List of Shaman King characters

"Tao Yúan" redirects here. For other uses, see Tao Yuan.

The manga and anime series Shaman King features several characters created by Hiroyuki Takei. As a result of being focused on shamanism the series' cast is divided between humans and spirits, the latter not being able to go the afterlife due to their alliance with the former.

The series primarily focuses on a teenager named Yoh Asakura, who reveals to his classmate Manta Oyamada that he is a shaman when fighting a group delinquents led by Ryu. Wishing to lead a peaceful life, Yoh has been training from an early age to become the titular "Shaman King", who will be able to change the world according to his will. During Yoh's training, Manta meets Yoh's demanding fiancee, Anna Kyoyama and Yoh's spirit partner, the samurai Amidamaru. In his journey to become Shaman King, Yoh also meets with a number of rival shamans who seek to become Shaman King for their own reasons and visions of the future, some who become his allies and others who become his enemies. The series' sequel, Shaman King Flowers, deals with Yoh's son, Hana Asakura, on his development as a shaman.

Creation and conception

In terms of developing Shaman King, Takei has noted that he creates the characters first and develops the story around them.[1] The originality of characters was emphasized so that they stand out,[2] which may include incorporating designs that appeal to Takei; in particular, the fox and raccoon-dog duo of Konchi and Ponchi were inspired by Ren and Stimpy.[3]

For Takei, the female lead Anna Kyoyama was regarded as the easiest character to draw and the protagonist Yoh Asakura was the hardest; Takei explained that it was difficult to develop Yoh's character because of the criteria set by Weekly Shōnen Jump.[4] The engagement between Yoh and Anna being introduced at the beginning of the story has been regarded as unusual for a shonen manga for its maturity and partly reflects Takei's own personal experience, but it still an ideal relationship.[5]

A number of characters in Shaman King previously appeared in Takei's preceding work, Butsu Zone, though Takei regards both Shaman King and Butsu Zone as occurring in different worlds akin to Osamu Tezuka's Star System.[6] Notably, Anna Kyoyama was based on the lead character in his debut one-shot, Itako no Anna, who also inspired a character with a similar design and background in Butsu Zone; Takei has remarked that Anna is his signature character.[7] The members from the Gandhara faction, particularly its leader Sati Saigan, also appear to be heavily based on main characters from Butsu Zone.

Main characters

Yoh Asakura

Main article: Yoh Asakura

Yoh Asakura (麻倉 葉 Asakura Yō) is the main protagonist of Shaman King. An easy-going young man with the ability to see ghosts, he quickly becomes friends with Manta and reveals that he is training to eventually become the Shaman King. Though he is too lazy to train properly, he is motivated by a promise he made to his fiancée, Anna Kyoyama, to give her an easy life once he becomes Shaman King. While he remarks that he wants to become Shaman King in order to live a carefree and easy life, those closest to Yoh know that he wants to create a world where no one has to suffer from loneliness like Yoh did as a child because he was a shaman and nobody understood or accepted him.

Unexpectedly, he is not only the latest descendent of the Asakura family, a family famed for their spiritual powers, but also the twin brother of Hao Asakura, who is a reincarnation of the immensely powerful founder of the Asakura family and the primary antagonist of the series. As a result, Yoh is the Asakura family's greatest hope of finally defeating Hao at last and saving the world from impending destruction. During the Shaman Fight, Yoh is the leader of Team Funbari Hot Springs. In the manga, when it becomes apparent that current known methods of training will not allow any shaman to defeat Hao, Yoh is sent to hell to train, an honour given to him by Lady Sati, and is granted the power of purification. He becomes one of the Five Elemental Warriors and gains the Spirit of Earth.

Anna Kyōyama

Main article: Anna Kyoyama

Anna Kyoyama (恐山 アンナ Kyōyama Anna) is Yoh Asakura's fiancėe and a powerful itako (a spirit medium in English anime), with the ability to summon and channel spirits even from heaven. She is unrelentingly brutal with Yoh's training in order to ensure he wins the Shaman Tournament and becomes Shaman King. Anna attends Shinra Private Academy along with Yoh and Manta. She has previously appeared in Hiroyuki Takei's other works, including Butsu Zone and Itako no Anna, and is notably the mascot for the Aomori Prefecture's police force.

After being abandoned by her birth parents due to her abilities, Anna was adopted by Kino Asakura, Yoh's grandmother who resides in Aomori, as one of her apprentices. Her surname, Kyoyama, was given to her by Kino and is an alternate reading of the characters for Mount Osore, where Anna was found. Though most itako are blind, Anna is fully sighted and extremely powerful; her considerable spiritual strength allows her to seal Hao's guardian spirits Zenki and Kouki and take control of them. Her powers originally included the ability to read minds, which caused her to create powerful demons from negative emotions, until she was saved by Yoh and Matamune and the ability was sealed. Out of deep gratitude for how he saved her life, she believes that it is her responsibility to train him hard so that he can achieve his dream of becoming Shaman King. Despite how badly she seems to treat Yoh, she openly admits that she loves him, expressing jealousy when she thinks he is interested in other girls and breaking down only when she believes that Yoh is truly in danger in contrast to her unflinching confidence in him under other dangerous situations.

Her strong will and blunt personality often inspires fear in her close friends, particularly Yoh. She is one of the few who does not openly express fear to Hao, who is intrigued by her attitude and acknowledges her strength and how she reminds him of his mother, Asanoha Douji. However, she genuinely cares for those important to her, especially Yoh, and merely is dedicated to be "the ultimate Shaman Queen" and wife to Yoh, the first real friend that she ever had in her life.

Manta Oyamada

Manta Oyamada (小山田 まん太 Oyamada Manta), known as Mortimer "Morty" Manta in the English anime and Mortimer "Morty" Oyamada in the video games, is Yoh's best friend and the first human to try and understand Yoh without any discrimination. An intelligent and thoughtful boy who carries a book with him every day, he attends Shinra Private Academy with Yoh and Anna. He is physically very short, a fact that he is extremely sensitive about, and has been mistaken as a Koropokuru, a shy nature spirit from northern Japan. Though he is not a shaman and unable to use his spiritual powers like Yoh and Anna, he is capable of seeing spirits and faithfully stands by Yoh. Throughout the series, Manta acts as the primary narrator of the events in Shaman King.

In the manga and original Japanese anime, his family owns the Oyamada Electronics Company, and therefore is very rich. His parents disapprove of Manta's friendship with Yoh while his younger sister, Mannoko, seems to enjoy making fun of Manta. He has a strained relationship with his family, who plays little role in the story and, following their initial appearance, they are never seen again in the manga until a brief appearance by Mansumi toward the end of the series, where the Oyamada president leads several battle ships to destroy and capture Shamans. In the manga and Japanese anime, Manta has an assistant, Tamurazaki, though he is mostly Mansumi's lapdog and winds up gunning down at least one of Hao's followers. While he is unable to help Yoh to become stronger as a shaman, Manta uses what advantages he has to support his friend, such as his incredible wealth to help Anna reach the United States to bring the Ultra Senji Ryakketsu to Yoh after he has left to find the Patch Village.

In the anime, during the Shaman Tournament, Manta becomes a shaman with Mosuke, Amidamaru's best friend who forged Harusame, as his Guardian Spirit. His relationship with Mosuke soon parallels Yoh's own relationship with Amidamaru, as well as their existing relationships with their best friends. Because Manta is untrained as a shaman, he is unable to maintain spirit form from losing furyoku quickly and generally communicates with Mosuke through his laptop. During the final battle against Hao, Manta is able to use his laptop to form a hammer-shaped Oversoul to knock out Hao's shikigami and force his friends to calm down long enough to regroup and defeat Hao. In the manga, Manta is generally an observer throughout the Shaman Fight and often questions his presence in a battle that he cannot directly contribute to. At the conclusion of the series, he appears at the head of the Soul Train to save Yoh and his friends from falling into oblivion, expressing happiness and relief that he could finally help Yoh. Several years later, he attends college in America, studying ways to combine shamanism with business, and brings presents for his friends at their reunion at Funbari Onsen.

Hao Asakura

Main article: Hao Asakura

Hao Asakura (麻倉 葉王 (ハオ) Asakura Hao) ("Zeke Asakura" in the English anime) is the main antagonist of Shaman King, currently the second reincarnation of his original self and the twin brother of Yoh. He is the most powerful participant in the Shaman Tournament, with Furyoku at 1,250,000, an extremely high level compared with the other characters' Furyoku levels in Shaman King. While he exhibits ruthlessness towards his opponents, he acts surprisingly easy-going and affable, similar to Yoh's personality.

Originally, one thousand years ago, Hao was the founder of the Asakura family and a powerful Onmyōji priest who possessed incredible spiritual powers, including the ability to sense the thoughts and desires of those around him. Regarded as a master of the Wu Xing pentagram, he was able to control the five elements that give form to creation. However, his compassionate heart was overcome by his deep-seated desire to avenge his mother's death and his growing hatred of humans because of their selfish natures. Failing to win his first Shaman King tournament because of the combined efforts of the Asakura family to stop him, Hao was able to reincarnate with full awareness of his past life in time to participate in the next tournament and again for the current tournament.

In his second life five hundred years later, Hao was reincarnated as a member of the Patch tribe, who would be an ancestor to Silva, and massacred the Seminoa tribe. After successfully taking control of the Spirit of Fire, an elemental spirit that embodies the essence of one of the five elements of nature, he attempted to become Shaman King again. Despite possessing such advantages, he was defeated by Yohken Asakura, one of his descendants, and the spirit Matamune, who reluctantly put aside his love and loyalty for Hao for the sake of saving the world.

In his most recent reincarnation, Hao chose to reincarnate as a member of the Asakura family, as a pair of identical twins, splitting his soul between himself and Yoh, as the children of Keiko Asakura. In hopes of at least stopping Hao until the next Shaman Fight, Keiko's father, Yohmei, and her husband Mikihisa, decided to kill both children. However, following his rebirth, Hao escaped from the Asakura family with the help of the Spirit of Fire, while badly burning Mikihisa and sparing his twin brother with the promise to reclaim him some day. In the months leading up to the tournament Hao began to kill prospective competition while gathering an entourage to assist him in winning the current Shaman King tournament.

Hana Asakura

Hana Asakura (麻倉花 Asakura Hana) is the son of Yoh Asakura and Anna Kyoyama. He was first introduced in the Shaman King sidestory "Funbari no Uta" as an infant travelling alongside Ryu to find The Five Elemental Warriors, story which is concluded in the finale of Shaman King. In the sequel Shaman King Flowers a teenage Hana acts as the leading character. He is depicted as a Shaman having Yoh's spirit guardian, Amidamaru, alongside him using him with the Futsu-no-Mitama no Tsurugi (フツノミタマの剣) weapon to create two Oversouls, O.S. "Oni Kabuto" (O.S. 鬼兜) and O.S. "Oni Kabuto Though" (O.S. 鬼兜). He lives Tamao Tamamura's care while his parents are absent. Hana is bored with his life and finds the appearance of his fiance Alumi Niumbirch and his proclaimed enemies Yohane and Luka Asakura as a way to kill his boredom. Hana also possesses several Oni sealed inside him that will be summoned when he is in danger in order to protect him. They were placed by his uncle, Hao Asakura, when he was a baby.

Supporting characters

Ryunosuke Umemiya

Voiced by: Masahiko Tanaka (Japanese), Sean Schemmel (English)

Ryunosuke Umemiya (梅宮 竜之介 Umemiya Ryūnosuke), known more commonly as "Wooden Sword" Ryu (木刀の 竜 Bokutou no Ryu) and "Rio" in the English anime, is introduced as a gang leader who is always on the lookout for the "Best Place" (the "Happy Place" in the English manga and the "Sacred Hang" in the English anime). His gang is known as the Dead Enders in the English anime and they are very devoted to Ryu, who returns their dedication to him. His most distinctive feature is his elaborate pompadour; during his first meeting with Yoh and Manta, he holds a grudge against Yoh for slicing his hair off. The destruction of Ryu's hair becomes a running gag in the first part of the series as Ryu comes up with increasingly bizarre hairstyles until he can restore his original coiffure.

In an attempt to find his gang a new "Best Place" at a rundown bowling alley in Funbari, Ryu becomes susceptible to being possessed by Tokagero, a spirit who wants revenge on Amidamaru and offers to provide Ryu the means to kill Yoh. After Yoh stops Tokagero, Ryu gives up his grudge against Yoh and soon becomes one of Yoh's most dedicated friends, soon demonstrating he is more than willing to risk his life for any of his friends.

