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Mōryō (モウリョウ Mōryō) is a Yōkai who haunts graveyards, looking for corpses to inhabit.
Appearance[]
The Mōryō is consistently depicted as a large ape-like yōkai with sharp teeth, a curling lip, and long hair. In his mummy form, the Mōryō resembles a Gaki, having a thin upper half and limbs but a round belly, and upturned sideburns.
In the 1968 anime, the Mōryō is depicted as just having big lips, rather than the curling lip seen in the future designs, and has small, cat-like eyes, no pronounced brows, pointy ears, smaller teeth, and a full body with legs and a tail. This version towers over humans. His mummy form has a more skull-like face, lacking eyes or a nose, and his sideburns extend to the back of his head and no longer stick out as much, and his neck is shorter.
In the 1985 anime, the Mōryō now has a larger head and smaller body, with larger tusks. It now has a more defined curling lip and brow ridge. Its skin is a dark green, hair a dark purple, and eyes a dark yellow. It now has light-gray claws. His mouth is often covered in sticky saliva.
In the 1996 anime, the Mōryō is translucent and has sharper teeth. It now has larger, more expressive eyes, pointier ears, and a wider mouth and curling lip. Its skin is now a dull light brown and hair a dark brown. It's base form is only slightly larger than a human, but can grow larger when it has a wisp-like torso. In this form, the Mōryō's skin is paler and eyes redder.
In the 2018 anime, the Mōryō is back to being more opaque, and has a bigger belly, Instead of tusks, the Mōryō now has fangs. The Mōryō now has more defined muscles on its arms, sharp nails, and shining eyes. Aside from this, it resembles the 1996 anime design greatly. This is also the only appearance where it's never shown with a full body. This Mōryō is about the same size of the 1968 anime appearance.
Personality[]
In the manga, the Mōryō is a power-seeking yōkai that is shown to be vengeful, pursuing Tamakichi after he tried to fight him. While in it's true form, Mōryō acts more animalistic.[1]
In the 1968 anime, the Mōryō acts the same as he did in the manga, though his persistence is highlighted more. He also has a sadistic sense of humor, scaring Tamakichi and Nezumi-Otoko while laughing sinisterly.[2]
In the 1985 anime, Mōryō uses other's supposed grudges to justify his own actions, possessing Machiko's body so that he can avenge her death by haunting her boss. This is the first time Mōryō is shown talking in his true form, something carried into for later interpretations of the character. Despite this, he acts as fierce and animalistic as ever.[3]
In the 1996 anime, Mōryō acts less sinister and more comedic, getting very hyped at the idea of possessing a body and cheerfully giggling when Harunosuke attempts to punch his coworkers as a soul and when briefly possessing Kitarō's body. His more sinister side is shown when he terrorizes the city in his large form.[4]
In The Great Yōkai War, Mōryō is shown to be scared of Agi alongside the other yōkai, and cowers in fear as he's turned into a Kikai.[5]
History[]
Manga[]
GeGeGe no Kitarō (Shonen Magazine)[]
Mōryō first appears in the Shonen Magazine story of the same name. In this story, he lived near a village since ancient times and was a known, corpse-stealing yōkai. The corpses give him power on land, and after the one he possesses rots, he gets a new one. When the current grave watcher, a boy named Tamakichi, was sleeping, the Mōryō (while possessing the corpse of an old man named Yamada) went to the graveyard at night to dig out the corpse of an old man who was buried a few days ago. When Tamakichi sneaks up on him, the Mōryō gets stunned and seemingly knocks the boy out, but left no injuries.
