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Yotsugi Ononoki (斧乃木 余接, Ononoki Yotsugi) is an expressionless human corpse tsukumogami and the shikigami familiar of Yozuru Kagenui.

She's a somewhat unique take on both of the terms that define her, as tsukumogami are normally described as tools that have come back to life after years of neglect, and shikigami are typically depicted as being spirits or ghosts that are bound to an onmyouji master. In her case, she's a corpse that was likely once used as a "tool" and neglected but brought back to life, and a shikigami in the sense that she's a "spirit" that is bound to her master.

Later in the series, she pretends to be Tsukihi Araragi's doll and lives in the Araragi household in order to protect Koyomi Araragi.

She is the narrator of an arc in Orokamonogatari and the titular protagonist of three main arcs: Yotsugi Doll, Yotsugi Body, and Yotsugi Shadow, and of two minor arcs: Yotsugi Future, and Yotsugi Stress.

Appearance

Yotsugi looks like a 12 year old girl with turquoise hair, green eyes, pointy ears, and a strange orange hat with googly eyes. Her outfit consists of a frilly orange dress in varying shades of color, striped blue and grey stockings, and yellow boots.

As Tsukihi's doll, she commonly wears a kimono, likely due to Tsukihi dressing her up to match her fashion sense. 

Personality

Possibly due to the circumstances surrounding her creation, Yotsugi is seemingly void of any obvious personality traits. Her facial expression almost never changes from neutral and she speaks in a flat, monotone voice. Throughout the series she explores her identity by adopting various signature phrases and gestures. In her first appearance, she frequently ends statements with "Boku wa kimegao de sou itta", roughly meaning "I said, with a posed look", notably using the masculine "boku wa" to refer to herself. She would later drop this phrase out of embarrassment and regret, indicating her ability to express such emotions in her own way. When Koyomi Araragi mentions the subject he is immediately hushed by her and told never to bring it up again.

She retains a mannerism of referring to anyone as an older sibling, even in situations where she's technically older. She refers to Koyomi as "oni no onii-chan", often translated as "devilish big brother" or "devil boy," referencing his relation to vampires since they're commonly considered to be demons. She has been shown to address Deishuu Kaiki as Kaiki-onii-chan as well, greeting him with a peace sign hand gesture and the words "yay" and "peace", much to his annoyance. She seems to keep the "yay peace peace" mannerism from then on.

Kagenui is the only person she calls her big sister without using it as an honorific (i.e. only Onee-chan as opposed to Yozuru-Onee-chan.) Kagenui has admitted there is some significance to this after Koyomi notices, but never explains what it is.

Despite appearing almost entirely stoic, she still has hinted at feeling genuine emotion. She's mentioned how she considers Koyomi her friend on multiple occasions, such as when giving him advice "as a friend" as opposed to as an oddity specialist. She's also expressed how she wouldn't want to have to harm him despite needing to follow orders as a shikigami.

Yotsugi also has an appreciation for muscles.

Background

Yotsugi was once a human before she died and became a corpse. About fifteen years ago, the corpse was resurrected as a doll-like tsukumogami by members of the Occult Research Club as a sort of project. Ononoki had to choose between Tadatsuru Teori and Yozuru Kagenui in order to decide which would be her master as a shikigami. Ultimately, she chose Kagenui, forging a bitter rivalry between Teori and Kagenui. Despite this, she notes that she may have chosen Meme Oshino over both of them if she had the choice.

She does not seem to have memories of what she was like prior to resurrection, as what she would consider her "life" started when she was resurrected fifteen years ago. It is also unclear if her appearance was the same in her past life.

Plot

Tsukihi Phoenix

This section contains content from Nisemonogatari.
Yotsugi is first seen while Koyomi is walking with Mayoi Hachikuji. She mysteriously refers to each of them as "oni" and "snail" respectively and asks for the location of Eikou Cram School before leaving. This occurred after Koyomi had already ran into Kagenui for the first time, who was looking for the same place.

