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Character Base

• Character Name: The Medicine Seller
• Age: At least several centuries, though he looks like a person in their 20s/early 30s
• Canon (Date/Year Released)/Canon Point: Mononoke, 2007, end of the final Bakeneko arc
• Items Coming Along:

Sword of exorcisms
Hand mirror
1 pair of scales
1 Kiseru

• Content Warnings for Character: Oof. As a horror series, Mononoke deals with a lot of heavy themes so there are A Lot. I'll list them by arc:

Bakeneko 1: Serial murder, serial rape, serial abuse, starvation, suicide by starvation, animal abuse, animal death.

Zashiki Warashi: Pregnancy, prostitution, attempted murder, forced abortion through violently inducing miscarriage, heavily implied infant murder.

Umi Bozu: Brother/Sister incest (never acted on), human sacrifice, death by suffocation, claustrophobia, general body horror, body horror specifically to do with pregnancy and childbirth.

Noppera Bo: Murder (kind of), emotional abuse, emotional manipulation, physical abuse, misogyny, implied marital rape, mention of suicide, kind-of implied suicide??? albeit VERY open to interpretation.

Nue: Blood, a lot of blood, stabbing, murder, body horror pertaining to eyes.

Bakeneko II: Misogyny, animal death, murder.

Character Background

• History:

There is very little we know about the Medicine Seller; where he comes from, what he is, how long he's been at this gig, or even his name.

There are some visual cues that give vague answers in that regard; his appearance with his bloodless pallor, sharp fangs and pointy ears suggests that if he ever was human, he isn't any longer. His clothing is composed of both women's and men's attire, positing himself as an ally to those most often abused in feudal society (as misogyny comes up frequently as a theme within the series). He possesses analogues to the three sacred treasures of Japan as well as other signifiers such as his red facial markings and his Other Self's blackened teeth that suggest a more noble (potentially divine) role than his very lowly merchant status.

While we never get his explicit motivation for pursuing the Mononoke as he does, we do get a little insight about it in the Umi Bozu arc when Genyosai explains the meaning of the word Mononoke; it can effectively be written as 'disease of the spirit'. And, well, his profession is a medicine seller and his methodology for dealing with the Mononoke is, effectively, a sort of spiritual therapy.

Unfortunately, all there is to him are hints that don't point to anything specific. For RP reasons, this is obviously frustrating and while I prefer to maintain the ambiguity of such, there may be instances where it will have to come up. So I'll roll with the most popular theories that the Medicine Seller is a fox spirit on the more benevolent end of the spectrum and has, for whatever reason, opted to deal with the Mononoke as they come.


Summary of the Bakeneko arc Note: Ayakashi is an anthology series where the Medicine Seller debuted. It remains canon to Mononoke as it is referenced in the Umi Bozu arc by Kayo.

Mononoke Summary

• Core Relationships:

The Medicine Seller is a loner by nature, never really staying in one place for any significant amount of time, so he doesn't exactly have what one would call a booming social life. His itinerant lifestyle and aloof nature tends to mean the majority of his interactions are superficial. On top of that, his detached and chilly politeness makes him a rather unsettling individual to be around. He can be callous, low-key mocking and contemptuous, especially to those who abuse their power throughout the series.

His role as a more passive observer to the Mononoke's stories, coupled with his consistent proximity to death and tragedy has left him rather cavalier about these matters. Even when interacting with Kayo again, he comes off as more withdrawn than their initial meeting, even seeming to try to distance himself from her. He eschews any potential of forming lasting and meaningful bonds with people, disappearing from lives as abruptly as he appeared.

He isn't all passive-aggressive politeness, however; he does show some of his friendlier and more playful side to Kayo and Odajima in the first Bakeneko arc, joking around with them as they went to get salt from the kitchen. While he was mocking of Odajima, it was mostly playful, and seemed more to boost Kayo's morale (who was, at the time, quite terrified by the whole giant cat monster situation). During the Umi Bozu arc, he seemed happy enough to answer Kayo's questions (albeit in a roundabout and esoteric manner) and he showed concern for and helped her recover from the hallucination of her worst fear.

He also shows a degree of affection for Ochou, and while the Noppera Bo arc has little moments that hint at a deeper relationship between them, the ambiguous nature of that whole arc makes it difficult to pinpoint what that might have been. All that can be said for certain is that he sympathized with her plight and cared about her on a more personal level than most Mononoke that he's encountered.

