Kinno Auhito

Real Name: Reikai
Hero Name: Kinno Auhito
Alignment: Neutral Good
Age: ???
Gender: Female?
Race: ???
Hair: White as snow
Eyes: Blue
Height: 5’8
Weight: Unknown? Lightweight?
Blood type: ???


In every depiction we have of Kinno Auhito, she wears a variety of different masks that allow her to interact and make dealings with the spirits of the world.

The only depictions we have of Kinno Auhito come from the work of Akita Fuyuki and his storybook. According to the legends, Kinno Auhito holds the visage of a young woman of fair skin and hair as white as snow. Despite her usually wearing a mask, in the story of the Nekomata Kinno’s mask revealed her eyes to be of a wispy blue color, which may explain the blue light which had been depicted in other stories that came from her mask. Beyond that, though, there isn’t much known about her physical identity.

Many assume that this entity is a female given her attire, in which stories like the Kitsune or Nekomata depict her in kimonos. In the story of the Kitsune she wears a kimono of whites and blue with a fiery design, a pair of the accompanying traditional sandals, and her long staff. Further, when wearing the mask of the Kitsune, a white mask with fox-like features, the artist depicts her to have a long fox tail. In the Nekomata story her kimono carries red and yellow colors, having a more floral design. Like with the Kitsune mask, the Nekomata mask is said to give her a pair of cat tails, the mask itself, again similar, having cat-like features.

Others argue that Kinno Auhito could also be a man or perhaps two people, as he or she is also depicted in armor, not so different from that era’s samurai or at least some depiction of them. This is shown to give them masculine appearance, so it is hard to say.

The armor carries blue and pink colors, having trims of white in it and a fur lining near the collar of it. The metal itself looks thin, though in several stories it is shown to deflect arrows and the magic of other creatures. Accompanying masks include the mask of Oni, a horned mask, more bestial in nature, the mask of the Crow which carries black feather visage with wide black eyes, the mask also seeming to change the armor’s color scheme to black and giving Kinno a pair of wings, and her commonly worn mask, the Mask of Death, which is a simple mask with four slits near her eyes.

However, many scholars agree that she is probably a woman as many of her other outfits show off more feminine features. There is the Tanuki mask which resembles that of a raccoon dog, a playful smile drawn across it, and it is further accompanied by a set of travelers clothes, making her look rather ordinary. There’s the mask of the Vermillion, a bright red and orange mask with a bird-like design to it, in which she is shown wearing a brilliant blazing dress that may have been wrapped in flames. And then of course, there is the Black Spider mask, which is similar to her Death mask, but holding a darker visage and accompanied by a dark mourning gown.
The attire of Kinno Auhito, as one can probably gather, is incredibly varied and long, but in the end, her attire is important to her story.


From Fuyuki’s stories, one can only try and infer what Kinno’s behavior is like. Many conflicts within her stories begin because of her playful nature or neglect of a personal duty that set upon her by her father. She had pulled several pranks of a variety of spirits which she was supposed to make deals with, but in the long run ended up making peace with them. Despite this playful and almost childish nature, she seemed to have quite the respect and honor towards her other duties, such as shepherding spirits and those who had passed into the Spiritwood or their next life. There is a profound dutifulness that she holds to those who have passed over.


The stories we’ve gathered about Kinno Auhito all stem from a collection of children’s tales from the author Akita Fuyuki, apparently someone who had dealings with her in her youth. The book contained a collection of thirteen or so stories, each depicting her with a new mask and exploring the living world and the spirit world which overlaps with ours.

The origin of Kinno Auhito actually comes from a different folklore that was found later when a group scholars came across an old buried shrine that was found from a simple map found in Akito’s storybook. The origin tells of a female Samurai, a rare sight, who disguised herself as a man to avoid scorn. She found herself in peril more than once in her travel and each time death would try and take her. In all those attempts though, in all those times she “flirted” with death, they grew to know each other well and each time they became closer. When the warrior’s time came, Death embraced her and took her as his own.

In time, Death and this warrior came to have a child, the child they named Reikai, or as the book names her, Kinno Auhito. A human born in the Spiritwood, fathered by death. Not only was this uncommon, but it was unacceptable, the dwellers of the Spiritwood would seek to bring harm to her, so Death crafted Kinno masks to hide her visage and take on the traits of the spirits, seamlessly blending in with them.

Death had trained his daughter to lead those departed spirits into the afterlife just as he did, but further gave her the task of maintaining a balance within both worlds, making sure both spirits and those of the living world kept a harmony between them. The latter task proved to be a more time consuming pastime of the young Reaper and became the plot of many Akita’s stories.

In one of her most prominent stories, the story of Crow mask, the tale seeks to explain why there is an overbearing presence of ghosts, spirits, and demons in the world. In the story she sought to help Kyoto in the late 700s unite Japan under one banner, however in the latter ends of the war she was tricked by a wandering warrior from the North. Her ventures had brought her to a small but prominent village where she was to convince the town’s leader to peacefully submit to the Southern rule. The town had strongly opposed this, wishing to keep their indepence, so they sent forward their finest warrior to meet with Kinno.

The warrior brought a peace offering a strong sake to celebrate their peace talks, wanting to use it as a way of gathering information about Kyoto from a weaker willed Reaper. Kinno, who had never drank suck a brew before, was quickly made drunk and found herself telling the young warrior everything. In their talks, Kinno told of the Spiritwood, the place put a barrier between the world of the living and all the afterlives. As long as the Heart of the Spiritwood beat, the evil spirits and demons of the afterlife would rarely be able to cross over.

