Hari-onago 針女子

Medium fiend (yokai, shapechanger), chaotic evil

Armor Class 16 (natural armor)

Hit Points 88 (11d8 + 33)

Speed 30 ft., climb 20 ft.; glide 10 ft. (she can move up to 10 feet horizontally for every 5 feet she falls)

STR 14 (+2) · DEX 18 (+4) · CON 16 (+3) · INT 14 (+2) · WIS 14 (+2) · CHA 18 (+4)

Saving Throws Dex +7, Con +6, Wis +5

Skills Deception +7, Insight +5, Perception +5, Stealth +7

Damage Vulnerabilities radiant

Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks

Condition Immunities charmed, frightened

Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 15

Languages Common, Abyssal; telepathy 60 ft.

Challenge 5 (1,800 XP)

Traits

Night Stalker. Hari-onago has advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks made in dim light or darkness. In sunlight she has disadvantage on attack rolls and ability checks, and she takes 10 radiant damage at the start of her turn if she is in direct sunlight.

Hooked Hair. Her hair counts as a reach weapon (10 ft.) with the finesse and thrown (20/60 ft.) properties. She can have up to three creatures grappled at once with her hair. A grappled creature is also restrained (escape DC 15).

Relentless Pursuit. Doors, shutters, and barriers have vulnerability to Hari-onago’s hair attacks, and she deals double damage to objects.

Actions

Multiattack. Hari-onago makes two Hair Lash attacks. She can replace one attack with Rend Hair if a target is already grappled by her.

Hair Lash. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 10 ft. or range 20/60 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d6 + 4) slashing damage, and the target is grappled (escape DC 15) if it is Large or smaller.

Rend Hair. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 10 ft., one creature grappled by Hari-onago. Hit: 15 (3d8 + 2) slashing damage.

Whipstorm (Recharge 5–6). Hari-onago whirls her mane in a 15-foot radius. Each creature of her choice in the area must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw, taking 27 (6d8) slashing damage on a failed save, or half as much on a successful one. Objects and structures automatically take the full damage. Creatures that fail the save are also grappled and restrained as described in Hooked Hair.

Bonus Actions

Reel In. Hari-onago pulls one creature grappled by her up to 10 feet straight toward her. If the creature ends this movement within 5 feet of her, she can make one Rend Hair attack against it.

Reactions

Hair Parry. When a creature Hari-onago can see targets her with a melee attack, she adds +2 to her AC against that attack if she isn’t restrained.

LEGENDARY RESISTANCE (1/Day)

If Hari-onago fails a saving throw, she can choose to succeed instead.

Legendary Resistance

If Hari-onago fails a saving throw, she can choose to succeed instead.

Lore

A woman whose long, needle-like hair can kill her victims.

Hari-onago (針女子) is a yokai of Shikoku Island, chiefly Ehime Prefecture; the name translates as “the needle girl.” Unlike most yurei (restless ghosts) who work through curses, she relies on tangible weapons and deliberate assaults, placing her closer to the kijo subtype (demon-woman) with pronounced undead traits and a marked taste for the hunt.

The yokai’s appearance is built on camouflage. To a passerby she looks like an ordinary, attractive young woman with long, slightly tousled hair. The real danger is revealed only at close range: every strand ends in a sharp, curved hook reminiscent of a fishing barb. A unique feature of Hari-onago is that the entire mass of hair obeys her telekinetic control; it functions as countless autonomous whips that can lengthen in an instant, ensnare, tighten, and tear through clothing, armor, and even flesh. She wields her hair as a weapon and can capture a victim and then dismember them with ease.

From Yokai Bestiary 5E, Book Two, p. 34 · Fern Flower Press