Enenra
Enenra (煙々羅, en'enra, lit. "lightweight-fabric smoke"), sometimes enraenra (煙羅煙羅), is a yōkai, or Japanese monster, that is composed of smoke and darkness. It was first featured in the Konjaku Hyakki Shūi, circa 1781.[1]
Mythology
Enenras mostly reside in bonfires; when they emerge, they take human shape or form. It is said that an enenra can only be seen by the pure of heart.
The character 羅 (Ra) in the enenra's name, with its connotation of netting, is meant to draw a comparison between the enenra and the transparent or lofty characteristics of lightweight cloth.[citation needed]
Enenras are mostly considered to be demons or divine beings of darkness and smoke; legend says that there are two types of enenras, the first and most common type being enenras who are born purely as enenras, whilst the second and more rarely occurring type are humans who have died and been transformed into enenras. In some cultures, the enenra has been mistaken for the Grim Reaper.[citation needed]
Popular culture
In the 2011 video game Mortal Kombat, it is revealed that the character Smoke (who makes his first human appearance in the game in almost two decades) is an enenra.
In the anime series Shaman King, the female character Sharona uses a Spirit called Enra Enra that resembles the power of an enenra.
In Forbidden Scrollery, a manga series that is part of the Touhou Project universe, an enenra is introduced to the story's world, where it goes to different houses creating fake smoke, eventually having Reimu and Marisa exterminating it.
In the manga Mushishi, the main character, Ginko, smokes tobacco, the smoke of which is a mushi (mushi being something like "yokai" instead simply "bug").
In the game and anime series Yo-kai Watch, there is an enenra that is referred to by its alternate name Enraenra, and was introduced in the Yo-Kai Watch 2 games, with Enraenra being referred to as a Classic Yo-kai. Enraenra also has a pre-evolved form, with it being named "Koenra".
There is a Japanese performing arts company that "fuses video art with live performance" called enra, with their named derived from enenra.
In the mobile game Onmyoji, Enenra is a shikigami who carries a kiseru her.
In the alpha demo for Nioh 2 on PlayStation 4, Enenra is confirmed as a boss and is depicted as a monstrosity “born from the grudges of humans who met their untimely ends in the dark realm”, he takes on two forms: one of ash in the regular realm and of smoke in the dark realm. He appears in the mission “The beast born of smoke and flames” and “smouldering hellfire”.
In the “Summoner Series” by Taran Matharu, the Enenra makes two appearances in the “Summoners Handbook”, which is a campaign guide to the series. The first appearance occurs in the journal of James Baker where he dissects a Enenra’s corpse to find a new spell glyph. The second is in the demonology codex at the end of the book that describes it as being a rare demon made of a black-purple smoke that lives in dark places of the ether and has the ability to envelope living organisms and drain their life force.
References
- ^ Toriyama, Sekien (2005). Toriyama Sekien Gazu Hyakki Yagyō Zen Gashū. Kadokawa Sophia Bunko (in Japanese). Kadokawa Shoten. ISBN 978-4-04-405101-3.
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