Line #31 Characters/NoroiTheCurse


1	[[folder:Masafumi Kobayashi]]
2	A middle-aged OccultDetective and documentarian, Kobayashi investigates supernatural mysteries with his cameraman Miyajmima. He is a loving husband to his wife Keiko, but is driven by a need to learn the truth behind his cases, no matter how scary it is. A number of unrelated cases all weave together, putting Kobayashi on a path that ultimately leads to his disappearance, as stated in the film's prologue.
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4	* AlwaysSaveTheGirl: Spends most of the film trying to save Kana and Marika from Kagutaba.
5	* AudienceSurrogate: Shared with Miyajima, Kobayashi guides the viewers through the mystery and is often scared and spooked on their behalf.
6	* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Kobayashi's motto is that he wants to know the truth, no matter ''how'' scary. His latest (and last) case leads him dark a terrifying path of [[OurDemonsAreDifferent demons,]] [[DemonicPossession possession]], [[EldritchAbomination ancient evil]], [[BodyHorror animal mutilation]], and [[IAmAHumanitarian cannibalism]], and everyone connected to it either dies, disappears, or suffers greatly.
7	* CruelAndUnusualDeath: [[spoiler: Keiko is possessed by Kagutaba and sets herself on fire.]]
8	* {{Determinator}}: Though soft-spoken, kind, and patient, Kobayashi is relentless in his pursuit of the supernatural.
9	* DontGoIntoTheWoods: Goes into the woods where Shimokage used to stand, coming across the old Kagutaba shrine. It's all downhill from there.
10	* FatBestFriend: To Miyajima.
11	* FriendToAllLivingThings: Very kind and courteous to everyone from children, to weird shut-ins, to mental patients. However, his kindness has limits, breaking into Junko's house in the third act and defends his family from a crazed Hori.
12	* InUniverseCamera: Takes on the role of a cameraman during the third act.
13	* NeverFoundTheBody: Kobayashi is reported to have disappeared at the start of the film, and remains missing by the end. [[spoiler: May or may not still be alive judging by the video camera sent to his office in his name following his disappearance.]]
14	* OccultDetective: Runs a investigation company based in paranormal cases, which appears to be quite stable. Despite looking and dressing like a forty-year old librarian, Kobayashi is an observant, thorough, and skilled detective. He specialises in ghost encounters primarily and supernatural phenomena.
15	* PapaWolf: To Kana and Junko's unnamed son.
16	* ParanormalInvestigation: His profession and the focus of his documentaries.
17	* ParentalSubstitute: For Junko's son. [[spoiler: That doesn't go so well.]]
18	* TheStoic: Remains mostly calm and composed around spooky things, but will naturally be frightened if things become too terrifying.
19	[[/folder]]
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21	[[folder:Miyajima]]
22	Kobayashi's friend and cameraman.
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24	* AudienceSurrogate: Serves as the eyes of the audience throughout the film, a majority of the movie shown through his camera.
25	* CameraAbuse: Miyajima is quite stable with his camera, even when the characters are traversing the scariest moments of the movie. It glitches for the first time when Hori freaks out upon asking what Kagutaba is, creating an OminousVisualGlitch showing a collection of Kagutaba masks.
26	* FlatCharacter: We never really get to know Miyajima as a person since he is offscreen most of the time.
27	* InUniverseCamera: Kobayashi's cameraman.
28	* SmallRoleBigImpact: Subverted, since he is the film's cameraman and main point of view.
29	* TheVoice: Rarely makes a physical appearance, since he is carrying the camera, and we only hear him make the occasional comment. Even when he is on screen, we never actually see his face since it is just out of shot.
30	[[/folder]]
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32	[[folder:Marika Matsumoto]]
33	A television actress who encounters Kagutaba during a broadcasted ghost hunt, Marika calls upon Kobayashi for help when she begins sleepwaking and performing strange things at night.
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35	* AsHimself: Marika is played by Creator/MarikaMatsumoto. The real Matsumoto was mostly a voice actor rather than a TV actor at the time of the film, but she's still essentially playing herself.
36	* BreakTheCutie: Marika is a sweet-natured and kind woman, but her involvement with Kagutaba causes problems for her in the haunting department.
37	* DamselInDistress: Periodically possessed by Kagutaba. Never physically in danger, nor does she get kidnapped, but her on-and-off possession turns her life upside-down.
38	* DemonicPossession: A non-standard example. Marika isn't directly possessed by Kagutaba, but influenced by him, having a couple of psychic attacks, sleepwalks to fashion herself nooses, and occasionally lets out a demonic groan. Also attracts suicidal pigeons. It turns out that Kagutaba may either be trying to use her as medium, or to be a sacrifice in his resurrection. Kobayashi helps her be free of Kabutaga's influence by completing the pacifying ritual. She is attacked [[OhCrap one more time]] when Kobayashi and Hori stumble across the shrine, but is freed for good.
39	* PsychicRadar: Marika can sense ghosts and the presence of others, but a ghost hunt near Kagutaba's shrine attracts the demon's attention.
40	* {{Sleepwalking}}: Marika begins to sleepwalk after her initial haunting, finding herself drawing weird imagery and crafting looped nooses from yarn and wires. [[spoiler: They are later revealed to be related to Kagutaba and invoked by suicidal worshippers to pay tribute to him. This includes Marika's neighbour Midori.]]
41	[[/folder]]
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43	[[folder:Kagutaba]]
44	The malevolent entity at the root of all problems in the film.
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46	* AnimalMotifs: Pigeons. People possessed by Kagutaba seem to attract pigeons, and are shown to build makeshift totems out of them.
47	* BigBad: The movie's biggest antagonistic force.
48	* CultColony: The main entity worshipped/feared by the (now underwater) cult of the village of Shimokage.
49	* DemonicPossession: Does this to quite a few people, seemingly multiple at a time, even.
50	* EldritchAbomination: It's never sufficiently explained what the Kagutaba actually is or where it came from, its mere presence (which is felt everywhere) drives people to do bizarre things and it has a habit of mind-controlling people to commit suicide. Kagutaba spends the film controlling people to summon itself into our world, but if there is any purpose behind its actions beyond that, it's utterly incomprehensible - it never seems to be an actively malicious character but more a generally harmful force that cares little to not at all about the people it destroys, and doesn't seem to pursue anything more. The first thing established about Kagutaba is that no one in the modern world knows what it is, and that those who knew about it in older times summoned it to kill people - though it's completely ambiguous as to whether or not they forced it to do so, or if it would have done these things anyway.
51	* EvilIsNotAToy: At first, its cultists used Kagutaba for their own means, before it quickly showed itself to be outside of their control. They then became devoted to making sure to keep it sedated.
52	* HumanoidAbomination: When it acquires a human body. At first it's just an eerily silent and non-responsive boy, before laying to rest any doubts about its true nature in spectacular fashion...
53	* WouldHurtAChild: Its machinations result in many, many children being killed, sometimes only for being ''neighbors'' with the people involved with it.
54	[[/folder]]

Context Characters / NoroiTheCurse