Kayako Saeki is the main antagonist in the Japanese horror film series, Ju-on, as well as the US remake The Grudge. She was played by Takako Fuji six times in feature-length and short films, and once by Aiko Horiuchi in The Grudge 3.
Backstory:
Kayako was killed by her insanely jealous husband, Takeo Saeki, after he finds a journal detailing her (unrequited) love for another man, Shunsuke Kobayashi. Takeo murders Kayako by breaking her neck and stabbing her multiple times, before then hiding her body in the attic of their house, in a trash bag. He then also kills their son Toshio, the boy's cat and the pregnant wife of Kobayashi.
Filled with rage over her violent death, Kayako returns as a vengeful ghost (onryou in Japanese) who kills Takeo and also anyone else who ventures into the house in which she was killed. Even those who leave the house are sometimes followed and killed by Kayako. Her presence is often forewarned by the appearance of Toshio's ghost, his cat's ghost / meowing, or a distinctive croaking sound, which is the only sound Kayako can make after having her windpipe crushed.
This post is part of the A-Z Blogging Challenge, 2013.