After the incident, Anna reveals that Ryu has the potential to be a shaman. Ryu leaves Funbari for an unspecified time to search for a "Best Place" on his own and is eventually found by Yoh's father, Mikihisa, who convinces his father-in-law Yohmei to train Ryu as a shaman. Ryu takes Tokagero as his spirit partner and the duo become faithful and loyal allies to Yoh throughout the Shaman Fight. Because of Ryu's limited training and skill, he is not as strong as many of the shaman in the tournament; despite his lack of confidence, Yoh and his friends see his value where he does not and Ryu's resourcefulness and devotion to his friends are his strong points. While Ryu expresses the desire to become Shaman King for the sake of finding his own "Shaman Queen," he fully supports Yoh because he believes that Yoh is the sort of person who can make the world a "Best Place" for everyone. At the conclusion of the manga, he works as a chef at the Funbari Onsen and looks after Yoh and Anna's son, Hana.

Tao Ren

Voiced by: Park Romi (Japanese), Andrew Rannells (English)

Tao Ren (道 蓮) Chinese: Dào Lián, known as "Tao Len" or "Len Tao" in the English anime, is a Chinese shaman and initially an antagonist who proves to be one of Yoh's most powerful enemies and later his rival to become Shaman King. He is confident in his strength and does not directly accept help from others out of pride, though these qualities along with his short-temper and impatience are often limit his abilities. After meeting Yoh, Ren's strong sense of pride moves towards his ability to protect his friends, whom he cares for deeply despite frequently arguing and fighting with them. His most notable trait is the distinctive single spike in his hairstyle.

Ren is one of the most skilled and physically powerful shaman in the series as a result of dedicated training since childhood. His acuity in battle has allowed him to master techniques, such as those utilized by Mikihisa Asakura, by watching and experiencing them. In combat, Ren wields a guan dao and the Bâo-Lèi (宝レイ剣 Hō-Rei-Ken, Jewel Thunder) sword, a family heirloom given to Ren when he proves to his father that he is strong enough to choose his own path, and he is capable of fighting on horseback. According to Pascal Avaf, Ren's affinity to the Spirit of Thunder is well-suited as it follows the way of taoism. Additionally, because Ren has died more than once, his furyoku levels are notably very high and he is strong enough to be one of the few shaman who can actually stare straight into the heart of the Great Spirit without fainting.

Serious and emotionally aloof, Ren has been groomed since childhood by his father, Tao Yúan to become the next Shaman King and developed a deep hatred for humanity, desiring to eliminate them all. As a result of his upbringing, he believes his spirit Bason is merely a tool and that befriending him would allow the spirit to take advantage of him. However, his encounters with Yoh and his friends gradually allows him to trust others and find true friends who are willing to risk their lives for him, such that Ren chooses to defy the destiny his family has outlined for him and decide how to live his own life.

However, the consequences of his actions in the past affect him throughout the Shaman Fight. Because the Patch officiant Nichrom holds a personal grudge against him from Ren killing his brother, Chrome, Ren is fatally stabbed by Peyote Diaz, forcing Yoh to agree to Iron Maiden Jeanne's condition that she will only resurrect Ren if Yoh withdraws from the Shaman Fight. Ren also comes to fear that the hatred he has held will isolate him and cause him to become someone like Hao. Late in the manga, he is recognized by Lady Sati as one of the Five Elemental Warriors and gains the Spirit of Thunder. In the future, Ren is a successful businessman after studying at Tsinghua University and forming an electronics manufacturing company, the Raitei Group (雷帝グループ), with Hang Zang-Ching and Bill Burton. He eventually has a son, Men (黽, Chinese: Mǐn), who strongly resembles his father. The child's name and his blood red eyes and silver hair indicate that Ren married Iron Maiden Jeanne,[8] and Men later inherits both Bason and Shamash as his guardian spirits.[9]

Horohoro

Voiced by: Yuji Ueda (Japanese), Michael Sinterniklaas (English)

Horohoro (ホロホロ), known by the nickname "Trey Racer" in the English anime, is an Ainu shaman from Hokkaidō, a prefecture in Japan. He is Yoh's first opponent in the preliminary round of the Shaman Fight and despite losing to Yoh, he quickly becomes one of Yoh's closest friends. His goal in the Shaman Fight is to save Koropokuru, a tiny spirit people, by creating a vast field of butterbur. Horohoro's name sounds and is spelled (in Katakana) like "boroboro," which means "crap" and characters mispronouncing/misspelling his name is a running gag in the series. It is later revealed that Horohoro's real name is Horokeu Usui (碓氷ホロケウ Usui Horokeu), a name he refuses to call himself out of the guilt he feels for indirectly causing the death of Tamiko Kurobe, a girl nicknamed Damuko who became his close friend.

Good-natured and cheerful, Horohoro forces himself to appear as a hot-headed and loudmouthed. He is highly secretive of his past, not even willing to tell his friends about it because of his feelings toward Tamiko Kurobe and her death. He is heavily burdened with the creed that his father taught him - that "the strong feed on the weak" - but finds resolve in his own tenacity and understanding that that same creed does not mean he should give up. In battle, Horohoro is very competitive, even going so far as to turn Ryu's arms to ice and shatter them during the fight between The Ren and Funbari Onsen and worrying about his position on Ren's position. Though he argues frequently with Ren, he is nevertheless dedicated to his friends and expresses his serious side only in the most dangerous situations when he can no longer afford to restrain himself with his hotheadedness.

Horohoro's guardian ghost is Kororo ("Corey" in the English anime), a Koropokuru spirit who allows him to generate ice and form an Oversoul with Horohoro's snowboard and an Ikupasi talisman that Pirika makes for him. While he admits that he is not particularly intelligent or good with numbers, he has a strong understanding of the flow of nature, allowing him to excel at the FumonTonkou (the "Shamanic Oracle") technique, and is highly resourceful even with a low amount of furyoku, as seen when he utilizes Kororo and the Icemen's three spirits in battle. He has a strong relationship with Kororo, particularly after learning her original identity was that of his friend Damuko. In the manga, he is recognized as one of the Five Elemental Warriors by Lady Sati and gains the Spirit of Rain. He is regarded as the third strongest member of the Five Elemental Warriors. Following the final battle, Horohoro returns to Hokkaido where he works on a farm, which appears to include a butterbur field. While his entrepreneurial effort to market a blue candy-flavoured marimo ball is a commercial failure, he works hard at fighting against illegal logging companies.[10]

Johann Faust VIII

Voiced by: Takehito Koyasu (Japanese), Sam Riegel, Marc Thompson (English)

Hailing from Germany, Johann Faust VIII (ファウストVIII世 Fausuto Hassei) is the eighth-generation descendant of the legendary Doctor Faustus, who made a deal with the devil Mephistopheles for his necromancy skills along with youth and riches for seven years in exchange for his immortal soul. Faustus's descendants, including Faust VIII, distanced themselves from their ancestor's legacy, turning to the profession of medicine and regarding Faustus as a taboo within the family.

Following family tradition, Faust VIII studied medicine and fell deeply in love with a young woman named Eliza, who had an incurable disease. Faust's perseverance eventually paid off and he found a cure for her illness, allowing them to marry and live happily together. Faust delighted in saving lives while Eliza faithfully worked as his assistant. However, when Eliza was shot by a robber and died, Faust is driven insane and turns to his ancestor's forbidden legacy to resurrect her with necromancy. Using Eliza's skeleton as a medium, he is able to conjure an image of her using his furyoku, though when he meets Yoh he is still unable to fully summon Eliza's spirit. His motivation to become Shaman King is in hopes of fully resurrecting Eliza and is utterly single-minded about achieving his goal.

Yoh is defeated by Faust in the Shaman Fight's second fight. Because he is self-taught, Anna recognizes that Faust is remarkably talented and forces Yoh to accept him as the third member of Team Funbari Onsen after she summons Eliza's ghost; her ulterior motive is apparently to have Faust eventually become the doctor for Funbari Onsen. Reunited with his beloved Eliza, Faust becomes dedicated to Yoh and Anna out of sincere gratitude, utilizing his shamanic and medical skills to support Yoh and becomes powerful enough to resurrect the dead after training with the Ultra Senji Ryakketsu. Despite appearing as the weakest member of Yoh's team, Faust is highly ingenious; in battle he replaces his missing legs with that of his dog, Frankenstiney, to regain his mobility and during the invasion of the Plants, he composes the "Funbari Poem" song to distract himself from the mind-warping effect of the officiants' Patch Song.

The embodiment of complete dedication, Faust's greatest strengths are his selflessness and pure-hearted spirit; like Yoh, he will not hesitate to save his enemies if he can. Beyond his emotional instability, particularly when Eliza is insulted or threatened, he is completely rational and will not tolerate interruptions while working. At the conclusion of the series, Faust is killed during the invasion of the Plants while fighting the officiant Radim, but his spirit continues to accompany and support Yoh, who integrates with his spirit to utilize Faust's shamanic healing abilities. Though he is initially resurrected after the conclusion of the final battle, he collapses soon afterward from exhaustion. He elects not to be revived in order to remain with Eliza in the Great Spirit. To honour his memory, his "Funbari Poem" jingle is used as the theme song for the inn and the Funbari Onsen staff place his portrait in their family shrine.[11]

Lyserg Diethel

Voiced by: Yoko Soumi[12] (Japanese), Erica Schroeder (English)

Lyserg and Morphine

Lyserg Diethel (リゼルグ・ダイゼル Rizerugu Daizeru) is a young shaman from London, England, who wants to become a great detective like his father had once been. Because Hao Asakura killed his parents when Lyserg was six years old, his primary motivation for joining the Shaman Fight is to avenge his parents and he passionately hates Hao, becoming angered at the mere mention of him. Though he is intelligent and kindhearted, he has poor judgment in situations involving children and their parents as a result of his own personal experience. Lyserg's name is a reference to lysergic acid diethylamide, while Morphine is also a drug reference, with both referring to Sherlock Holmes' drug addictions.

Shortly after Yoh and his friends are forced to find Patch Village to enter the Shaman Tournament, Ryu encounters Lyserg, whom he initially mistakes as a girl because of Lyserg's androgynous appearance. Hoping to find strong allies, he challenges Yoh's group to test their strength and is defeated and rebuked by Yoh for how Lyserg treats others. Though Yoh disagrees with Lyserg's desire for revenge, he allows Lyserg to join his group in hopes that they will be able to temper Lyserg's hatred and keep him from killing others unnecessarily. However, Lyserg quickly finds the X-Laws' single-minded ideology focusing on justice more appealing than Yoh's philosophies and joins them instead. He quickly becomes devoted to the group's leader, Iron Maiden Jeanne, and is mentored by Marco, the group's de facto head.

In the manga, Lyserg forms Team X-I with Jeanne and Marco. As the tournament progresses, Lyserg's attachment to his former friends gradually causes him to see that Yoh's way of seeing a situation is not entirely wrong and attempts to deter them from confronting the X-Laws. When he is sent to Hell to train, he is guided by Joco's spirit Pascal Avaf and realizes how he has been too consumed by his own hatred to see things clearly. He is later recognized by Lady Sati as one of the Five Elemental Warriors and returns to being one of Yoh's allies. In the anime, he is one of the last surviving members of the X-Laws after their failed assault on Hao by attempting to open the Gate of Babylon. After Meene Montgomery returns Morphine to Lyserg, she forces him to leave the group and rejoin Yoh and his friends.

As a shaman, Lyserg specializes in dowsing, which allows him to use his powers to locate people or objects. His primary medium is a crystal pendulum, which he uses to form an Oversoul with Morphine, a poppy spirit who serves as Lyserg's spirit ally. In combat, Lyserg utilizes his Oversoul like a rope dart and is known for his considerable agility. As a member of the X-Laws, he is granted an angel spirit, Zeruel, contained within a derringer as a medium. While he abandons Morphine for Zeruel in the anime, he and Morphine are inseparable in the manga. As one of the Five Elemental Warriors (notably as the smartest), he receives the Spirit of Fire when Hao discards it upon being recognized uncontested as the Shaman King. Several years after the Shaman Fight, Lyserg returned to England and graduated from Oxford University to become a police officer. Because of his shamanic abilities and combat skills learned from his time as a member of Yoh's group and as an X-Law, he garnered a high arrest rate and was eventually promoted to British Secret Intelligence Agency.[13]

Joco McDonnell

Voiced by: Motoko Kumai (Japanese), Matthew George (English)

Joco McDonnell, known as Chocolove McDonnell (チョコラブ・マクダネル Chokorabu Makudaneru) in the original Japanese version, is an African-American shaman from New York who aspires to become a comedian, though his jokes are regarded as corny because they are mostly bad puns that make little sense to his companions. His goal is to become Shaman King in order to save the world through laughter, a philosophy he adopted from his mentor Orona.

