Question

鬼 おに、おに- 鬼(おに): (1) ogre; demon (2) spirit of a deceased person (3) ogre-like person (i.e. fierce, relentless, merciless, etc.) (4) it (i.e. in a game of tag) (5) Chinese "ghost" constellation (one of the 28 mansions) (6) very; extremely; super- S 丿: katakana no radical (no. 4)田: rice field; rice paddy儿: legs radical (no. 10)厶: I; myself; katakana mu radical (no. 28) 鬼 10 (none) ghost A ghost, or oni, wandering slowly on its human legs, searching for brains to eat. What looks like an elbow here is actually a pictoral representation of the forked tail protruding out of its rear.

Accepted Answer

キ ghost, devil 1 1557 10 194 おに・きにょう 象形 Pictographic 鬼(おに) is not a ghost. An ogre or a troll would be a more fitting translation. Such a thing has but a drop of brains and uses its legs and elbows as deadly weapons (a concept which should be familiar from the license (#765) to kill). I'll use "ogre" for this.

Kanji	鬼
Onyomi	キ
Kunyomi	おに、おに-
English	ghost, devil
Examples	鬼(おに): (1) ogre; demon (2) spirit of a deceased person (3) ogre-like person (i.e. fierce, relentless, merciless, etc.) (4) it (i.e. in a game of tag) (5) Chinese "ghost" constellation (one of the 28 mansions) (6) very; extremely; super-
JLPT Level	1
Jouyou Grade	S
Frequency	1557
Components	丿: katakana no radical (no. 4) 田: rice field; rice paddy 儿: legs radical (no. 10) 厶: I; myself; katakana mu radical (no. 28)
Number of Strokes	10
Kanji Radical	鬼
Radical Number	194
Radical Strokes	10
Radical Reading	おに・きにょう
Traditional Form	(none)
Classification	象形 Pictographic
Keyword	ghost
Koohii Story 1	鬼(おに) is not a ghost. An ogre or a troll would be a more fitting translation. Such a thing has but a drop of brains and uses its legs and elbows as deadly weapons (a concept which should be familiar from the license (#765) to kill). I'll use "ogre" for this.
Koohii Story 2	A ghost, or oni, wandering slowly on its human legs, searching for brains to eat. What looks like an elbow here is actually a pictoral representation of the forked tail protruding out of its rear.

Radical 鬼 Ghost Person I.E Katakana Rice Legs