Tattooed Curse
This curse/ailment is never given a specific name in Fatal Frame III, though in Yuu's Notes in the Zero Shisei no Koe Complete Official Capture Book, it is referred to as the "Dream Disease". For the sake of clarity it is called the Tattooed Curse here. The curse is a part of 'The Manor of Sleep' urban legend, and is the physical and psychological symptoms that occur to its victims. It is most often connected with the medical conditions of so called Lost Patients.
The first person to notice this sickness and study it was Dr. Kunihiko Asou.[1]
Duration: 1-2 months
Victims: Survivors, Lost Patients, or loved ones of the first two.
Age: Varies
Connected to: Manor of Sleep / Manor of Sleep Urban Legend
Game: Fatal Frame III
Reasons for becoming 'Cursed'
- Victim suffers from a traumatic experience which results in the death of a loved one. The victim blames himself or herself for surviving.
- An individual who has not experienced the above can be afflicted if they already personally know someone under the curse and that cursed person dreams about them.
Physical signs/symptoms
PTSD
Not all victims will suffer from this symptom (as in Kei Amakura's case); however, most will. Victims of the curse are usually diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) after having suffered through and survived a horrific event. These events usually resulted in the death of a loved one.
Hallucinations
Seeing figures and/or images that are not physically there.
Nightmares
The nightmares the victims experience are usually the same. They describe a large manor in the snow, seeing their dead loved ones, hearing a lullaby, a masked funeral march, and a tattooed woman chasing after them.
At first mistaken by victims as a bruise, this snake and holly pattern slowly grows across the afflicted's body as they succumb more and more to the curse. This pattern will continue to grow until it covers the victim's entire body including their eyes. The tattoo can only be seen by the cursed.
Lullaby
Some victims are observed humming or softly singing a song to themselves when awake.
Physical Pain
Attributed to the spread of the tattoo across a victim's body. The pain increases over time.
Decrease in waking hours
Curse victims will begin to sleep for longer and longer periods at a time. Medically speaking, this is a normal biological response as a defensive reaction to the pain the victim is suffering from.
Black Ashes/Soot
All that remains of victims who have suffered the final stage of the curse.
Stages of the curse
1a. Surviving a traumatic experience
Victim suffers from a traumatic experience which results in the death of a loved one. Most importantly, they blame themselves for surviving while others did not.
1b. Being Dreamed about from a cursed one
This stage isn't as common as the one above. In this case, a person already afflicted with the curse dreams about another living friend/loved one. This person in turn becomes cursed even though they have not suffered the death of a loved one.
2. Having the same dream
Victim begins to have the same dream over and over again (usually about those that did not survive).
3. Manor of Sleep Dream
These strong feelings for those that have passed 'summon' the Manor of Sleep Dream. The afflicted will see a large Japanese manor in the snow and see their dead loved one(s), enter the manor. Victims admit to chasing after their loved one into the manor. Once this occurs, there is no turning back.
4. Following the dead
Victims follow their deceased loved one(s) deeper into the manor, discovering extensions haphazardly added here and there. Some of the rooms in the manor are similar to places or locations that the victim has seen before. Afflicted persons mention hearing a 'nursemaid's lullaby.'
5. Pursued/touched by Tattooed Woman
Not all known victims have mentioned this stage, but in the cases where it is known to have happened, it is associated with the onset and growth of the tattoo.
6. Hallucinations while awake
Victims begin to see a bruise/tattoo spread over their bodies, they complain of pain, and start to see figures and images that aren't there.
7. Decrease in waking hours
Victims begin to sleep for longer and longer periods of time, up to several days at a time.
8. Tattoo Covers Entire Body
At one point, victims suffering from the curse can no longer 'wake up'. The tattoo covers their entire body and enters their eyes. The victim then 'sees' what Reika saw in her final moments.
9. Disappearance
This occurs 1 to 2 months after the first stage (dreaming of the manor). The victim disappears entirely, leaving only traces of black ashes or soot where their body once lay. At this stage, the victim has completely succumbed to the curse and is presumably dead.
Documentation
- The Manor of Sleep
- Miku's findings on Yoshino Takigawa
- Yoshino Takigawa's Diary
- Patient Disappears article
- Rescued Woman, Gone article
- Vanishings article
- Tape "Manor of Sleep: A"
- Tape "Manor of Sleep: B"
Victims
- Yoshino Takigawa
- Serizawa
- Unknown woman (from ZCA)
- Kiriko Asanuma
- Makie Kuzuhara
- Kozue Kuzuhara
Survivors
The creator Kikuchi has stated that "The ending that plays during the credits and shows what happens afterwards through photos is the true ending" in the Japanese Fatal Frame 3 guidebook thus confirming Kei and Mio's survival of the events of the game.
- survival confirmed in both endings
- survival confirmed in both endings
- 1st ending - unknown fate
- 2nd ending - survival confirmed
- 1st ending - falls victim to curse
- 2nd ending - survival confirmed
- Haruka Kuze - Yoshino's Nurse
- survival mentioned in Zero Shisei no Koe Comic Anthology