Originally trained by Orona, an elderly shaman from the Amazon, Joco greatly respected him for his ability to use laughter to save others. In the anime, Joco admired Orona's ability to stop a robber using laughter alone. Their first meeting in the manga is considerably darker; Joco had previously lived the violent life of a gangster after his own parents were murdered and met Orona after Joco had shot and killed a man (revealed to be Professor Munzer, the father of Rebseb and Seyram) on Christmas Day, the same day his parents were murdered. Orona defeats Joco using his shamanic powers and manages to make Joco laugh, which eventually forges a relationship between them after Joco reveals he can see Orona's spirit, Mic Jaguar. After meeting Yoh and his friends, he becomes the third member of Ren's team and possesses the most stable and reliable relationship with his spirits. When he is confronted by Redseb and Seyram Munzer, who seek to avenge their father, after the children's Golem has killed his old friends, Joco takes responsibility for taking the life of Dr. Munzer and is killed by the Golem. He meets Orona in Hell and is forced to face his own guilt before being resurrected by Lady Sati; however, to atone for his sins, he asks to be left blind.

Joco's medium to make his oversoul are metal claws that he always has with him named "Shaft" and his fingernails and eyes. He gains black markings all over his body that increase his speed and agility and makes his a similar resemblance to that of a Jaguar, hence the name "Black Jaguar". In the anime, after training using the Ultra Senji Ryakketsu, Joco's oversoul evolved into a giant Mic with wings. In the manga, Joco winds up dying twice and entering Hell, which grants him the highest furyoku level amongst the Five Elemental Warriors. During his first death, he obtains a new spirit ally, Pascal Avaf, and when he fuses Mic and Pascal Avaf into "Shaft", his Oversoul evolved into an armor oversoul, Jaguarman. In this Oversoul Chocolove gains a new attack called "Jaguar Shaft". He later obtains the Spirit of Wind when Lady Sati recognizes him as one of the Five Elemental Warriors. Years after the Shaman Fight, he takes responsibility for his life as a gang member and willingly goes to prison, where he is sentenced to sixteen years. Known as a model prisoner by the nickname "Mr. Wind",[14] his release is secured by Lyserg for the Elemental Warriors' reunion at Funbari Hot Springs years later.[15]

The English release of the manga edits Chocolove's lips so that they match that of the other characters to avoid a blackface stereotype. His lips remain unedited in the 4Kids version of the anime and the credits for the game Shaman King: Master of Spirits.

The Patch Tribe

They are in charge of overseeing the smooth progress of the Shaman Fight and are in charge of various shamans. There are ten officials at a given time and they are not supposed to interfere with fights between shamans. However, some of the Patch become biased towards Hao and his followers, either for their own purposes or because they believe that his overwhelming power has already proven that he will inevitably become the next Shaman King. Fearful of his power yet feeling protected by his overwhelming strength, they do their best to lower the esteem of the other contestants in the Shaman Fight.

By day, the officiants sell Patch memorabilia and food items. Once the Shaman King has been revealed, the Patch become his protectors, guarding both the new King of Spirits and Great Spirit as they merge into one. Each priest controls a specific area known as a Plant, which embodies an area of nature (mountains, valley, desert, water etc.), on the path to the Great Spirit's shrine.

Hao's followers

Consisting of powerful shaman recruited by Hao, they loyally follow him and his intention to create a world exclusively composed of shaman. None of them will hesitate to eliminate any of Hao's opponents, though they will not oppose Hao's orders, especially if they attempt to kill Yoh, and fear his ruthlessness. Most are killed when Peyote betrays them, though they are resurrected shortly before the end of the Shaman Fight.

Hoshi-gumi

Tsuchi-gumi

Tsuki-gumi

Hana-gumi

Others

X-Laws

The X-Laws (X・法律 X-LAWS) is a paramilitary organization whose purpose is to eradicate all evil and suffering. They only have Archangels (Arch-spirits) as spirit allies. In the current Shaman Fight, they aim to defeat Hao Asakura, whom they view as the ultimate evil; each member of the group encountered him during great conflict and destruction and they hold personal vendettas against Hao for how he has hurt them in the past. In the anime, most of the other X-Laws die during their final assault on Hao after Jeanne's failed attempt to trap him in the Gate of Babylon. In the manga, X-III falls against the Hoshi-gumi early in the tournament while X-II is eliminated when they attempt to kill Hao to avenge X-III. X-I survives long enough to join Yoh's assault on the Plants.

Iron Maiden Jeanne
  • Iron Maiden Jeanne (アイアンメイデン・ジャンヌ Aian Meiden Jannu): The nominal leader of the X-Laws, a girl with an iron will who is near constantly contained within an iron maiden in a state of near death to raise her furyoku levels. She rarely leaves it unless she is desperately needed, believing her suffering will bring justice to the world. Despite her young age and fragile appearance, Jeanne is a god-class shaman and widely regarded as a contender to become Shaman King due to her high furyoku levels. Though she is decisively ruthless, she is an innocent soul who possesses a strong sense of justice alongside a sincerely kind heart. All the X-Laws are unquestionably faithful to her and revere her as a holy maiden.
    In the anime, Jeanne leads the X-Laws in an attempt to open the Gate of Babylon to seal away Hao. When the attempt fails, she is left powerless when her spirit guardian, Shamash, is devoured by the Spirit of Fire. In the manga, it is revealed that Jeanne is actually an ordinary girl with considerable shamanic powers whom Luchist and Marco found in Mont Saint-Michel, France. In order to save Ren's life, Yoh asks Jeanne to revive him and agrees to her condition to leave the Shaman Fight. However, when Yoh reneges on the agreement, he challenges the X-Laws, giving Luchist the opportunity to finish off Jeanne once and for all. She survives the attack and becomes an ally to Yoh, eventually joining him during his final assault on Hao and the Plants until she runs out of furyoku resurrecting the shamans one last time. Several years after the Shaman Fight, she reformed the X-Laws into a non-profit organization known as X-Charity (X・慈善団体) and met Tao Ren in Europe. They later married and had a son, Men, and she goes on maternity leave while leaving Ren in charge of X-Charity.[16] However, out of concern for her son's need to understand others, Jeanne sends Men to stay Funbari Hot Springs when he is seven-years-old with Blocken Meyer, Han Zang-Ching and Bill Burton as his bodyguards.[17] Voiced by: Yui Horie (Japanese), Veronica Taylor (English)
  • Marco Lasso (マルコ・ラッソ Maruko Rasso): The captain of the X-Laws, Marco's authority is overruled only by Jeanne herself and he personally takes on Lyserg as a protégé. He is extremely loyal and protective of Jeanne, stopping at nothing to achieve her ideals of a world free of corruption and evil. In the anime, he is devastated when Jeanne's attempt to destroy Hao by opening the Gate of Babylon fails. While the other X-Laws go to challenge Hao and avenge Jeanne's defeat and die in the process, Marco becomes the only survivor and he accepts Jeanne's decision to support Yoh against Hao. In the manga, Marco originally founded the X-Laws with Luchist Lasso, who had been Marco's mentor and supporter throughout his life. They both originally came from Sicily and out of their great mutual love of cars, Marco became a CEO and entrepreneur of a highly successful supercar company with Luchist as his business partner. However, Marco's life was ruined when Hao turned Luchist against him and destroyed the orphanage Marco grew up in; Marco has sought revenge ever since. After entrusting Yoh and his friends with the task of defeating Hao, Marco and Luchist fight to the death as Marco declares that he sees that true justice is love. His glasses are passed on to Lyserg, who later uses them as a medium for his Oversoul. Marco was named for the manga and anime Chibi Maruko-chan, and for the cigarette brand Marlboro. Voiced by: Akimitsu Takase (Japanese), Eric Stuart (English)
  • Lyserg Diethel
A trio composed of John Denbat, Pofe Griffith, and Lucky Dirac. After losing faith in Marco, they decide to kill Hao by attacking his headquarters. When their attempt fails, their spirits are burned by Hao, which prevents them from ever entering Heaven or Hell. However, Denbat's decision to fire the XDI satellite alerts the world to the abandoned island of Tokyo where the Shaman Fight is taking place, forcing the Patch Tribe to conclude the Shaman Fight as soon as possible on the continent of Mu before ordinary humans discover the island.
  • John Denbat (ジョン・電場 Jon Denba) (Dingbat in the English manga): A former member of the SAS from England. In the manga, being particularly bitter about Meene's death at the hands of the Hoshi-gumi, Denbat leads X-II's attempt to kill Hao after losing faith in Marco. Cursing Hao after realizing that Pofe and Lucky are dead, Denbat is kept alive long enough for Hao to question why he would stand against Hao if he knew that his comrades would die in the process. Aware of the possible consequences, Denbat prepared a test satellite in space wired to his Archangel with a laser known as XDI and set himself as a target so that when it fired from orbit it would not miss Hao. When Denbat realizes he has survived the blast, Hao appears and praises Denbat's attack before incinerating Denbat's body. His name is based on John Denver and Golden Bat cigarettes.
  • Pofe Griffith (ポーフ・グリフイス Pōfu Gurifuisu): A sniper from the United States' Delta Forces. He is assigned to snipe Hao during X-II's attempt to kill Hao, but is distracted when he notices Hao's tears and is impaled by the Spirit of Fire as he is telling Denbat and Lucky over the radio to flee. He is named for Hope cigarettes and the TVR Griffith.
  • Lucky Dirac (ラーキ・ディラック Raaki Dirakku) (Larch in the English anime): A former Delta Force member from the United States, who joins Denbat and Pofe in their ill-fated attempt to kill Hao. After he hearing a radio transmission of Pofe being killed, he attempts to run, but is burned to death by Hao. Lucky is named for Lark cigarettes and Cadillac cars.
A trio consisting of Venstar, Cebin, and Meene, who willingly fight the Hoshi-gumi during the tournament despite knowing that Hao will kill them. Their souls and their spirits are consumed by the Spirit of Fire, though the X-Laws' gamble to force Hao to reveal his medium succeeds. However, their deaths becomes a sore point for the members of X-II, who eventually act on their own to kill Hao.
  • Chris Venstar (クリス・ブンスター Kurisu Bunsutaa) (Bunstar in early editions of the English manga): A severe but kind man with a strong sense of duty who served in the Gulf War as a member of the American military's elite SAS team; he encountered Hao in the same battlefield where Hao found Mohamed Tabarsi. Venstar's unit was destroyed by Hao, with Venstar surviving but losing both his legs. The incident awoke his latent shamanic powers and he later met Marco at a field hospital and joined the X-Laws to take revenge. When both Meene and Kevin are killed by Hao, Venstar detonates a powerful X-Grenade to kill Hao by burning up all the oxygen in the arena. The attempt fails when Hao uses his onmyouji abilities to change the Spirit of Fire into water. Venstar is named for the Seven Stars cigarette brand. Voiced by: Seiji Sasaki
  • Cebin Mendel (ケビン メンデル Kebin Menderu) (Kevin in the English manga): A former sniper from the EKO Cobra Unit that aided the Austrian Federal Police, Cebin was badly burned by Hao with the Spirit of Fire when Hao was identified as a terrorist ten years ago and Cebin joined the X-Laws to seek revenge. As a result of his burns, he wears a mask and large hat to conceal his disfigured face and his badly damaged body has been extensively replaced with mechanical prosthetics. His primary weapon are his artificial arms, which have long extending claws for combat, and serve as his spirit's medium. He is the second member of X-III to be killed during their battle against the Hoshi-gumi. His hobby is singing in a chorus and his favorite food is Sachertorte. He is named for Cabin cigarettes and Gregor Mendel. Voiced by: Wataru Takagi
  • Meene Montgomery (ミイネ・モンゴメリー Miine Mongomerii) (Minnie in the early editions of the English manga, Mina in the English anime): A former member of the Canadian Special Forces's Emergency Response Team, Meene gave up her promising military career and joined the X-Laws after learning her father had been killed by Hao. Her unrelenting dedication to the X-Laws' mission is tempered by her sensitivity and belief that kindness is needed to save the world and not just blind justice. She enjoys swimming and, unknown to her, she is popular among the X-Laws' male members, who have created a secret fan club for her. In the manga, Meene is the first member of X-III to fall to Hao and killed when her soul is consumed by the Spirit of Fire. In the anime, she survives the failed attempt to open the Gate of Babylon and returns Morphine to Lyserg in hopes he will leave the X-Laws and not be killed as the surviving X-Laws attempt to kill Hao. She is named for "Mine" (峰) cigarettes and Lucy Maud Montgomery. Voiced by: Tomoko Kawakami (Japanese), Michelle Newman (English)
  • Luchist Lasso: The founder of the X-Laws, who found and recognized Jeanne as a girl with the power to defeat Hao. He is later persuaded to join Hao.
  • Hans Reiheit (ハンス・ライハイト Hansu Raihaito) (Lihite in the English manga): The arsenal keeper for the X-Laws, excluded from the main force because despite his high ability, he is too belligerent. A caring man that enjoys the company of others, Reiheit proudly follows the ideals of Iron Maiden Jeanne. However, he believes that Jeanne not longer has the right to live after she joins the enemy and defects from the X-Laws to become a bodyguard for Mansumi Oyamada during the assault on the Shaman Fight's island location. Both Marco and Luchist consider him to be very dangerous because his spirit, Azazel, has a reiyoku level of 470 000, though Reiheit's furyoku is high enough only to materialize Azazel for three seconds. He dies when his Oversoul is suddenly broken by Hao, though he is later resurrected and unexpectedly proposes to his colleague, the voodoo shaman Teruko Amano (天野 輝子 Amano Teruko). Reiheit is named after Hi-Lite cigarettes.

