Sahn-Uzal the Demonsbane, Unconquered King, Tyrant of the Great Grass Ocean.
League of legends/Riot games
All credits to: Rudy Siswanto, Steve Zheng, Alessandro Pizzi
"I am Sahn-Uzal. Conqueror of conquerors. Tyrant of tyrants."
"Schemers scheme, liars lieβthey are beneath me, because I am King, and rulers shall rule... "I am the great Sahn-Uzal. My deeds name me." The King
Speculating What the 16-Registered Special Grade Curses Are
Geto mentions that there are 16-Registered Special Grade Curses, but we only ever got to see four! In all of Jujutsu Kaisen!! I want to know what they are at least, so here's a few speculations.
First, the ones we know.
Tamamo-no-Mae Incarnate, an Imaginary Vengeful Spirit based off of Tamamo-no-Mae.
Ah, a quick explanation of Imaginary Vengeful Sprits: They're Curses built off the cumulative fear humans share over a specific figure, like a famous yokai or ghost story.Β Kuchisake-onna is one... But so is Sukuna. Ryomen Sukuna is the "Imaginary Demon" with two faces and four arms, but he was actually a human who existed. So, I guess this means he was changed due to people's fears of him? This kind of makes sense when you consider that the Three Great Families are also decedents of the Three Great Vengeful Spirits. I mean... those are Curses too. Actually, we can probably count all of them as among the 16-Registered Special Grades now that I think about it.
Wow, what a fruitful tangent. Let's get back to it, shall we?
1. The legend of Tamamo-no-Mae is that she was a fox spirit under the guise of a courtesanΒ under Emperor KonoeΒ (who reigned from 1142-1155, Heian period). The same beautiful fox spirit who led to numerous rulers getting seduced into being terrible rulers throughout history. Because of course she was.
2. The Smallpox hag is a Disease Curse. Kenjaku lied about it being a deity, (src: Vol. 20 extra) but I assume it's still a Special Grade since it can use Domain Expansion. Disease Curses are born from the fear of a disease such as the plague. The way Akutami depicts something on it's stomach like it's distended is notable. I did find Sopona, the god ofΒ smallpoxΒ in theΒ Yoruba religion, which might've been used as a reference point.
3. Kurourushi was a Registered Special Grade from Kenjaku's (I suppose Geto's?) collection of Curse Spirits he released for the Culling Game. A cockroach curse... At this point, I think it's safe to call it a Devil from Chainsaw Man.
I actually suffered through researching cockroaches a little for this list to see if anything caught my eye. It wasn't worth it. lol. There is a neat article about cockroaches in pop culture you can read to your heart's content if you like. Obviously, swarms of cockroaches attacking people are a common enough trope. Honestly, I'm also reminded of the beetles from The Mummy, only more disgusting.
It's definitely totally irrelevant, but Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, which is listed on that page, is about a man who turned into a giant beetle-like creature (usually thought to be a roach). I only bring it up because Mahito briefly discusses it in the first light novel.
4. An Asian God Curse not from Japan. Maybe Genesha, but more probably Kangetian, the Japanese equivalent. Kangetian has both positive and negative reception in Japan and has some Curse-like descriptions. Whereas Genesha seems like a benevolent figure... But Genesha is the one consistently depicted as pink with four arms... Y'know what, Curses are an amalgamation of human negativity anyway, I shouldn't stress about it.
From the Kangetian wiki article:
the Buddhist Vinayaka was (at least at first) negatively portrayed as the creator of obstacles and the leader of a class of malignant demons who obstructed Buddhist practice calledΒ vinayakas [...]
And there's this:
On the other hand, he is considered to be still bound by base passions and desires (kleshas) and thus is sometimes also regarded as a rather volatile, demanding god who is quick to punish those who have offended him.
The ones that are most likely part of the registered Curses.
The Three Great Vengeful Spirits, ancestors of the Three Great Families. There's no way they're actually around anymore, but this is just about being a "registered" Special Grade, so they had to have counted, right?
I'll try to be brief here, because somehow, this post has already ended up three times longer than I'd intended. (*edit: It did not end up brief.)
