Kusabi
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The Kusabi was an outsider, offered as a human sacrifice to appease the Hellish Abyss in All God's Village. A Kusabi was needed when there were no twins available to perform the Crimson Sacrifice Ritual. The Kusabi's calming effect on the Hellish Abyss was only temporary, and was meant to suffice until a proper Crimson Sacrifice could be offered. The first Kusabi was not an outsider, but rather a Ceremony Master who performed the first Cutting Ritual by slashing himself and sacrificing his own body.
In Fatal Frame II and Fatal Frame: Deep Crimson Butterfly the vengeful ghost of the last Kusabi to be sacrificed, Seijiro Makabe, is encountered. Although his ritual succeeded, it did not calm the Hellish Abyss as much as the villagers had hoped. After Sae Kurosawa's Crimson Sacrifice Ritual failed, Seijiro Makabe's spirit, alongside Sae's, returned from the Abyss. The vengeful spirit ransacked the Kurosawa House and slashed all the people in the Great Hall, as well as those who tried to flee, to death.
The Kusabi's spirit, called Rope Man, or The Bound Man in Fatal Frame: Deep Crimson Butterfly, serves as one of the two possible final bosses of the game.
Fatal Frame II
The first phase of the Hidden Ceremony was the Cutting Ritual, which took place in the Rope Temple. During the Cutting Ritual, the Kusabi's body was slashed in ritualistic torture by the staffs of the Veiled Priests, and he was made into a Buddha. It was believed that the more the individual suffered, the greater the calming effect on the Hellish Abyss.
After being tortured in the Cutting Ritual, the Kusabi was bound with rope, and his body was lowered into the Hellish Abyss. In order for the ritual to succeed, the Kusabi still had to be alive at this point.
Failed Kusabi
Many Kusabi failed to survive the Cutting Ritual. Since the Kusabi must be alive whilst being lowered into the Hellish Abyss, those who died were not considered suitable offerings. Their bodies are buried in the Underground Passageway.
Known Victims of the Kusabi
Add more here, even if they are "hidden ghosts" that say they were victims of the Kusabi, but aren't listed here.
Fatal Frame III
A Kusabi also appears in Fatal Frame III during the Minakami Village parts. This Kusabi, however, is different in appearance and it is likely that it is not Seijiro Makabe, but a previous Kusabi sacrifice.
Gallery
Misc. Information
- The Kusabi is one of the very few enemies in the series that instantly kills you with one touch.
- The Kusabi also goes by the name 'Rope Man' in the Zero Akai Chou Master Guide.
- In Fatal Frame II the Kusabi cannot be harmed until the battle with him, at the end of the final chapter.
- The ropes used to bind the Kusabi in the Cutting Ritual are sacred braided rice straw ropes with zig-zag paper streamers (注連縄, shimenawa and 紙垂, shide, respectively), and are used in the Shinto religion to mark sacred spaces.
- The Kusabi's body in ghost form is covered with talismans (御札, ofuda).
- In Fatal Frame II, the Kusabi's spirit was called a wraith by the creators. A wraith is a ghost that returns to avenge its own death, bringing misfortune or death to anyone who sees it. They are often considered omens of doom or coming destruction.
- In Fatal Frame II, the Kusabi's spirit has no right arm where it should be. His arm can clearly be seen tied to his body in the inverse direction. It may have been removed during the Cutting Ritual and then tied together with his body before being thrown into the Hellish Abyss.
- The name Kusabi itself means "wedge, link pin".
See Also
- For other hostile ghosts, see Hostile Ghosts.
- For other rituals in Fatal Frame II, see Fatal Frame II Rituals.