Later that eve, after a reprieve from the peace talks, a malicious spirit made contact with the warrior, promising him that his town would be protected from the encroaching South if he traveled to the Spiritwood and stab the heart of the Spiritwood to break the barrier. Wanting nothing but the best for the town, the warrior agreed and ingested a rare poison that brings one to the brink of death. Seeing this, Kinno shepherded the warrior to the Spiritwood so that he could find his peace. Once there, however, the warrior insisted she take him to the heart so that he could pay respects.

Sensing no ill will behind this generous soul, Kinno did, allowing the man his time. In doing so, however, the man pulled a cursed blade and plunged into the Heart. Before he could further damage, he was struck down by Kinno’s father, but the damage had been done. The barrier was not destroyed, but there was now cracks throughout the world. All over spirits, demons, ghosts, and all manner of dwellers of all the afterlives could now find their way with more ease into the world of living, causing chaos and panic throughout.

The story goes on to tell that the gateways into the Spiritwood were now visible and had to hidden away so mortals could not freely cross and cause more damage to the crossroads. At the end of it, Kinno was banished from the Spiritwood, though she resolved herself to continue to guide those who had passed to the gates where they could cross themselves and to maintain the balance that her father had instructed her to so long ago.

Of course, those are just legends, stories to tell about why the world is so filled with these so called ghosts and demons, because a barrier that kept them back was broken by a trickster warrior who fooled the daughter of Death.

In the final story of the book, it is said the trickster warrior had broken into mortal realm once more and again tricked Kinno, this time stealing away her masks, leaving her as mortal as the rest of the world. From there, she traveled, ever searching for the masks she lost.


Mask of Death: Despite having lost her masks, Kinno has managed to recover a few of her masks. The Mask of Death, her first mask, grants her supernatural ability, allowing her to keep up even the strongest of mortals who would seek to avoid her end. While wearing this mask, her strength, speed, and reaction time all greatly increased! She can move at speeds of up to twenty-miles per hour on average, lift entire cars with ease, and dodge out of the way of most projectile attacks. Further, her blade is blessed with the ability to deal physic, not physical damage to a target, magically harming them and bestowing exhaustion upon them.

Mask of the Oni: The Oni, or as some know them, an ogre. When wearing this mask, Kinno’s strength is vastly improved upon! She has been seen to lift and throw tanks several feet with ease and has implied she can exert higher levels of strength. She becomes more resistant to strikes, able to shrug off most modern day explosives like they were nothing. Her sword also increases his size and thickness, extending a good deal above her own height, the blade itself able to slice through concrete like butter.

Mask of the Kitsune: The kitsune, the mystical fox entities of Japan. When wearing this mask, Kinno’s magic ability is greatly increased. Her sword becomes a staff and from it she can release bursts of blue flames or shape them around her into a variety of useful forms. The flames don’t burn, but at a range they can be effective. These shots deal good force damage, seen to even put dents into steel, as well as deal extra harm to spirits and demons and the like! Further, she becomes a bit quicker, able to move up to speeds of thirty-miles per hour.

Mask of Crow: The legendary three legged crow, said to guide the mighty to their destiny. When in this form, Kinno grows a pair of black wings. She can fly up to speeds of fifty-miles per hour, endure the pressures of high altitude. Her eyesight is also improved, able to see auras around people within a 80 foot radius, even through walls. Further, her sword becomes a bow, able to shoot arrows at the same strength of a shot from the highest caliber of sniper, able to pierce through solid material.

Immortal: Kinno, as the daughter of Death, is immortal. She cannot pass from old age and holds the visage of a young adult! She has been around for at least…two thousandish years, give or take.


Mask Change: Kinno can only change masks once every hour. If she puts on a new mask, she must commit to that mask for the next hour before changing to another. She can, however, go back to her basic mask, the Death mask, at any point, but she will still need to wait another hour before putting on a new one.

Poisons and Toxins: Despite being immortal, she is still very susceptible to poisons, toxin, and alcohol! Poisons, if strong, can cause severe damage and immobilize her. She is still able to get drunk and can suffer from the effects of drugs.

Cold Iron: Cold iron is her weak point. She unable to handle the feel of cold iron against her, making her incredibly weak and susceptible to damage. Any resistances she has or any damage is doubled when she is contact with cold iron.

Games of Chance: Even as a reaper who leads souls to the afterlife, she, like many of her kin, can be bargained with in games of chance. If one beats her in the game, whatever deal she has taken she must fulfill, no matter what it is. Provided, she must accept the deal to begin with, but she is prone to do so anyways.

Spiritwood: While in the crossroads she is not only mortal, but she becomes more susceptible to all sorts of damage, and further many spirits of the Spiritwood seek to cause her harm. Overall, she’s as durable as a human while in the Spiritwood.


Masks: Hidden within the inside of her jacket is her collection of masks. Currently, she lacks many of them, though in time she hopes to further her collection.

Spirit’s Edge: A katana with a blade of a strange, unknown metal native to the Spiritwood. The katana itself has the strength of steel, though it can be interacted with and changed depending on the masks she wears (see abilities). Further, the sword itself is incredibly durable. A high level meta could crash against it and the blade would not dent, the sword could be cast within a volcano and not melt, and could even be left in the water for generations and not rust. The blade, however, can be damaged by specific kinds of magic if it absorbs too many blows from it. To reforge it, one would need to return to the Spiritwood.


In addition to her other supplies she carries around a small flute that she plays, which animals seem to enjoy.

Despite all of her lessons, she still loves to prank people.