Onryo

Activity

The Onryo blows out fires (candles, campfires) more often the more players have died. It also waits less before blowing out a flame that someone has relit:

Dead players	Chance of blowing out the flame	Chance of blowing out a Tier II Firelight	Cooldown before blowing it out again
0	66.67%	96.3%	20 to 80 s
1	75%	98.43%	20 to 60 s
2	80%	99.2%	20 to 40 s
3	83.33%	99.54%	20 s

The cooldown doesn’t apply the first time the flame is lit.

• It never lights a fire on its own (fireplaces, campfires or candles). The only way to make it do so is to force it with the Voodoo Doll.
• Despite what the journal says, fire doesn’t make it more likely to leave the room.

Ability: hunting after blowing out flames

The Onryo keeps a counter of the flames it blows out. Each time it exits its idle state, it checks that counter: if it’s at 3 or more, there’s no active hunt cooldown and it isn’t under the effect of Incense, it resets the counter to 0 and tries to hunt regardless of average sanity.

• That hunt can still be blocked by a Crucifix, by another flame, or if the setup phase is still active.
• A flame that prevents a hunt, or one that’s blown out during a hunt, also adds 1 to the counter.
• If the counter reaches 3 during a hunt or while the Incense effect is active, it resets to 0 and the ability is canceled.

Hunt

• Hunt sanity threshold: 60% normally, and 40% when it’s within 4 m of a flame.
• If it tries to hunt with a lit flame within 4 m (Firelight, Igniter, campfire, etc.), it blows out the flame instead of hunting and the hunt fails. Unlike a Crucifix, this does not restart the hunt cooldown.
• If both a Crucifix and a flame are in range, the flame takes priority: the Onryo blows it out and the Crucifix isn’t used up.
• Its hunt attempts bypass the flames’ normal cooldown, so it can blow out a Firelight within 30 s of its first lighting (or within 20 s of later ones). A Tier III Firelight pauses its own cooldown if it’s turned off by a player or by an Onryo’s hunt attempt.

How to identify it

Flame priority. Place a Crucifix in the ghost’s area with a lit Firelight right on top of it. You can also place two Crucifixes and several Firelights spread out to cover their range. Once sanity is low, keep the Firelights lit:

• If the Crucifix burns without a Firelight going out first, it’s not an Onryo.
• If it doesn’t hunt while several Firelights are lit, or hunts right where there aren’t any, it may be an Onryo.
• This test is less reliable with Tier II or III Crucifixes, because their range is equal to or greater than the flame’s.

Hunt prevention. If a flame is blown out within 30 s of its first lighting (or within 20 s of later ones, or of an Igniter’s first lighting), it’s an Onryo. It’s the only ghost that can blow out a Tier I Igniter’s match, which only lasts 10 s.

Blowout counter. Keep count of the flames it blows out. If the count reaches 3 (with no hunt in progress and no active Incense) and the ghost does not try to hunt, it’s not an Onryo. If it hunts, it may be one, but that doesn’t confirm it.

• The ability only triggers once it exits its idle state, so there can be a delay. For example, if it blows out the third flame during a ghost event, the ability waits until the end of the idle state that follows the event, which can take more than 20 s.
• Since the counter can keep going up in the meantime, it sometimes hunts after the fourth or fifth flame instead of the third.

Other clues.

• In Sunny Meadows, the chapel has lit candles that the ghost can blow out. If the ghost is there and hunts very early (and isn’t a Demon), it may be an Onryo.
• If the ghost lights a fireplace, a campfire or a candle, it’s not an Onryo.
• The Onryo is one of the three ghosts (along with the Hantu and the Kormos) whose three evidence types don’t rule out the Mimic. Before you decide, confirm it with the tests above or check whether it leaves Ultraviolet fingerprints: if it does, it’s the Mimic.

Strategy

Its fear of fire is useful for holding it back, but it comes with a risk. With enough Firelights, and by relighting them every time it blows them out, you can keep it from hunting indefinitely, which also helps identify it on difficulties with reduced evidence.

On the other hand, keeping a single Firelight within its range and relighting it (or lighting other flames nearby) raises the risk: every flame it blows out brings it closer to its hunt. It’s more dangerous if someone has already died, because it blows them out more often. Decide whether it’s worth keeping fire nearby to hold off hunts, or ignoring it and playing around its 60% threshold.

Trivia

• In Japanese mythology, onryō (怨霊, “vengeful spirit”) are the spirits of people who died with hatred toward the living. Unlike in the game, they could cause fires and weren’t afraid of fire.
• Japanese horror cinema made them famous with franchises like Ju-On (The Grudge) and Ringu (Ring).
• Goryō (like the game’s Goryo) are usually classified under onryō in Japanese texts, because they also seek revenge against the living.

Change history

Version	Change
0.4.0	Added the Onryo.
0.9.4.1	Incense (formerly Smudge Sticks) now blocks the Onryo’s hunt ability.
0.9.4.1	If it blows out a third candle while hunting, the ability is canceled and it no longer starts another hunt when that one ends.