Muu Shuwuu

Muu Shuwuu is a Demon in the Megami Tensei franchise.

Profile

Origin

Muu Shuwuu, Moh Shubuu, or Moh Shuvuu^[a] (lit. "evil bird") is a supernatural creature from Buryati Folklore. The Buryati are a nomadic ethnic group from the Republic of Buryatia, a region located between Mongolia and Siberia, and currently part of Russia.

This creature is described as a demonic bird, born when a young girl or woman suffers a violent death without ever knowing true love. Normally, a Muh Shuwuu will attack men that she can seduce using her youthful looks. She can change between bird and human form at will, but can never get rid of her beak, hiding it with her hands or clothes when possible. By the time the seduced man lowers his guard, the demon will reveal its ominous sharp beak and use it to kill her prey with a blow to the head. After that, Muh Shuwwu will proceed to suck out and consume the brains of her victim. ^[1]

The name Muu Shuwuu supposedly means evil bird, and is misspelled both in the Megami Tensei Franchise and in the western internet at large. In Russian, the name is spelled as Муу шубуун, with "Moh Shubuu" and "Moh Shubuun" being the preferred transliterations. ^[1]

The renowned Russian folklorist Matvey Nikolaevich (1858-1918), celebrated in his time by his expeditions to Buryati settlements to study their culture, catalogued the Muu Shuwuu in some of his work. Three tales concerning the creature are described by Matvey: One is about a young couple, in which the husband died and the wife became a Muu Shuwuu after eating his corpse. The second tells the tale of a hunter that manages to outsmart a Muu Shuwuu that became stuck in a tree, and after shooting her (either with an arrow or gun) he burns the remains. The third one is about Muu Shuwuu that inhabited a forest, causing mayhem in nearby regions. A warrior won against a Muu Shuwuu there, where he found out that she had a husband, who pleaded for his wife's life. Male Muu Shuwuu are also present, and explain that the habit of attacking humans was exclusive to the females. As an apology, the couple teach the warrior how to defend himself from their relatives, by using magical words.^[1]

Another common trope described by Matvey is that Muu Shuwuu usually holds two flints within her clothes, tucked under her armpits. One is a bright red flint in a good shape, while the other is decayed and rotten. It is said that to defeat one, the decayed flint should be taken and destroyed, as it's linked to her vital energies. The Muu Shuwuu, however, will try to deceive her opponents into taking the red one instead, causing them to become weaker and easier to kill. ^[1]

Design

Muu Shuwuu's clothing closely resembles Buryati traditional female attires. However, the demon designer: Kazuma Kaneko, never stated anything about this allegedly inspiration, being purely speculative.

Gameplay

For complete gameplay information, see Gameplay:Muu Shuwuu.

Compendium

Compendium Entries
Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey	Meaning "evil bird," it's the ghost of a young girl who died without knowing love in Buryat folklore. She seduces travelers, only to crack their heads open and suck out their brains with her beak.
Shin Megami Tensei V	Meaning "evil bird," it is the ghost of a young girl who died without knowing love in Buryat folklore. She seduces travelers, only to crack their heads open and suck out their brains with her beak.
Raidou Kuzunoha vs. the Soulless Army	Meaning "evil bird," it's the ghost of a young girl who died without knowing love in Buryat folklore. She seduces travelers, only to crack their heads open and suck out their brains with her beak.
Persona 2: Innocent Sin	Spirit of a girl who died without knowing life. Takes the form of a bird.
Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth	Meaning "evil bird", the ghost of a young girl who died without knowing love, in Buryat folklore. She seduces travelers, only to crack their heads open and suck out their brains with her beak.
Devil Survivor: Overclocked	Meaning "evil bird", it's the ghost of a young girl who died without knowing love in Buryat folklore. She seduces travelers only to crack their heads open and suck out their brains with her beak.
Devil Survivor 2	Meaning "evil bird," it's the ghost of a young girl who died without knowing love in Buryat folklore. She seduces travelers only to crack their heads open and suck out their brains with her beak.

Nomenclature

This demon's English and Japanese names are transcriptions from Mongolian муу шувуу muu shuwuu rather than from Buryat.

Names in Other Languages
Language	Name	Meaning
English	Moh ShuvuuShin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey Redux Shin Megami Tensei IV Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. the Soulless Army Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abaddon Devil Survivor Devil Survivor: Overclocked Devil Survivor 2 Devil Survivor 2: Record Breaker Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth
	Muu ShuwuuShin Megami Tensei V Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance Soul Hackers 2 Raidou Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army
	Mou ShoboPersona 2: Eternal Punishment
Japanese	モー・ショボー Mō Shobō	Muu Shuvuu

Gallery

Sprite from Shin Megami Tensei IV
Sprite from Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner (Sega Saturn)
Sprite from Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers (PlayStation)
Sprite from Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers (Nintendo 3DS)
Nemechi sprite from Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers (Nintendo 3DS)
Render from Shin Megami Tensei V
Render from Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth
Model from Shin Megami Tensei: Imagine
Sprite from Devil Survivor
Map sprite from Devil Survivor
Sprite from Devil Survivor: Overclocked
Sprite from Devil Survivor 2

Videos

Muu Shuwuu's Daily Demon Showcase for Shin Megami Tensei V

Muu Shuwuu's Daily Demon Showcase for Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance

Muu Shuwuu's Daily Demon Future Prediction with Ringo for Soul Hackers 2

Notes

↑ Classical Mongolian: ᠮᠠᠭ᠋ᠤ ᠰᠢᠪᠠᠭ᠋ᠤ, romanized maɣu sibaɣu; Buryat: муу шубуун, romanized muu shubuun; Khalkha Mongolian: муу шувуу, romanized muu shuwuu

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 Matvey, Collected works Volume 3.(reprinted in 2004) - (Хангалов М.Н. Собрание сочинений в 3 т. Т.3. / Под ред. Г.Н.Румянцева.-Улан-Удэ: Изд-во ОАО «Республиканская типография», 2004.’’)

[1] Classical Mongolian: ᠮᠠᠭ᠋ᠤ ᠰᠢᠪᠠᠭ᠋ᠤ, romanized maɣu sibaɣu; Buryat: муу шубуун, romanized muu shubuun; Khalkha Mongolian: муу шувуу, romanized muu shuwuu

[:0-2] 1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 Matvey, Collected works Volume 3.(reprinted in 2004) - (Хангалов М.Н. Собрание сочинений в 3 т. Т.3. / Под ред. Г.Н.Румянцева.-Улан-Удэ: Изд-во ОАО «Республиканская типография», 2004.’’)

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