It's revealed by Kaiki that she and Kagenui are specialists who specialize in immortal oddities. After Koyomi comes home, he finds the two of them at his door step and it's revealed that they had come to kill Tsukihi for unknowingly being a Shide no Tori. Yotsugi uses her Unlimited Rulebook ability to blow the top of her body to smithereens. This angers Koyomi to a dangerous level, causing him to charge at her in rage. The attack didn't actually seem to do much though, as Tsukihi's upper half had already regenerated by the next time he looked at her. The two come to a compromise and agree to fight Koyomi and Shinobu Oshino elsewhere at a later time before finishing Tsukihi off.

Rorololo

Yotsugi Defeated

Yotsugi ends up battling a teenaged Shinobu and loses off screen. After Koyomi's conversation with Kagenui, she admits defeat and takes Ononoki with her.

Mayoi Jiangshi

This section contains content from Kabukimonogatari.
Yotsugi is now alone and sees Koyomi Araragi carrying Mayoi's backpack while she was "dispatched" to do something. She also tells him to stop reminding her catchphrase "I said with a posed look" this time. In an ice cream shop, Yotsugi reveals her nature being an oddity as a Tsukumogami where she died once and was "reincarnated" compared to Koyomi who did not die as an immortal being.[1]

As Koyomi talks about Mayoi's nature as a ghost, Yotsugi thinks why she, Koyomi, and Mayoi have continued living on if there was an intention for it. She ends the conversation with a question to him if Mayoi was truly happy being a ghost.[1]

Shinobu Time

This section contains content from Onimonogatari.

Shinobu Mail

This section contains content from Owarimonogatari.

Hitagi End

This section contains content from Koimonogatari.

Koyomi Seed

This section contains content from Koyomimonogatari.

Yotsugi Doll

This section contains content from Tsukimonogatari.

Hitagi Rendezvous

This section contains content from Owarimonogatari.

Ougi Dark

Koyomi Reverse

This section contains content from Zoku Owarimonogatari.

Tsukihi Undo

Nadeko Draw

Shinobu Mastered

Abilities

Yotsugi has a power called Unlimited Rulebook which allows her finger to shape-shift and cause explosions. The power can also be used for other things such as large jumps that behave similar to teleportation. Yotsugi also seems to have a type of super strength, which allows her to carry Kagenui and others using only 1 finger.

Catchphrases / Running Gags

  • "I said with a posed look."
  • "Unlimited Rulebook."
  • "Yay, peace peace."

Trivia

  • Yotsugi's first name literally means "cotangent", which shares a similar theme as Yozuru's name, which means "cosine". Her surname means "axe in a tree".
  • In the TV version of Mayoi Jiangshi in Monogatari Series Second Season, a scene ends with her smiling while requesting Koyomi Araragi to ask Hachikuji if she's happy living as a ghost. In the blu-ray version however, the smile was removed for a more common, neutral expression. This marks the only instance of her smiling in the TV series, and the change makes it ambiguous as to whether or not it should be considered canon.
    YotsugiNosmile
  • In the fighting game BlazBlue: Central Fiction, a skin with an Ononoki color pallet is available as DLC for the character Racheal Alucard.
  • Despite being female, Yotsugi refers to herself with the first person Japanese pronoun boku, which is more commonly used by men.

Appears In

Gallery

References

Navigation

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Characters of the Monogatari Series
Araragi Family Koyomi AraragiKaren AraragiTsukihi AraragiAraragi Matriarch
Heroines Hitagi SenjougaharaMayoi HachikujiSuruga KanbaruNadeko SengokuTsubasa Hanekawa/Black HanekawaShinobu OshinoSodachi OikuraOugi Oshino
Oddity Specialists Meme OshinoDeishuu KaikiYozuru KagenuiYotsugi OnonokiIzuko GaenTadatsuru TeoriSeishirou Shishirui
Hearsay Police Department Zenka SuoNozomi KizashimaMitome SaisakiTsuzura Kouga
Vampire Hunters DramaturgyEpisodeGuillotine Cutter
Other Characters Hitagi's FatherHitagi's MotherTsunadeMayoi's FatherTooe GaenSuruga's FatherSuruga's GrandmotherNadeko's ParentsTsubasa's ParentsMizudoriRousokuzawaSeiu HigasaRouka NumachiSasayabuKomichi TetsujouDeathtopia Virtuoso Suicide-MasterTropicalesque Home-A-Wave Dog-Strings
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