5. Sugawara no Michizane came from a middle-class family of scholars. He was considered a child prodigy, a genius, and held the second highest rank in the imperial court, right under the emperor. As you can imagine, he was the target of jealousy from other aristocrats. He was falsely accused of trying to abolish the emperor and died two years later in exile. (His greatest rivals were the Fujiwara btw, which is ironic considering what Uro thought Yuta was.)
After he died, everyone thought his enemies would continue to dominate the court. AND YET, a whole lot of them started to up and die from "accidents," illnesses, etc. ALSO, lightning repeatedly struck the imperial court and even more of his enemies died. The imperial city experienced weeks of rainstorms and floods. Anyway, everyone decided they needed to pacify what was clearly Michizane's vengeful spirit, built him a temple, and deified him as Tenjin. (Like "Raijin," god of thunder. Lol.)
6. Taira no Masakado was a samurai who's notable for leading the first recorded rebellion against the imperial court in Kyoto. Masakado worked for a powerful noble in the capital but returned to the east after his father's death. He ended up as a kind of "hero of the people" and declared himself the "new emperor" with half of Japan's land. Which, uh, obviously wouldn't fly with the imperial court. He died two months later in battle and his head was sent to Kyoto and displayed for the people to see.
But there were some strange rumors about that head... Its eyes stayed opened for months... You could hear it grinding its teeth at night... Most bizarrely, legend says the head flew back east to look for its body. Specifically, to the head mound in what would become one of the most expensive pieces of land in Tokyo's financial district.
Anyone who tries taking down the mound is faced with bad luck (including death), so it's well maintained to this day.
7. Emperor Sutoku was a puppet emperor from the age of 3 to 22; under the control of his father. After he was forced to abdicate, failed a rebellion, and forced into exile, he became a monk. Devoting himself to Buddhism, he copied scriptures and asked the court to have them sent to a temple in Kyoto, but the court sent them back claiming they were cursed. (Yeah, I know.)
Sutoku swore to become a yokai to avenge his grudge. After that, he never cut his hair or nails again. By the time he died, he looked like a demon.
Everything from the subsequent fall in fortune of the Imperial court, the rise of the samurai powers, droughts and internal unrests were blamed on his haunting.
(I found this neat series of articles about each of the Three Vengeful Spirits after typing this out, which go into them a little more: Taira no Masakado, Emperor Sutoko, Sugawara no Michizane)
8. Ryomen Sukuna needs no introduction. I will add this quote, though.
Q: It's mentioned that Sukuna was a human who actually existed, but was he a curse user when he was alive?Β
Akutami: You could say he was a curse user, but I think he was closer to a natural disaster.
9. Rika-chan was definitely a Special Grade. And once she was discovered, she had to have been registered as the "Queen of Curses." The question is whether Geto counted her among the 16?
Tangentially, these are my own thoughts, but human Rika... Well, reading her character profile from Volume 0 and seeing her looks-- her long dark hair, the mole on her face-- reminds me of another certain malevolent curse-like girl: The eponymous Tomie from Tomie by Junji Ito. And considering we get an Uzumaki reference later in Volume 0, I don't think it's entirely a coincidence.
That's 9 out of the 16, so actually, we knew more of the Registered Special Curses then I thought. (Speculative though it may be?)
Finally, onto the reason I made this post in the first place.
β Because I was one of those children that ate up supernatural mysteries and fairytales, I really liked the legend of Yuki-onna. Something about the imagery... A beautiful woman in the mountain snow leading men to their deaths... Is super poetic. Lol.
β Sadako from Ring. She's so ubiquitous by this point, how could there not be an Imaginary Cursed Spirit based off her? The first Ring movie came out in 2001, and before that it was a novel series. Quick summary, this should be familiar to you: Sadako is a ghost who made a cursedΒ video tape. Whoever watches the tape will die in seven days.
Notably, Sadako is a mix of two ghosts, OiwaΒ andΒ Okiku. There's also Kayako from The Grudge. I can see all of them mixing together into a Special Grade.
