Malice

Malice is the supernatural corruption that twists Edo-era Kyoto in Onimusha: Way of the Sword. Capcom describes Malice as malevolent clouds of demonic presence, a concentration of corrupting influence that warps the historical city into a dark-fantasy version of itself and that pulls Genma through from the underworld.

Effect on the Living World

Malice is not just a background aesthetic. It is the ongoing threat the story turns around: Kyoto is not merely haunted, it is being pulled into the underworld, and the Genma that follow the Malice are the enemies Musashi is gifted the Oni Gauntlet to stop.

Corrupting Influence on People

The corruption has a visible human cost. The Kogashira, one of the confirmed enemy types, are humans who have been warped by parasitic Genma and no longer function as people. When Musashi kills one, the Kogashira's body actively generates poisonous clouds of Malice on death, spreading the corruption outward even as it is being pushed back. In-game memories shown in previews reference Malice driving villagers to throw their own children into the abyss, which grounds the corruption in concrete human tragedy rather than abstract doom.

Dokyo's Experiments

The sinister figure Dokyo runs a hidden underground laboratory beneath Kyoto where new Genma are created from human subjects. His experiments accelerate the spread of Malice through the city, and clearing out that facility is a through-line in the story's central arc rather than a one-off side mission.

Source Not Yet Detailed

The deeper origin of Malice itself has not been publicly detailed by Capcom in the material shown so far. The game's marketing has focused on its effects (the clouds, the Genma, the Kogashira, the corruption of human beings) rather than a named point of origin.