Crimson Butterfly

Crimson Butterflies are the most important visual motif in Fatal Frame II. They flutter around All God's Village and are the deities of the village. Often in the game, they guide Mio and Mayu Amakura. The soul of the twin that is killed in the Crimson Ceremony becomes a crimson butterfly to protect the village, whilst a red imprint that resembles a butterfly is left on the neck of the Remaining twin. There are many hidden butterflies throughout the village that decorate items such as screens and lamps.

In Japanese culture, butterflies have a slew of meanings. Their most obvious symbolism is metamorphosis or transformation. This symbolism of transformation is taken one step further to suggest that they represent those who have died, or that they 'carry' the recently departed souls. Sometimes, butterflies are interpreted as messengers, and following them will lead to a mystery's (or problem's) solution. Since butterflies have a very obvious cycle of transformation, birth, and death, it's easy to see why they have been used to represent spirits.

Butterflies are also very popular in Japanese motifs. Many Japanese family crests (Kamon) use the butterfly in their designs. Butterflies also symbolize spring, maidenhood, and happiness within marriage; one old Japanese custom involves sending two large paper butterflies as a wedding gift. In Japanese poetry, butterflies have been used to symbolize star crossed lovers, or the souls of lovers who have committed suicide so they can be together in death if not in life.

Many other cultures also believe the butterfly is a spirit, or in some cases a harbinger of death. One such story goes that if you see a butterfly at night, it's a sign that you will die soon, or that death is close by.

What Keisuke said about the role of the butterfly in Fatal Frame II

"The head director of the game, Makoto Shibata, described the basis of the scariness of Fatal Frame 2's story as "the sadness that results when two things that must be together in order to complete a whole are pulled apart". In the case of the twins and the wings of a butterfly, the whole entity is complete only when the symmetric halves are opposite each other. When that symmetry breaks down, tragedy is the result. Tragedy also results from each entity's need to be whole again. This is the basis of the story in the new game."

Hidden Butterflies in Fatal Frame II

• The game's Japanese logo has a butterfly-looking crest
• The main menu
• The red ribbons Mio and Mayu wear
• The black butterfly sewn into Mio's black top
• Yae's obi
• Kurosawa family crest
• Dressing screen in the Kurosawa House
• Dressing screen in the Kiryu House
• The blood on Sae's kimono is shaped like a butterfly wing
• The cloth behind the altar in the Kureha Shrine
• Two small boxes in the Raised Tatami Room in Tachibana House

Hidden Butterflies in Deep Crimson Butterfly

• The lanterns in the Family Altar Room in Kurosawa House now have a butterfly pattern
• Banners with a butterfly crest can be seen in the background during the Shadow Festival Ending

Fatal Frame III

In Fatal Frame III a Crimson Butterfly aids Kei Amakura as he searches the Manor of Sleep for his neice Mio Amakura, who has fallen under the Tattooed Curse. Some fans speculate that the butterfly is in fact Mayu Amakura from Fatal Frame II, and that she came back to help save her sister.