Gandhara

Gandhara (ガンダーラ) is a Buddhist pacifist organization that is participating in the Shaman Fight and iterate that their stance is that of neutrality. Led by Lady Sati, they are the third great faction in the current Tournament and are extremely powerful. However, because their chosen candidate became Shaman King during a fight 2500 years ago, they have no interest in winning the tournament and their ultimate goal is to prevent Hao Asakura from becoming the Shaman King. As such, they seek out the Five Elemental Warriors who will wield the Five Elemental Spirits of the Patch Tribe in hopes that they will have the power to defeat Hao.

  • Sati Saigan (サイガン サティ Saigan Sati): A serene and wise woman who leads the Gandhara, who revere and respect her as their princess and address her as "Her Highness." Though Lady Sati and the Gandhara do not approve of conflict or wanton destruction of life, they will not hesitate to use sufficient force to meet their objective as a last resort. She participates in the Shaman Fight in hopes of saving everyone and admits that she doesn't care who becomes Shaman King. Aware that she is unable to achieve this goal on her own, Sati believes that Yoh and his friends have the power to save the world because they are neither good nor evil in their intent to achieve their dreams. After recognizing Yoh and his friends as the Five Elemental Warriors, she instructs her followers to send Ren's team to Hell to train while she personally approaches Yoh with the same intent. As a god-class shaman, her considerable furyoku is likely the closest to Hao Asakura; she possesses the ability to resurrect others and the strength to fight the greatest of the kings of Hell, King Enma, to retrieve the Spirit of Earth before delivering the elemental spirits to Yoh and his friends.
    Before becoming a shaman, Sati came across a wooden statue of a thousand armed Buddha (a Senju Kannon) at the Saigan Temple when she was a child and spoke to it on the injustices of the world. When land sharks attempted to throw her out of the temple unless she paid them, the statue broke open and Sati's spirit, Dainichi Nyorai, emerged to scare the land sharks away.[18] Sati's background suggests that she is Sachi Saigan (西岸サチ Saigan Sachi), the heroine of Takei's work, Butsu Zone, who is the incarnation of the Buddha Miroku foretold to awaken in the year 1999. She is named after SATY supermarket.
  • Daiei (大栄): An elderly Chinese man whose wisdom allows him to serve as one of Sati's advisers. Daiei is the oldest member of the Gandhara and cares greatly for Sati's well-being, following her wherever she goes and treating her with great reverence. He enjoys tofu cuisine and recites Buddhist sutras in his spare time. He is named for The Daiei, Inc.
  • Komeri (コメリ): A young girl from India with beads in her white hair. She enjoys making long beaded necklaces in her spare time. Though she is the youngest member of Gandhara, Komeri possesses great potential, often training day and night, and loyally follows Sati wherever she goes. She is named for Komeri Co., Ltd.
  • Jackson (寂尊 Jakuson): A Chinese monk and the team leader for the Myooh, Jackson is a fierce follower of Lady Sati, willing to do anything to protect her ideals and will not tolerate anything that stands in her way. Unlike Yainage, he is relentless and extremely tough, regarded as one of the strongest members in Gandhara. As a member of the Myooh, he is permitted to use punitive force against opponents and like the rest of the Gandhara, he is capable of nullifying furyoku. After losing to Ren's team, the Myooh are assigned by Sati to send Ren's team to Hell to train and watch over their bodies until they are to be revived. Jackson later fights and defeats Izanami, one of the four Kings of Hell, to obtain the Spirit of Thunder. He is named for JUSCO.
  • Yainage (ヤイナゲ): A Buddhist monk from India, recognized as the weakest member of the Myooh, though still a considerably difficult opponent to defeat because of his furyoku nullifying abilities. A composed man with confidence in his abilities, he loses his calm only after he is overwhelmed by Ren's power. After the Myooh are defeated by Ren's team, they are assigned to send Ren's team to Hell and protect their bodies until they return. Yainage later defeats Anubis, one of the four kings of Hell, to retrieve the Spirit of Rain. He enjoys birdwatching his spare time and is named for Inageya supermarket.
  • Cado (カドゥ Kadou): The third member of the Myooh, who possesses a cheerful and calm temperament. While he is the most easy-going member of his team, he is not to be taken lightly given his speed in combat in spite of his strange movements in battle. Cado is defeated by Horohoro, the last member of Ren's team to remain standing against their battle with the Myooh. With the other Myooh, the group protects the bodies of Ren's team while they train in Hell. He is later seen battling Mephistopheles, one of the kings of Hell, with some difficulty before obtaining the Spirit of Wind, as tasked by Lady Sati. He likes chicken curry and creating new fighting techniques. Cado is named for Ito-Yokado.
  • Mamy (マミ Mami): Formally known as Mami Matoba (的場 真美 Matoba Mami), Mamy is a young woman with freckles whose eyes are usually closed. Once an aspiring writer, she joined Gandhara after they saved her while she was traveling in India and teaches Japanese at Gandhara's schools. When she forms an Oversoul with her spirit Ashura, they wield the other seven Devas as weapons in combat. She is named for the Mammy Mart Corporation.
  • Samy (サミ Sami): Formally known as Hisami Toda (戸田 久美 Toda Hisami), Samy is a young woman with long hair and glasses. Like Mamy, she was saved by Gandhara while traveling in India. Once an aspiring soprano singer, she teaches music at Gandhara's schools. Her spirit partner is also Ashura and she forms the Oversouls required for the other seven Devas to transform into weapons for Ashura and Mamy to wield. Her name is a reference to Summit, INC.
  • Ozam (オーザム Ozamu): Known formally as Osamu Kidomura (鬼道村 修 Kidomura Osamu), Ozam is an extremely large and towering man who wears a mask. He works as a security guard and physical education teacher at the Gandhara school, but apparently was a professional wrestler in the past and still competes on occasion in Japan. His spirits are the Nio, which use vajras as mediums. He is named for OZAM Co., Ltd.
  • Seikyou (清鏡): A bald monk who has trained in martial arts as part of his family's tradition and is very protective of Lady Sati. Though he is a member of Gandhara, he is not a member of the participating teams in the tournament phase of the Shaman Fight.[19] He descends from Taiwanese people whose paternal ancestors have included a Japanese priest in each generation. Along with performing covert activities while aided with spirits, he serves a site manager for the Gandhara. His spirit is the Boddhisattva Marishiten and Seikyou uses a mirror as the spirit's medium. Seikyou is named for the Japanese term for Consumer co-op.
  • Aeon Lee (イオン・リー Ion Rī): A Gandhara shaman who wears a suit and tie, Aeon is a business man who runs an advertising agency. Often seen riding an elephant that has accompanied Gandhara throughout the Shaman Fight, he is not one of the participating members of the group in the tournament round.[19] Like the other members of Gandhara, he will not hesitate to do anything to protect Sati and will accompany her wherever she goes. He is named for AEON MALL Co., Ltd..

Other Teams

Team Lily Five: A team of five female shaman who appear only in the anime. Initially they alternately attempt to hinder and take advantage of Yoh and his friends as they attempt to find the Patch Village. However, Yoh holds no grudge against them and they eventually become friends of Yoh towards the end of the anime series. As with their corresponding shamans, the Lily Five's Guardian ghosts appear only in the anime and the Game Boy Advance game Shaman King: Master of Spirits 2.

Team Niles (ナイルズ Nairuzu): A team from Giza Egypt, they use the power received from ancient times as part of their shamanic abilities. Placed against X-Laws team X-I, Lyserg was given the order to defeat and kill them at all costs. However, a combination of both his and Morphine's hesitation allowed leader Anatel to release a deadly Over Soul that would kill him. With no other choice, Iron Maiden Jeanne released her full power, killing the leader with spirit Shamash and the others members with other torture devices.

Team Icemen (アイスメン Aisumen): A squadron of shamans from the northern parts of Europe. Training and hardening their pride and duty through the cold, these shaman are notable for their teamwork, using each other's abilities to compliment one another and defeat their opponents. They are Team Funbari Onsen's first opponent in the Shaman Tournament and their considerable pride is wounded when Yoh approaches them with complete confidence in his own team's abilities. Driven by the desire to prove their own worth, the revealed combined power of Yoh, Faust and Ryu make the Icemen realize who they were dealing with and leaving them humbler upon defeat. Because of their ice abilities, they easily befriend Horohoro, who later aids them when the Icemen are attacked by Hao's followers after their official defeat.

Team Kabbalahers: A team made up of the two Munzer children watched over by Mikihisa Asakura, Yoh's father, out of respect for their father, Camel. A researcher working on a means to use spiritual power within a massive Golem he constructed, Camel was the last man murdered by Joco McDonnell (prior to meeting Orona and reforming into a comedian) and left the children with the Golem. Their desires are not just winning the Shaman Fight but revenge against the shaman who killed their father.

Asakura Family

Yohmei Asakura (麻倉葉明 Asakura Yōmei)

Yohmei is Yoh's maternal grandfather and an onmyōji who specializes in divination and exorcism, and utilizes leaf shikigami. Born on July 2, 1919, he is the current head of the Asakura family. While highly respected as a onmyouji, Yohmei acknowledges that it has been difficult to find work in the modern era as fewer people believe in spirits. His divination techniques, however, are high in demand from the rich and powerful wanting to know their fortunes, so he does not worry about money. Yohmei is also known for using leaf shikigami, creating and controlling any number of these small OverSouls using small leaves as mediums. Yohmei almost constantly uses these, even outside of combat, to do small tasks like fetching items, holding the newspaper, and so forth. Strangely, these spirits can move through telephone lines. His favoured technique, the Asakura Shiki Onmyōjutsu Hyaku Shikigami (Asakura Style Yin and Yang Technique - Hundred Shikigami) creates countless Shikigami so he can surround an opponent and attack them from all directions at once.
Before Yoh was born, Yohmei foresaw that Hao Asakura would be reincarnated in one of his daughter Keiko's unborn twin children and reluctantly decided that he would kill both children upon birth rather than risk allowing Hao to be reborn. However, Yohmei hesitated for a moment as he was hit with remorse for killing his own grandchildren, which was sufficient enough for Hao to summon the Spirit of Fire and escape. Though the Asakuras were disappointed with allowing Hao to escape, they embraced the fact that Yoh, Hao's twin brother, had survived and they believed that Yoh was the family's best chance of finally defeating Hao for good. Since Yoh's childhood, Yohmei has trained him to become Shaman King, though Yoh's lazy and stubborn nature made the task difficult.
When Yoh fails to defeat Faust VIII in the qualifying round of the Shaman Fight, he returns in Izumo with Anna and Amidamaru to consult Yohmei on how to improve his furyoku levels; Yohmei suggests a dangerous method - travelling through the Yomi Cave (Tunnel of Tartarus). Before Yoh leaves for the Shaman Fight, he also sends a package containing the Futsunomitama sword to Yoh and later entrusts Anna to deliver the Ultra Senji Ryakketsu to Yoh along with the Asakura family's true relationship to Hao upon realizing that Yoh cannot hope to defeat Hao as he is now. He and Kino later go to the Patch Village during the Shaman Fight when it becomes apparent that Hao is unstoppable; in the manga, they are joined by Keiko, Mikihisa, and the spirit of Yohken Asakura, as they collaborate with the Tao family on how to deal with Hao.

Kino Asakura (麻倉 木乃 Asakura Kino)

Kino Asakura
A master itako who trains young girls in the art at Osorezan, born on March 24, 1924, Kino is Yoh's grandmother and the wife of Yohmei. In her youth, Matamune mentions that she had been very beautiful, though she had already lost her sight during World War II. With very few options left, she chose to become itako and became accomplished enough to marry Yohmei. Her temperament is similar enough to Anna's that Yohmei fears getting hit by his wife and getting on her bad side, though she expresses her kindhearted nature to Yoh and Anna, whom she found and raised as her apprentice.
Instead of living at the Asakura family home in Izumo, she chooses to live in Shimokita, in the Aomori prefecture, near Osorezan. She runs what is ostensibly a traditional Japanese inn, the "Yasui Ryokan (安井旅館)". In reality however, she uses the inn to house her apprentices. When Anna was abandoned as a child, Kino sensed the amount of spiritual power Anna possessed and took her in; because Anna sensed that Kino had no ulterior motives for saving her, Kino became the first and only person Anna trusted until she met Yoh. Impressed though concerned with the level of Anna's spiritual power, Kino suggested that Anna should marry Yoh and eventually trained Anna to be an itako. She regards Anna as her favourite over all her students, boasting to her husband that Anna is her pride.

