WANYUDO

Lore

A fearsome figure of old, Wanyudo (“Wheel Monk”) is deeply rooted in ancient Buddhist notions of retributive justice. He appears as a blazing, oversized wheel of a cart, its center bearing a twisted human face—often likened to a stern monk or a sinner condemned to an eternal inferno.

Many accounts point to people who committed horrific crimes in life. In one tradition, this yokai was once a pitiless daimyo who rode a massive chariot, commanding his servants to trample peasants beneath its wheels. After his people rebelled and dragged him to a brutal death, his spirit found no rest.

The gods transformed him into a fiery wheel of vengeance, destined to eternally thunder along roads, terrorizing the innocent just as he once did. He is tasked with punishing those who break moral laws, dragging their souls toward the underworld.