Jei
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Jei—a.k.a. Jei-san, The Blade of the Gods, The Black Soul, The Demon Spearman, and a number of other dark nicknames—is a character from the Usagi Yojimbo comics. Although Lord Hikiji is considered the main villain of the series, Jei is the closest thing to a true nemesis of Miyamoto Usagi. Jei is a tall anthropomorphic wolf with long black hair, wears a black kimono, and is armed with a yari (straight-edged spear)—Jei's main weapon which has a black blade—and a daisho (pair of swords).
Jei is a samurai who believes that he was chosen by the gods as an emissary, to smite evil and execute sinners; the problem is, who can honestly say they have never committed a sin? Consequently, Jei has a tendency of killing anyone who draws his attention. That's not to say Jei is a homicidal maniac, he has often passed right through crowds of people and villages without so much as flinching; but when he does, almost anyone in eyesight is marked for death. Because of his brutal rampages, most do not consider him an emissary of the gods, but under demonic possession, or simply insane; whether or not he still has his mental faculties, Jei does possess some supernatural power.
The most obvious of Jei's abilities is his immortality, despite being "killed" numerous times, he has always come back. He was struck by lightning, fell off a cliff, and run through with a holy sword; but Jei has always returned in some form or another. Also, he has the ability to consecrate weapons, turning their blades black to match his soul. In battle, he uses these blades to steal people's souls; minor injuries can greatly weaken opponents, leaving them helpless; while serious wounds can rip the soul right out of a person, killing them instantly. Finally, he seems to know things about people that he otherwise shouldn't, even though he doesn't always understand it either. In Circles, Jei kidnaps a young boy named "Jotaro"; he isn't sure why the gods told him to do it, but the readers later find out that Jotaro is Usagi's son.
After Jei's "death" by being run through with the Kusanagi, his body was destroyed, but his spirit possessed another to do his bidding. It is unknown if he is stuck in the person he is with now, or if he can move and simply doesn't want to leave. The current "Blade of the Gods" can be identified by the following:
- Pupil-less eyes
- A hideous smile of sharp teeth
- A voice that sounds like it came from the grave
- A chill in the air (Jei and Keiko are the only ones who do not feel this)
- Weapons with metal parts are tainted black
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[edit] History
There is very little known about Jei before he appeared in the comics, but in his debut appearance he talks to a band of samurai about how he used to be a samurai like them. One day, he succumbed to a serious fever, and when it broke, he could hear voices that were telling him to go out and smite evil. He believed that the gods had blessed him, and that if he does their work, he will eventually join them.
[edit] Usagi vs. Jei-san
Jei first encounters Usagi in Blade of the Gods where Usagi is traveling on a rainy night, and stops at a hut, looking for shelter. The door opens to reveal Jei. Jei invites him in, but Usagi is very wary of the strange spearman, noting that his blade appeared black and there is a chill in the air. In the middle of the night, Jei is aroused and turns on Usagi, saying that the gods have shown him his sins, and will kill him. Usagi defends himself against Jei's attacks, and manages to land a strike against the spearman; the blow should have been fatal, but Jei still stands. He now believes that his time has come, and that the gods sent Usagi to him as a final test; if he can beat Usagi, it will be time for him to join the gods. The fight almost ended when a lightning bolt struck a tree, sending Usagi to the ground; Jei was about to kill him when another lightning bolt struck him, disintegrating him, leaving only the charred remains of his spear.
Since then, Jei has returned, intent on finding and killing Usagi. In many ways he is a perfect nemesis for Usagi, both similar and opposite in many ways.
- Both of them are ronin, masterless samurai.
- Both of them have unusual opinions of Japan's caste structure; Usagi treats everyone with respect regardless of class, while Jei also ignores class, thinking that sinners are sinners regardless of their role in life.
- Both have a sense of justice; though they are very different in their opinions of guilt and punishment.
- Usagi's techniques have a weakness against spearmen, like Jei.
- Jei is a wolf while Usagi is a rabbit; a natural predator-prey relationship in our world.
[edit] Allies?
In the comics, there are only two people he encountered that he deliberately did not kill: Keiko and Inazuma.
[edit] Keiko
In Black Soul, a young girl, Keiko and her grandfather are sitting down for supper. They are poor, and her grandfather reveals that Keiko's parents are dead. In the night, some brigands enter, demanding food and shelter; afterwards, they also demand any money or supplies that they have. But they are poor and have very little, so one of the rogues kills him for resisting; they then turn their attention to Keiko, hoping to force her to tell them where their money is, or she'll die like her grandfather. They are interrupted when Jei enters, rambling on about evil and such; the rogues think they can take the unarmed stranger, but Jei is far superior, and kills them all. When the battle was over, Jei takes the spear from one of the rogues and consecrates it as his own, and then turns to Keiko. He is about to do her in as well when he stops, saying that she is innocent, and spares her life. Keiko now has no family, and her house is burning down from a fire that spread out of control during the fight; with no one to turn to, she follows Jei into the night.
