Personaje

Humans

* Yoh Asakura (麻倉葉 Asakura Yō) - The main character is Yoh Asakura. He is easy-going, laid back, and carefree, which causes him to have an open mind and makes him relax in extreme situations. "No one knows what will happen in the future. There is no sense in worrying in something you do not and cannot control, so why bother?" This famous line of his is his philosophy in life, which always shines through in his personality. Yoh's only goal is to live an easy life, and he believes that when he becomes Shaman King, he will achieve that goal. According to Anna, his fiancée, his free-thinking and laid-back nature makes him think "outside the box" which makes him a perfect candidate for Shaman King. His guardian ghost is a powerful samurai by the name of Amidamaru. Yoh came into existence when the soul of Hao Asakura spilt into two in his second reincarnation. Yoh is part of the Team Funbari Onsen, together with Ryu and Faust. (Team Asakura in the English anime).

* Hao Asakura (麻倉葉王 Asakura Hao, ハオ Hao) / Zeke Asakura - Both Yoh's ancestor and twin, Hao closely resembles Yoh but desires to destroy humanity. In his first life, he was the greatest shaman of the Asakura clan. But after mastering the five elements to become the ultimate shaman, he came to believe that every single non-shaman must be killed, since 'ordinary humans' were "out of touch" with nature and were destroying it. He intended to eliminate humans from the earth, but he was assassinated by his clansmen. However, because he mastered the five elements, Hao defied death and was reincarnated as a member of Silva's tribe five centuries later. Hao stole the Patch Tribe's Spirit of Fire and attempted to become Shaman King, only to be killed again by his ancestor and former spirit, Asakura Yohken (麻倉葉賢 Asakura Yōken) and Matamune (マタムネ Matamune). Now, 500 years later, Hao is in his second reincarnation. However, when he was reincarnated this time, his soul somehow split, forming twins, and one part became Yoh, therefore, making both of them the reincarnations of the autentic Asakura Hao. Hao controls a host of shamans who either are loyal to him because they share his views on humanity or out of personal gain. His followers call him 'Hao-sama'. His group of three, Hao, Opacho, and Luchist, in the Fight is called the 'Hoshigumi'.

* Anna Kyōyama (恐山アンナ Kyōyama An'na) / Anna - Friend and fiancée of Yoh Asakura and an itako, a traditional shaman from Aomori, Japan (she is called a "spirit medium" in the English anime). Anna is Yoh's personal trainer (in Yoh's opinion, his slavedriver, due to the puternice training) and will stop at nothing to become a part of the glory when Yoh becomes Shaman King of the Shaman King, although she does indeed hold affection for Yoh. She later obtains the necklace of 1,080 beads and mastery over Hao's Shikigami, Zenki and Kouki. Anna also appears in two of Takei's other works, Butsu Zone and the one-shot Itako no Anna. Anna is also said to be the reincarnation of the original Asakura Hao's mother from 1,000 years ago. At a certain time, Asakura Hao held some interest on her, but it did not last long.

* Manta Oyamada (小山田まん太 Oyamada Manta) / Morty - An intelligent but worrisome teen who always carries a "dictionary/encyclopedia/compendium of all human knowledge", and can see ghosts, even though he is not a Shaman. He is very expressive and a bit panicky. His rather abnormal height has gotten him into trouble numerous times, once having been mistaken for one of the shy nature spirits, and almost being cut open and used for bait during Yoh Asakura's match with Faust VIII. Near the final battle (anime only) with Hao he actually becomes a Shaman and is able to merge with a spirit. His weapon is a hammer and his unofficial guardian ghost is Mosuke, the best friend of Amidamaru who forged his sword, the Harusame. After that episode in the anime, Manta is able to junction spirits to his laptop. He is referred to as "Morty" (short for Mortimer) in the English anime. (Hiroyuki Takei mentioned Manta's character was modelled after Japanese pop singer T.M.Revolution in an interview published in the March 2004 English language issue of Shōnen Jump.)

* Tao Ren (道蓮 Japanese: Tao Ren; Chinese Pinyin: Dào Lián) / Lenny "Len" Tao - An arrogant boy who is one of Yoh's rival shamans but later becomes a friend. He comes from China. Ren is obsessed with milk, bodybuilding, and the number 3 (in the anime). His trademark is his unique "tongari" haircut, which gets longer and stiffer when he is mad. Ren is very short-tempered and impatient. His spirit companion is a massive 1000 year old Chinese general named Bason.

