Gargaros

Gargaros(赤鬼) is a Goketsu Class, Fire-attribute Yo-Kai ranked S. He is also a Boss Yo-Kai and an Oni which inhabits the Oni dimension.

Appearance
True to his name, Gargaros is an ogre-like creature with red skin, a single golden horn on his head, clawed hands an feet and curved fangs. He wears a brown loincloth whtih black trousers below and carries a black kanabo.

Abilities and Powers
As a boss, Gargaros is incredibly powerful, being able to wipe out an entire party of six Yo-Kai if these are very weak.

Origin
Gargaros and other Yo-Kai from the Oni Dimension are based on oni. One of the most common and famous creatures in Japanese folklore, their name is often translated as "demon", but it's kind of a misnomer because their origin differs a lot from that of Western devils. They originally were the invisible forces behind natural disasters (in fact their name derives from on, which is a way to read the kanji for "hidden") and the Chinese character for "ghost" (鬼) came to be identified with them.

Through the influence of Chinese Buddhism, they absorbed traits from rakshasa and preta (see Tantroni) and came to be portrayed as caretakers of Hell under orders of King Enma, or dangerous brigands that terrorize villages. Also from China came the idea of the northeast as the unlucky direction from where spirits enter the human world, called kimon ("oni's gate") in Japanese. This direction corresponds to the Ox and the Tiger of the Chinese zodiac, and from that came the definite image of oni as huge, powerful horned beings that wear tigerskin clothes. They also typically wield massive iron clubs, though it's often humorously pointed out that such powerful creatures don't need a weapon, thus the expression oni ni kanabou ("oni with an iron club") which means "overkill" or "superfluous advantage".

With time, their image softened into that of boisterous brutes that are nonetheless honest to a fault, and enjoy sake, partying and brawling. The best way to impress them is to match them in a show of strength, or proving one's courage and determination.

Name origin
In Japanese, Gargaros and Ogralus' Japanese names mean "red" oni" and "blue oni" respectively, based on the fairytale The Red Oni Who Cried. A fierce-looking but kind-hearted oni wanted to make friends with the people of a village, but despite his best efforts they would run in fear from him. His best friend, a blue oni, proposed an idea: he would pretend to attack the villagers and the red oni would defeat him, thus earning their trust. The plan worked and the red oni finally had friends, but he grew worried about the blue oni, who he hadn't seen in a while. Rushing to his house in the mountains, he only found a letter reading "If you keep being friends with me the humans won't trust you, so I'm leaving. I'm glad you finally made friends." Shocked and dismayed, the red oni cried bitter tears.