Keiko firmly believes that Jei is who he says he is—an emissary of the gods, calling him "Uncle", while he calls her "his innocent". Her demeanor is innocent to the point where readers have noted she is disturbing such as when she is separated from Jei at one point, she sees the bodies of his victims and she is delighted simply to have a distinctive trail to her "Uncle." They stay together until the Grasscutter saga. There they meet Inazuma, and Jei feels a calling to find the Kusanagi. Eventually he finds it, and Usagi. They fight, but Jei is momentarily distracted by Keiko when a tree is about to fall on her, and Usagi uses the Kusanagi to kill Jei. Keiko disappears, but turns up when she finds the new Blade of the Gods. (note: in japan the word "uncle" can also be a term of respect even for those unrelated to oneself)
[edit] Inazuma
Inazuma is a master swordswoman, her ferocity and skill are almost unmatched. She was the wife of a low-level samurai who had trouble getting work in the new age, and took to drinking and gambling, he ran afoul of the local gamblers, and was killed. Inazuma sought revenge on the head of the local gamblers, and earned herself the ire of his father, Bakuchi, leader of the gamblers' association. Bakuchi put a reward on Inazuma's head, and she's been on the run ever since.
She was eventually confronted by Gen; they fought, and Inzauma clearly had the advantage, until she slipped in the mud and hit her head against a rock. Before Gen could claim Inazuma, a band of thugs tried to steal his reward; during the fight, Inazuma woke up and stumbled away, eventually collapsing on the road where she was found by Jei and Keiko. Keiko convinced Jei to help her, and they took Inazuma to a nearby temple, run by Sanshobo. Jei and Keiko leave, but Jei soon finds himself called away by the Kusanagi, leaving Keiko behind. After Jei is killed by Usagi, a strange change takes place in Inazuma, and she kills most of the priests at the temple, save for Sanshobo and two others who went out and found Usagi and Gen lying in the forest. Later, she runs into Keiko, who starts calling her "Auntie", as she has become the new Blade of the Gods. Inazuma continues Jei's quest to smite evil, and ultimately kill Usagi; her quest is helped by the price on her head that lures bounty hunters and thugs to her, but she also gained the attention of Sasuké, the demon queller while Sanshobo has also vowed to hunt the murderer of his brethren. What exactly either those hunters will do if they learn the true nature of Inazuma's plight is unknown for now. For now, a confrontation with her by Gen and another bounty hunter has ended with both of being spared death, even she struck them unconscious, and definitely knowing the her true situation. They have decided to find help to bring her down which means Usagi and his friends will soon likely all know as well.
In Dreams and Nightmares, we see that Inazuma herself did not become the Blade of the Gods, but is now possessed by Jei's soul, and at times she regains control of her body. She tries to fight off Jei, but invariably loses control, and again becomes the Blade of the Gods. Stan Sakai has never explained exactly what Jei was—if he was some supernatural being, or simply possessed—so it is uncertain if Inazuma is possessed by Jei himself, or by whatever it was that possessed Jei in the first place. In The Demon Mask, Usagi sees a vision of a black shadow with empty eyes and a horrible smile; is this the true nature of the Blade of the Gods? In certain dialogues about Jei it is apparent that his soul may have the ability to possess corpses; therefore, he might have an ulterior motive in his mission to kill Usagi.
In issue 101, Usagi, unconscious from being struck with an envenomed dart from a Neko Ninja and being by treated by Chizu, he has a nightmare of himself being possessed by the spirit of Jei and fighting Tomoe Ame to the death for the life of Lord Noriyuki.
[edit] Jei's successor
It was revealed in the notes at the end of Grasscutter, that Stan Sakai had planned for Jei to die in the story back when he was planning it during his time with Mirage Comics, and also who his successor would be. You can read it here on the official site.
From the beginning, Stan wanted the new Blade of the Gods to be a woman, and his first choice was to be Jei's companion, Keiko; but Keiko was a young girl and it wouldn't make much sense to turn her from "innocent" into a vicious killer. He then thought about Tomoe Ame; it would seem perfect because it would create a severe threat to Usagi and Lord Noriyuki, and because Tomoe Ame was often portrayed as a potential love interest for Usagi. But that was quashed as well because Stan liked Tomoe too much to do that to her. Eventually, he created a new character, Inazuma and made her into a heartless killer, but one that had a code of honour and was a victim more than a villain, a sympathetic character who would be a perfect host for Jei's soul.
[edit] Stories where he has appeared
- Blade of the Gods
- Circles
- Nature of the Viper
- Black Soul
- Noodles—appears in the background
- The Crossing
- Grasscutter
- The Mystery of the Demon Mask—appears as a vision
- Three Seasons—appears as the possessed Inazuma
- Dreams and Nightmares
[edit] Trivia
- Jei was supposed to be a one shot character, dying in his debut appearance when he was struck by lightning; but Stan Sakai brought him back again, and again.
- Jei's name is a pun. A samurai would normally have the suffix -san appended to his name, so his name is Jei-san, which sounds like the English name "Jason". This is a reference to the movie monster Jason Voorhees from the Friday the 13th movies, a character who, much like Jei, dies repeatedly only to revive soon after.
- Jei appears on several Usagi Yojimbo book covers, but book #3 has two different covers; one of which has Jei on it, the other doesn't.
- Jei—now accompanied by Keiko—makes an appearance in the story Noodles, they are in the background of the scene where yoriki Masada is on his horse, heading to the gamblers' hut. He has a spear and one sword; in his last appearance he only has the spear, and in his next he has the spear and two swords.
