Jikininki, the Corpse-Eater

The myth

The jikininki, "human-eating ogre", is the spirit of someone who in life was greedy and selfish and so is reborn condemned to devour corpses. Lafcadio Hearn made the story famous in Kwaidan: the monk Musō, lost in the mountains of Mino, asks an old priest for shelter and at night sees a creature devour the body of a village dead man. The next day the old man confesses he is the jikininki himself, punished for thinking only of the money he earned from funerals. Musō prays for him, and the old man vanishes along with his hut.

Why it has this power

An Uncommon level-5 Earth Undead with 1650 ATK and 1300 DEF: a persistent devourer. Earth is the ground of mountains and graves; Wisp, the cold light of night; Scarab, the constellation of the dead. A card without glory, like the fate of one who thought only of himself.

Did you know

Musō Soseki, the monk of the story, was a real fourteenth-century figure, a Zen master and celebrated garden designer in Kyoto.

Connections

• In Renji, Ronin of the Snowy Roads's deck
• In Kaelmyr, Devourer of Pantheons's deck

Where to get it

• Campaign drop: Renji, Ronin of the Snowy Roads (Archipelago of the Kami) — grade D: 13%
• Daily Offering: 0.45% per pack (Uncommon 33% per card)
• Welcome Pack: 1.1% per pack (Uncommon 30% per card)
• Traveler's Pack: 0.96% per pack · 5.6% in the themed pack (Uncommon 29% per card)
• Bronze Reliquary: 0.94% per pack · 5.5% in the themed pack (Uncommon 29% per card)
• Silver Reliquary: 0.96% per pack · 5.6% in the themed pack (Uncommon 33% per card)
• Golden Reliquary: 0.94% per pack · 5.5% in the themed pack (Uncommon 35% per card)
• Daily Showcase: Shows up on about 0.98% of days · 400 gold
• Craft with card dust: 100 dust
• Crossing of Myths: Can be offered as a reward during a crossing (the card stays in the crossing deck).

Sources

1. Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things (Project Gutenberg) — Lafcadio Hearn
2. Lafcadio Hearn — Encyclopaedia Britannica — The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica