Top 10 scariest horror movie characters

The Japanese love horror movies, but which character is their favorite? In July 2009, Oricon asked 1000 Japanese people, both men and women, who their favorite horror movie character is. And here are the results:

The top 10 scariest horror movie characters accordning to the Japanese people.

	10. Tomie [富江] (Tomie) Tomie is a girl who never dies and who possesses the power to make anyone fall in love with her. Because of her manipulative nature she drives these men, and also women, into jealous rages that inevitably lead to brutal acts of violence. This horror manga by Junji Ito was adapted to a series of horror films between 1999 and 2007.
	9. Oiwa [お 岩] (Yotsuya Kaidan) Yotsuya Kaidan is arguably the most famous Japanese ghost story of all time. It tells the story of Oiwa, who is betrayed and poisoned by her husband. Oiwa dies but comes back as a ghost to seek vengeance. This kabuki play, written in 1825, has been adapted for film over 30 times.
	8. Jigsaw (Saw) Jigsaw is the killer from the movie Saw. He is an unusual killer because he doesn’t kill his victims himself, instead he creates deadly tests for his subjects, which are often a symbolic representation of what could be seen as a flaw in the person’s life.
	7. Chucky (Child’s Play) Everyone’s favorite doll… or not. Chucky is a Good Guy doll that was given to a kid as a birthday present by his mom. Later the doll, who has the soul of a serial killer, comes to life and starts killing people.
	6. Kayako [伽椰子] (Ju-on) Kayako Saeki, characterized by her long dark hair covering her face, twisted movements with crunching neckbones and haunting croaking sounds from her mouth, is the vengeful ghost in the Ju-on movies.
	5. Freddy Krueger (A Nightmare on Elm Street) Freddy is the disfigured dream stalker who uses a glove armed with razors to kill children and teenagers in their dreams, which ultimately results in their death in the real world.
	4. Kuchisake onna [口裂け女] (A Slit-Mouthed Woman) Kuchisake onna refers to both a story in Japanese mythology, as well as a modern version of the tale of a woman, mutilated by a jealous husband, and returned as a malicious spirit bent on committing the same acts that were done to her.
	3. Zombie (Various zombie movies) This one doesn’t really need much explanation. Zombies are living dead, and there has been made hundreds, if not thousands of zombie movies. Two famous Japanese zombie movies are Versus and Wild Zero.
	2. Jason (Friday the 13th) Second place goes to Jason Voorhees, the famous hockey mask wearing killer, who drowned as a kid but came back to venegance his mother’s death. He’s ruthless, brutal and kills pretty much everyone who comes in his way.
	1. Sadako [貞 子] (Ringu) And Japan’s favorite horror movie character is… Sadako! The scary, long dark haired girl from the Ringu movies. Sadako’s appearence is typical of Japanese ghosts and has many similarities with Kayako from Ju-on. These ghosts, who are bound by a desire for vengeance, are called onryou. The most famous scene with Sadako is probably when she crawls out of a television in the first Ringu movie.

So, there you have it. What’s interesting is that all five of the Japanese horror characters in the top ten are ghostly women and all the American ones are men (although zombies can be both of course).