Shaman King/Characters
These are the characters from the manga and anime series Shaman King. (Names in parenthesis refer to the English version of the anime.)
Humans
Yoh Asakura
The main protagonist. Yoh wants to become Shaman King to fulfill his promise to his fiancée, Anna Kyoyama. In the anime Anna saved Yoh and because of this he promised Anna that he would make her the Shaman Queen when he becomes the Shaman King. In the manga, it is Yoh who saved Anna. Yoh is also the human side of Hao/Zeke Asakura, an immensely powerful shaman who reincarnated himself in order to be able to participate in the Shaman Fight. His spirit partner is Amidamaru and as one of the five elemental warriors he owns the Spirit of Earth.
- Badass Adorable
- Berserk Button: Lay a finger on one of Yoh's friends or needlessly kill ANYONE, and you'll regret it.
- Beware the Nice Ones
- Brilliant but Lazy
- Cain and Abel: with Hao.
- Catch Phrase: "Everything will work out."
- The Chosen One
- Cross-Dressing Voices (Yuuko Satou)
- Curtains Match the Window
- Dismotivation
- Headphones Equal Isolation: Subverted, Yoh wears headphones all the time, but he was ostracized as a child for his family's unusual occupation, not by choice.
- The Hero
- Hot Dad
- Kid Hero
- The Messiah
- Refusal of the Call: Yoh originally has no interest in becoming the Shaman King, believing that if he won humanity wouldn't survive.
- The Slacker
- Useless Accessory: His headphone are such an integral part of his character that seemingly every villain calls him "headphones" at one point or another, but he stops using them after the first few chapters.
- Supposedly he has them in the first place to block out other people's thoughts. How headphones help avoid mind-reading is another big question. In reality they belong to his father and he stole them so he could feel closer to him.
- Yuko Sato
Manta Oyamada (Mortimer "Morty" Manta)
Manta is an intelligent child who can see spirits, but cannot use their powers like his best friend Yoh Asakura can. He is very expressive and a bit panicky. He physically resembles a Koropokkur (known as "minutians" in the English anime), and has been mistaken for one on several occasions
In the anime, during the Shaman Tournament, Manta became a shaman, his spirit is Mosuke, Amidamaru's best friend who forged Harusame (Sword of Light in the anime). He is however not capable of maintaining spirit form for very long because he's so young and untrained, he runs out of furyoku. His ghost combines with his laptop, when he's unable to escape dangers, and forms a hammer. This can also be seen as a parallel to the relationship of Amidamaru and Mosuke as Amidamaru are spirit partners with Manta and Yoh respectively.
- Ascended Fanboy: In the anime only, Manta actually becomes a shaman when Mosuke becomes his spirit partner.
- All of the Other Reindeer
- Audience Surrogate: In the earlier chapters, Manta narrated his adventures with Yoh.
- Butt Monkey
- Dude in Distress
- Cross-Dressing Voices (in Japanese)
- Ordinary High School Student
- Shorter Means Smarter
- The Smart Guy
- Throw the Dog a Bone: In becoming a Shaman, Manta was giving a better chance to show how much of a Badass he'd become.
- The White Prince
Anna Kyoyama
Anna is Yoh Asakura's fiance. She is a spirit medium. Her special ability is channeling spirits even from the "other side". She "tortures" Yoh in his training in order for him to win the Shaman Tournament and for her to become Shaman Queen. She is also very powerful despite of her looks.
Aggressive and decisive, Anna is a pragmatic person who, to most, appears cold and harsh. However, she has shown that she genuinely cares for those important to her, especially Yoh, she's merely dedicated to becoming "Shaman Queen" and wife to Yoh, the first real friend that she ever had in her life.
- Action Girl
- Armor-Piercing Slap And how!
- Badass
- Blondes Are Evil Averted: As a child, Anna had intense mind-reading abilities that she couldn't control. She was able to hear the negative thoughts of other people, leading her to hate them. The combination of her shamanic powers and hatred unintentionally created demons that would attack people. Poor Anna lived in fear of her own abilities until she met Yoh, who helped her overcome the demons.
- Broken Bird
- Cry Cute (Sure, she's a VERY hard-ass Tsundere. The two times she cried in canon, though? Holy crap...)
- Cute Bruiser Her left-handed slap is infamous...
- Expy: Anna is originally from creator Hiroyuki Takei's previous series Butsu Zone, as well as her own manga, Itako no Anna.
- First Girl Wins
- Hot Mom
- Little Black Dress: Her default wear.
- Love At First Punch
- No literally, when her and Yoh first met, he gawked at how cute she was--she on the other hand told him to get out of her way and go drop dead. Even though she frightened him, he still couldn't help but admit he still finds her kinda cute.
- And it was literally this with Hao, she gives him one Legendary Left in the face, and well...
- No literally, when her and Yoh first met, he gawked at how cute she was--she on the other hand told him to get out of her way and go drop dead. Even though she frightened him, he still couldn't help but admit he still finds her kinda cute.
