HITOTSUME NYUDO

Lore

Hitotsume Nyudo is regarded as one of the most dangerous yokai. He looks like an enormous Buddhist monk, but where a normal face should be there is only a single, huge eye centered in his forehead. Some stories give him the formal name Hitotsume Dainyudo, “the Great One-Eyed Monk.”

Nyudo’s first hallmark is his size. At first he shows up as a man of average height, then in an instant shoots up to ten feet or more. His second trick is the way he blends into heavy mist; the fog lets him materialize out of nowhere, catching people off guard or freezing them in place with terror.

Legend ties Hitotsume Nyudo to Enryaku-ji Temple on Mt. Hiei and its abbot Ryogen. Ryogen was famed for ruthless discipline, expelling lazy novices and stamping out corruption. After his death, his fierce spirit found no peace and took on this demonic form, still patrolling the mountains and punishing those who stray from the strict path of a monk.