ever have existed on this plane.
The Nightmare Bringer is thoroughly governed by its feelings of loathing, amplified a hundredfold by all the resentment observed into its body. As such, it rampages around the battlefield at the mercy of its destructive impulses. While there is no need to worry about sneak attacks coming from the rear when doing battle with it, its sheer destructive force is not to be taken lightly. Its entire body so brims with strength that it itself is a lethal weapon, and a mere scratch from this monstrosity is deadly enough to kill a regular human being.
- Belly Mouth: He has a large mouth full of huge sharp teeth situated between his humanoid upper body and animal-like lower body.
- BFS: All three of Otakemaru's already large swords grow to ludicrous size when he assumes this form. Each of them is longer than his entire body.
- Fusion Dance: The result of Otakemaru forcibly merging with his Guardian Spirit Baku.
- One-Handed Zweihänder: Even with his swords having grown to massive sizes as stated above, he still wields them with one hand as if they weigh nothing.
- One-Winged Angel: Otakemaru's final and most powerful form.
- Our Centaurs Are Different: Upon fusing with his guardian spirit, he gains a centaur-esque lower body reminiscent of a jungle cat in place of his original bipedal one.
- Person of Mass Destruction: He was arguably already one, but as the Nightmare Bringer he's compared to a living disaster capable of destroying every living thing in Japan.
- Power Dyes Your Hair: Or maybe removes the dye in this case. Otakemaru's Mystical White Hair turned black upon becoming an aratama, but it goes back to its original color in this form.
- Power Makes Your Hair Grow: Otakemaru already had long Super Saiyan-like hair in his aratama form, but once he becomes the Nightmare Bringer it grows to Super Saiyan 3 levels.
- The Power of Hate: As mentioned in the description, sheer hatred plays a big role in fueling his terrifying aura.
- True Final Boss: The last form of the original Otakemaru and the final enemy of the Nioh series.
- Walking Wasteland: According to the description, its overflowing energy is lethal to all surroundings.
- World's Strongest Man: The most powerful Yokai to ever exist, and fittingly the final boss of Nioh 2's final DLC.