Before befriending Yoh: Ren was dominant and protective over his older sister Tao Jun; and is determined to be the Shaman King. Ren's purpose to become Shaman King is to cleanse the world of all the humans; he originally hated humans because he believed that they were defiling the earth thus he yearns to eliminate them all. He also detested his father (who was the one who forcibly led him to think that way) because of their abusive interpersonal relationship.
After befriending Yoh: Seeing the good in people like Yoh and his friends and learning that his previous beliefs were false, Ren begins to challenge the path his father had set for him and aims at making a better world, by destroying the chains of hate. He believes that if he removes all the hate in the world, just as what happened to him, he will succeed in cleansing the earth.

* Horokeu Usui (碓氷ホロケウ) a.k.a. Horohoro (ホロホロ) / Horohoro a.k.a. Trey Racer : An Ainu from Hokkaidō (called the "Northern Woods" in the English anime) who wants to save the Koropokkoro from extinction. Horohoro is an easily-provoked, good-natured boy who can quickly get happy or mad. His spirit ally is Kororo ("Corey"), a Koropokkoro (Minutian in the English dub of the anime). His sister, Pirika trains him as harshly as Anna trains Yoh. Horohoro's name sounds like "boroboro", (which means "ragged and worn out" or "crap") so in the Japan releases, a good number of jokes come from this pun. He is a part of Team Ren. In the English anime, it is acknowledged his real name is Horohoro, but the characters usually referred to him as "Trey (Racer)", a nickname given to him by the English dubbers for unknown reasons.

* Ryunosuke Umemiya (梅宮竜之介 Umemiya Ryūnosuke), a.k.a. "Wooden Sword" Ryu (木刀の竜 Bokutō no Ryū) / Rio - A gang leader who is always on the lookout for the "Best Place" (the "Sacred Hang" in the English anime, where his gang is known as the "Dead Enders"). He became a Shaman on the day his life was saved by Yoh. He comes off as being not too bright, and really thinks more about girls and his "'do" than anything else; however, he is quite deep and philosophical and turns out to be a magnificent shaman who gains his own partner, masters the powers of the legendary Yamato no Orochi, and becomes loyal to the Asakura family. Part of Team Funbari Onsen. His costume and hairstyle are meant to look like that of Elvis.

* Tao Jun (道潤 Japanese: Tao Jun/June Tao; Chinese Pinyin: Dào Rùn) - Ren's older sister, a Dao-shi (a Taoist spellcaster) that re-animates corpses and commands jiang-si. Jun only wants to keep the peace and wishes only what is right for her brother (whom she calls by his Chinese name, "Lian" - Or, in the English version of the anime, "Lenny"). In the English anime, Jun has a British accent, possibly in an attempt to convey the affluence of the Tao family. Her personal jiang-si is Lee Bailong, a former martial-arts movie star who was killed by Tao assassins so that Jun would have a powerful corpse familiar.

* Faust VIII (ファウストⅧ世) - A necromancer whose shamanic focus is the skeleton of his lost love, Eliza. Faust is a descendant of the legendary Faustus, who made a deal with the devil for the knowledge of necromancy. At first, Faust (like the rest of his family) wanted nothing to do with his ancestor's black magic and became a doctor. However, the death of his wife, Eliza, drove him insane and he took up the mantle of a necromancer, using his power to manipulate Eliza's skeletal body into wielding a scythe. Faust first meets Yoh and Manta in a cemetery in Chokohama (spelled Chocohama in the actual artwork); Yoh gets angry at Faust after he slices Manta open (in the anime, Faust concentrates spiritual power around his hands and gropes around inside Manta's torso, claiming to be "experimenting"); the injury is a tactic to get Yoh angry. During the match, Yoh returns the favor by mocking Faust's plan to resurrect Eliza, calling her a "puppet" and a "doll". Yoh loses to Faust in the match but Ren prevents Faust from killing Yoh out of blind rage. Faust eventually joins Yoh's group and is truly reunited with Eliza, after Anna summoned the real Eliza, who then became Faust's guardian spirit. Faust's first name is Johannes. He is on Team Funbari Onsen with Yoh and Ryu.

* Silva (シルバ) - A Native American from the Patch Tribe that qualified Yoh for the Shaman fight. He has issues with Hao because of the Hao's previous life as a member of the Patch Tribe and thief of the tribe's sacred spirit. Because Silva is a descendant of Hao, he feels guilty and somehow involved. He has five different sacred animal spirits that can be combined into one massive "Totem Cannon".

