History Main / StringyHairedGhostgirl

* ''WebOriginal/GetsuyoubiNoTawawa'' features one, Sada-chan, haunting the home of a video rental store worker, but, like every other woman in that setting, she has massive assets[[note]]biggest of the cast, in fact[[/note]] that actually prevent her from getting out of the man's small screen. Initially treated as a parody of Sadako herself, we find out that [[spoiler: she's anything but a malicious ghost, being nothing but a sweet girl with a tragic backstory and just wants to be loved again, even fulfilling her promise of having sex with the guy she haunts as a reward for getting her a bigger screen...though she finds the hard way that he's got a far bigger libido than she expected. Also, thanks to becoming ProgressivelyPrettier since her first comic, her [[LongHairIsFeminine long hair is treated as beautiful and willowy]]]].

* In ''VideoGame/SpookysHouseOfJumpScares'' there's Specimen [[FourIsDeath 4]], which is hinted to be either the ghost of a girl named Matsuri, or a similar entity from an urban legend. Notable in that she ''[[ImAHumanitarian eats]]'' the player if she kills them.

* The ''VideoGame/NancyDrew'' game ''Shadow at the Water's Edge'' has such a ghost haunting the Ryokan Hiei. She tries to '''drown you'''.

* Yoshie from ''VideoGame/DeathForest''.

* ''WesternAnimation/CorpseBride has Emily as this appearance. She's definitely a tragic CuteGhostGirl more than a vengeful one. While her hair is a dark blue color, [[EtherealWhiteDress She sports a tattered white wedding dress]] which is a key part of this type of trope.

* In ''VideoGame/SpookysHouseOfJumpScares'' has Specimen [[FourIsDeath 4]], which is hinted to be either the ghost of a girl named Matsuri, or a similar entity from an urban legend. Notable in that she ''[[ImAHumanitarian eats]]'' the player if she kills them.

* ''Music/TouhouShinkaiAwakeningDeepMythos'': Hayako Denki, the mid-boss of Stage 5 and the end-boss of the Extra Stage, is a young ghost girl appearing out of a floating TV screen, akin to her inspiration from ''Literature/TheRing''. The revamped version of her song featuring her full color design furthers the connection by making her hair pure black, her outfit white, and her skin pale.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheStrangeChores'': Que, is a CuteGhostGirl version of this, possessing a mischievous, playful, and spirited personality but otherwise being fairly harmless.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheStrangeChores'': Oene of the main characters, Que, is a CuteGhostGirl version of this, possessing a mischievous, playful, and spirited personality but otherwise being fairly harmless.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheStrangeChores'': Que is a harmless CuteGhostGirl version of this.
* Akiko from ''WesternAnimation/{{Wishfart}}'' is a CuteGhostGirl version. She's (for the most part) pretty friendly and harmless, if something of a troublemaker.

* ''Manga/AyakashiTriangle'' features a ''kubire oni'', a VengefulGhost created by people who killed themselves that tries to subjects others to PsychicAssistedSuicide. [[OtherworldlyAndSexuallyAmbiguous It's too emaciated to identify by gender]], but wears a white robe and has long, stringy black hair. It is described as an ''onryō'', but in-series the term is used for {{Vengful Ghost}}s in general (regardless of appearance).

* ''Manga/DuskMaidenOfAmnesia'': [[CuteGhostGirl Yuuko Kanoe]] is an [[GhostAmnesia amnesiac]] ghost who wanders the halls of the school she died in. She's bubbly, flirty, and [[BoyMeetsGhoul smitten with the protagonist]], the first person who's seen her in the decades since her death. Then there's [[spoiler:Shadow Yuuko, [[EnemyWithout the embodied hatred and resentment she split off out of disgust with herself]],]] who is a true ''onryō'' sporting a SlasherSmile with ScaryTeeth and glowing [[RedEyesTakeWarning crimson]] eyes.