Keiko Asakura (麻倉 茎子 Asakura Keiko)

Mikihisa's wife and Yoh's mother. She normally works as an Office Lady, but also works as a miko (translated by some as a cleric) at a local shrine. It is unknown as to the extent of her spiritual powers, but she is capable seeing ghosts and hearing the voices of kami spirits and capable of divining the future. She is the daughter of Yohmei and Kino; Mikihisa was adopted into the Asakura family when he married Keiko. As a young woman, she lived in Tokyo alone at the inn Yohmei rented for her, which would eventually be the inn where Yoh and Anna would reside.
In the manga, she plays minor, though active role, in aiding her family against Hao Asakura. A woman possessing a strong character, she agrees to sacrifice both her children upon birth when her family decides it is the only way to stop Hao from being reborn. When the effort fails, she is relieved and grateful when Yoh is spared and hopeful that her son will be able to stop Hao at last. After foreseeing that Hao cannot be stopped from becoming Shaman King, she personally acts as a messenger for the Asakura and arrives on the Tao's estate in China shortly after Ren's departure to deliver the message. After the secret of Yoh's relationship to Hao is revealed, Keiko directly approaches the Tao family with the offer of having Mikihisa teach members of Ren's team techniques from the Ultra Senji Ryakketsu. She also appears in subsequent meetings the Asakura hold with the Tao family.

Yohken Asakura (麻倉 葉賢 Asakura Yōken)

An ancestor of Yoh Asakura who lived around 500 years ago, an powerful ascetic priest. Following his duty as a member of the Asakura family, Yohken entered the Shaman Fight of 500 years ago to defeat the second incarnation of Hao Asakura, which he did with the help of Matamune, Hao's former companion. One of his techniques is OverSoul "Onigoroshi" (Demon Killer) - Yohken used this with Matamune, using his Shakujou as his medium. In the manga, it was the same OverSoul that Yoh used when he saved Anna from the Oni, although Yohken uses his Shakujou (ring-topped Buddhist priests' staff) as the medium.
Yohken is implied to have died shortly after defeating Hao. However, his soul wound up in Hell, trapped by the guilt he felt at having killed another. The memory of killing Hao stayed fresh in Yohken's mind, to the extent that he lost any conception of the passing of time, and didn't realize that 500 years had passed. Yohken came to believe that he needed to defeat a strong opponent to escape and became blinded by his guilt and pride that he managed to defeat the greatest enemy to the Asakura family.
In the manga, when Yoh went to hell to train, Yohken was his first opponent; Matamune notes that it is critical for Yoh to defeat Yohken, whose strength will reflect how powerful Hao was 500 years earlier, much like how the Ultra Senji Ryakketsu reflected Hao's strength 1000 years ago. Yohken regains his senses after Yoh defeats him, and relates the history of the Asakura family to Yoh. After Yoh leaves Hell, Yohken's soul returns with him to the deserted island of Tokyo and Yohken attends the last meeting between the Asakura and Tao families regarding their plan to defeat Hao. He makes one last appearance among the souls who escort Asanoha Douji to meet Hao.

Other Characters

Tamao Tamamura (玉村たまお Tamamura Tamao)

Tamao Tamamura (known as Tamara or "Tammy" in the English anime) is a shy girl who is in love with Yoh Asakura, even though she knows that Yoh is engaged to Anna Kyoyama, whom Tamao admires. She is 10 years old at the start of the series. Initially, she is so shy that she uses her sketchbook and points to pictures in order to tell people what she wants to say; through Anna's influence and from combat, she gradually becomes braver and confident. Orphaned at a young age, she was brought to the Asakura family by Yoh's father, Mikihisa Asakura and trained as an ascetic priest. Right after Yoh and the others went to America, she began attending Shinra Private Academy.[21] Tamao is named for Tamao Nakamura.
Tamao's specialty is her use of a kokkuri board, which is similar to a Ouija board, in order to perform divinations. As an ascetic, her spirits are Konchi, a kitsune, and Ponchi, a tanuki, in the same way Mikihisa has a kitsune and a tanuki. At the conclusion of the manga, Tamao becomes the manager of Funbari Hot Springs, the resort that Anna planned to open after the Shaman Fight. Tamao also becomes the foster-mother of Yoh and Anna's only son Hana while they travel the world. Hana describes her as one of the scariest people he knows, implying that her personality is similar to Anna's. When Yoh and Anna finally return, Tamao is able to debut as an Enka singer and reveals that for the sake of Hana and to ensure Funbari Hot Springs would be successful, she forced herself to become stronger and more intimidating. She becomes infamous amongst the inn's employees for her ability to effectively threaten them while remaining elegant and cordial.

Pirika Usui (碓氷ピリカ Usui Pirika, "Pilika" in the English anime)

Horohoro's little sister, who trains him in a similar manner to Anna's training of Yoh. Because Yoh defeated her brother, Pirika calls him a jerk upon meeting him, which upsets Yoh when he thinks about how people will hate him for destroying their chances of achieving their own dreams. Pirika has a lively and outgoing personality and is accomplished at domestic chores. Despite often expressing her irritation for her brother, she genuinely cares about him and supports his dream, being one of the few people aware that Horohoro's actual reasons for wanting to create a vast field of butterbur leaves is for the sake of his friend Damuko. Pirika later becomes friends with Anna and Tamao.
"Pirika" means "pretty" and "pirka" means "good" in the Ainu language. She is born on February 9, 1987. Though not shown in the manga or anime, the author has stated that Pirika's partner spirit is Torara, a Marimo or Torasanpe as said in the Ainu language. Torara was said to have saved Pirika from drowning at an early age, and since then they became partners. Torara can manipulate water, but is very shy, and for that reason he did not make a debut in the manga or anime.

Tao Family

Tao Jun (道 潤) Chinese: Dào Rùn

Ren's older sister is a dao-shi (a Daoist spellcaster; doshi (道士), Chinese: dàoshì), who can re-animate corpses. She is seventeen years old at the beginning of the manga. While Jun is loyal to her family, she expresses her greatest devotion and protective nature towards Ren and is willing to turn against the expectations of the Tao family in order to ensure Ren's success and well-being. She is one of the few people that Ren trusts and is aware of the brutality of his upbringing. In the 4Kids dub, Ren and Jun have British accents.
As a shaman, Jun's personal jiangshi (guardian zombie, pronounced "kyonshī" in Japanese) is Lee Pai-Long (Lee Bailong), a famous movie star in Hong Kong who died seventeen years ago. She uses Jufu talismans to control her guardian ghost, but after she battles Yoh Asakura and Amidamaru and loses, she lets Bai-Long obey her commands only if he wishes to when she realizes that spirits have hearts too, and they just cannot be controlled. Using her skill in creating jiangshi, Jun later modifies Bailong's body after his defeat by Jun's father; the extent of the upgrades is revealed during Jun and Tamao's fight against the Hana-gumi, where Bailong's arm is revealed to include a piston to greatly increase his punching power. Additionally, because of her knowledge in human anatomy, Jun willingly becomes the apprentice of Sati and gains the ability to resurrect people.

Tao Yúan (道円 Tao En) Chinese: Dào Yúan

Tao Yúan is the father of Tao Ren and Tao Jun; in the English anime, he is introduced as Len and Jun's uncle. A powerful shaman who commands an army of jiangshi, he initially appears as a giant man who is both sadistic and malevolent. Because of Yuan, both Ren and Jun had extremely painful childhoods, as they were exposed to bloodshed and death on a daily basis, as well as severe physical abuse. When Jun questions his actions relating to Ren, also asking him to set Ren free, he laughs and proceeds to "punish" her by sealing her in a dungeon for the ten days it takes Ren to return home after his fight with Yoh.
To meet Ren, Yúan creates an army of jiangshi from freshly killed corpses which Ren disposes of with little difficulty. Ren is unable to defeat his father in combat and is locked up and tortured alongside his sister as punishment. When Ren's friends arrive to save him, their combined efforts tear Yuan to pieces. At the verge of defeat, Yúan's concentration breaks and it is revealed that his appearance is an illusion created by his Oversoul – he actually appears as an older greatly bearded looking man very similar to Ren. He reveals the source of his obsession with the family doctrine is that he must bear the weight of two thousand years of Tao family souls (in a type of mortuary tablet armor) and reveals his second Oversoul, an oriental dragon with a head similar to his first Oversoul. Ren defeats his father and they have a small moment of revelation as Yuan passes him the Thunder Sword (Houraiken), a family heirloom.
Yuan is shown much as a much more enthusiastic father afterward, such as coming to the Patch Village and cheering Ren on during his team's match, much to his son's embarrassment. When Keiko and Mikihisa Asakura approach the Tao family with the offer to teach Team Ren the secrets of the Ultra Senji Ryakketsu in order to stand a chance against Hao, Yuan refuses to accept the offer out of pride unless the Asakura can prove their strength by defeating him; Mikihisa accepts the challenge and successfully overcomes him.

Tao Ran (道蘭) Chinese: Dào Ran

Tao Yuan's wife, the mother of Ren and Jun, an incredibly strong shaman in her own right who taught Jun how to create and control jiangshi. As the heir to the main branch of the family, she was required to find a husband. After a formal marriage interview, qualified suitors were ordered to fight Ran; losers were made into jiangshi while the winners were sent home if Ran did not like them. When Tao Yuan, a member of a branch family of the Tao challenged her, he defeated her in one strike and she fell in love at first sight. She still loves him, though she questions his brutality towards their children from his obsession to ensure the family's success in the Shaman Fight and is secretly amused by his attempt to disguise his slight jealousy towards her two personal jiangshi, Shu (周) and Kyo (恭), because they are remarkably handsome. As a member of the Tao family, she arrives in the Patch Village and accepts the Asakura's offer to impart the techniques of the Ultra Senji Ryakketsu and participates in the meeting between the families on how to deal with Hao as the end of the Shaman Fight approaches.

Tao Ching (道珍) Chinese: Dào Ching

Tao Ran's father and the grandfather of Ren and Jun, the former head of the family. He has a considerably more flexible and moderate attitude towards accepting help from the Asakuras, commending Keiko's courage for approaching the Tao family although the secrets of the Ultra Senji Ryakketsu could be used against them and that the Tao family will not stray from their desire for revenge. He is later seen participating in the meetings between the Asakura and Tao families on how to deal with Hao as the end of the Shaman Tournament approaches.

Minor characters

Appearing only the manga, Mansumi, age 55, is the father of Manta Oyamada and the owner of Oyamada Enterprises, a famous energy development company. He is extremely wealthy and ambitious, hoping eventually to expand his business into outer space. Mansumi's first appearance is relatively minor, when he expresses harsh disapproval with Manta's determination to remain friends with Yoh after both Manta and Yoh are hospitalized following Yoh's fight against Faust.[22] In a much later appearance it is revealed that he has been using Manta to track down the shamans, eventually bringing a large fleet of ships to the Shaman Fight's isolated island location to find the lost continent of Mu. The situation leads to a temporary union between the teams of Yoh and Hao, which ends when Hao single-handedly destroys nearly all the ships except the one Mansumi is on board due to a moment of weakness from Hao realizing he was facing people who are parents. After his defeat, Mansumi is captured and held hostage by Anna, who agrees to let him talk to Manta in private. Manta manages to convince Mansumi to allow him to remain on the island with his friends as everyone waits for the outcome of the plan to defeat Hao.
Mansumi has a wife, Keiko (圭子) (37 years old), and two children: Manta and a daughter, Mannoko (小山田 まんの子). Mannoko is a severe girl who enjoys mocking her brother and, despite being only five years old, is a master with computers who runs the Oyamada Enterprises' software department. Both Mansumi and his daughter share Manta's short stature. In contrast to the rest of her family, Keiko Oyamada has a slim build and average height, but possesses a shallow and superficial attitude; Manta rejects her when she asks Manta not to remain friends with Yoh because it would hurt the family's reputation to be seen with a spiritualist.
One of the Oyamada family's employees, who is assigned to accompany Manta to America. While Tamurazaki does as Manta asks, his loyalties actually belong to Mansumi and he stays with Manta to spy and gather information on shamans for his employer in preparation for invading the deserted island of Tokyo where the Shaman Fight is taking place. He is cool and calculating even before most of Hao's followers, gunning down a several of them with an M134 Vulcan after revealing that because he does not believe in souls he is not affected by the forbidden killing curse from the Ultra Senji Ryakketsu. He manages to disappear after Mansumi is captured by Anna.
Voiced by: Takaya Hashi
A South American Native American who was living homeless in New York City when he became Joco's teacher and guardian. Believing that laughter is the best medicine to solving the world's problems, he teaches Joco to give up his violent, gang ways to become both a shaman as well as a wielder of bad puns and jokes. Though he became a target of the SHAFT gang, Orona had previously made peace with death both due to his age and ill health, and smiled as he died because he knew that his will would be carried on. When Joco is killed by the Munzer children's Golem, Orona becomes his guide through Hell to help him regain his life as well as the spirit Pascal Avaf.
Voiced by: Mami Kayama (Japanese), Erica Schroeder (English)
Lilirara, a member of the Seminoa tribe, is angry at the Patch tribe and believes that the Patch tribe massacred her ancestors. She tries to prevent the shamans of this present shaman fight from reaching the Patch Village, telling them that the Patch are really killers, and that the same fate that befell the Seminoa will befall them. Hao later reveals that it was he, not the Patch, who killed the Seminoa. Hao then kills Lilirara right after Yoh and his cohort leave her to go to Patch Village.
The father of Horohoro and Pirika, who describes himself only as an office worker and is commonly referred to as "Oyaji" (meaning "old man") by his son. He adamantly believes that once his children leave home, he is no longer responsible for their well-being; however, he also hopes that they will become strong and does not care if they abandon their heritage to do so.[23] During the Shaman Fight, Kalim brings him to save Horohoro when Horohoro is forced to fight against Blocken and Big Guy Bill to save the Icemen. However, Lycan elects to do nothing, revealing that he had come only because Pirika had begged him to and leaves the island on a makeshift raft right in front of Bill, who is overpowered by Lycan's spirit Gororo. Before he leaves, he repeats the creed that he has always told Horohoro - "the strong prey upon the weak" - but adds that those words do not mean one should give up. He is later captured by Mansumi Oyamada and brought abroad his ship as a prisoner. After he is freed, he appears at the barbecue held by the Asakura and Tao families and their allies, where he catches a tuna fish and waits with Pirika as Anna announces the final furyoku levels of Yoh and his friends.