Character Personality Through Key Moments

(2+) Positive Experiences:

Compassionate/Emotionally intelligent - As cold as he may be outwardly, he doesn't entirely have a cold and cynical shriveled raisin where his heart should be. He has a deep, abiding compassion for many of the Mononoke as most are victims of terrible circumstance and much of their behaviour is understandable, if not outright justified. He seems to view his work in exorcising them as a grim duty rather than some glory-fueled hunt, and even his methodology of uncovering their Form, Truth, and Regret entails having some measure of empathy towards their situations. There are several points where he seems genuinely happy and relieved when a tormented soul's truths are brought to light and they are able to finally move on.

Level-headed/Rational - The Medicine Seller is a very difficult person to shock. When one encounters the aftermath of human brutality in the form of Mononoke, it's only natural to develop a pretty thick skin. His mental and emotional resilience makes him very reliable in crisis situations; he can think quickly and rationally under pressure and it's very difficult to get him genuinely angry or scared enough act rashly. We see this kind of calm cool-headedness in most situations, but especially in Umi Bozu when he is unhurriedly crafting the magical flash bomb and in Nue when all the hellish existence of all the ghosts are dragged into sharp relief.

Away from the pressures his work normally brings, he tends to have a very go-with-the-flow disposition. He easily accepts that there are things beyond his control or understanding, and takes that in stride gracefully. It's rare for him to offer up personal information or opinions (about the only time we get him vocalizing his opinions is expressing his contempt for Yoshiyuki's actions and when he says that 'no one has the right to control another') but he does get relatively chatty when it comes to medicine or Mononoke. He delights in showing off his more fun and recreational 'medicines' to Kayo, and throughout the series, when questions about the nature of Mononoke are posited in good faith, he has no issue with answering honestly (albeit esoterically), and he shows patience and diligence in doing so.

(2+) Negative Experiences:

Aloof/Detached - The Medicine Seller has always been rather reserved - he is not in a profession where it's wise to wear his heart on his sleeve, after all. But the first Bakeneko arc did mark a shift in his personality - early on, we see him interact casually, even playfully at times and there is a degree of cockiness to him when he's captured by the Sakai family and accused of Mao's murder. He isn't really taking the whole situation too seriously.

There's a common theory that as of the first Bakeneko arc, he's inexperience, but I lean more into thinking nothing could have prepared him for the extent of the Sakai family's crimes and witnessing what they had done to Tamaki, along with the strong implication that this had been done to many other women before and after her. The whole situation left the Medicine Seller feeling rather hollow afterwards.

It was certainly a turning point in his own story. When we meet him again in the first episodes of Mononoke, he is much more reserved and throughout the series, he is more inclined to make more brusque and callous remarks, even with people he cares about like Kayo (such as when she is worried about what fears the Umi Zatou will show her and he only responds with 'If the problem lies within yourself, no one else can help') or when Ochou's past is laid bare and she chastises the Medicine Seller for finding something amusing about it. Kayo, who had been relatively friendly with him in Bakeneko, finds him to be a lot more suspicious in Umi Bozu, questioning his motives, who he's actually trying to protect, and calls outright his significantly chillier personality.

He has accepted that, in most social situations, he's an outsider. With his longevity and proximity to danger it's difficult for him to form any kind of relationship deeper than the superficial without it ending in some kind of tragedy. While he has accepted that such things are an inevitable part of life in general, it doesn't mean he will readily admit them into his personal life any more than his duty already demands of him. He's already dealing with the aftermath of other people's personal tragedies, he doesn't need any of his own.

Arrogant - This is less of an issue post-Bakeneko, but it still sometimes pops up. What happened with the Sakai family certainly humbled him a bit and his later stories depict him as much less my-way-or-the-cat-monster's-way and also less blatantly mocking. That being said, we still get glimpses of his arrogance, such as his boast in Umi Bozu about the Ayakashi ('Let them come, for it is my invitation they fear the most'), as well as his low-key rivalry with Genyosai. He also takes some pleasure in letting Kayo suspect him of being the one who caused the ship to veer off course.

But it's the Nue arc where his cockiness really manages to rear its head again though. Once he realized that there was no one there left alive, we see the trickster side of him return. He behaves improperly; not bowing to Lady Ruri and standing on the furniture (no, I have no idea what it is with him and standing on tables, he does it in the Zashiki Warashi arc too, I can only conclude that he has a serious case of Short-Person Syndrome). He delights in making fools of the ghost suitors, and the means in which he tricks them into realizing they're already dead are quite cruel and callous (even if they were, to the one, terrible people). He even speaks contemptuously to the Nue, when he is usually quite sympathetic to the Mononoke, and is, over all, just a horrid little beast who causes a ruckus.