[[folder:]]
* ''TouhoutShinkaiAwakeningDeepMythos'': Hayako Denki, the mid-boss of Stage 5 and the end-boss of the Extra Stage, is a young ghost girl appearing out of a floating TV screen, akin to her inspiration from ''Literature/TheRing''. The revamped version of her song featuring her full color design furthers the connection by making her hair pure black, her outfit white, and her skin pale.
[[/folder]]

[[quoteright:280:[[Film/TheRing https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sadoko_61.png]]]]

In most media, the onryo has no one in particular to seek vengeance on, rather inflicting it on everyone in the area.

* ''Manga/GhostHunt'' naturally features a case centered around an onryo.

* Enma Ai from ''Anime/HellGirl'' is definitely ''onryo''-inspired (not to mention Sadako-inspired, particularly in her use of modern technology). She's less scary most of the time because she doesn't obscure her face (she goes for the HimeCut instead), and being the protagonist, she's onscreen a lot. But beneath that unchanging, impassive expression, she's hiding deep bitterness and rage -- when she loses her cool, it's the scariest thing you'll ever see. [[spoiler:She began as a stringy haired ghost girl, and just after she got her revenge hell drafted her as a vengeance demon. So apparently hell has a dress code.]]

* In ''Anime/HikikoUrbanLegendStory'', the titular character is an onryo that moves scary fast when she wants to.

* ''Manga/KimiNiTodoke'' deals with Sawako Kuronuma, a girl whose onryo-like appearance and intimidating manner of speaking leaves her alienated from her students. Many of her classmates even mistakenly call her [[Film/{{Ringu}} Sadako]]. In truth, she's a very sweet girl whose attempts to overcome her shy nature are misread as threats or curses.

* A character very similar to Sadako, Urabe from ''Manga/MysteriousGirlfriendX'', has short hair, but she is otherwise very clearly based on an onryo -- although she is a (not) perfectly normal human girl.

* ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'' plays around with this; CuteGhostGirl Sayo just wants to make friends, but all her attempts to communicate with people are horribly misunderstood, and Asakura takes a {{Spooky Photograph|s}} of her, leading the class to assume that she's an onryo (although with white hair). It gets to the point that they even call in two professional exorcists to take care of the problem before they finally figure out that she doesn't want to hurt anyone.

* In ''Anime/ReKan'' the characters make a haunted house for the SchoolFestival, and Narumi is disguised as a Onryo. Since she is terrified of ghosts, she is not too pleased about being dressed like one.

* ''Manga/TheUnpopularMangakaAndTheHelpfulOnryoSan'': Onryo-san's hair is usually pretty normal-looking, but she otherwise fits the description of an onryo. The horror movie she and Senai watch (and she's [[HorrifyingTheHorror afraid of]]) has a more conventional one.
* Sunako Nakahara from ''Manga/TheWallflower'' was originally portrayed as an onryo-like {{Hikikomori}} who hated going out in the light, but was really BeautifulAllAlong.

* Also riding the original wave of onryo-centric horror films is ''Film/DarkWater'' (directed by Hideo Nakata, director of ''Film/{{Ringu}}'').

* In 1971's ''Let's Scare Jessica To Death'', a pale young woman with long hair in a gauzy white dress frequently appears to Jessica, presumably as a warning of impending danger.
* Sadako Yamamura from ''Film/{{Ringu}}'' (and her American counterpart Samara Morgan from ''Film/TheRing'') is singlehandedly responsible for [[TropeCodifier making onryo popular again]].
* And crossover movie ''Film/SadakoVsKayako'' features the iconic onryo of J-Horror colliding.

The long-haired onryo isn't just seen in Japanese culture. Similar variations occur in other Asian countries as well, like China, Thailand, Vietnam, and Korea.

* In ''Literature/TheGirlFromTheWell'', the ghost Okiku is stated to be the in-universe origin of this trope and one of the most famous aside from Oiwa, being the subject of the folktale "Banchō Sarayashiki" and the inspiration for ''Literature/{{Ringu}}''.
* [[spoiler:Kuyou Suou]] in ''Literature/HaruhiSuzumiya''. [[spoiler:An interface, similar to [[TheStoic Nagato]], but ''worse''. Apart from being an onryo, she actually seems to be invisible to unimportant persons.]]
* Juliet, David's dead sister, from ''Haunted 1998''.
* ''The Loop Trilogy'' by Koji Suzuki features Sadako Yamamura as one. While serving as the inspiration for the Japanese ''Film/{{Ringu}}'' film, the first book has a few major differences, while Spiral and Loop continue to expand the story.