Guardian Ghosts

Voiced by: Katsuyuki Konishi, Mitsuki Saiga (young) (Japanese), Sean Schemmel (English)
A samurai who died during the Muromachi period 600 years ago, Amidamaru is Yoh's ghost companion. He is very powerful and wise but quite taciturn and extremely devoted to "Lord Yoh" ("Yō-dono" in Japanese). He was greatly known around the town of Funbari, where he had died 600 years prior after killing several hundred other samurai soldiers during a battle. He is the original wielder of the legendary sword named Harusame (春雨 Spring Rain), a sword forged by his best friend, Mosuke. The same sword is reproduced as a "spirit sword" and used by Yoh Asakura during the Shaman Fight while the original is kept in a museum. His name is based on the Buddha Amitābha, the principal figure in the Pure Land Buddhist sect. At the conclusion of the series, he becomes the guardian ghost of Yoh and Anna Kyoyama's son, Hana Asakura.[24][25]
Voiced by: Shinpachi Tsuji (Japanese), David Brimmer (English)
Bason is the ghost of an ancient Chinese military commander from the Han Dynasty[26] who serves Ren faithfully and obeys him without question. He refers to Ren as "Bocchama," which means "Young Master"; in the English version of the manga and anime, he refers to Ren as "Master Ren". Though Ren initially regards him as nothing more than an instrument to become Shaman King, Bason eventually becomes a valued and trusted friend of Ren. While he was noted for his bravery in life, he tends to be intimidated by Ren.
Having bravely served the Tao family in life, he continued to follow them as a ghost and has sworn to serve Ren by any means possible. He carries a kwan dao, and in his days as an ancient Chinese warrior, Bason rode into battle on a horse named Hei-Tao; the spirit of Hei-Tao can be integrated into another horse kept by Ren, named Bái-Feng, to perform the Perfect Re-enactment of the Vorpal Dance. Bason is capable of adding tremendous strength and speed to Ren's kwan dao, and even making it quite larger, but also uses his body in attacks such as the Golden Punch. In Giant Spirit Form, Bason appears as a gigantic robot capable of launching fireballs. While Amidamaru specializes in fighting a single opponent, Bason excels in fighting a number of opponents at once.[26]
Like Ren, Bason appears very cold and cruel at the beginning of the series, however, following interaction with Yoh Asakura, Bason, like his master, begins to soften up and develop a much more pleasant disposition. He feels an overwhelming sense of duty to his master, even breaking down in tears when Ren is imprisoned by his father. While Bason and Amidamaru are very hostile and competitive at first, they soon become friendly rivals.
Voiced by: Nobutoshi Canna (Japanese), Dan Green (English)
Lee Pyron in the anime
"The White Dragon"; Lee Pyron was a Kung Fu movie star who was murdered by the Tao family to be Jun's Jiang Shi bodyguard. He is a thinly-veiled reference to the late Bruce Lee, who died under suspicious circumstances. Lee Pyron was born on November 29, 1948 and died mysterious at the age of thirty; his body disappeared after his funeral. Technically, he is not a spirit, but a living corpse reanimated using Tao Jun's "ofuda". However, he can be considered to be serving a similar purpose, since he serves Tao Jun and hangs around her perpetually. It is later revealed that Lee Pyron was murdered to be Tao Jun's guardian Jiangshi. Once he becomes self-aware again, he forgives Jun for what her family did to him and becomes very protective of her. While Jun appreciates his dedication, she is somewhat dismayed that he tends to knock down any young men who try to get to know her.
Throughout Pyron's life, he devoted himself to training and perfecting his martial arts, regretfully at the cost of neglecting his wife and son. Lee Pyron's master, Shamon (Shao-lin in the English anime), founded a variation of the Chāolín ("super forest") Temple Style (a parody of Shaolin) which he named "Ruichong-quan kung-fu" (Eijuken in the English anime). Shawen's Ruichong-quan became the basis of Pyron's style, the Dǎodàn-do (dǎodàn is Chinese for "missile"), which combined Boxing, Muay Thai, and Karate. Before Pyron died, he intended to create a perfect version of it and he intended not to pass it on until he finally perfected it; however, he died before he could complete his art form. Various Daodan Do moves include Fu chong Hong Zha si (dive bomber, a series of matrix like flips), followed by Hong Zha Jiao (Bomb kick, a thrust to the face using the right leg) or the Dao Dan Jiao (rocket kick, a sudden thrust to the body with the legs). To increase his power, Jun performs various modifications on his body, including extendable limbs, which he utilizes against the Hana-gumi's spirits. In battle, he fights without Jun controlling him; instead, she uses her talismans to enhance his abilities in combat.
Voiced by: Nana Mizuki
Kororo is a Koropokuru, known to the Ainu as the "little people who live under the butterbur leaves" and known as "Minutians" in the English anime, and is Horohoro's spirit partner. She is surprisingly cute and develops a slight crush on Manta Oyamada, but becomes jealous when Horohoro admires Morphine for her delicate features. Kororo's abilities allow Horohoro to create and manipulate ice. She is known as "Corey" in the English anime, which sounds similar to "Kōri (氷)", which is the Japanese word for ice and also the element that Horohoro's attacks are based on.
In the KangZengBang chapters, it is eventually revealed that Kororo is the spirit of Tamiko Kurobe (黒部 民子 Kurobe Tamiko), a girl whose father was involved with the construction of a dam near Horohoro's village and was nicknamed "Damuko (ダム子)". She gave Horohoro his nickname and they formed a tentative friendship as they were both considered outcasts among their classmates. However, when Horohoro's grandfather told him to stay away from Damuko, Horohoro began to ignore her, though Damuko continued to hang out with him and hoped they would see the butterbur fields in the spring. However, when she suffered an accident trying to follow him one day, Damuko froze to death and Horohoro has blamed himself for killing the only girl he ever loved. When Horohoro reveals why he began ignoring her during his fight with Kalim, Kororo is able to briefly return to her true form as Damuko and explains how she became a Koropokkoru after her death in order to learn the reason why he broke off their friendship. Finally reconciled with Horohoro, she returns to her koropokkoru form and remains by his side.
Voiced by: Wataru Takagi (Japanese), Wayne Grayson (English)
The Guardian Ghost of Wooden Sword Ryu, Tokagero always talks about being a nasty villain, but he is actually a big softie. He has a lizard-like appearance and wears he wears a piece of armor called a hanburi on his face. He was born on November 14, 1374. When he was still alive, Tokagero was a thief that was born into poverty. Tokagero was forced to eat his own dead mother to survive and he was later killed by Amidamaru at the age of 35.
In the modern age, Tokagero attacks Yoh Asakura and his friends in order to get revenge on Amidamaru, who does not recall him at all. Through Anna Kyoyama's research, they learn that he is an obscure historical figure who was killed by Amidamaru. Tokagero possesses Yoh's friend Ryunosuke Unemiya ("Wooden Sword" Ryu) and uses him to steal the Harusame (Sword of Light) from the museum and attack Yoh and Amidamaru. The fight that ensues forces Yoh and Amidamaru to break the Harusame in order to save Ryu's life. Yoh appeals to Tokagero and allows him to possess him instead of Ryu, who is just an innocent bystander, because Yoh believes that Tokagero is not as evil as he claims. Tokagero does so, with the supposed intention of killing Yoh in the process, but finds he does not have the heart to and leaves Yoh's body peacefully. Tokagero eventually becomes the spirit ally of Ryu. After Ryu and Tokagero train at Izumo, Tokagero embodies the spirit of the mythical river god, Yamata no Orochi. However, it is a common misconception that the Yamata no Orochi is a second spirit that Ryu possesses.
Eliza was Faust VIII's wife, who worked as a nurse until she was murdered (along with the family dog, Frankenstiney) by robbers who broke into Faust's house. Eliza's death led her (now extremely depressed) husband to dig up her skeleton from her casket and enter the Shaman Fights to bring her back to life. When Faust joined Yoh's group, Anna brought the spirit of Eliza to be reunited with her husband as his Guardian Ghost. Her "Giant Over Soul" form is a giant bat-winged version of herself called Mephisto-E (Mephisto being a reference to Mephistopheles, or the devil, whom Faustus summons). After Faust and Eliza reunited, both of them became heavily devoted to Yoh. As a guardian ghost, she is an effective medical assistant to Faust and is armed with surgical instruments, though Faust admits that she is a little clumsy and may inject an opponent many times with a syringe before she hits the mark.
Ponchi is a tanuki with, in the original Japanese, large testicles, or in the English manga, a large stomach, and Conchi is a kitsune fox spirit who are the familiars of Tamao Tamamura. Ponchi's testicles are never seen in any versions of the anime. Both Ponchi and Conchi wear Mawashis; in the manga it is because they were frightened into doing so by Matamune. The pair are two of the many guardian spirits of the Asakura family and are four hundred years old, but extremely vulgar and egotistical. Because the Asakura family has many considerably more powerful spirits at their disposal, Ponchi and Conchi have been free to act as disobediently as they want. They are cowardly and easily frightened by anyone who proves to be powerful and intimidating, especially Anna and Matamune. Despite being nuisances, they have not been sealed because they have proven themselves to be useful for tasks like spying, reconnaissance, casting curses, and simple (though not completely accurate) divinations. In combat, Conchi is able to form a bow and arrow Oversoul with Tamao's planchette while Ponchi combines with her planchette to form a cushioning shield Oversoul. The spirits are parodies of the popular animated children's cartoon characters, Ren and Stimpy, changed in the anime to avoid copyright infringement claims.
Matamune is a Nekomata, a type of cat spirit with two tails; he also carries around a pipe with him and wears a necklace with three bear claws (which later is owned by Yoh Asakura). He has served the Asakura family for a millennium, although he spends much of his time traveling the world. He professes to have seen everything, and is almost constantly reading books.
One thousand years ago, Matamune had been an ordinary but sickly cat that had been abandoned by his mother and his eight other siblings had died. Hao had sensed the cat's strong spirit and fearlessness despite being able to see the terrifying spirits around him. Matamune soon became Hao's faithful companion and true friend. When Matamune died, Hao turned Matamune's spirit into a Goryoushin, a special type of spirit employed by Onmyouji to guard against demons and other spirits that would seek to harm them. Hao also imbued Matamune with a portion of his own furyoku - a type of mana - using the Bear's Claw Necklace. This mana allowed Matamune to have a physical body, and so long as Matamune's furyoku was not used up, his physical body would continue to exist. When Hao was driven mad by his abilities, Matamune sided with the Asakura family to defeat his master. Upon Hao's rebith five years later, Matamune joined Yohken Asakura to kill Hao in the Shaman Fight. However, Matamune holds himself responsible for what happened to Hao, believing that his loss of faith in Hao was part of the cause of Hao's madness and deeply regrets fighting against Hao. As such, Matamune has spent the last thousand years searching for a way to atone, and to save Hao.
When Yoh went to meet Anna Kyoyama for the first time, his grandfather, Yohmei summoned Matamune to accompany him. Matamune and Yoh became good friends, and Matamune taught Yoh a number of things. Matamune resolved to help Yoh save Anna - who also had the power of reishi (spirit's sight), the ability to telepathically read hearts (a power which had ultimately led to Hao's madness) - partly as an act of penance for not being able to save Hao a thousand years ago. This power of empathy drove Anna to become withdrawn and distrustful and manifested into dangerous Oni (demonic ogres) that eventually turned on her, often terrorizing and threatening to destroy her. Matamune exhausted the remaining furyoku given to him by Hao in order to give Yoh the necessary power to save Anna. Though doing so meant that Matamune would no longer be able to retain his form, he believed that Yoh had the power to save Hao. In their farewell, Yoh promised Matamune that one day he would become strong enough to be able to summon Matamune once again and has since worn the bear claws that belonged to Matamune as the symbol of that promise.
Though Yoh and Hao have not seen Matamune since, Matamune later appears in Hell, observing Yoh's encounter with Yohken from afar and then becoming Ren and Horohoro's guide in Hell. He elects not to join the gathering of spirits who confront Hao after he becomes Shaman King, which Yoh reasons is because Matamune did not wish to fight Hao again.
Matamune's character appears to have been inspired by Kenji Miyazawa's Night on the Galactic Railroad, which he is seen reading volume 19. The 1985 animated film adaptation of Miyazawa's work depicts the main characters as cats, similar to Matamune, who is seen frequently travelling on trains during his appearances in Shaman King.
Voiced by: Hisao Egawa, Kumiko Watanabe (young) (Japanese), David Brimmer (English)
A master swordsmith whose ability to create swords matched Amidamaru's ability to wield them. He and Amidamaru were best friends and grew up together. Their deaths resulted from Amidamaru's refusal to kill Mosuke when their lord ordered the samurai to. Mosuke, who believed that his delay in completing Harusame was the reason why Amidamaru died, spent the next six hundred years haunting the sword he had crafted for his friend until Yoh and Manta revealed that Amidamaru's spirit had continued to wait for him at Funbari Hill. He is later summoned to reforge Harusame after it is broken during the confrontation with Tokagero. In the anime, Mosuke later becomes Manta's guardian ghost, semi-trapped in Manta's laptop, and forms an Oversoul with the form of a hammer.
Morphine (Morphea in the English manga, Chloe in the English anime) is a pixie-like poppy spirit who is Lyserg's spirit ally. She has served with Diethal family for several generations and is the family's most valuable treasure. Despite her delicate appearance, she is merciless when it comes to protecting Lyserg and is capable of driving his pendulum at high speeds. As Lyserg's best friend and most loyal protector, she silently worries about his obsessive mission to avenge his family. She loves eating sweet-tasting things and would like to become friends with Kororo, the other nature spirit in Yoh's ground, though it seems the friendship is unlikely. In the anime, Morphine is absorbed by Archangels to assume her "Giant Over Soul" form. Her original name was edited for being a reference to morphine.
A jaguar spirit who is Joco's spirit ally. While he appears to be an ordinary animal spirit, Mic is actually a very old and powerful nature spirit. Though jaguars have been impulsive and known to attack enemies and rivals without mercy, Mic has gradually calmed down over the years and become a gentle and kind animal. He used to belong to Chocolove's mentor. His name is a takeoff of "Mick Jagger". Whether as a guardian ghost or as a supporting comedian, he is very supportive of Joco and extremely valuable as a spirit who is able to collect information due to his smaller size and natural feline caution.
The second Guardian Ghost of Joco, a wise Olmec spirit introduced to Joco during his first death and arrival in Hell by Joco's mentor, Orona. One thousand years ago, he was a powerful shaman who participated in the Shaman Tournament but lost to Hao Asakura. The spirit is both Joco's partner and mentor, and allows Joco to become the most stable member of Ren's team because of the strong relationships Joco has with both his spirits. He is capable of merging with Mic and Joco to form the Armour Oversoul 'Jaguarman', and teaches Ren and Horohoro how to form Armour Oversouls as well. Professor Avaf later serves as a guide for Lyserg Diethel in Hell. Like Gandhara and the Asakura and Tao families, he has been guiding the Five Elemental Warriors with the hope that they will be able to defeat Hao at last.
A pair of shikigami that resemble Oni and were created by Hao with the Genma Choboku to protect the Ultra Senji Ryukketsu (Tome of the Shaman). Anna defeats both of them and claims them as her own, using them as her muscle. Zenki is the blue shikigami, with eye sockets in the shape of the "Seven Star Tree of Renewal" used as the crest for the Asakura family, and is skilled in mêlée combat and carries a shield. The red shikigami, Kouki, has one eye in the centre of "Five Point Star" shape used as Hao's symbol, and wields a large battle axe in combat. In the manga, Anna is able to enhance them and form an Oversoul with them using the 1080 beads as a medium. Kouki is eventually destroyed when Anna uses it to defend herself and the Hana-gumi from Hao's Armour Oversoul. In the anime, Hao retakes control of the shikigami duo to hold Yoh's friends at bay at the conclusion of the series, though the shikigami were soon destroyed.