* Lyserg Diethel (リゼルグ・ダイゼル) - A British Shaman and a traditional "dowser", whose parents were killed by Hao. Lyserg has dramatic interactions with all of the main characters at some point, and though he travels with them for a long time, he fights against Yoh's team more than once during the series.

Pre X-Laws: When Lyserg first encounters Yoh's group, he attacks then to determine their strength, hospitalizing both Ren and Horohoro with one attack. After Yoh knocks some sense into him, Lyserg calms down and they welcome him to come along as they search for the Patch Village. Lyserg's father, Liam Diethel, wanted him to be a detective. Lyserg's mother and father were murdered by Hao when he was six years old. Lyserg's name is pronounced differently in the English anime so that it's not a recreational drug reference (lysergic acid diethylamide). His spirit's Japanese name, Morphine, is also a drug reference (morphine). She is called "Morphea" in the English manga and "Chloe" in the English anime. He is apparently so beautiful that Ryu could mistake him for a girl.

X-Laws : Once the X-Laws are introduced, Lyserg starts to question whether Yoh is truly strong enough to defeat Hao. Marco, of the X-Laws, convinces Lyserg that Yoh is too sweet and kind-hearted, but that the X-Laws have the strength that Yoh is lacking because they have the power to kill. When Yoh states firmly that he will not kill, Lyserg decides to leave and follow Marco. During the Shaman Fight, Lyserg competes as a member of X-Laws. In the anime, Lyserg discards his first spirit as he gains control of Zeruel, an Archangel provided by Jeanne. In the manga, Lyserg never abandons Morphea, even when he is presented with the Archangel Zeruel. Morphea and Zeruel combined to form Lyserg's Armour Oversoul, which in the anime was part of his final act of justice, bringing him back to Yoh's side.

* Marco (マルコ) : One of the two founders of the X-Laws (the other being Luchist/Luka), which is a group that aims to rid the world of Hao. His Archangel is called Michael. He does everything in his power to please Jeanne. He was the only surviving adult member of X-Laws by the finale.

* Iron Maiden Jeanne (アイアン・メイデン・ジャンヌ) : The leader of the X-Laws. She hates Hao with a passion and will go to great lengths to see him dead, no matter who else might die in the process. She earned the nick-name "Iron Maiden" by spending her time in an iron maiden {which increases her strength by keeping her in a near-death state} and only coming out when desperately needed, until the day injustice no longer exists. Iron Maiden (a British heavy metal band) also happens to be one of many music culture references in Shaman King. With her spirit guardian Shamash, Jeanne gives each of her followers an Archangel as a spirit.

* Chocolove McDaniel (チョコラブ・マクダネル) / Joco : An African-American Shaman who aspires to be Shaman King so he can give the world what it needs the most, laughter. He's a comedian by trade, though his jokes annoy people (especially Ren) sometimes (which results in Chocolove getting beaten up or punched in the nose with Ren's Kwan Do). His spirit is a jaguar ghost named Mic Jaguar (a takeoff on Mick Jagger), who belonged to Chocolove's mentor. In the manga, he gains a second spirit guardian named Pascal Avaf. Chocolove killed Redseb's and Seyram's father before he repented under his teacher. He is referred to as "Joco" in the English anime (since "Choco" was considered a racist name for an Afro-American character).

* Opacho : Hao's most loyal ally, was a malnourished baby in western Africa when Hao found her (in the English dub of the anime, Opacho is referred to as "he"). Adopted and raised by Hao, Opacho follows Hao almost every where he goes. Hao often confides in Opacho about his plans, as well as about Yoh and his power. Opacho has strong, though still a bit unrefined powers, including clairvoyance and projecting illusions. She is also part of Hao's team(Hoshigumi) in the Shaman Tournament, though her attack power is never revealed. Although Opacho supports Hao loyally, near the final episodes of the anime series, (once Hao obtains the Great Spirit's Power), Opacho notes that Hao has made a change for the worse and flees from him. Opacho's last anime appearance is in episode 64 watching the destiny star fly by. She is one of the few survivors of Hoshigumi. Opacho's spirit companion is named 'Mama'.

* Amidamaru (阿弥陀丸) - Samurai that died during the Muromachi period 600 years ago - now 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 handler of the legendary sword named "Harusame", meaning "Spring Rain", a sword forged by his best friend, Mosuke, who also appeared in the anime/manga as a spirit. This very same sword was reproduced as a "spirit sword" and used by Asakura Yoh during the Shaman Fight. The original was kept in a museum. His name is based on the Buddha Amitabha, the principal figure in the Pure Land Buddhist sect.

