Mazoku
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mazoku (魔族) is a common concept in Japanese fantasy referring to a race of beings born with supernatural powers. The very name Ma (魔 - demon) suggests that they are meant to threaten the human existence or defy the gods, while -zoku (族 - race) indicates that they are a family. A more positive way of viewing this term is suggested in Chrono Trigger. The Ma is a short form of Magic (As in Japanese, Mahou 魔法).
The ancestral influences to the presentation of Mazoku in modern Japanese popular fiction come from Go Nagai's Devilman and console RPGs starting with the original Dragon Quest. Since then, the concept has evolved considerably.
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[edit] Slayers
[edit] Background
The Mazoku are ruled by the Lord of Nightmares along with all other living beings in the Slayers world. The Lord of Nightmares first created the four Ma-ou: Chaotic Blue, Dark Star (Lost Universe), Ruby Eye Shabranigdo, and Death Fog and the opposing Shinzoku (神族 race of the gods). In the world where the story takes place, Ruby Eye Shabranigdo and Flare Dragon Ceiphied battled for ages until Shabranigdo was divided into seven pieces and Ceiphied left behind four dragon lords to counter the five mazoku lords Shabranigdo also created at that time: Deep-Sea Dolphin, Dynast Grausherra, Greater Beast Zelas-Metallium, Chaos Dragon Gaav, and Hellmaster Phibrizzo. With time, the mazoku lords created more underlings, which are the "regular mazoku" the main characters in the story encounter from time to time. The lords also make an appearance occasionally.
Mazoku are portrayed in Slayers as beings that exist solely on the "Astral side" of the world, having no real physical body like humans. They are, to a certain extent, like ghosts. (Ghosts, however, also appear in the Slayers universe and are different.) To appear in the human world, they usually have to possess a material form, like a human body or in some cases, items like a cloak or armor. Higher ranked (more powerful) mazoku have the power to materialize their own body into the physical world and are able to travel from one place to another by "bending space", instead of retreating to the Astral side and appearing somewhere else. This body however, is little more than an illusion, and damaging it does not affect the mazoku at all.
Highest ranked mazoku also have the ability to lend their power to human beings. The study of borrowing power from a high ranked mazoku is called black magic in the Slayers universe. Spells that belong to this category, such as the widely know most powerful black magic spell Dragon Slave or a lesser spell like Blast Ash all borrow power from mazoku. The ability to use black magic depends considerably on the knowledge of mazoku and thus even regular black mages need to know the basic capabilities of their kind.
[edit] Society structure
All mazoku worship their primary creator, the Lord of Nightmares. However, most of them, including some of the ma-ou do not know that the Lord of Nightmares is also the creator of humans and the mazoku's enemies, the shinzoku. They believe that their main goal was given to them by the Lord of Nightmares, which is to return the world into its original form, the Sea of Chaos, effectively destroying it in the process.
[edit] Yu Yu Hakusho
In the Yu Yu Hakusho series, Mazoku is referred to the living beings that reside in Makai (different from the world after death, but a parallel universe with mazoku as living beings). Reikai (the temperary world after death) viewed them as trouble makers and criminals, classifying them by power and intelligence, from intelligent A-Class to D-Class, to simple animals and plants. Anything more powerful than A-Class mazoku is classified as an S-Class, with only a few still in exsistence; such as Raizen, Yomi, and Mukuro. Reikai set up a barrier between Makai and Ningenkai (the human world) to block Mazoku from entering the human world. However, due to the size of the Net, the barrier was large enough to prevent A-Class and above Mazoku from passing, but B-class and below could simply go through these "holes" like a small fish. Therefore, from time to time, when a gap opened, some Mazoku would find their way to the human world and behave mischievously, though not always by their own choice.
In the story, D-Class Mazoku are always dumb and do not know the limits of their power and ability. They are normally more monster-like and will judge their enemies' power by their size, rather than what they can sense. B-Class and C-Class mazoku are more intelligent, and usually take a more humanoid form since they are closer to humans, and also have organizing plan capabilities, even teaming up with other Mazoku if necessary, but sometimes still react on instinct. A-Class Mazoku, however, do not act on instinct, but instead will use their brains and "senses" in order to judge how much power they have and observe before taking action. S-Class Mazoku are rare, but are said to be numerous if one goes deep enough inside Makai (where its said to be structured like an infinitely deep dungeon with different floors). It is told towards the end of the story that Mazoku are not the criminal-like creatures Reikai would have them portrayed to be.
It was explained in the story that because the unexplored resources of the human world are precious to all, Reikai created the barrier in order to take it for themselves. They then went as far as capturing C-Class and D-Class mazoku, brainwashed them, and then released them in the human world to perform mischievous acts, where they would then be re-captured by specially appointed human-beings, by Reikai, known as Spirit-detectives. The brainwashed Mazoku were then killed after they served their purpose through several "capture and release" missions. Koenma, towards the end of the story, discovered all of this and would take down the barrier for good.
[edit] Reference
- Slayers animated series, novel
- Yu Yu Hakusho official guide, manga
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| Major Characters: Lina | Gourry | Amelia | Zelgadis | Naga | Xellos | Filia | Luna | Lei Magnus | |
| Deities: Lord of Nightmares | Ruby Eye Shabranigdo | Flare Dragon Ceiphied | |
| Races: Mazoku | Ryuzoku | |
| Information: Media | Spells | Saillune | |
| Movies: Slayers The Motion Picture | Slayers Return | Slayers Great | Slayers Gorgeous | Slayers Premium | |
| Related: Hajime Kanzaka | Lost Universe |