A pair of Yamagi (山神), mountain gods, who are over a thousand years old and serve as Mikihisa's spirit partners. Their Oversouls are formed from using stones as mediums and they are considerably skillful and powerful fighters. Imari is a kitsune who was once an evil nature spirit, but became helpful guardian spirit after being defeated by the Asakura family. She is intelligent and noble, and excels in transformations, particularly into a human woman; however, despite her feminine mannerisms, nobody is certain whether she is actually female. Shigaraki is a tanuki spirit who was found by an Asakura shugensha in a Buddhist temple and convinced to leave, becoming the shugensha's guardian spirit. He also specializes in transformations, but is less skilled than Imari. They were both given names 300 years ago by a member of the Asakura family who enjoyed tea ceremony and found their fur reminded him of Imari porcelain and Shigaraki ware. The duo are both high class spirits who cannot be compared to Conchi and Ponchi and hate any sort of comparison made. Imari and Shigaraki aid Yoh when he confronts the X-Laws after he is coerced by Hao into returning to the Shaman Tournament.
The Guardian Ghost of Lycan Usui, the father of Horohoro and Pirika. Gororo is a Koropukuru, but unlike the others, he is about the size of a human. Because of his unnatural size, he had been shunned by other Koropokkur. However, he is kindhearted and strong, and possesses a great deal of reiyoku. He is first seen when Horohoro is protecting the Team Icemen from Hao's followers. Gororo is also responsible for training Damuko's spirit to becoming a Koropokuru when she refuses the Koropokuru's request for them to lead her into the afterlife.
Jeanne's god-class spirit, the Babylonian god of law who established ancient laws regarding justice, war, and the seasons. Its reiryoku is 520,000. The spirit was found in a sacred place within an old church during one of the X-Laws' pilgrimages and became Jeanne's spirit when she broke the spell that sealed him there. Due to his apathy for the human world, he rarely acts and his presence around Jeanne is sufficient to instill respect. In combat his incredible power allows him to manifest different torture tools depending on the medium used, which includes parts of Jeanne's armour and her iron maiden. Jeanne also has the means to resurrect others by having Shamash kiss them. In the anime, Jeanne is able to open the Gate of Babylon in an attempt to seal away Hao using Shamash's power. The attempt ends in failure as Shamash was devoured by the Spirit of Fire. In the manga, Shamash and Bason eventually become the guardian spirits of Men.
The Guardian ghosts of the X-Laws, which only Jeanne can present to their human partners. In the manga, it's revealed that they aren't actually angels, but spirits of cars made by Luchist using a fragment of angelic spirits and contained in the ammunition of a gun; Yoh describes them as being similar to tsukumogami spirits from Japanese legend. Many of the cars were inspired by Marco's own knowledge of cars, being a former car salesman and developer. In the anime, they were all absorbed into Morphine, near the finale, when all the members of the X-Laws fell by Hao's hands.
  • Michael: The Archangel Marco Lasso commands, the spirit of a 1992 Ferrari Testarossa treasured by Marco. The archangel is regarded as the closest to God and regarded as the king of angels, a brave archangel who leads the angels to war. Luchist summoned the ghost of the actual Michael to merge with the car to create Marco's guardian ghost; though it does not compare to a true angel, the spirit is powerful enough to be regarded as a god-class spirit. Michael is contained in a fully automatic Beretta 93R pistol.
  • Zeruel: The Archangel presented to Lyserg Diethel after he had proved his loyalty to the X-Laws, a nimble and swift spirit. In the anime, Lyserg abandoned his original spirit in favor of the more powerful Archangel; in the manga, he retains Morphine and Zeruel as guardian spirits. After training in hell, Lyserg is able to have Zeruel and Morphine combine to form his Armour Oversoul, Mestema Dolkeem. Zeruel is the spirit of a blue Lotus Elise contained in a derringer.
  • Raphael: An archangel commanded by Dingbat, the spirit of an Aston Martin DB4 contained in the ammunition of a grenade launcher. During his final attempt on Hao, Dingbat uses his connections with the British government to gain access to a military defense satellite, which Dingbat uses as a medium for Raphael to fire upon Hao's location.
  • Sariel: An archangel commanded by Pofe, the spirit of a Porsche 911 housed in a Remington 700.
  • Uriel: An archangel commanded by Lucky, the spirit of a Ford GT40 kept in a bazooka.
  • Gabriel: An archangel commanded by Meene, the spirit of a Giulietta SZ contained in a Luger P08 pistol, known as the angel seated on God's left. Though Gabriel possesses a high defense, it is better suited for shooting from a distance and best used in a supporting role rather than in face-to-face battles. Because Meene overestimates Gabriel's defense, the angel is instantly destroyed when she attempts to fire point-blank at Hao.
  • Metatron: An archangel commanded by Venstar, the spirit of a Hummer H1 that Venstar drove during the Gulf War and is kept in an rocket artillery launcher. An angel stronger than Michael, it wields a shield and morning star and possesses an incredible destructive power befitting its tough structure.
  • Remiel: An archangel commanded by Cebin, the spirit of a 300SL Coupe contained in specially built guns resembling human forearms. Known as the messenger charged with guiding souls to heaven and delivering divine visions, it has the power of thunder. The angel is lightweight and attacks by emitting electrical charges from Cebin's hand. Because of Cebin's calm demeanor, neither of them lose their cool in battle and Remiel's outstanding speed and strength allows the creation of a stable Oversoul.
  • Lucifer: The first archangel to be created, commanded by Luchist Lasso and regarded as a fallen angel. It is the spirit of a Lamborghini Countach LP400, a car with great value to Luchist and known for its speed and power. It is contained in a Comp Hunter revolver.
  • Azazel: Another fallen angel commanded by Hans Reiheit. It is the spirits of tanks from World War II and is contained a Steyr AUG. The spirit is regarded as highly dangerous because its reiyoku level at 470 000 is higher than that of the Spirit of Fire's reiyoku of 300 000. However, Reiheit's lower furyoku level means that he cannot materialize the spirit for more than three seconds and suffers considerable backlash if his Oversoul is broken.
The Golem is a machine that functions like Spirit of Fire in that it ingests spirits to get stronger and the spirits are contained in a battery of sorts with a furyoku level of at 550 000. It belongs to Redseb and Seyram, and it was built by their deceased father, Dr. Camel Munzer. Primarily operated by Seyram, the Golem can summoned remotely by a special command and is part of Team Kabbalahers, though primarily so that Mikihisa can keep the machine from falling into the wrong hands after he learned of its powerful destructive capabilities. Though it's a machine, Camel Munzer used the spirit of Redseb and Seyram's mother to empower the golem as a machine OS. After Dr. Munzer's spirit regains his senses and is sent to the Great Spirit, Anna modifies the Golem so that she and the Munzer children can use it against Hao. Golem may be based on the Golem from Jewish mythology. In the anime he belongs to a family of shamans.
The Guardian ghosts of the Gandhara. Unlike the X-Laws's spirits, the Gandhara spirits are genuinely divine, deriving from the Buddha.　All of them are stronger than Spirit of Fire.
  • Dainichi Nyorai (大日如来): The Buddha commanded by Lady Sati, nicknamed Senju (センジ). He became Sati's partner after he emerged from the statue of a thousand armed kannon to save a young Sati from land sharks at the Saigan Temple. He affectionately calls Sati "Sacchan". One of the largest Buddhist gods among the Gandhara, he primarily uses his mighty palms in combat and his reiryoku is 700,000. His appearance in his spirit form, along with his background and relationship to Sati, is a reference to Senju from Takei's earlier work, Butsu Zone.
  • Jizou Nyorai (ジゾウ如来): The Buddha commanded by Daiei. Its reiryoku is 650,000. His spirit form resembles the character Jizo from Takei's work, Butsu Zone.
  • Batou Nyorai (バトウ如来): The Buddha commanded by Komeri. Its reiryoku is 650,000. Similar to other members of Gandhara, he resembles the character Batoh from Takei's manga, Butsu Zone.
  • Acala (不動明王 Fudō Myō-ō): The Buddha commanded by Jackson. Its reiryoku is 400,000 and uses a vajra as its medium. According to Pascal Avaf, the spirit rules over the Three Passions of Buddhism: wrath, greed, and sloth. Acala wields a personal sword known as Bankoken that will place a person into a deep sleep from which they cannot easily wake from when the person is cut. The spirit also holds a chain that will hunt down any spirit, regardless of its speed. In its Oversoul form, Acala resembles the character "Fudou" in Takei's work, Butsu Zone.
  • Kundali (軍荼利明王 Kundali Myō-ō): The Buddha commanded by Yainage, possessing a reiyoku of 400 000. Its primary abilities involve palm strikes that nullify any furyoku based attack and defense, and follows the movement of Yainage as he wields a vajra used as the spirit's medium.
  • Rāgarāja (愛染明王 Aizen Myō-ō): The Buddha commanded by Cado. Its reiryoku is 400,000. In Oversoul form, the spirit is armed with a bow and arrows, relying on its six arms to fire multiple shots or rapidly strike with its many palms. Arrows fired by Ragaraja will follow and strike down any spirit, regardless of speed. The spirit's medium is Cado's cell phone.
  • Ashura (アシュラ): The Buddha commanded by Mami and Sami, its reiryoku is 400,000. As one of the Eight Deva Guardians of Buddhism, the Oversoul he forms with Mamy as a medium allows them to wield the other seven Devas as weapons, which provides them with a wide arsenal of techniques in combat. However, his evil passion is described as being incredibly strong, making it difficult to form an Oversoul with him. He is based on Senju's rival in Takei's work Butsu Zone.
  • Nio (仁王): The Buddhas commanded by Ozam, known individually as A-gyō (阿形) and Un-gyō (吽形), the two wrath-filled muscular guardians of the Buddha. Each have a reiyoku of 25 000.
  • Marishi-ten (マリシテン): The Buddha commanded by Seikyou. Its reiryoku is 400,000 and uses a mirror as its medium.
  • Shatora (シャトラ): The Buddha commanded by Aeon Li. Its reiryoku is 400,000. Its medium is Aeon's neck tie.
Hao's guardian ghost, formerly one of the five Elemental Spirits and a sacred symbol of the Patch Tribe until Patch Hao took it for his own 500 years ago. Its power was initially greatly diminished because of its journey back from Hell (where Hao negotiated the terms of his reincarnations with Taizan Kuzun, the god of the dead), forcing it to regain its strength by consuming other souls and spirits. The spirit's flames serves as Hao's way of killing off shamans who failed him or those who refused to rally for his cause and has accompanied him from his second incarnation to his third. Its reiryoku 330,000. Its primary medium is the oxygen in the air, allowing Hao to manifest the Spirit of Fire with incredible speed. Using Onmyōdō magic, Hao can alter the nature of the Spirit of Fire into any of the five elements (fire, water, wood, metal, and earth). It can shower the enemy with magma with a temperature exceeding 1,200 °C (2,192 °F), and can also launch a large amount of fire into the air as a defensive move. In the anime, Hao ultimately deems the Shaman Fight to be a pointless contest, and moves to acquire the Great Spirit by force. After fighting through various obstacles, the Spirit of Fire consumes the Great Spirit itself, being reborn in a golden hue ten times its previous size. In the manga, the final competitors in the tournaments elect to allow Hao to Shaman King uncontested, after which Hao discards the spirit and it becomes the guardian ghost of Lyserg Diethel.
Regarded as the sacred treasures of the Patch Tribe, the Five Elemental Spirits were said to have been created by the Great Spirit and can only be controlled by powerful shaman. Like the Spirit of Fire, each of the High Spirits are capable of becoming stronger by consuming the souls of others and retains all their memories. After Hao Asakura, in his second incarnation as a Patch member, steals the Spirit of Fire, the Patch become highly protective of the remaining four spirits. After Silva's attempt to steal the spirits and hearing of Gandhara's plan to take the remaining spirits for the shaman they have recognized as the Five Elemental Warriors, the Patch hide the spirits in Hell, where they are each protected by one of the Four Kings of Hell. The spirits are later retrieved by Lady Sati and the strongest members of Gandhara and delivered to Yoh and his companions for their final fight against Hao.
  • Spirit of Earth (スピリット・オブ・アース Supiritto obu Aasu) (S.O.E.): The elemental spirit that gives life to plants and creates metal. It can generate gravitational forces to attract any object towards itself, which is a highly effective defensive move as protection from forces as great as large meteors. It later becomes the guardian ghost of Yoh Asakura.
  • Spirit of Thunder (スピリット・オブ・サンダー Supiritto obu Sandou) (S.O.T.): A spirit that can create powerful electrical charges up to 1 500 000 000 kW and 100 million volts from black clouds to strike opponents and generate magnetic fields to defend. It is strongly associated with Taoism and becomes the guardian ghost of Tao Ren.
  • Spirit of Rain (スピリット・オブ・レイン Supiritto obu Rein) (S.O.R.): The elemental spirit with an unlimited amount of holy water. It can create large massive icicles and by combining its power with the power of the Spirit of Wind it can even make violent freezing winds. The spirit becomes the guardian ghost of Horohoro.
  • Spirit of Wind (スピリット・オブ・ウインド Supiritto obu Uindo) (S.O.W.): Representing the Aztec symbol of the Eagle warrior that slices the wind with its wings, the Spirit of Wind is incredibly swift, peaking at 120 m/s with a pressure of 900 hPa, and can destroy any debris that runs into its path. It becomes the guardian ghost of Joco McDonnell.
Though once a human, Ohachiyo is demonic spirit who roamed around for 200 years before meeting Asaha Douji (麻葉 童子), the original Hao Asakura. He became Asaha's first friend after the death of his mother, Asanoha Douji, and nicknames him "Mappa Douji (麻葉 童子)" based on an alternate reading for the characters of his given name. A carefree and cheerful creature, he teaches the young Asaha many things and tries to quell the child's hatred of humans. However, when a corrupt priest tries to kill Asaha as a scapegoat and appease the local people, Ohachiyo integrates his spirit with Asaha to give the boy the means to fight back. When Asaha exhausts his furyoku while still integrated with Ohachiyo, the demon's spirit is absorbed into Asaha, leaving Asaha with his reishi mindreading ability forever. As Yoh draws closer to his goal of defeating Hao and understanding his brother, he sees Ohachiyo in a vision; not knowing the spirit's name, he mistakenly refers to the spirit as "Z" after seeing the similar looking kanji "乙" on the demon's garment.
The mother of the original Hao Asakura, who possessed the ability to see spirits. However, because the local people could not see spirits themselves, they believed Asanoha was a kitsune and killed her by burning her house down. Her young son was branded as the "child of a demon" and he developed a strong hatred for ordinary humans. Since becoming a shaman, he has hoped to find his mother's spirit again. She coincidentally has a strong resemblance to Anna and is revealed to be a woman with a strong will and gentle heart.
The strongest and most ancient spirit which the Shaman King unites with, and the whole purpose of the Shaman Fight. Its physical form is of a massive swirling pillar of furyoku composed of trillions of interconnected spirits. All spirits come from the Great Spirit and return to it upon death, barring they become earthbound. Only shamans with a strong will are able to directly gaze upon the Great Spirit, as those who are too weak either fall into an eternal sleep or are driven insane from visions of the planet's memories.
Like the Five Elemental Spirits, it has domain over its element - any aspect of the universe it retains. When it forms an Oversoul with the Shaman King, it can create a small star that emits an unbearable quantity of heat, making it very difficult to remain in close proximity for extended periods, as well as a black hole to pull everything into oblivion. Because the Great Spirit contains all the memories of the planet itself, those who become Shaman King gain absolute knowledge, allowing the reshaping of the world entirely according to the Shaman King's will.

