#pishacha

Pisaca - Day 8 (Request!)

Race: Spirit/Haunt

Alignment: Dark-Chaos

March 28th, 2024

Today's demon of the day, requested by @vinegar-on-main, is the man-eating demon of Hindu mythology, Pisaca!

These flesh devouring beasts are generally believed to have been created by Brahma, or alternatively, as the children of one of many deities, such as Daksa or Kashyapa and Krodhavasa, or even being created from the very concept of anger in Hinduism, known as Krodha. Wherever they originate from, though, Pisaca are generally seen as manifestations of evil itself, being living embodiments of anger and anguish.

Pisaca are typically depicted haunting cemeteries and cremation grounds in the dead of night, feasting on corpses and possessing the ability to change their appearance to whatever they wish. Typically, they will use this ability to lure humans away to their feasting grounds, only to make a gory feast of the poor man fooled by them.

Pisaca are seen as being on the same level as Rakshasa as well as other such demons of Hindu myth, and on top of their shapeshifting, they can freely possess a human at will- the human, now possessed, will suffer from insanity and physical ailments, and this was likely used to explain things like people suffering mental breakdowns- hence, a Mantra could drive a Pisaca away, maybe used to bring that person back to their senses.

These demons, on account of their shapeshifting ability, have no real agreed upon common form that can be referred to in their design outside of differing artworks, but of all things, the SMT demon design actually shares a lot of similarities with Pisaca, an enemy type in Dark Souls!

The tendrils and snakelike bodies, as well as layered scales, give way to that idea in my head. I'm unsure as to if this is a coincidence or if Nakamura and Kaneko traded notes, so to speak, but regardless, it's very interesting.

I'm actually not sure as to where the factoid in SMT about dying in 9 months after seeing a Pisaca comes from- in Hindu myth, pishacha, the actual spelling of pisaca, are very vaguely defined outside of being spirits brought about by anger that eat corpses and hang out in graveyards.

The appearance of them in SMT is also somewhat inaccurate, though take this with a grain of salt, as I was only able to find this as a depiction of a pishacha.

They are described as having bulging veins and red, swollen eyes, something which can be somewhat seen in the picture above, and are generally a lot more humanoid. Again, though, they will typically adopt the form of an animal or human, and depictions are scarce, given the relative obscurity of this demon.

Today’s anime cat of the day is:

Image © Traci Shepard, accessed at Arcane Beasts and Critters here

[Commissioned by @abominationimperatrix​. It seems to me that India’s pishacha shares a lot of similarities with the ghoul. It’s well known that the preta, another corpse eater with origins in India, traveled north into China and then from there into Thailand, Japan and other east Asian countries under various guises (gaki, jikininki). I wonder if the pishacha went west? Or if there was some Indo-European legendary corpse eating monster whose various folkloric descendants include some or all of these.]

Rakshasa, Pishacha CR 7 LE Outsider (native) This creature is humanoid, about a head shorter than a man. It has leathery gray skin, tusks in its mouth and oversized claws. Its hair is bushy and matted, and smells faintly of rot.

All rakshasas are wicked, but the pishachas may be the most depraved. They delight in violating taboos, particularly dietary taboos and those surrounding ritual cleanliness. They use their spells and shapeshifting to get others to break these taboos as well, usually through deception, and then revel in the feelings of disgust and shame that this provokes. Many pishachas spend their time among the dead, desecrating burial grounds and eating corpses. Although they have no power over the undead, they are frequently on good terms with local ghouls.

A pishacha usually fights with their teeth and claws, the better to feel the agony of their victims. They use their spells primarily as a way to soften up or distract opponents—few pishachas care much for offensive magic. Their bite carries a nasty weakening disease, and many pishachas go out of their way to bite as many victims as possible. Their signature ability involves creating hallucinations of disgusting and depraved acts in a single target, assaulting their senses with the things that disgust them most. Pishachas are typical bullies, in that they prefer to fight enemies of inferior ability, and often flee if someone can challenge them as an equal.

Although pishachas relish breaking taboos and laws, they are as lawful as any other rakshasa. Rather, they obey only their own hierarchy and respect their own leaders. Pishachas study the customs of the places they inhabit, the better to find ways to pervert them, and may act as legal counsel to more powerful rakshasas looking for loopholes for their own ends. They may also act as foot soldiers in rakshasa armies.

A pishacha stands around five feet tall in their natural form. They often wear jewelry made with bones and animal corpses.

In Hindu mythology, Pishachas are flesh-eating demons, believed by some to be the creations of Brahma. They are depicted with dark, veiny skin and bulging eyes.

Pishachas hunt in darkness, and are said to haunt cremation grounds. They can change their shape, and also become invisible. They also have the ability to possess people. They are said to speak their own language, Paiśāci.

Image source.

Monster master list.

Caln post