Shuten-dōji
The Myth
Shuten-dōji is the most infamous oni demons from Japanese mythology. He was said to be a monstrous, towering, human-like figure with crimson or dark skin, horns, and wild hair, exuding power and terror. A lover of excess, Shuten-dōji’s name translates to “Little Drunken Boy,” a nod to his insatiable thirst for sake, which he consumed in lavish quantities alongside human flesh. His lair was on Mount Ōe (or Mount Ibuki, depending on the version), where he ruled over a band of marauding oni, kidnapping noble women from Kyoto to serve as his prisoners and ultimately his victims.
The most famous myth surrounding Shuten-dōji recounts his downfall at the hands of Minamoto no Raikō and his warriors, who infiltrated the oni’s stronghold disguised as monks. Offering enchanted sake laced with a powerful sleeping potion, they subdued the demon and beheaded him, though even decapitated, his severed head attempted to bite Raikō. This tale cements Shuten-dōji as both a fearsome adversary and a symbol of unchecked indulgence and destruction. His connection to sake and revelry, combined with his terrifying presence and control of oni embodies the balance between chaotic power and tragic excess.
Early life
Shuten-dōji is the son of the ferocious Yamata-no-Orochi, who is personified in legend as a great dragon. His mother was the daughter of a wealthy merchant in Toyoma, a coastal prefecture on the Sea of Japan known for its harsh, windy winters.
He was a difficult child to say the least. Meltdowns, screaming, tantrums and violence. He would thrash on the ground when he didn’t get his way and hurt other children who wronged him. By the time he was five, his own mother declared he was a demon and abandoned him.
By this time, his father had been slain by the god, Susanoo, younger brother to the Sun Goddess Ameratsu. Susanoo had been informed by a farmer than their daughters were being taken by Yamata-no-Orochi, and Susanoo promised to avenge them. He tricked Yamata-no-Orochi and killed him in his sleep. From the treasure, he plundered a divine weapon, the Sword of the Gathering Clouds of Heaven that he returned as offering to Ameratsu, who kept the sword from then on. Eventually, it became one of the three Imperial Regalia of Japan.
With his mother’s abandonment and father’s demise, by the time Shuten-dōji was six, he was expelled by the people of Toyoma and taken to a Buddhist temple at Mt. Heiti in Kyoto to be raised by monks. He became increasingly anti-social, slacking off from his studies and getting into fights yet he was the strongest and most intelligent of the acolytes, and his resentment of the people around him grew. Despite their vows, the monks were forbidden from consuming alcohol, but at fourteen, Shuten-dōji fell into drinking. He could out-drink anyone and everyone who was willing to sit down and drink against him.
When he was fifteen, he attended a festival completely drunk. He donned a demon mask, hid in the shadows and jumped out at his fellow monks, attempting to frighten them with his dark pranks. When one died of a heart attack, he was scolded and reprimanded by his masters. Shuten-dōji had enough. He ran away from the temple, fleeing higher into the mountains where he could isolate himself from weak and hypocritical humans. He lived outside Kyoto for many years as a bandit, stealing what he needed to survive. Other outcast boys joined him, and by the time he came into his power to channel, he had amassed a loyal gang of followers.
Shuten-dōji grew in power and knowledge. He mastered strange, dark magic, and taught it to his thugs. One of his earliest and most loyal followers was a boy named Ibaraki-dōji, who would become infamous in his own right and later became his chief servant. Over time, the gang prowled the highways, terrorizing the people of Kyoto during drunken rages. They scoured the mountains, capturing oni alive and bringing them back to his lair for unknown purposes. His violence and ferocity grew to the point where he would kidnap noble virgin girls of Kyoto, rape then kill each, drink their blood and eat their organs raw.
Eventually, they settled in the remains of a dark castle on Mount Ōe, where he plotted to conquer the capital and rule as emperor. Now with his army of oni at his back, strangely beholden to his will, dark followers, and fearsome powers, the Emperor declared that Shuten-dōji had to be stopped. Minamoto no Yorimitsu, leading a group of heroic warriors, assaulted the dark castle. Prior to the assault, Minamoto visited Hachiman, the god of war, who armed each warrior with enchanted swords named Bloodsucker, Stone-cutter, Demon Slasher, and the most famous, Dōjigiri, known as one of the Five Best Swords Under Heaven.
They gained entrance by impersonating ascetics dedicated to En no Gyōja, a god previously banished by the Imperial Court for using his magic to bond, manipulate, trick and control others against their will. Knowing that Shuten-dōji was sympathetic toward En no Gyōja, he admitted the disguised warriors. During the night’s revelry, Minamoto and the others poisoned members of Shuten-dōji’s gang and waited for them to fall into slumber, at which point they cut off their heads in their sleep. For Shuten-dōji himself, the warriors held down his arms and legs while Minamoto cut off his head. With Shuten-dōji now dead, the oni army rose up in wild frenzy, and a bloody battle ensured until they were all either dead or disappeared.
The cup and bottle of poison that Minamoto no Yorimitsu used is still kept on site at Nariai-ji temple in Kyoto to this day.
Other Lives
1st Age: Zholdin Gregorovich
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