Deer Country Attributes

• Canon Powers:

Ofuda: He can create powerful talismans that are highly effective in warding off supernatural nasties. They have four stages depending on proximity of said nasty; blank, black writing, black writing with a closed eye motif, red writing with an open eye motif, and when the sword is unsheathed, the paper turns gold, giving them a little extra oomph. He can also create wards without the ofuda such as in the first Bakeneko arc when he's trying to hold it off as they escape into the cellar. This is shown to be very draining and even capable of outright hurting him when the bakeneko pushes back against the ward, causing deep lacerations to appear on his hand.

Sword of Exorcisms/The Other Self: The sword is a powerful tool in and of itself; when the Medicine Seller knows the Form, Truth, and Regret of a Mononoke, the sword is able to be unsheathed replacing the Medicine Seller with his other aspect known in fandom as the 'Other Self' or 'Hyper Form'. This form possesses the lion's share of his power, able to craft large and powerful barriers out of the ofuda, and effectively exorcise Mononoke.

Scales: While not necessarily one of his innate powers, the scales are important tools to measure the distance of a Mononoke and he uses them to track their movements by the sound of their bells, and, in the Zashiki Warashi arc, he planted one on Shino so he could follow her into a sort of pocket reality the Mononoke had created. They seem to possess some degree of sentience, bowing and flocking to people that they like, and are generally amicable little beings.

Hand Mirror: A small, ornate brass hand mirror he wears like a pendant. It can grow to many times its size to reflect magical attacks back. When used in conjunction with the smoke from his pipe and the use of shamanistic Noh theater, it can help form powerful illusions where the subject can project their inner nature outwards and confront their personal demons.

Telekinesis: The Medicine Seller can move things without touching them. Rule of thumb is that they seem to have to be possessions of his (such as the medicine box, his scales, or the sword) or he's attached ofuda to them beforehand (such as opening doors, or prying open the utsurobune)

Spiritual Sensitivity: He possesses some degree of spiritual sensitivity; he can generally pinpoint a location where a Mononoke resides, he can sometimes see or sense the presence of things others can't, and he occasionally receives premonitions in the form of brief visions of coming entities (such as in the Umi Bozu arc when he saw visions of the Umi Zatou gasping and twitching on the floor and the weird bird head monsters of the ghost ship winding through the boat). His spiritual sensitivity is not particularly fine-tuned or reliable on its own, which is why he uses the scales, ofuda and sword to make up for his own shortcomings.

Longevity: The Medicine Seller is, to some degree, immortal. While he can be hurt physically, he doesn't age past his present state and has been around for at least a few centuries.

Mundane: Outside of his tools and magical capabilities, the Medicine Seller possesses excellent hearing, able to precisely track the sound of the scales over a decent distance. He also has a strong sense of smell. In the Nue arc, he is shown to be a formidable crafter of incense.

Physically he is fairly fit and athletic; he's quick on his feet and sturdier than he initially looks, but he's otherwise unremarkable in that department.

As a medicine seller he's well versed in herbalism and traditional kampo, along with some more modern medicinal methods (up to about the early 1930s). Like his magic, it's a mishmash of various cherry-picked traditions of 'whatever works'. Some of it is magical in nature (such as the mystical flash grenade gunpowder mixture he uses in Umi Bozu), some of it is mundane (like the various medicines he sells to the proprietress of the inn in Zashiki Warashi) and some of it is probably a scam (like the aphrodisiacs he shows to Kayo in Bakeneko). Look, he's gotta eat, and whatever pays the bills, right?

• Blood Type: Pale blood
• Omen: A small, black butterfly with colourful markings.
• Blessed Day: April 4th (headcanoned birthday)
• Patron Pthumerian: Argonaut - the Medicine Seller doesn't feel particularly strongly about deities one way or another. But Argonaut would engender some fondness from him.
• Blood Power Manifestation: Complementary. He would not gain any new abilities on arrival, but his canon abilities would be amplified such as being able to use telekinesis on things that are not his possessions or have the ofuda stuck to them, his wards without ofuda would be more stable and less draining, and his spiritual sensitivity becoming more consistently reliable, with the Paleblood enabling more frequent premonitions and letting him have a stronger sense of the unseen without having to rely so much on his scales and ofuda.

Writing Samples

One: Top Levels / Content Warnings in Headers
Two: Vasco (network)
Three: Jon (brackets)

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