So this is my first attempt at a skin, and I'm entering this into a contest, which can be found here.

Onryō (怨霊) are mythological spirits from Japanese folklore who are able to return to the physical world in order to seek vengeance for their past lives.

While male Onryō characters can be seen, mainly in kabuki, the majority of them are women. Onryō are powerless when in the physical world. Their death are often caused by sufferings given to them by the capricious whims of their male lovers. They get spiritual powers after death.

The traditional Japanese spirit world consists of three layers: heaven, the world of living and the world of the dead. Regardless of who the person was before death, all spirits go to Yomi when they died, even the kami (deities). While it is impossible for the dead to come back to the world of the living anymore; according to Japanese mythology, powerful dead spirits could influence the living either out of good will or malice. Kojiki (711-2), the oldest Japanese book which narrates Japanese history beginning from its creation mythology, tells that when the goddess Izanami died she was able to cast a curse from Yomi on the land of living. In a similar sense, Onryō refers specifically to human souls transformed by extreme emotions to do such harm. The earliest remaining record of Onryō is found in Shoku Nihongi (797): a high ranked courtier Fujiwara no Hirotsugu (died in 740 ja:藤原広嗣), who lost power and was defeated in a failed rebellion against Genbō is mentioned after his death as "Hirotsugu's soul harmed Genbō to death".

If you've ever seen the movie "The Grudge," the evil spirits in that are onryō.