You've needed a peaceful vacation for a while. The last two times you tried to go on vacation,
things didn't quite go according to plan. First you thought going to a nice monastery
out in eastern europe with your girlfriend would be a fun, cultural experience, and instead
you ended up having to fight Valak the demon nun for your very soul. Then after getting a new girlfriend- because
you had to yeet the old one out a window in your fight with Valak- you decided to play
it safe and go camping in the woods right here in the good ole' US of A. That turned
out to be a mistake too when suddenly you were attacked by the Blair Witch and once
more had to... well, throw your girlfriend off a cliff because she was trying to disembowel
you after getting possessed. Then you sorta set the entire forest on fire
and well, no use crying over spilled milk. Ok, you're going east this time for a vacation
and getting as far away as possible from anything demonic or evil as you possibly can. You briefly decide to hop a flight to South
Korea to meet all of the awesome South Korean Infographics fans- here's looking at you Hyeontae-
but get a budget flight to Tokyo instead. Well, nothing supernatural or evil has EVER
happened in the east you decide, and take off for a few days of rest and relaxation Upon arriving you check in to a chic little
place you found on AirBnB and settle in for a few days of rest and relaxation with absolutely
zero demons or evil spirits. Because Japan makes the best, most insane
game shows in the world, you plop yourself down on the couch and settle in to watch a
crazy game show- but suddenly a black cat hops up onto the coffee table in front of
you. Weird you think, the listing didn't say anything
about a cat in the apartment, and as you go to pet the cat it hisses at you and suddenly
disappears! That's when you hear it- a low, gurgling,
croaking moan of sorts, and the thump of something coming down the stairs... You turn around in horror, frozen in place
as you see a pale figure with long, black hair crawling down the stairs, upside down
like a freakish, horrifying human spider. The hair parts just slightly and you can see
the face, and a bolt of ice-cold lightning strikes you- it's her, the girlfriend you
yeeted out a window because she got possessed by Valak the demon nun! And now she's back for revenge, returned from
the dead as a Japanese vengeful spirit, hellbent on making you pay. So you thought you'd head off to Japan for
a nice, relaxing vacation after fighting off Valak and the Blair Witch and instead ended
up resurrecting your dead girlfriend as a Japanese Onryō who's now looking for revenge? That's why you should research local culture
before planning international trips, but forget that, how are you going to defeat this Onryō?! Every culture has its vengeful spirits, human
beings who were wronged in life and now spend the afterlife unable to find peace. In western culture many times the vengeful
spirit can be calmed and encouraged to move on by simply righting the wrong done to it-
finding the bones of a murdered victim and giving them a proper burial, or perhaps bringing
the killer to justice, can often be enough to dispel a western ghost. Not in eastern culture, because in Asian countries
they take the concept of a ghost and turn it up to 11. Asian countries don't have none of that sissy
Hamlet's father's ghost coming to guilt trip you about the things you did or didn't do-
no, Asian ghosts will tear your head clean off your shoulders, and refuse to stop haunting
you until you make them an honorary emperor. Forget Casper the friendly ghost, you're up
against a Japanese Onryō who's not going to waste much time trying to drive you insane
before horrifically murdering you. No one knows exactly when belief in Onryō
began, but the belief is traced back to at least the 8th century. Historically, these ghosts have been the victims
of a malicious wrong that went unpunished in life, and manifest in our world in order
to torment and kill those who did them wrong. While a western ghost will typically focus
its rage on just the person who wronged it, Onryō operate on a more 'spray and pray'
mentality similar to a machine gunning mobster, and generally kill literally anyone who happens
to be in their general vicinity. Innocent, or not. Sometimes though the curse that creates a
Onryō can be so powerful, that they can be physically bound to a place, and remain long
after they have claimed their revenge. Even more terrifyingly, an Onryō 's victim
can come back themselves as an Onryō, forced to torment and kill anyone who trespasses
on the cursed property. Much like a western ghost though, Onryō can
be exorcised by priests- whether Christian, Buddhist, or from any of the number of other
religions found in the region. True faith is all that's required to successfully
exorcise any evil spirit, though the exorcist better beware that they don't fall victim
to the Onryō themselves. Unlike any other type of ghost- even a poltergeist-
Onryō are extremely violent and dangerous. Famous Onryō include the tale of a samurai
who vowed to his dying wife that he'd never remarry. Shortly after her death though he meets a
young woman and decides to marry anyways, only for the dead wife's ghost to return from
the grave and rip the young bride's head clean off her shoulders. Like we said, ghosts are way more intense
in the east. Another famous Onryō was the brother of Japan's
Emperor Kanmu, who may have false accused his brother of plotting to remove him from
the throne. As punishment the brother was exiled and forced
to die from starvation after fasting. Out of fear for the Onryō's revenge, the