β Since Mahito mentioned the nine-tailed fox (kyuubi), it would feel remiss not to mention it. Different from Tamamo-no-Mae, this one takes the more animalistic form.
β Genuinely terrifying would be an atomic bomb Curse. It would look balding and gaunt... It would have radiation related powers. It would be awful.
β I know the Darkness Devil is a thing in Chainsaw, but considering "the dark" is one of the most fundamental fears of the human race, I'm going to say that makes sense.
β A "white devil"/gaijin Edo period era Curse that stems from Japan's xenophobia, especially at the time. I imagine a lot of like, Christian imagery with it. Think Eva. Lol.
A few more...
Not even Kuchisake-onna was a Special Grade... It could do Simple Domain though, so it was probably a Grade 1 Curse at least. Here are a few more ideas that could be, at least, Grade 1 in my book.
β Kisaragi Station is just my love for that urban legend. Hey, if oceans, forests, and volcanoes can become Curses, then so can imaginary train stations! Trains are also the way so much of travel is done in Japan, I legit think this could be a possible Curse. Kisaragi Station originated from a 2ch post in 2004. A woman asks 2ch for advice when the train she usually takes home doesn't stop... until it reaches "Kisaragi Station," anyway. There was a Mob Psycho OVA with a similar idea, where Reigan was basically trapped in a Domain, now that I think of it. Hahaha.
β Hanako-san of the Toilet was also mentioned by Mahito. And frankly, not just in Japan, but around the world, the bathroom is a place of hauntings. Here's a really great video that talks about the fear of bathrooms in media that I recommend. And here's a post I wrote a few years ago about an episode of Shin-chan that made me apprehensive of dark bathrooms as a child. Lol.
Ideas for Curses from other countries
Like Kangetian, here are a few foreign figures too. I tried to keep in mind they should be of things people felt genuine fear or hatred towards. Obviously, each culture has a great many folklore and urban legends, so I'm only listing famous ones I personally knew of.
Jack the Ripper was a real-life English serial killer, but he's risen up into something of a mythical status. There are so many fictitious takes on him, in the world of Jujutsu Kaisen I'd be shocked if he hadn't become an Imaginary Cursed Spirit.
Baba Yaga, a Slavic cannibalistic witchy figure whose preference was children. Though this story is German, think the witch from "Hansel and Gretel." There were a lot of time periods of famine in that region of the world, so I can see starvation, the desperation to eat something, leading to that widespread grotesque fear.
Bloody Mary, I think of her as American, but there's rumors that she's based off of a European woman. I'm reading the wikipedia article right now, and boy is the ritual a lot more complicated and meaningful than it actually is. Basically, you just say "Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary"; repeating her name three times, in front of a bathroom mirror and she appears. Uh, I don't think there was a reason for it. It was just spooky thing to do. Speaking of reasons to be scared of dark bathrooms... I remember trying to call out to Bloody Mary as a child at a friend's house. I cannot for the life of me remember if I chickened out or not. Probably.
La Llorona, "the Weeping Woman," of Mexican origin. She haunts areas around bodies of water looking for her children, who she drowned in life during a jealous rage when she discovered her husband cheating on her... Another female phantasm. I suppose, women are so often wronged in life, it's easy to imagine them haunting us after death. As a Curse, I can see her springing up mostly due to the guilty feelings of men who have cheated.
Why did I do this to myself? As soon as I started writing up Tamamo-no-Mae I went on a tangent (as you can see) and I spiraled. OTL Whatever, I like myths and lore and it was fun even if this ended up... so much longer than I'd expected.
Tahm Kench,The River King
League of legends/Riot games
All credits to:Chengwei Pan, Alex Flores, Chris Campbell (Skeeziks),Β Mitchell Malloy, Β Gem 'Lonewingy' Lim, Β Kienan 'Knockwurst' Lafferty;
Champion concepts
The whole world's a river, and I'm its king."Β
"Call me king, call me demon. Water forgets the names of the drowned."The Demon of Addiction
Legends of Runeterra
Glory in Navori expasion
Credits to: Alessandro Poli
"My diet is expensively unique."