He later appears the next evening to break into Tamakichi's home and bites the boy in the head, but then gets hit by Kitarō's Hair Needles. Afterwards, Mōryō goes to dig another gave, and Kitarō uses this as a way for Tsurube-Bi to secretly burn him. When he does, the Mōryō reveals its true form, though this seems to be merely a physical perception of the yōkai, as it doesn't have a "true" tangible form. Mōryō tried to lunge at Kitarō, Tamakichi, and Nezumi-Otoko, still alive somehow even if the corpse he possessed was burned, but Tamakichi realizes he still has one of its bony fingers with him. Once the finger is properly burned, Mōryō cries into the night sky and fades away.[1]
Kitarō Kunitori Monogatari[]
This Mōryō reappears in the Kitarō Kunitori Monogatari chapter Surprise Attack by Demon Men Army, as a tokoroten (a Japanese jelly dish) inside the body of the large head yōkai Ōguchi, and reappears in the story Kanedama, alongside Sara-Kozō, Miage-Nyūdō, and Kasha, as one of the many yōkai and humans turned into greedy individuals by Kanadama, and bites Kitarō.[6]
Anime[]
1968 Anime[]
Mōryō appears in episode # 31 of the first anime adaptaion, Mōryō. Like the manga, he is first seen in his mummy form digging up Tamakichi's grandfather, in this case with a shovel. He runs away, severing one of his pinky fingers. It is later explained that the body he's using was the corpse of a man named Goro. He is next seen scaring Tamakichi and later trying to attack him and Nezumi-Otoko before being (literally) driven off by Kitarō's Yōkai Locomotive and retreats. Later on, two university students take in Goro's body to study. When the body was placed in a room, the young doctor in the room noticed the body moving. He awakens that night to attack a professor, but is driven off by Kitarō, who chases him again into the city, ending with the Mōryō escaping into an animal-testing building and possessing one of the dogs there, attacking Nezumi-Otoko. Eventually, the dog is burned by Tsurube-Bi, and the Mōryō is seemingly defeated, his true form now revealed. However, he makes one last appearance the next morning, back at the graveyard. After the pinky of Goro's body is finally burned, the Mōryō fades away.[7]
1985 Anime[]
Mōryō first appears in episode #53 of the third anime adaptation, Yōkai Mōryō of Dish Mansion. In this adaptation, Mōryō was described by Medama-Oyaji as a yōkai who lives in the graveyard and possesses the bodies of those who held a grudge. He is first seen counting plates while disguised as the ghost of a girl named Machiko, who was the secretary of the plate collector whose house he haunted. The next night, he scares Nezumi-Otoko, who was paid to get rid of him. Kitarō and Medama-Oyaji realize that Machiko wasn't a ghost, but rather the Mōryō. As soon as that happens, he returns to choke the plate collector after initially running away, and later throws him and Nezumi inside a trap meant for him. He is later confronted by Kitarō, and reveals his true identity, dodging his chanchanko attacks. He gets burned while inside Machiko's body by Bake-Bi, and so now attacks in his true form, flying into a secret passageway filled with souls who haven't gone to the afterlife. As Kitarō follows him, he orders several Gaki to strangle the boy, but he manages to retreat. Mōryō later falls for a trap set by Konaki-Jijii, Sunakake-Babaa, Ittan-Momen, and Hyōsube, and opens the coffin to reveal Kitarō! He is then cornered into a large tree, and is wrapped around it by the Yōkai Ocarina.[3] He finally explodes after Iwanabōzu finishes chanting sutras. He later reappears all the way forward in episode #108, Kitarō Family Forever. Him, Kamanari, Jami, and Kasha burn down a city in the start of the episode in hopes of attracting Kitarō.[8]
1996 Anime[]
Mōryō first appears in episode #86 of the fourth anime adaptation, Corpse User: Mōryō. In this episode, he works with Nezumi-Otoko to find a body to possess, first seen spying on a kaijū suit actor named Harunosuke Nagasaki. The next day, they succeed in "killing" the actor, and he coerces his soul into not going back to his body so he can possess him, laughing at him as he sees the replacements in the studio he works in. Kitarō confronts him, and he throws a tantrum, absorbing souls from a graveyard to enlarge himself, and terrorizes the rest of the city, hoping one of the people there dies of fright so that he could possess him. Eventually, Kitarō agrees to having the Mōryō possess his body, but when he does, he gets crushed by the boy's chanchanko.[4] He reappears in episode #106, Nightmare! Yōkai Hell as one of Momon-Jii's illusions, cornering Kitarō on a cliff.[9]
2018 Anime[]
The Great Yōkai War[]
Mōryō, alongside other yōkai, appear as a group captured by Yasunori Katō, seen in the middle of Oshiroi-Babaa and Kejōrō. When Agi visits them, he cries out to be free and later gets scared when Agi spits acid at Amefuri-Kozō and Dorotabō. While implied not to be the first, Mōryō is shown as the first onscreen yōkai turned into a Kikai, being dragged into the boiler and fusing with an old motorcycle.[5]
Powers and Abilities[]
Possession
Controlling Corpses
Wind: In the 1968 anime adaptation, Mōryō is capable of causing a whirlwind.
Size Shifting: In the 1996 anime adaptation, Mōryō stated that he is capable of enlarging his size.
Trivia[]
- The main design of Mōryō used in the series was taken from Hihi's illustration artwork.
- The illustration design for Mōryō was used for Jami in the series.
- The synopsis of Series 3 Episode 53 including Mōryō's behaviors disguising as Machiko in the episode was based on Banchō Sarayashiki.
- The voice effects of the Mōryō in the 1968 anime seem to have been modified from Rodan.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 GeGeGe no Kitarō (Shonen Magazine): Mōryō
- ↑ GeGeGe no Kitarō (1971): Episode 31
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 GeGeGe no Kitarō (1985): Episode 53
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 GeGeGe no Kitarō (1996): Episode 86
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 The Great Yōkai War (2005 film)
- ↑ Kitarō Kunitori Monogatari: Kanedama
- ↑ GeGeGe no Kitarō (1968): Episode 31
- ↑ GeGeGe no Kitarō (1985): Episode 108
- ↑ GeGeGe no Kitarō (1996): Episode 106