Kogashira

The Kogashira are a confirmed Genma type in Onimusha: Way of the Sword. They are humans who have been warped by parasitic Genma and no longer function as people, becoming enemies Musashi has to put down.

Combat

Killing a Kogashira releases a poisonous cloud of Malice into the surrounding area. That lingering hazard forces the player to think about positioning as well as timing: cleanly executing a Kogashira in the wrong spot can leave Musashi standing in a damage-over-time cloud during the next wave of enemies.

Narrative Weight

Kogashira are one of the ways the game grounds Malice as a human tragedy rather than just a monster problem. These used to be people, and their reduction to puppeted puppets is a visible reminder of what Malice does to anyone who cannot resist it.