The Bow is cursed. You will see nothing but death till the end of your days.
― Tengu Demon, Before Duelling Jin
Tengu Demon was a mysterious monk who guarded the cursed longbow of Uchitsune.
Biography[]
The Tengu Demon was an unnamed warrior monk from Iki island who wore a Tengu demon mask, hence the name. He had been guarding the cursed longbow of the legendary archer, Uchitsune, for some unknown period of time, preventing anyone from finding and being cursed by it.
Jin Sakai hears of the powerful longbow from a musician in Hiyoshi and begins searching for it. He follows a trail of blue hydrangeas, Uchitsune's favorite flowers, which lead him to his tomb. As he exits the tomb, he is confronted by the Tengu Demon for the first time. The monk, standing on top of the tomb, fires flaming arrows near him as a warning shot, telling him to stop searching for the bow as it only leads to death, before leaving.
Sakai still continues his search, leading him to a small island filled with blue hydrangeas from a painting of the island which he had found in the tomb. A cave in the island contained a painting of a mountain in Hiyoshi, surrounded by the same flowers. As he leaves to find the mountain, the Tengu Demon confronts him a second time, again firing warning shots from a cliff and telling him to leave the bow alone or Tsushima will fall.
A persistent Sakai returns to Hiyoshi and follows the hydrangeas on a mountain to a shrine, where he finally finds the legendary cursed longbow. However, the moment he picks it up, smoke appears and he is sent in a trance.
As he awakens, he is confronted by the Tengu Demon, with the environment having taken a blood red hue and a large murder of crows flying in circles around them, creating an arena. The monk tells Sakai that now he will see nothing but death till he dies. He then engages Sakai in a duel. After a brief fight, Jin finally defeats the Tengu Demon, who falls on the ground, dead.
As Jin wakes up and claims the longbow, the Tengu Demon is nowhere in sight.
Trivia[]
- Despite the Demon's claims, there are no adverse effects to obtaining the longbow, and there is no difference in gameplay if the player chooses not to pursue the Mythic Tale
- The demon's outfit strongly resembles that of a monk, however he opts to use a katana instead of the monks usual weapon being the Naginata
- The demon's tengu mask is used by a unique Oni enemy in Ghost of Tsushima: Legends, referred to a crow demon or Tengu by the player. It uses a spear as its melee weapon and displays the ability to fire off a volley of crows, similar to the ones circling the battlefield during Jin's duel with the Tengu Demon.
- The Demon's mask can be found on Iki Island.
- In Ghost Of Tsushima: Legends, Uchitsune's spirit tells that it was an actual Tengu demon that had plagued the land and the one he had killed. This somewhat explains the monk's mask choice. In the Mythic Tale, it was simply referred to as a "winged demon".
- In a record of Iki it is implied that the Demon was a victim of The Eagle's poison and chose to protect Uchitsune's longbow after seeing visions of doom to whomever pursued it.