Β "All the world's a river, and I'm its king." The Great Waddler
Legends of Runeterra:Glory in Navori Expansion
Jack, The winner
Bull, Mako & Nukkle arriving at Sett's arena in Qayanvi
Credits to JiHun Lee, Felipe Martini
Card art appreciation
"All shall drown in my magnificence." TK
´´Years in the boxing ring taught Jack valuable lessons. He learned that if his opponent can bleed, they can fear. He learned the power of a silent stare. He learned the power of uncontrolled violence.``Jack the Winner
Gangplank,The Saltwater Scourge
Captain Gangplank "The Burning Tides" Illustrations
all credits to: Β Gem 'Lonewingy' Lim
"Misery has a delectable taste." TK
Legends of Runeterra
Gangplank cards Set 2 - Rising Tides
All credits to: SIXMOREVODKA STUDIO
Β "You're duller than a broken sandwich." TK
"Don't stare too long, lest he catches you lookin'. And don't speak ill of him, for he hears all Bilgewater's whispers. Here he comes. Chin low. Eyes lower."Β
In light of Riot Games laying off 11% of their staff globally, I want to make a series of posts highlighting the portfolios of those affected, so that we can appreciate their contributions to the world of Runeterra and continue to support them. You can find a full list of those known to be affected here.
Renata Glasc,The chem baroness
League of legends/Riot games
All credits to: Jeremy Anninos
Champion insights.
"Work for me or work against me, it doesn't matter. Everyone comes to my side eventually." - Mrs.glasc
Glasc Industries , Concept ArtworkΒ
All credits to: Sunny pandita ,Paulin Kiri
Fanart belongs to: δΈζ Ήηͺηͺζͺ
Champion art exploration
"Zaun deserves more."
Β "The difference between medicine and poison is the dosage. Allow me to demonstrate." Madam Glasc
Renata "Right On Time" Illustration
by Riot Contracted ArtistsΒ :Grafit Studio, Envar Studio
"It's 'Miss Glasc'... if you value your life."
"Work for me or work against me, it doesn't matter. Everyone comes to my side eventually." The Chem baroness
Chem Baron Finn & Chross
League of legends/Riot games/Arcane teamAll credits to: β’ Victor Maury β’
Character Design
"Slickjaws provide useful services to those looking to eliminate a problem, whether by their own hand or ours."- Finn
Riot games/Arcane team
Credits to: Charles Lee, alexandre mahboubi, Tomas Osang Muir,Bruno Couchinho, Ivan Pozdnyakov, Geoffroy Thoorens
The Art of Arcane
Fanart belongs to: Marco Brunelleschi
´´ The only way to defeat a superior enemy is to stop at nothing. To become what they fear.``The eye of Zaun.
"Iβd like to let you in on a very important secret I learned when I was about your age, boy. You see, power, real power doesnβt come to those who were born strongest or fastest or smartest. No. It comes to those who will do anything to achieve it..."
Viego,The Ruined king
League of legends/Riot gamesAll credits to:Chengwei Pan. Gem 'Lonewingy' Lim
Champion Insights.
Twisted Obsession:
What would you do for love? Would you go to the ends of the world? Would you give up everything you have? Would you go to the brink of life and death? The fallen King
Ruined King: A League of Legends Story
Viego concepts
Credits to:Β Hicham Habchi"It hurts, my heart. It hurts so much."
Β "You are not the hero of this tale. You are not anything." The Fallen King
Soul Fighter Viego, the host of the arena of soulsSpecial collaboration with Legends of runeterra/Wild riftCredits to: Steve Zheng, Rudy Siswanto, Envar Studio,Β Rachel 'Tart' Cross,Β Luca Xu, Goodname Studio, NargesArt, ouyang _YKFanart: Shavit Azarzar
´´The graciousβif needlessly reclusiveβhost of the Tournament of Souls welcomes all to his arena! Look at him now, eyeing the competition from his throne room high above the ring! Doesn't his solitude just make ya sad, folks? Here's hoping he hops down from that tower and turns that sorrow into UNBRIDLED RAGE! Viiiiieeeeeeegoooooo!``-Announcer
´´an unexpected opponent enters the tournament``...
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