Gashadokuro, the Colossal Skeleton

The myth

The gashadokuro is a giant skeleton, fifteen times the size of a man, formed from the bones of people who died of hunger or in battle and were never buried. It roams at night, and the sound of its teeth, gasha-gasha, announces its approach; anyone it catches has their head torn off. It is a recently recorded yōkai: its name and legend appear in twentieth-century folklore books. The image tied to it comes from Utagawa Kuniyoshi's mid-nineteenth-century print showing Princess Takiyasha summoning a colossal skeleton against the warriors.

Why it has this power

An Epic level-8 Darkness Undead with 2900 ATK and 2700 DEF, a ritual monster: born of the Rite of the Forgotten Battlefield, with the Gaki, the Yūrei and the Hone-onna, the bones and souls of those no one buried. Darkness, Moon and Scarab make it king of the archipelago's dead.

Did you know

In Kuniyoshi's print, the skeleton is drawn with anatomical accuracy rare for its time, something that still impresses scholars.

Connections

Where to get it

• Ritual: Summoned by the ritual Rite of the Forgotten Battlefield, with the materials Hungry Gaki, Yūrei of the Abandoned Bridge, Hone-onna, the Bone Woman.
• It never joins the collection: you summon it mid-duel, by fusion or ritual.

Sources

1. Utagawa Kuniyoshi — Encyclopaedia Britannica — The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
2. Kaii・Yōkai Denshō Database (folklore of strange phenomena and yōkai) — International Research Center for Japanese Studies (Nichibunken)