Oni Masks

The Oni Masks are a magical collection of masks originating from Japan. They were created by ancient Good Chi Wizards to imprison the spirits of Tarakudo and his nine Oni Generals. Each mask grants its wearer the ability to summon the Shadowkhan of its respective Oni General. To prevent them from ever being conjoined, the masks were scattered to the four corners of the globe. The hunt to retrieve them centuries later serves as the primary focus of Season 4.

History[]

Origin[]

Forged in ancient Japan by Good Chi Wizards, the Oni Masks were created with the intention of imprisoning the spirits of Tarakudo and his nine Oni Generals (along with their respective Shadowkhan tribes) within them. After somehow managing to evade the same fate as his generals, Tarakudo confiscated the the tenth Oni Mask and concealed it in the Shadow Realm, citing it as the one place no mortal would dare enter. Conjoining the remaining nine Oni Masks to one location was the only way to release the imprisoned Oni Generals. As such, the masks were subsequently scattered to the four corners of the globe to prevent the Oni from ever again rising to power.

The first of the nine Oni Masks was discovered in neighboring China, where it was claimed by the Demon Sorcerer of Fire, Shendu. Upon obtaining the mask, Shendu gained control of its respective Shadowkhan tribe. The Demon Sorcerer employed a means of drawing power from the mask without having to wear it, effectively allowing him to summon the Shadowkhan without being possessed by the mask itself. Shendu chose to house the mask within his palace near Hong Kong, keeping it secure inside a chest, where it remained as such in the centuries following his imprisonment at the hands of Lo Pei.

The Oni Mask Hunt[]

After being awakened from exile by Daolon Wong, Tarakudo sought to release his imprisoned Oni Generals by obtaining their respective Oni Masks with the ultimate intention of summoning enough Shadowkhan to engulf the Earth in eternal darkness. Requiring their assistance, Tarakudo recruited the Enforcers before leading them to the ruins of Shendu's Palace and presenting them with the first Oni Mask. When Jackie, Jade, Uncle and Tohru arrived to confront them, a fight ensued until the mask was mistakenly placed upon Chow's face, partially transforming him into an Oni General with the ability to summon its respective tribe of Shadowkhan. After researching a set of Japanese inscriptions detailing the defeat of the Oni in ancient times, the Chans were able to determine the necessary ingredient to perform a mask removal spell, effectively allowing them to remove the Oni Mask from Chow's face.

After claiming the first of the nine Oni Masks, Jackie and the others ventured to Japan with the hope of discovering a lead to the location of the next mask at a museum in Tokyo. By chance, the mask happened to be housed within the museum itself. When Tarakudo and the Enforcers arrived to collect the mask, the resulting scuffle allowed it to land on Ratso's face, partially transforming him into another Oni General with the ability to summon an entirely new tribe of Shadowkhan. Upon learning that each mask required its own unique removal ingredient, the Chans set out to acquire the Hana Fuda Cards, a magical deck of cards intended to reveal the location of each mask whilst also identifying its respective removal ingredient. After securing the cards from a former shrine, the Chans finally managed to determine the correct ingredient before removing the Oni Mask from Ratso's face.

Aided by the Hana Fuda Cards, Jackie and the others were successfully able to locate and obtain each of the remaining Oni Masks until finally possessing all nine. Whilst attempting to secure them in the vault at Section 13, however, the Chans unknowingly conjoined them together in one location, resulting in the destruction of the masks and the release of the nine Oni Generals imprisoned from within. Forced to abandon Section 13, the Chans retreated back to Uncle's shop. When Jackie suggested deploying the same spells used to defeat the Oni in ancient times, Uncle clarified that they would no longer work because the masks which were originally used to imprison them no longer existed, suggesting instead that their only hope was to defeat Tarakudo directly. After launching a futile counter-attack, the Hana Fuda Cards unexpectedly revealed the existence of a tenth Oni Mask originally intended to imprison Tarakudo himself. Upon successfully retrieving Tarakudo's Mask from the Shadow Realm, Uncle devised a spell to imprison all ten Oni within the same mask. Amidst the ensuing showdown, Jackie managed to keep Tarakudo distracted long enough for Jade to sneak up on him and attach the mask to his face, effectively defeating Tarakudo and his Oni Generals once and for all.

Appearance[]

Each of the Oni Masks were crafted in the likeness of the Oni they were intended to imprison. Like the Oni themselves, the masks resemble fierce demonic creatures from Japanese folklore. The Oni Masks are typically horned and often feature a wide-open mouth displaying a set of teeth with a prominent pair of curved fangs at the front.

Powers and Abilities[]

When attached to a host's face, the Oni Mask partially transforms its wearer into an Oni themselves. Unlike regular Oni, however, wearers are not effected by onions (which otherwise act as a repellent). If worn for too long, an Oni Mask will possess its wearer until they are consumed by the demon psyche of the respective Oni General. The only way to remove an Oni Mask from its wearer is by performing a mask removal spell. Each mask requires its own unique key ingredient for the removal spell to properly work. The Hana Fuda Cards could be used to identify these respective ingredients. As standard ingredients, the removal spell also requires a lizard tail, wolfsbane, sulfur root, and the left eye of a newt.

