Oni

Larger Than Life

A magical species of giant humanoids, Oni are a legendary group which many consider to be lost to time. While most modern ideas of the ancient Giant Kingdom tell of it as if it were one homogenous nation of one species, that could not be further from the truth, as the world was still incredibly diverse, which is exemplified through the Oni.
Oni are a type of Giant, said by some to be a different ethnicity like how Dark Elves are to High Elves, while others see them as a different subspecies to Giants, like how Orcs are to Elves. The latter is likely a more accurate description.

Oni in History

Oni have been scrubbed from most of history. In Giant society, they were ostracized for their great power, as the Storm Giants feared what would happen if Oni sought their power.
However, there is one famous Oni who made his mark in Giant history enough that he is still remembered long after the fall of the Giant Kingdom.

Sigge

Sigge was a powerful Oni warrior who was taken in by the royal family when he was a boy, as they wanted to prove to their people that they looked out for even the lowest class of Giant.

Sigge by Jarhed

The boy known as Sigge was chosen because he happened to be born around where the Queen was walking when she decided this.
Raised alongside immense wealth, Sigge was treated with great kindness, as he was paraded about the Giant Kingdom. But he never did see his birth parents. Whenever he asked, the royals would say they were taken care of elsewhere.
Eventually, when the King died and another Giant, Gunne (who had been raised almost like Sigge's brother) ascended to the throne, Sigge asked if he could learn about his real parents.
Gunne hesitated, but allowed it. He went with Sigge to a ghetto in one of the fringe settlements of the Kingdom, where many Oni had been segregated back into. Sigge found his people living in poverty under oppressive rule, and demanded to see his parents.
But the new King told him that he brought Sigge there to see what was left of them. His parents were brought here the day Sigge was taken away, and they were killed so that Sigge would never find them. Gunne wanted to show his brother that he was different, that he wanted to make amends with the boy he was raised alongside and fix things with him. To rule together.
Sigge could not accept that. His parents were executed, his people locked away, far from sight of everyone else, but mostly him. The boy that had the position to change things... he had never known how much his people were suffering. Apologies were meaningless then. Gunne had no desire to change the system... he only wanted to make Sigge happy. Maybe he'd listen if Sigge asked him to fix this, but he wouldn't do it because he thought something bad was happening. The odds were high that Gunne, too, feared the power of the Oni.
A battle erupted in that land. Brother against brother, as Sigge lashed out at Gunne. Sigge had claims to the throne, he was raised royal after all. If he took down Gunne right there and then, he could take power and fix things, give his people the lives they deserved.
But Sigge had not been trained during his stay with the royal family. He was only a symbolic figure, never meant to rise to be the strong Oni they feared. He was defeated, but Gunne could not kill him. He could not hurt his brother Instead, Gunne exiled Sigge to a distant land, the southern reaches of Elone, around the Uncharted Desert.
There, he met the Green Dragon Lord, Fraeton the Usurper, who saw the upset Oni and decided that he could help him. Fraeton trained Sigge, helping him unlock his third eye and grow strong enough to return to face Gunne.

Fritjof by Jarhed

Sigge fought Gunne once more, killing his brother and demanding freedom for the Oni. But the Oni had been rallied by Gunne, who convinced Sigge that the rebellious Oni intended to hurt them. This revolutionary figure was killed by the very people he wanted to save, and the Oni were thus given a more equal place in Giant society for taking down the evil Sigge.
His place in history is a complicated one. A hero of the people who was made into a great villain, he is the most famous Oni in history. But he is not responsible for the Oni's place in modern society.

Fritjof

Fritjof was an Oni living in an age after Sigge. All known tales say he was called strange for admiring the other historical Oni, and in all likelihood Fritjof is the reason there still are records of Sigge.

Biology

Oni are said to come in a variety of vivid colors, including red, blue, yellow, and black, with horns protruding from their heads.

Horns

The horns of an Oni are said to hold a great cultural meaning to them, though much of that symbolism has been lost to time.
One idea that has been suggested by modern scholars is that the curvature of the horns would be compared to the patterns of the stars in the sky, and that each star held a meaning to the Giants (there were very few stars at the time of the Giants, as they are each souls in the heaven of Tsukuyomi).
Depending on which stars their horns aligned with, when standing atop their homes at a certain point, that would determine what that Oni was meant to do. Some were destined for great success, others for strength or knowledge. The horns told all.
There are many possible connections drawn between Oni horns and those of Devils, with speculation that Satanael had something to do with the creation of Oni.
In Giant culture, a popular stance was that Satanael created Oni to contort and destroy the Giant people.
Most people since the fall of the Giant Kingdom agree that Satanael likely felt left out and admired the power of the Giants. As he was known to often try and one-up the other Gods. Oni are a clear indication of that.