Reception

Lori Henderson from Manga Life commented that "everyone has a reason for fighting, even the villains, so even if you don’t like a character, you do understand them."[27] Writing for Active Anime, Holly Ellingwood praised "the differing styles of the shaman fighters" and the "appealing characters designs overall."[28]

References

  1. ↑ Shonen Jump interview with Hiroyuki Takei, 2005.
    Q: The title pages of Shaman King often show characters who haven't appeared yet in the story. How closely did you plot the series out from the beginning? Do you create the characters first and the story later?
    Takei: I create the characters first. Stories are born because of the existence of the characters, right?
  2. ↑ Shonen Jump interview with Hiroyuki Takei, 2005.
    Q: In your opinion, what is the key to creating good characters?
    Takei: The most important thing is to have originality, because there's no point in creating something that's similar to something, right? The next is to make sure the character is distinctive. By this, I mean that at first glance, a reader can figure out what the character is all about. Similarly, a distinctive silhouette that can easily be picked out is important. The character should also stand out from the rest of the characters. In regards to design, don't be afraid to try new things, and just do it. This will lead to the developement of an original character.
  3. ↑ Shonen Jump interview with Hiroyuki Takei, 2005.
    Q: Tanuki, or raccoon dogs, and fox spirits appear in Shaman King, as the characters Ponchi and Konchi. How did you come up with your personal interpretation of these traditional spirit-animals?
    Takei: In general, I create original things by incorporating various designs I like, but if you read the comic, "Ponchi" and "Konchi" are pretty obviously an homage to the characters "Ren and Stimpy."
  4. ↑ Interview with Manga-News.com (French)
    MN – Quel est donc celui qui est le plus facile à dessiner, et au contraire le plus difficile?
    HT – Anna est la plus facile et Yoh le plus difficile. Par là je n'entends pas que le coté dessin pur mais plutôt l'aspect évolutif du personnage et son caractère. Pour Yoh, il a été pour moi plus difficile à faire évoluer dans les critères que demande le Jump magazine.
    (Translation: MN - Who is the easiest to draw and who is the most difficult?
    HT - Anna is the easiest and Yoh is the most difficult. By that I don't mean drawing, but developing the characters. For Yoh, it was hard for me to develop him because of the criteria required for Jump magazine.)
  5. ↑ Shonen Jump interview with Hiroyuki Takei, 2005.
    Q: The fact that Yoh is engaged to Anna from the beginning of the story is unusual for a shonen manga. In many ways, their relationship is more mature than the relationships between male and female characters in usual shonen manga. Has your own marriage influenced your depiction of Yoh and Anna?
    Takei: I think it reflects quite a bit of my own personal experience. I wouldn't say it is a direct copy. But the relationship both characters have, is quite an ideal relationship, I would say.
  6. ↑ Shonen Jump interview with Hiroyuki Takei, 2005.
    Q: Butsu Zone has some similar themes to Shaman King, as well as some of the same characters. Does Butsu Zone take place in the same "universe" as Shaman King?
    Takei:"Shaman King" and "Butsu Zone" are completely different worlds. The characters that reappear are based on the "Star System" concept. (NOTE: The "Star System" is a concept from artist Osamu Tezuka in which a key character appears in several different manga titles)
  7. ↑ Shonen Jump interview with Hiroyuki Takei, 2005.
    Q: Anna seems to be a very important character for you, since she appeared in her own one-shot manga before Shaman King, and also in Butsu Zone. Can you tell us about the history of her character?
    Takei: Please think of her as my signature character...
  8. ↑ Shaman King - Kang Zeng Bang Volume 27 extras; Shaman File 351
  9. ↑ Shaman King, Mentalite guidebook, Hana's Epoch short story
  10. ↑ Shaman King - Kang Zeng Bang Volume 27 extras; Shaman File 352
  11. ↑ Shaman King, volume 31, Funbari Poem: Mickey's World - The Bloom of Youth, Part 2
  12. ↑ "マウスプロモーション公式サイト：所属タレント" [Yoko Soumi Talent Profile]. Mausu Promotion (in Japanese). Retrieved 2015-02-25.
  13. ↑ Shaman King - Kang Zeng Bang Volume 27 extras; Shaman File 354
  14. ↑ Shaman King - Kang Zeng Bang Volume 27 extras; Shaman File 353
  15. ↑ Shaman King, Kang Zeng Bang edition, chapter 300
  16. ↑ Shaman King - Mentalite extras; Shaman File 375
  17. ↑ Shaman King - Flowers, Mentalite bonus manga
  18. ↑ Shaman King manga, Remix Track 11 - Miss Saigan
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Shaman King manga, volume 24, chapter 208
    Seikyou and Aeon were originally depicted as part of Team Deva with Mamy; they were later replaced by Samy and Ozam in the finalized version of the series.
  20. ↑ Shaman King Flowers, chapter 3
  21. ↑ Shaman King Kang Zeng Bang, volume 6 extras, Shaman File 61
  22. ↑ Shaman King manga, Reincarnation 47: June Goodbyes (Shonen Jump #24, Volume 2, Issue 12)
  23. ↑ Shaman King Zero, Chapter 3 - Dances with Wolves
  24. ↑ Mentalite guidebook, Shaman King - Hana's Epoch
  25. ↑ Shaman King Flowers
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 Shaman King Kang Zeng Bang, volume 1 extras, Shaman File 9
  27. ↑ Henderson, Lori. "Shaman King v13". Manga Life. Archived from the original on September 16, 2008. Retrieved December 12, 2012.
  28. ↑ Ellingwood, Holly (March 10, 2007). "Shaman King (Vol. 11)". Active Anime. Retrieved December 12, 2012.