Dragon that turns into a truck = optional

[jane_drew_]

Okay, folks who know more about Japanese folklore and so on than me: is it a common belief that a human being who kills a demon/supernatural being (oni) will in turn become an oni?

I mean, obviously, this isn't going to be the case in ALL of the stories, but is it something that does happen or can happen?

Comments

[lonegamer78]

Some stories goes that if a human kills over a hundred, or a thousand youkai, they turn into one themselves (Asian myths love their usage of hundred/thousand/ten-thousand). Pretty much the "they who fight monsters" phrase in the Western world. In Saiyuki (the Japanese manga, not the original Journey to the West), Cho Hakkai was originally human in his back story, but he slaughtered a thousand youkai and became one himself.

[jane_drew_]

Yeah, that was the parallel I was thinking of. The reason for the question is basically something else with an ambiguous ending that I'm trying to make sense of (and by "make sense of," I clearly mean "find reasons why a certain character is not in fact dead/imminently doomed"). Long story.

[lonegamer78]

One variation has that being covered in the blood of X-number of youkai killed is another necessary component of turning a human into a demon, not just killing them.