* A Spanish candid camera show [[https://youtu.be/yZAXQHgZNRc decided to test people's reactions to this trope]] in RealLife. HilarityEnsues. Ditto for [[https://youtu.be/1r0fUYdcxtc this]] Brazilian show.
* Rosa's ghost takes this form in ''Series/AltaMar.'' [[spoiler: Or rather, the woman hired by Cassandra to play Rosa's ghost as part of an elaborate revenge plan.]]

* ''Series/{{Community}}'': In the fourth season Halloween episode, Jeff and Annie decide to pair up their costumes, with Jeff being [[WalkingShirtlessScene a conveniently shirtless boxer]] and Annie being a sexy ring girl. Unfortunately, she thought he meant the girl from ''Film/TheRing''.

** ''Series/KamenRiderDouble'': The Virus Dopant is an onryo in all but name: a woman who was hit by a car and put into a coma, but took a dose of PsychoSerum at the very last moment that manifests her mental energy as a vengeful spirit capable of killing her victims with a TouchOfDeath. Her psychic manifestation has much stringier hair, pale skin, and conveniently she was already wearing white.
** In the ''Series/KamenRiderZiO'' Hyper Battle DVD, the four main characters go through a haunted house. Tsukuyomi turns out to love pranking the others, because they mistake her for an onryo once and then she does it on purpose, ''again''. Helps that she has really long black hair and is always wearing white.
* The last episode in the ''Series/MastersOfHorror'' series, "Dream Cruise".

* Despite being based off of a spirit of Germanic folklore, Nyx from ''Series/OnceUponATimeInWonderland'' bares a stronger resemblance to [[Literature/{{Ringu}} Sadako]] if nothing else. She emerges out of a well, she has long, unkempt dark hair, she looks like a water-logged corpse, she wears a white dress, she curses people and she is probably the ''scariest'' thing in the franchise as a whole.

** Bloody Mary from the fifth episode of season one.
** Used again in the seventh season with a "Shojo" -- the actual creature from Japanese mythology was pretty much a satyr, but the show re-imagined it as this trope.
* ''Series/TheYoungOnes'' had a "[[https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.businessinsider.com.au/ben-elton-knew-nothing-about-the-young-ones-creepy-fifth-housemate-2016-6/amp fifth roommate]]" hidden in the background of some scenes before this trope was popular. WordOfGod says she showed up to a house party and never went home.

* First and foremost is the original onryo herself, Oiwa from the ''Theatre/YotsuyaKaidan''. And yes, it is just as bad as you can imagine it.

** Noroko's story is also that of a traditional onryo; by completing her Story Mode, we learn that, in life, [[spoiler:she was sacrificed (and ''possibly'' raped) by a man, that bathed a doll in her blood, for an unknown purpose (although it seems he was the leader of a cult). Her spirit was locked inside the doll, and it only awoke years later, when the heart of the King of the Other World was stolen. She now searches for the heart, hoping to use its power to find peace in death.]]

* ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'' added a screaming ''onryo'' to its menagerie of monsters in ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaOrderOfEcclesia''. The English name for this enemy is "Banshee", which fits well enough.

* The [[SinisterSubway subway level]] of ''VideoGame/CondemnedCriminalOrigins'' (a game developed by the same people who made ''F.E.A.R.'') has several female enemies that look like onryo, with black hair, pale skin, blank eyes, and tattered white dresses. They're not real ghosts-just victims of the HatePlague affecting Metro City, and their appearance may simply be a result of living in the dark and filthy confines of the subway tunnels.
* Sachiko Shinozaki from ''VideoGame/CorpseParty'' plays with this. In the original PC-98 version [[spoiler: she was a pretty typical Onryo spirit aside from being a child in red instead of a woman in white]]. In the Heavenly Host saga she was the SoleSurvivor of a multiple-murder incident in the titular school. In-game she’s a helpful, if distant, CuteGhostGirl. [[spoiler:Then [[TheReveal it turns out]] ''she'' was [[EvilAllAlong the true murderer]]. And ''then'' it turns out she and her mother were killed long before by the principal, corrupting her with hatred. And ''then'' it turns out she [[LiteralSplitPersonality split up into two halves]], the ''good half'' wears the white dress, and the evil half is the vessel of the [[GeniusLoci school]]’s will...]] [[KudzuPlot It only gets more complicated from there.]]

