Overview
Kunai is a mysterious swordswoman that players encounter during their journey in Beast of Reincarnation. Clad in traditional attire and mounted atop a white horse-like Malefact, Kunai cuts an imposing and enigmatic figure across the game's post-apocalyptic Japan. She wields a katana with the same practiced composure as Emma, but her allegiance, motivations, and backstory remain deliberately obscured by the game's narrative design. Director Kota Furushima has stated that every character in Beast of Reincarnation carries "great secrets," and Kunai exemplifies this philosophy, she is neither labeled as an ally nor an antagonist in any official material, leaving players to interpret her intentions through her actions and associations.
Allegiance and Ambiguity
Kunai's allegiance is one of the game's most carefully guarded mysteries. Unlike Brad and Kagura, who are at least described as "unlikely allies," Kunai receives no such designation. Official descriptions refer to her simply as a swordswoman that players will cross paths with. A phrasing that avoids committing to any particular alignment. This deliberate ambiguity is central to her character design.
Her colder, more calculating demeanor provides a stark contrast to Emma's personality. Where Emma is emotionally guarded due to her isolation and memory loss, Kunai appears composed and purposeful. A woman who knows exactly who she is and what she wants, even if the player does not. Multiple analysts and previews have noted that Kunai is the perfect narrative foil for the protagonist duo, with some speculating that an eventual duel between Kunai and Emma seems both plausible but thematically inevitable. Two women, each bonded with a Malefact, each wielding a katana, yet seemingly on opposite sides of an unspoken divide. The tension between them is palpable even in pre-release footage.
Connection to Brad
One of the most unsettling scenes revealed in pre-release coverage directly ties Kunai to Brad, the so-called human ally whose true intentions remain unclear. In this scene, Kunai was observed conversing with Brad while Koo was nearby, visibly distressed, whimpering and limping from an arrow wound. Brad was asking for Koo's name during this exchange, a detail that struck many viewers as deeply suspicious.
The implication of this scene is difficult to ignore. Koo's arrow wound and visible pain, combined with Kunai and Brad's calm proximity and apparent familiarity, raised immediate questions about whether the two of them were responsible for injuring Koo. If Brad is supposedly an ally to Emma and Koo, why was he conversing casually with Kunai while Koo suffered? And why was he asking for Koo's name, as though the two had not been properly introduced, or as though he was gathering information?
This scene is a masterclass in narrative ambiguity. It does not confirm that Kunai or Brad harmed Koo. It does not confirm that they are allies or enemies of each other. It simply presents a set of circumstances that erode trust, forcing the player to question every relationship in the story. In a game where the director has emphasized that every character carries great secrets, this ambiguity is by design.
Malefact Companion
Like Emma, Kunai has formed a bond with a Malefact in her case, a white horse-like creature that is her mount. This parallel is one of the most significant narrative details revealed about Kunai, because it challenges a fundamental assumption about the game's world. Players initially learn that Emma's bond with Koo is extraordinary: a Sealer and a Malefact united by shared Blight Power, defying the natural enmity between their kinds. Kunai's existence proves that this kind of partnership is not unique.
The horse-like Malefact grants Kunai mounted combat capabilities and superior mobility across the game's wide district levels. While Emma relies on her plant abilities (vine grapples, bridges, and wall climbing) for traversal, Kunai's approach is more traditional: a warrior on horseback, covering ground with speed and grace. The contrast extends to their fighting styles as well. Emma's combat is intimate and grounded, built around parries and close-range exchanges. Kunai's mounted swordsmanship suggests a different tactical philosophy entirely.
Visual Design
Kunai is depicted in traditional Japanese attire, riding her white horse-like Malefact across the game's ruined landscapes. Her visual design blends wuxia warrior aesthetics with the game's corrupted natural world, presenting a figure that looks like she belongs to an older, more structured era of civilization. A sharp contrast to Emma's more feral, vine-entwined appearance.
Where Emma's design emphasizes her fusion with the Blight (vine-hair, sprouting flowers, plant matter integrated into her body) Kunai's design emphasizes composure and control. She appears untouched by the chaos around her, riding through a corrupted world with the bearing of someone who has mastered it rather than been consumed by it. This visual dichotomy reinforces the narrative tension between the two characters: Emma is defined by her affliction, while Kunai appears to have transcended hers.
Thematic Significance
Kunai's existence raises fundamental questions about the world of Beast of Reincarnation. If bonding with a Malefact is possible for someone other than Emma, what does that mean for the nature of the Blight? Is the bond between human and Malefact more common than the Colonies believe? Are there others like Emma and Kunai. People who have formed alliances with the very creatures that threaten civilization?
These questions connect to the game's broader themes about the relationship between humanity and nature. Director Furushima has cited Princess Mononoke as an influence, and Kunai's character echoes that film's exploration of individuals who exist between the human and natural worlds. She is neither fully part of civilization nor fully consumed by the wild. She occupies a liminal space that mirrors Emma's own position, but approaches it from a fundamentally different angle.