emperor ordered the capital be moved twice in order to avoid the spirit's wrath. Why move an entire capital to avoid a spirit? Well, that's because unlike other ghosts,
Onryō can basically Thanos-snap entire natural disasters into existence. We've been trying to tell you for a while
now, eastern ghosts are like ghosts on steroids- oh sure the Banshee of Irish mythology can
kill you if you hear her wail, but a Japanese Onryō will straight up level an entire city
if it's pissed off enough. Earthquakes, floods, fires, drought, famine,
and even pestilence have all been attributed to Onryō in the past. So what's a Onryō bring to the table in a
one-on-one fight? Well, other than leveling the building you're
standing in with an earthquake, an Onryō is super naturally fast. How fast? Well, imagine that a bunch of steroids started
themselves taking steroids, and then Usain bolt took those steroids which were juiced
up on steroids. The Onryō is faster. So yeah, running is basically not an option. As if being fast wasn't enough, Onryō are
also supernaturally strong, perfectly capable of snapping limbs like twigs or our personal
favorite, using their creepy, long black hair to strangle or hang people to death. Oh, and they're fond of ripping people's jaws
off. Other Onryō powers are pretty standard evil
spirit stuff: they can teleport at will, though seemingly only within a certain radius of
their victim. They can also shapeshift between their humanoid
shape which typically resembles what they looked like in life, albeit much, much paler
and with long black hair, and a shadow shape where they billow forth sort of like an ink
cloud. They can also psychologically torment their
victims by projecting visions into their head, or simply messing with their environment by
creating horrifying illusions. Alright, so you're up against an Onryō which
is the vengeful spirit of your dead girlfriend. How are you going to win this one on one matchup
to the death? Well, first make sure that Valak isn't anywhere
around, because being haunted by the ghost of a girlfriend that Valak himself had formerly
possessed to try and kill you just doesn't really seem like a coincidence. After getting the all clear on Valak, it's
time to focus on your Onryō- only this time don't think that positive thoughts, cute puppies,
and lazy adorable sloths are going to save you, because that happy-feel-good crap doesn't
work on Asian ghosts. First thing you gotta do is protect yourself
from that dreaded hair attack that Onryō are so famous for using. Typically they will use their supernaturally
long strands of hair to choke, strangle, or outright hang a victim, but you're ready with
a high-powered professional landscaping weedwhacker. Featuring several horsepower, this gas-fed
weed-obliterating machine will make short work of any murderous hair attacks, and leave
the Onryō with a fresh haircut to boot. Don't revel in your victory just yet though,
because Onryō are fully capable of regenerating, although it does take a bit of time. All you've really done is buy yourself some
breathing room, which you're going to use to run to your nearest Buddhist temple and
start getting zen real quick. In Japanese folklore, the Onryō that ripped
off the head of the cheating Samurai's young bride was itself defeated by a guard who struck
it with his katana while reciting a Buddhist prayer. Here's the problem: you don't know any Buddhist
prayers, and you're not going to learn one fast enough to save your life, so your best
bet is to beg for an exorcism from the attending monks. Unlike Christian priests, religious figures
in the east are much more willing to perform exorcism rituals. Asian cultures tend to be deeply steeped in
beliefs in the afterlife, spirits- both good and bad- and supernatural events. Western, Christian culture on the other hand
is far less accepting of the supernatural, which is kind of weird when you consider that
part of the Christian trinity is literally called the holy ghost. Make a significant contribution at your local
Buddhist monastery in order to garner the services of an Exorcist and prepare for the
final battle. If your monk is unable to exorcise the spirit
though, or perhaps decides that he doesn't want his own head ripped off, well, it's time
to take some drastic measures. Remember how we said that sometimes a Onryō
can be tied to a location? Well, much like in your fight against the
Blair Witch, if there's no location to haunt, then there should be no ghost... Those of you who are regular fans of You Versus
already know where this is going, and yes, it's time to once more set everything on fire
and burn it to the ground. Listen, we know it seems rather extreme, but
did you miss the part where Onryō can rip people's freaking heads clean off? We're not messing around here, it's time to
make like a failing New Jersey business and collect the insurance money by torching everything
in sight. You can't leave anything behind, and you'll
probably get a terrible rating and review by your AirBnB host, but hey, your head's
staying firmly on your shoulders. Of course, there's always the possibility
that your Onryō isn't tied to a location at all, and instead is tied to you. In that case, well, it's been nice knowing
you, and hey, maybe when she murders you don't come back and haunt us in return- we honestly
did our best here. How would you defeat a vengeful Onryō?! Let us know in the comments! And as always if you enjoyed this video don't
forget to Like, share, and Subscribe for more great content- and now go watch this spooky-scary
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