In addition to superhuman strength (equal to usage of the Ox Talisman), immense agility and enhanced reflexes, the Oni Masks grant their wearers the ability to summon Shadowkhan. The tribe of Shadowkhan the wearer is able to summon is determined by the specific mask they are wearing. Depending on how much of the mask is worn by the host, the Shadowkhan will only have that much of them summoned.

Donning an Oni Mask seems to project the malevolent essence it contains onto the wearer, slowly causing them to succumb to their more evil impulses, along with the Oni spirit's own dark desires. This happens more naturally if the wearer is already evil or selfish, but inevitably happens to anyone who continues to wear the mask for too long. Creatures of lesser intelligence, such as dogs, will succumb to the mask's evil nature much quicker, but seem to retain their more primal instincts.

Individuals who inherently possess extreme goodness (such as Captain Black) seem to be more resistant to the dark essence contained within the masks, allowing them to fight its corruptive nature for a time. However, this resistance will weaken if one should employ the mask's powers to summon Shadowkhan or if the wearer has selfish intentions in donning the mask in the first place. This resistance seems to be less potent for children (as both Jade and Paco succumbed to the mask's influence much quicker than Captain Black). Donning only part of a mask will also reduce the corruptive influence, with the added effect of allowing the wearer to maintain their inherent self on any part of their face not covered by the mask (as both Jade and Valmont remained partially in control when wearing the separate halves of Kuro's Mask).

Wearing an Oni Mask anywhere besides on the user's face would still cause it to activate and stick onto that specific part of the body, as shown when Finn accidentally sits on one. Since it is not directly worn on the wearer's face, the wearer's personality will not be corrupted. However, since Ikazuki's Mask had been animated by the Rat Talisman prior to attachment, it is not known whether an Oni Mask would typically have this effect.

It is possible to harness the power of an Oni Mask without having to physically wear it (effectively allowing one to summon the Shadowkhan without being possessed by the mask itself), as demonstrated by Shendu and Daolon Wong. The same ability is also granted through the Mark of Tarakudo, but at the cost of turning its wearer into a blue-skinned Shadowkhan-esque demon, as demonstrated by Jade and Tohru.

Oni Masks[]

Maroon Mask Worn by: Chow (accidentally)

Summons: Ninja Khan

The Ninja Khan are human-like in appearance and rely on speed and weaponry to dispose of enemies.

Purple Mask Worn by: Ratso (accidentally)

Summons: Razor Khan

Razor Khan possess sharp spikes and blades all along their bodies and are one of the fastest tribes of Shadowkhan, able to run fast enough to catch up with a speeding train.

Yellow Mask Worn by: Scruffy (accidentally)

Summons: Bat Kahn

Bat Khan have large wings and sharp talon like hands: also they have the ability to release dark chi magic as blasts of power and as chains.

Green Mask Worn by: Captain Black (accidentally)

Summons: Sumo Khan

Sumo Khan are very large and powerful, but slow and rely on their strength to defeat enemies.

Blue Mask (Ikazuki) Worn by: Finn on his rear because he sat on it (and animated by the rat talisman)

Summons: Samurai Khan

Samurai Khan wear heavy armor and carry deadly shadow swords.

Orange Mask Worn by: Paco (willingly)

Summons: Squid Khan

Squid Khan have four arms that can stretch to great lengths. They also have no legs and slither along the ground.

Yellow-Green Mask Worn by: Hak Foo (willingly)

Summons: Shadow Eaters

Start out small but grow to great sizes after devouring a person's dark chi through their shadow and putting them to sleep until they can gain their lost chi back.

Black Mask Worn by: Jade and Valmont (after being split into two halves) (this mask's halves were both worn willingly)

Summons: Crab Khan

Crab Khan have large sharp claws and stingers which, though big and heavy, do not slow them down.

Red Mask Worn by: Nobody

Summons: Mantis Kahn

Mantis Kahn have sharp deadly limbs and can move at great speeds.

Tarakudo's mask (forced on his face)

Was hidden in the Shadow Realm until recovered and placed on Tarakudo to contain the evil of all the nine other masks.

Removal[]

Once a mask has bonded to its host, it can only be removed using a magic spell with a specific key ingredient. The ingredients for each mask (named by tribe of Shadowkhan summoned) are as follows:

Ninja - Japanese Steel
Razor - Japanese Silk
Bat - Japanese Rice
Sumo - Rare Japanese Seaweed

Samurai - Japanese Cherry Blossoms

Squid - Tentacle of Japanese Octopus (also Tail of Lizard, Wolfbane, Sulfur Root, Left Eye of Newt)
Shadow Eaters - Japanese Fish
Crab - Japanese Monkey Tears
Mantis - Japanese Leaves
Tarakudo himself - Hair of Japanese Samurai