| “ | No one will survive... No one. | „ |
| ~ Reika Kuze |
Reika Kuze (maiden name Yukishiro) is the main antagonist of Fatal Frame III: The Tormented. She was the last Priestess sacrificed in the Kuze Impalement Ritual before the disaster known as the Unleashing happened, due to her ritual failing once she fell in love with a boy named Kaname, who was killed before her eyes. She was voiced by Kimberly Brooks.
Role in the game[]
Early life[]
Reika lived in a village near the Kuze Shrine area, along with a man named Kaname Ototsuki, who she eventually met and fell in love with. However, Kaname had to leave the village for folklore research, and Reika's entire family died not too long afterwards (presumably at an avalanche), leaving her alone and desperately seeking shelter. Eventually she was taken in by the Kuze Shrine, adopting the Kuze surname and becoming next in line to be the Tattooed Priestess in the next Impalement Ritual.
Ritual failure[]
Reika in her final boss form, protected by the corruption of the Rift.
As the tradition dictates, she spent her days at the Hanging Prison, visited only by her handmaiden Amane and talking to her about the outside world. But before the Piercing of the Soul ritual, she showed Amane the earring Kaname gave her before leaving, not knowing that Amane is his younger sister.
After bearing the Tattoos and breaking the Mirror of Loss to etch her pain, she was impaled at the Chamber of Thorns by the Handmaidens as they sung the Impalement Song to make her sleep, as the ritual intended. However, as she slept, she dreamed of Kaname and her lost hopes of seeing him again. The connection eventually made its way to Kaname himself, who started to dream of the manor and the Kuze Shrine, eventually deciding to see Reika again, smuggled into the Shrine by Amane. At the Chamber, he finally found Reika, impaled in her slumber, as they shared a brief moment together. But Yashuu Kuze, the family master, murdered Kaname before her eyes, the shock of losing her love causing the Rift to spread across the shrine, initiating the many deaths of the residents and the Tattooed Curse.
The Tormented[]
Many years later, several reports of patients missing from hospitals are filed, as well as villagers from nearby towns vanishing without a trace, the only tie between them all being the loss of someone close to them.
A woman named Yoshino Takigawa, survivor of a plane crash which killed her entire family, is admitted to the hospital as well, but contracts the Tattooed Curse shortly after. Meanwhile, protagonist Rei Kurosawa, whose fiance Yuu died in a car accident, also starts having the "Manor of Sleep" curse and sees the many ghosts who once lived at the Kuze househould, fighting them all with the aid of the Camera Obscura and also meeting Takigawa, who soon falls to the curse and becomes a dangerous ghost herself. Both, however, see the corrupted spirit of Reika chasing them through their dreams, and soon Rei's assistant Miku Hinasaki (the protagonist of the first game) and a researcher named Kei Amakura (the uncle of Mio Amakura, protagonist of the second game) fall prey to the curse as well, Miku being trapped inside the dream while Kei's fate is left for the player to decide.
After witnessing the story of the manor, and of Reika herself, Rei descends the Abyss towards the Chamber of Thorns and, after reliving the death of Kaname and the Unleashing, faces Reika in a final battle to end the curse. Eventually, Reika's spirit is defeated and finally sent to the Other Side along with Kaname.
Personality[]
Reika is described as once being shy but gentle towards Amane, and loving and caring towards Kaname, however loyal to her duties as a Priestess above all. After the Unleashing, her spirit became heartless and corrupt, crying out for any visitors to the manor in their dreams, warning that no one will survive.
Tattooed Curse[]
Final stage of the curse shown on Yoshino Takigawa.
The curse affects anyone who has survived the loss of a loved one or family member. The symptoms are as follows:
- PTSD, although in some cases it does not happen.
- Hallucinations of ghosts from the Kuze Shrine.
- Nightmares involving a large Japanese manor with snow falling softly outside.
- Spreading of a bruise in shape of a Snake & Holly Tattoo. Causes intense pain as it progresses.
- Humming of a lullaby (in some cases).
- Victims sleep more often and grow weaker daily.
- Tattoos reach inside the eyes and cover them, victim disappears seconds after, black soot markings left on the spot.