Gagoze 元興寺

Small undead (shapechanger), chaotic evil

Armor Class 14 (tatters and tough hide)

Hit Points 60 (8d8 + 24)

Speed 30 ft., climb 20 ft.

STR 16 (+3) · DEX 14 (+2) · CON 16 (+3) · INT 9 (−1) · WIS 14 (+2) · CHA 11 (+0)

Saving Throws Con +5, Wis +4

Skills Acrobatics +4, Perception +4, Stealth +6

Damage Vulnerabilities radiant

Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from non-magical attacks that aren’t silvered

Condition Immunities charmed, frightened, prone while in darkness

Senses darkvision 120 ft., passive Perception 14

Languages understands Common and Japanese but speaks only Oni-tongue growls

Challenge 2 (450 XP)

Traits

Shadow Flesh. While in dim light or darkness, Gagoze has advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks and can move through other creatures’ spaces as difficult terrain.

Severed Scalp (Weak Point). A creature that deals slashing damage to Gagoze and rolls a 20 on the attack die exposes the demon’s scalp. Until the end of Gagoze’s next turn, attack rolls against him have advantage and he loses his Damage Resistances.

Sun-Doom. At the start of each of Gagoze’s turns in direct sunlight, he takes 10 radiant damage. If reduced to 0 hit points by sunlight, he is destroyed and can’t reform.

Actions

Multiattack. Gagoze makes two Claw attacks. If both hit the same target, he may use Strangle as a bonus action.

Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (1d10 + 3) slashing damage.

Strangle. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 6 (1d6 + 3) bludgeoning damage, and the target is grappled (escape DC 13). Until the grapple ends, the target is restrained and can’t breathe. Gagoze can strangle only one creature at a time.

Bell-Tower Leap (Recharge 5–6). Gagoze leaps up to 30 ft. to an unoccupied space he can see. Each creature whose space he passes through must succeed on a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw or take 10 (3d6) necrotic damage and be knocked prone.

Bonus Actions

Shadow Meld. While in dim light or darkness, Gagoze turns invisible until he attacks, forces a saving throw, or is in bright light.

Reactions

Sudden Lunge. When a creature he can see leaves a space within 5 ft. of him, Gagoze makes one Claw attack against that creature.

Lore

A warrior demon who haunts graveyards, protecting tombs from robbers.

Yokai Gagoze (元興寺), whose original name is directly linked to Gango-ji, the Buddhist temple in Nara, is thought to be one of the oldest demons recorded in Japanese writing. According to legend, a brutal temple servant died and became a reiki—a demonic ghost—who took up residence in Gango-ji’s bell tower. From that moment on, young acolytes began to die under mysterious circumstances. By the Edo period the very word gagoze had become a catch-all term for bogeymen, though in some versions it literally means “I’ll bite you.” No detailed account of what first gave rise to the demon has survived, yet piecing together what evidence exists suggests the spirit was once a monk who’d been abused or shown grave disrespect in life—or who met a violent end—before transforming after death.

In old illustrations Gagoze appears as a classic oni in monk’s robes. He moves on all fours, underscoring his animal nature and allowing him to stay hidden in the dark. The most distinctive feature, noted in the earliest text, is his scalp—ripped clean off along with the hair. The wound, taken in the demon’s one recorded duel, forever marks his vulnerable spot. In essence he blends the brute strength of a large oni with the intangibility of a ghost: impervious to ordinary weapons and most comfortable in total darkness.

From Yokai Bestiary 5E, Book Two, p. 26 · Fern Flower Press