Onryo

Onryo
Strength	Can sometimes hunt at any sanity after blowing out a flame Blows out fiery objects (candles, campfire) more often with more dead people
Weakness(es)	Presence of flames prevents the ghost from hunting
Evidence

„The Onryo is often referred to as "The Wrathful Spirit". It steals souls from dying victims' bodies to seek revenge. This ghost has been known to fear any form of fire, and will do anything to be far from it.”

—The Journal

The Onryo is a type of ghost in Phasmophobia. The Onryo is noted to be wary of fire; however, when the fires go out, beware its vengeance, for an Onryo may decide to hunt once there are no flames keeping it at bay.

Behaviour

Activity

If a player is currently dead, the Onryo will blow out fire sources (lit firelight, igniter, campfire, etc.) at a higher frequency. More dead players increases this frequency. It will blow out flames at the same frequency as other ghosts if no players are dead. The Onryo may appear to more frequently blow out flames below 40% average sanity, but this is because of its hunt attempts rather than an actual increased chance to interact with them.

The Onryo cannot light any fire sources (i.e. fireplaces, campfires, and candles) naturally, but can be forced into doing so with a Voodoo Doll.

Contrary to the journal, flames do not make the Onryo more likely to leave a room.

Ability

Counterintuitively, flames can both prevent hunts and cause a hunt:

• If the Onryo attempts a hunt within 4 metres of any type of flame, it will blow out the flame instead, and the hunt will fail. This does not restart the hunt cooldown timer, unlike a crucifix. If both a crucifix and a flame are within range, the flame will take priority over the crucifix for preventing the hunt.
  • The Onryo's hunt attempts also override the 20-second cooldown on the ghost blowing out an individual flammable item, making it capable of blowing out a same firelight multiple times under 20 seconds.
• Every third flame that the Onryo blows out will cause it to attempt to initiate a hunt, regardless of current average sanity. This hunt can be blocked by normal prevention methods (e.g. a crucifix) or another flame.
  • Note that there can be a delay of up to 6 seconds before the hunt actually initiates.
  • A flame preventing a hunt or blown out during a hunt will count towards the three-flame rule.
  • Whether it was the same item being blown out does not matter; it can be the same firelight blown out 3 times, 3 firelights each blown out 1 time, or any other combination.
  • If the third flame is blown out during a hunt or an Incense's cleansing effect, the hunt attempt will be canceled. However, if the third flame is blown out during a hunt cooldown or a ghost event, the Onryo will use its ability at the end of the cooldown or the event.

Consequently, there are several situations (non-exhaustive) which might occur:

• One firelight and one crucifix is within range of the Onryo, and it blows out the firelight as its third flame. The ability is triggered, but the crucifix will prevent the hunt, losing one charge.
• One firelight and one lit igniter is within range of the Onryo, and it blows out the firelight as the third flame. The igniter will prevent the hunt and be blown out.
• One firelight is within range of the Onryo, and it attempts to hunt naturally. The firelight prevents the hunt and is blown out.

Hunt

The Onryo has a hunt sanity threshold of 60% by default. When it is near a flame, this threshold is decreased to 40%.

Evidence

• Spirit Box
• Ghost Orb
• Freezing Temperatures

Strengths and weaknesses

These are the strengths and weaknesses as listed in the journal:

Strength: Extinguishing a flame can cause an Onryo to attack.

Weakness: When threatened, this ghost will be less likely to hunt.

Strategies

The Onryo's aversion to fire, while a powerful tool against it, does come with risks of its own. However, with sufficient firelights and diligent relighting of them whenever they're extinguished, the Onryo may be kept from hunting indefinitely, which may also serve as identification for the ghost on reduced evidences difficulties. On the other hand, only having one lit firelight within range of it increases the risk of it hunting as a result of blowing it out if said firelight is being re-lit, or other flame sources are being activated nearby. The latter is even riskier if one or more players have died, as the Onryo will blow out firelights in increasing frequency. Players should consider whether having flames lit near the ghost is worth it to prevent hunts, or if they should be disregarded outright and simply play around the Onryo's heightened hunt threshold.

Identification

The Onryo can be tested using several ways, by looking for flame priority, preventing hunts with flames, or the three-flame rule:

• Place one crucifix in the ghost's area, then a firelight directly on top.
  • Note that this is less reliable with Tier II or III crucifixes as they have a range that is greater than or equal to the flame range.
• Place two crucifixes in the ghost's area, then multiple firelights spread out and covering the crucifixes' ranges.

When sanity is deemed low enough, keep the firelights lit in a timely manner.

• If the crucifix is activated without the firelights going out first, then it is not an Onryo.
• If the ghost seems to not hunt with multiple firelights active, or hunts in an area where no firelights are lit, then it may be an Onryo.
• If the ghost blows out a same firelight twice under 20 seconds, then it is almost certainly an Onryo.

The third method is to keep track of the number of flames the ghost blows out, and observe whether the ghost tries to hunt every third flame. Note that igniters and the campfire on the campsites also count towards hunt prevention and starting the ability hunt.

In Sunny Meadows, several lit candles can be found in the chapel, which ghosts can blow out. If the ghost is located there and hunts very early (and is otherwise not a Demon), then it may be an Onryo.

The Onryo can be ruled out if the ghost lights up a fire source such as a fireplace, a campfire, or a candle.

The Onryo is one of two ghosts (the other being the Hantu) for which you can collect all three pieces of evidence without excluding The Mimic. Therefore, before concluding you're dealing with an Onryo, confirm it using the methods mentioned above and/or check whether the ghost leaves Ultraviolet evidence. If it does, you have The Mimic instead.

Trivia

• In Japanese mythology Onryō (怨霊, meaning 'vengeful spirit') are the spirits of people who died bearing some form of hatred for the living. Unlike the game version, they could cause fires and had no specific weakness to it.
• Onryō have been popularised in modern times by the J-Horror genre with TV, films, and books series such as Ju-On (The Grudge) and Ringu (Ring).
• Goryō are normally catagorised under Onryō in most Japanese texts since they are spirits that seek some form of vengence against the living.

History

Early Access
0.4.0	Added Onryo.
0.9.4.1	Smudge Sticks now block the Onryo's hunt ability
	If the Onryo is hunting and blows out a third candle, it will now cancel the Onryo hunt ability and no longer start a hunt after that hunt ends