* Bason (馬孫 Japanese: Bason, Pinyin: Mǎsūn) - Bason is the ghost of an ancient Chinese wujiang who serves Ren faithfully and obeys him without question. In the English manga Bason calls Ren "Master Ren," while in the Japanese version he calls Ren "Bocchama," which means "Young Master." Later he became a valued friend of his young master Ren.

* Lee Bailong (李白龍 Japanese: Rī Bairon, Pinyin: Lǐ Báilóng), (manga) / Lee Pai-Long - "The White Dragon"; he was a kung fu movie star who was murdered by the Tao clan to be Jun's Jiang-si bodyguard. He is a thinly-veiled reference to Bruce Lee, who died under suspicious circumstances. Technically, he is not a spirit, but a living corpse. This is with the help of 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.

* Kororo (コロロ) / Corey - Kororo is a Koropokkoru (which means "little people under butterbur leaves" in Ainu, and is surprisingly cute. (Known as Minutians in the English anime), and Horohoro's spirit ally. She has a crush on Manta Oyamada, even though he is human. Her name in the English anime version sounds similar to "Kōri" (氷), which is the Japanese word for ice and also the element that Horohoro's attacks are based on.

* Tokagero (トカゲロウ Tokagerō) / Tokageroh - A thief that was killed by Amidamaru, born into terrible poverty. Tokagero always talks about being a nasty villain, but he is actually a big softie. He is the spirit partner of Wooden Sword Ryu.

* Ponchi and Conchi - A tanuki with, in the original Japanese, large testicles, or in the English manga, a large stomach, and a fox or kitsune who are the familiars of Tamao Tamamura. Ponchi and Conchi are parodies of Ren and Stimpy. Ponchi's testicles are never seen in any versions of the anime. Conchi's name is sometimes spelled as "Konchi". Both Ponchi and Conchi wear mawashis (although fandom commonly mistakes them for diapers).

* Eliza (エリザ) - Eliza was Faust VIII's wife, she 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-insane) husband to dig up her skeleton from her casket and enter the Shaman Fights to bring her back to life. But 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.

* Mosuke (喪助) - A master swordsmith whose ability to create swords matched Amidamaru's ability to wield them. He and Amidamaru were best friends & grew up together; their deaths resulted from Amidamaru's refusal to kill Mosuke when their lord ordered the samurai to. In the anime, Mosuke later becomes Manta's guardian ghost, semi-trapped in Manta's laptop.

* Morphine / Morphea (English manga) / Chloe (English anime) - A pixie-like spirit who is Lyserg's spirit ally. She loves eating sweet-tasting things. She absorbed the Archangels to assume her "Giant Over Soul" form (in the anime). Her original name was edited for being a reference to a drug (see morphine).

* Mic Jaguar / Big Mick - A jaguar spirit who is Chocolove's spirit ally. He used to belong to Chocolove's mentor. The name is a takeoff of "Mick Jagger".

* Pascal Avaf - The second spirit ally of Chocolove. Pascal Avaf taught Chocolove many things, also merging with Mic & Chocolove to form the Armour Oversoul 'Jaguarman'.

* Spirit of Fire (スピリット・オブ・ファイア): Hao's spirit guardian, formerly was the sacred symbol of the Patch Tribe until Patch Hao took it for his own 500 years ago. The spirit's flames served as Hao's way of killing off shamans who failed him or those who refused to rally for his cause. The Spirit of Fire can increase its own power by eating spiritually-enhanced humans and other spirits. As seen in the Anime, it can change its form to any one element according to the 5 elements found in the unity star.

Terminology

* Furyoku (巫力 Furyoku) / Mana (English manga only) - "Furyoku" is a Japanese word that is used to refer to the amount of energy that a Shaman has. The English manga translates the term to "mana" a generic term for a magical force.
* Manjiten (万辞苑 Manjiten) / Mantannian Dictionary (English manga only) - The "Manjien Dictionary" is a "Dictionary/ Encyclopedia/ Compendium of all human knowledge" that Manta frequently consults to find information on people, cultures, and other subjects. The book's Japanese name is formed from "Manta" and "kōjien" (広辞苑), meaning encyclopedia. In the English anime, the book is either not given a name or it is called a "ghost story book" or "book about shamans" that Morty carries around.
* Serei Spirit-When a spirit ages past 500 years while still being on Earth, it is "released from its human form and transforms into a more monster-like form. This term has been used when Ryu was fighting Boris, when one of Hao's minions pointed out Takegero's evolved form, which took the form of a larger form of Takegero's head with snakes protruding from his hair.

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