* Faith in the video game ''VideoGame/DreamfallTheLongestJourney'' is probably based on onryo. Though, to her defense, she never hurts anyone intentionally or knowingly, just wanting to live on.

* A number of the enemies in ''VideoGame/FatalFrame'' are onryo.

** The Box Woman from the second game, though she's an [[http://bcl.rpen.us/zerowiki/index.php?title=Ubume Ubume]] rather than an onryo.

* S-Ko, the leader of the ghosts possessing Zappa in ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear'' is an onryo as well as an obvious ShoutOut to Sadako.

* The ''Videogame/KillerInstinct'' reboot has DLC character Hisako, who is the ghost of a samurai's daughter who is reanimated after her grave was disturbed. She fights with a [[NaginatasAreFeminine naginata]] and can do things such as possessing an opponent in order to make their bodies contort in painful ways. She's also rather unique as far as onryo go, as she's actually ''benevolent'' and serves as her village's GuardianEntity with her rage directed solely at those who threaten it or defile her grave.

* Along with many other mythical creatures and monsters, ''VideoGame/MuramasaTheDemonBlade'' also has onryo. One in particular tells you that she watches over her son in death, and is particularly busty to boot. Another is too frightened of a dark path to her husband's new home to haunt him after he remarried.
** In the second DLC chapter for the PS Vita rerelease, Gonbe's wife Otae comes back as an onryo to aid her husband on his quest.

* The antagonist of the MobilePhoneGame ''Nowhere'', [[spoiler:Emily/Catherine]], is a typical onryo with a grudge.
* ''VideoGame/TheNightWayHome'': [[PlayerCharacter Rina]] spends the game being chased around by an onryo in a [[SailorFuku Japanese schoolgirl outfit]] with really long legs.

* The onryo is an enemy type in ''VideoGame/TheSecretWorld'''s Tokyo area, though they don't necessarily fit the details (for one thing, many of them are male), instead serving as Tokyo's version of the spirit enemies found elsewhere in the game. However, Sachiko, a ghost you encounter in the Fear Nothing Foundation building, most definitely does. A member of the group, Sachiko was killed as part of their attempts to brainwash her into a loyal follower of [[PathOfInspiration the Morninglight]], and she now haunts the building's third floor where most of the nasty stuff took place, killing everything in sight -- including you if you don't run and hide in time. Any attempt to fight her ends swiftly with a OneHitKill attack from [[UnwinnableByDesign an enemy with a seven-figure health bar and resistance to all stun, impairment, and debuff attacks]].

* Early in ''VideoGame/ShadowHearts1'', the party is briefly trapped in a village haunted by an onryo named Li Li.
* In ''VideoGame/SilentHill4'', the second trip to the Subway World features an onryo (specifically, the ghost of Cynthia Velasquez) that stalks the player throughout the level and can't be killed, only immobilized with one of a very limited number of items.
* Spoofed in ''VideoGame/{{Skullgirls}}'', Filia can be seen numerous times dressed as Sadako from ''Film/{{Ringu}}'' [[http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/skullgirls/images/d/df/SG_Halloween.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20120607202251/ in promotional artwork]] and [[http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/skullgirls/images/a/a3/Filia_on_TV.png/revision/latest?cb=20140715132514/ on one of Peacock's blockbuster moves]]. Also invoked in one of the NPC girls from Lab 8.

* ''VideoGame/SuperMarioFusionRevival'' has Onryos all over the place in World 4 (Di Yu, the Chinese hell). They behave like Boos, except slower.

