King Oni


Designation: Advanced Anti-Armour Robot
Manufacturer: Kurikara Robotics (unconfirmed)
Country of origin: Japan
Mass-produced at: Imperial Weapons Factory

Key Features:

• Twin blazing laser eyes
• Swivelling torso
• Fully articulated limbs
• Unmanned (unconfirmed)
• Decorated with patriotic symbols



No one yet knows exactly how the Empire of the Rising Sun managed to keep its exotic army a secret for so long. The Soviet Union was particularly caught off guard, as its borders were amongst the first to be cast into the Shade by the Empire.


The Imperial King Oni is believed to be the heaviest and most powerful armoured land vehicle in service with the Empire of the Rising Sun.

When the Empire finally revealed its military might, many senior military officials in the Soviet Union were quickly forced to resign in disgrace, whilst others were imprisoned (or worse) for failing to gather sufficient intelligence on their new enemies. Some maintain that it was simply human error that caused the world’s greatest military minds to fail to detect the development of Imperial forces designed purely for Sleeper Ambush. However, there is no satisfactory explanation as to how a monster such as the King Oni could have been overlooked by the global intelligence community of senior officers and agents until this massive battle walker was already being deployed on the front line. How could such an absurd weapon-one that flies in the face of decades of conventional mechanised warfare-have been developed in complete secrecy? The only explanation that makes sense is that the Allied Nations and the Soviet Union were so embroiled in their own conflict that they became oblivious to the storm brewing across the Far East; a storm best characterised by the incredible visage of the King Oni.


The King Oni can kill with a single glance.

It is unclear why the Japanese army was compelled to design such an unorthodox combat machine as this humanoid, which stands approximately six storeys tall and conjures up images of a mechanical ogre. However, reports of this vehicle’s performance on the battlefield have silenced the critics, suggesting that its bizarre form is not merely a ploy to undermine enemy morale. Indeed, the King Oni’s combat capabilities are more than enough to strike fear into the hearts of the opposing army. The robot’s ‘eyes’ conceal energy weapons capable of reducing a tank to rubble in a matter of seconds. Furthermore, the King Oni is remarkably capable of fighting with its own body, using its massive arms and shoulders to crush anything in its path. An initial battlefield report involving the King Oni suggested that a single one of these robots, when facing an entire platoon of tanks, simply charged the battle tanks. Their shots were deflected by the King Oni’s white armour (which must be some sort of new material), and the tanks were then crushed beneath its feet as if they were mere children’s toys.

We do not know whether it is a piloted, remote-controlled or autonomous vehicle because none of them has yet been recovered or dismantled. The only thing that seems clear about the King Oni is its combat prowess. Military strategists speculate that it is almost impossible for the Empire of the Rising Sun to have built more than a handful of these remarkable machines. However, their credibility in recent days appears to be somewhat questionable.


Reconnaissance on the battlefield has at least revealed the following facts about the King Oni:

• Blazing laser eyes– Enemy armour is no match for the King Oni’s energy weapons. And anti-armour infantry divisions would need to be extremely brave to get anywhere near this monster’s Desolator arms and legs. As a small consolation, the King Oni appears to be unable to counter-attack an airborne assault.

-Bull Charge– The King Oni, according to some reports, can charge into enemy ranks, demolishing formations and leaving survivors in utter disarray. This attack appears devastatingly destructive, yet it is rarely used, as if the King Oni were dependent on some sort of internal energy recharge between charges.

-Impenetrable Armour- Modern anti-armour weapons appear ineffective against the King Oni, which seems capable of withstanding many times more attacks than a typical battle tank. Stopping it would likely require an intensely concentrated attack.

-Prohibitive Cost - There is virtually no way the Empire of the Rising Sun could manufacture the King Oni in significant numbers. The cost of research and development must be staggering, and the Empire of the Rising Sun would probably use even more of these if it could.