Current Events > Where did the Japanese "hazmat cleric" trope come from?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I've seen it in a lot of JRPGs and anime. Clerics or exorcists in armored hazmat suits who remove curses or fight ghosts or whatever. Usually they wear goggles which may or may not glow, and sometimes have circular helmets.

Often, they treat curses as analogous to radioactivity, so I'm wondering if they have an origin in the Japanese nuclear taboo.

Purifiers in Breath of Fire IV for reference:

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/2/9/6/AAVeaUAACwGQ.jpg
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/2/9/7/AAVeaUAACwGR.jpg

Any ideas, weebs?

I've never thought about it too much, but I assume it stems from the fact that demonic entities were usually accompanied by some sort of poisonous "Miasma" in a lot of local folklore.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plague_doctor

I'm talking about the specific Japanese trope. They're similar to plague doctors, but more modern. They have metal helmets with goggles and hazmat-style outfits. And often they have those sticks with paper charms on the end that get waved around.

There has to be an anime or manga that originated it, because it's used in such a specific way in multiple things.