Third Eye

It was not possible for every Oni to unlock their third eye, but it was a fairly common practice with many Oni for them to train themselves at an early age to unlock a stage of mastery with their chi (which was easier due to their natural affinity for magic and martial prowess) allowing them to open a third eye on their foreheads.
This is not exclusive to Oni, but more Oni have ever reached this stage of mastery than any other species in history, and most depictions of Oni include a third eye.

Aces

It has been rare throughout all of history for anyone to be an Ace, meaning they can utilize every basic natural elemental affinity of magic. Generally, only three are born a generation all over the world.
Legend says, however, that every Oni was an Ace, capable of using each element at will. Thus, they were the most magically talented of all Giants. However, this was not the limit of their magic.

Oni Force

All Giants had a great connection to their mana, but that was different for Oni.
Oni's magic often enhanced their already naturally immense strength, imbuing it with magic so that every physical attack they landed was covered in an elemental blast or coating of some kind.
Many compare this to Orcs and their Orcish strength, but Oni Force does not just boost their strength, but instead allowed for greater technique work and complimented the skill of great Oni warriors. If one knew the best element to use with each hit, they would be unstoppable, and since they could use every element, they often were.

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Born in the same ghetto that Sigge had visited, hundreds of years later, Fritjof saw the remnants of what it once was, now a thriving neighborhood with Giants of all kinds, but with the Oni living in immense poverty with no way out. Deciding he wanted no part in the Giant Kingdom, where Oni were treated as second class citizens (instead of third-class as they were with Sigge), Fritjof began rallying other Oni to his side, building boats to carry them far away.
The King, again, tried to stop the Oni from living a better life, but Fritjof had no desire to fight as Sigge had done. He trained his whole life, but when the King rallied his soldiers to fight, Fritjof stood by his ships, hands on both hips, and dared one of the soldiers to fight him. Dared them to strike one of his people or his ships. He said he would not fight them, but that he dared them to see what would happen if any of them had the audacity to want to provoke an Oni who had enough strength to face them unafraid.
Not a single Giant dared to strike. Fritjof loaded his people onto the ships and sailed away. There are remnants of them all over the world, with some having gone to Moroza and others deep underground.
But it is said most ended up in the Abral Archipelago, where they made their greatest mark on the world. It is said some still survive in that nation now, though they are considered Yōkai, strange unexplainable creatures who, mostly, stay away from civilization. Kamejin legends say that Oni in the Abrals eat people and hide in the mountains, but this does not line up with ancient accounts of Oni. Either the Oni in the Abrals devolved after Fritjof led them there, or something happened to them there.

Takesada Toshio by Jarhed

It is said that the inherent magic of the Oni, and how their strength can be imbued with magic, was the inspiration for the legendary blades of the Abral Islands, the Ken no Yoso.
The Oni were such a threat to the residents of the Abrals that the greatest Kamejin hero, Takesada Toshio, the Sword-Saint, is famous for ridding the islands of most of their Oni inhabitants, who made the land largely inhospitable and dangerous. His blade Ishigiri, the Will Killer, is the most deadly blade in history because of how many Oni it killed, and this makes Toshio the legend among his people. The Oni were incredibly strong, and Toshio alone stood against them.

Oni of Elone

There have been, at different times, Oni who seem to appear almost out of nowhere in the continent of Elone.
Most notable among these Elone Oni is an Oni said to reside in Ealla, the bardic village of Draconians. For hundreds of years, an Oni has resided in Ealla, his name being Gudmund, but he is not always there. Occasionally, Gudmund disappears, and is gone for years on end. He is often away when Ealla most needs him, but when he returns, he always has new songs. After all, he is a bard as well, and loves the people of Ealla, even if he is rarely around for much of their lives.
It is unknown where these Oni come from. Some believe it to be that they are all living, invisible, around the continent, while others say that Fritjof or another Oni found a way to bring them to another dimension, where they are safe from persecution and can live freely. These Oni of Elone, then, are either brought there willingly or accidentally, and end up exactly where they had fled from.