The Kuchisake-onna (口裂け女 Kuchisakeonna), known in the anime as "The Dragger", is an entity born from the myths and the fear and curiosity of people.[1]
Appearance[]
The Kuchisake-onna in the manga
The Dragger looks like a regular woman with long straight black hair that generally covers her face, wearing a plain, tattered, gown-like garment. The Dragger's most striking feature is her gaping maw, slit from ear to ear, filled with a mangled mess of sharp teeth, which she reveals when she is about to kill someone. She is known for dragging a line of broken dolls along the ground wherever she goes. She always has a deranged facial expression and can morph her body in disturbing ways to enhance her combat capabilities, such as growing her nails into long blades.
In the manga, she was based on a more traditional interpretation of the Kuchisake-onna, lacking dolls and instead wielding a pair of scissors in her hand. She always has her toothy mouth open and conceals it with a medical mask.
Personality[]
The Dragger exists to hunt and kill. She initially appears to her targets as a dark and mysterious woman. She will calmly ask her target if they are thirsty, and if they respond with yes, she will drag them to a lake and drown them in it. The thought and fear of such a creature quickly breed paranoia in the populace. When attacked, she is also a fierce fighter who screams as she leaps about the battlefield like some savage monster.
In the manga, the Kuchisake-onna is much more like the real-world urban myth. Upon choosing a target, she will ask them if she is pretty while wearing a medical mask that conceals her identity. Upon answering that she is, she removes the mask to reveal her fanged, slit-open maw. She then proceeds to slaughter everyone in the vicinity.
Plot[]
The Dragger is first encountered by Banshomaru as he works together with Arataka Reigen to investigate urban legends and find spirits around the city to exorcise. He ends up chasing down a perverted flasher who was initially thought to be a spirit to a forest, where the flasher subdues him using an electroshock weapon. However, the Dragger then approaches the flasher, who also attempts to shock her but ends up being incapacitated. The Dragger begins to drag him into a nearby pond but is stopped by Shinra's Spirit Bind. She quickly escapes the trap and attacks Shinra, nearly drowning him before Dimple, who tagged along, possesses him and helps him get away.
Just before the Dragger corners, Dimple, Shinra, Mob, and Reigen arrive to save them. Shinra explains that she has grown powerful due to rumors of her being spread all over social media and that no one under her fearful influence can stop her. Reigen suggests they run, but they find their feet suddenly covered in mud, and they can't escape. The Dragger emerges as a giant mud monster, but just as she is about to attack, Mob overpowers her with his psychic power and exorcises her. He explains that he'd never heard of the Dragger before, effectively rendering her powerless against him.
Powers & Abilities[]
The Dragger is a powerful and dangerous swamp spirit whose power is connected to fear. The more people are scared of her, the more powerful she becomes. However, this potent ability came with a downside, eventually her downfall. In the manga, the Kuchisake-onna utilized scissors as her weapon of choice, and her powers were slightly more subdued in nature.[2]
| The Dragger's Abilities | ||||||
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The more people are scared of Dragger, the more powerful she becomes.[3] By the time she encounters Shinra and the others, she has grown incredibly strong due to rumors of her spreading faster than ever over social media. This gives her superstrength and superspeed and makes her almost impossible to defeat. However, if a person doesn't know about the Dragger and isn't under her fearful influence, she is much less powerful than that person, as shown when Mob could exorcise her where the other heroes could not.[4] | |||||
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A sub-technique of her fear empowerment, the Dragger can morph her body to suit her needs. This includes extending her fingernails into long blade-like claws or transforming her arm into a large, grotesque sword. In the anime, near the end of the battle, she also transforms into a giant monster composed of mud that traps the feet of the heroes, but the full power of this form isn't seen as she was shortly exorcised by Mob. | |||||
Notes & Trivia[]
- The Dragger is based on the real-life Japanese urban myth of the kuchisake-onna. In the manga, she is much more accurate to a traditional depiction of the kuchisake-onna, but in the anime, she was modified to be more of an original character of her own.
- The fear-based manifestation of the Dragger is most likely based on tulpa.
References[]
- ↑ Mob Psycho 100 Manga — Vol. 7 Chapter 55 (page 6).
- ↑ Mob Psycho 100 Manga — Vol. 7 Chapter 55 (page 2).
- ↑ Mob Psycho 100 Manga — Vol. 7 Chapter 55 (page 8).
- ↑ Mob Psycho 100 Manga — Vol. 7 Chapter 55 (page 11).