* [[BigBad The Ghost]] from ''VisualNovel/TheLetter'' is one of these. [[spoiler:However, while inspired by such Japanese horror films as ''Literature/TheRing'' and ''Film/{{Juon}}'', Takako herself is a {{Justified|Trope}} example. Takako was originally just a normal ghost, and the only person she hated was [[HateSink Charlotte]]. Takako does not become a traditional ''onryo''[[note]]who lashes out against ''everyone'' no matter how kind the ghost was in life [[/note]] until after she [[MentalFusion fuses]] with Charlotte.]]

* Early in ''VideoGame/ShadowHearts'', the party is briefly trapped in a village haunted by an onryo named Li Li.

* ''[[VideoGame/FancyIsland]]'' has a wide variety of these.

* The ''Videogame/KillerInstinct'' reboot has DLC character Hisako, who is the ghost of a samurai's daughter who is reanimated after her grave was disturbed. She fights with a [[BladeOnAStick naginata]] and can do things such as possessing an opponent in order to make their bodies contort in painful ways. She's also rather unique as far as onryo go, as she's actually ''benevolent'' and serves as her village's GuardianEntity with her rage directed solely at those who threaten it or defile her grave.

* [[spoiler: Kuyou Suou]] in ''LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya''. [[spoiler: An interface, similar to [[TheStoic Nagato]], but ''worse''. Apart from being an onryo, she actually seems to be invisible to unimportant persons.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Coraline}}'' has the beldam, in her TRUE form. [[UncannyValley She appears as a normal woman with button eyes but transforms into a "grudge-like ghost"]] It's not confirmed that she is entirely a ghost.

* In the video for Jason Derulo's song "Cheyenne," the titular woman is based on this, with a few notable differences in appearance: instead of a white dress and stringy hair, she wears a red dress and has long, thick braids. However, her [[UncannyValley mannerisms]] and [[WomanScorned motivations]] clearly invoke the image.

* ''VideoGame/{{Roblox}}'' with [[https://www.roblox.com/games/6243699076/The-Mimic The Mimic.]] Almost all of the monsters surprisingly follow this trope. One of the remarkable ghosts that appear is either [[BigBad Hiachi Or Sama]]. While not authentic ghosts, they are inspired by this trope for sure. [ItMakesSenseInContext Considering the game being based off classic japanese urban legends.]]

%%* Reiko in ''VideoGame/{{Calling}}''. (Zero- Context: Only a character name)

This trope, while a staple in Asian media for a long time, also became insanely popular in Western media during TheNoughties and early in TheNewTens. Compare with BedsheetGhost, UndeathlyPallor, and {{Yukionna}}. Contrast with CuteGhostGirl [[note]] [[CreepyCute Though there]] [[DarkIsNotEvil can certainly]] [[LightIsNotGood be overlap]][[/note]]. Usually comes with a side serving of ScreamerTrailer. See also UndeadChild and VengefulGhost.

[[folder:Light Novels]]
* [[spoiler: Kuyou Suou]] in ''LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya''. [[spoiler: An interface, similar to [[TheStoic Nagato]], but ''worse''. Apart from being an onryo, she actually seems to be invisible to unimportant persons.]]
[[/folder]]

* ''Manga/DuskMaidenOfAmnesia'': [[CuteGhostGirl Yuuko Kanoe]] is the amnesiac ghost of a girl who wanders the halls of the school she died in. She's bubbly, friendly, and is [[BoyMeetsGhoul the love interest of the protagonist]]. Then there's [[spoiler:Shadow Yuuko, [[EnemyWithout the manifestation of her repressed hatred and rage]],]] who is a true ''onryō'' sporting a SlasherSmile with ScaryTeeth and [[RedEyesTakeWarning crimson]] GlowingEyelightsOfUndeath.

* ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'':

* ''Manga/AyakashiTriangle'' features a ''kubire oni'', a VengefulGhost created by people who killed themselves that tries to subjects others to PsychicAssistedSuicide. [[OtherworldlyAndSexuallyAmbiguous It's too emaciated to identify by gender]], but wears a white robe and has long, stringy black hair.