- A Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Read
- Megumi Hayashibara
- Itako
- Parental Abandonment: Her parents abandoned her when she was a little girl, because of her...
- Psychic Powers
- Slap Slap Kiss
- Tsundere: Type A
- You Got Spunk: One of the main reasons Hao is so interested in her.
Tao Ren (Len Tao or Lenny Tao)
Ren is shorter than Yoh and most of his friends, at 4'9", but he seems to look taller when the length of the spike in his hair is added up. His spirit partner is Bason and as one of the elemental warriors he owns the Spirit of Thunder.
He is serious, logical, and emotionally aloof. He has become like this because of how he was raised. Because of his father (uncle in the english anime) Tao En, Ren had adapted a deep hatred towards humanity and a strong yearning to eliminate them all. He also believed that his spirit companion, Bason, was only meant to be used as a tool and to treat him as a friend would only result in the spirit taking advantage over him. Ren's anger and hatred came from his father. Forced to train and study at a very young age, Ren had his childhood stolen from him. He hated Tao En for all of his suffering.
Ren tries hard to maintain a tough and confident exterior and is aloof, but deep down would risk his life for his allies. Ren is a particularly impatient person with a very short temper, and isn't afraid to hurt the source of the anger.
- Abusive Parents: En did some serious psychological damage to his kids.
- Accent Adaptation: Sort of. Ren didn't particularly have a different accent in the original Japanese version but 4Kids decided to give Ren, Jun and nearly everybody else in the Chinese family a British Accent. But they didn't for Lyserg.
- Anime Hair: That horn is just... yeah.
- Anti-Hero: Type IV
- The Atoner
- Arrogant Kung Fu Guy: Shades of this -- physically tough due to brutal training from his childhood (and equally brutal training for himself) and is able to learn Mikihisa's combat movements from watching him. Also arrogant and a bit of a dick
- Blade on a Stick: He wields a guan dao.
- Calling the Old Man Out
- Can't Catch Up: Worries about this in his rivalry with Yoh.
- Chick Magnet: In the anime, at least, and also with many fans.
- The Comically Serious
- Cross-Dressing Voices (Romi Park)
- Cool Horse: He uses one for hyoui gattai (channeling Bason's own horse) in tandem with Bason during his final bout against Yoh in the Shaman Fight preliminaries. After that it's Put on a Bus.
- Cool Sword: The Hou Rai Ken (Jewel Thunder)/Sword of Lightning (given to him by En) is Ren's second medium. It still takes the form of a giant gwan dao or a giant Bason (sometimes wielding a giant gwan dao), though.
- Cute but Troubled
- Dark and Troubled Past
- Mr. Fanservice
- Eyes of Gold
- Hot Dad: And the fangirls were pleased.
- Improbable Hairstyle: Shaped like his weapon's blade.
- It... it GROWS too...
- Jerkass --> Jerk with a Heart of Gold
- The Lancer: Blade on a Stick Matches with his weapon isn't it?
- My Sister Is Off-Limits: Reacts this way when Ryu 'falls in love' at first sight of Jun.
- Perpetual Frowner: The few times he smiles are usually followed up with embarrassment and subsequent rage.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: With Yoh
- Romi Park
- The Rival
- Slasher Smile: Has a lot of these moments before he's officially done his Heel Face Turn. As the story progresses they reduce in number but they're still pretty prominent.
- Ship Tease: Has some with Iron Maiden Jeanne, of all people. It's even hinted that they have a child in the future.
- Shock and Awe: Even before he obtains the Spirit of Thunder.
- Spell My Name with an "S": Is it Ren or Len? [1]
- Straight Man
Usui "Horohoro" Horokeu (Trey Racer)
Horohoro's main goal in the Shaman Fight is to save the Koro Pokkuru "Minutians", a tiny spirit people. As part of this goal, he intends to plant a vast field of Butterbur. In the English anime, he is described as from "the Northern Woods" instead of from Hokkaidō. His guardian ghost is Kororo "Corey". Also in the manga, he becomes the third strongest of the Five Elemental Warriors and gains the Spirit of Rain. His furyoku is 120,000 (as seen in chapter 276). This, oddly, makes him "technically" stronger than both Yoh and Tao Ren, who have more importance in the series than he does, who have only 108,000 and 100,001 furyoku respectively.
Horohoro is good-natured and cheerful, but he gets serious in dangerous situations. He argues constantly with his teammate Ren, and they do not seem to get along at all. However, it is shown that he really does care for him when, in the manga, he tells Yoh Asakura that if he can't save Ren, as his friend, Horohoro would never forgive him. Horohoro is also very secretive about his past not willing to talk about it even to his friends. It is later revealed that Horohoro's real name is Usui Horokeu.
- Big Brother Instinct: Horohoro and his little sister Pirika are very close.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Not to mention a Tear Jerker...
- Failure Knight: Horohoro still blames himself for the tragic death of his first love Damuko.
- Hot-Blooded
- An Ice Person
- Idiot Hero
- Nature Hero
- No Indoor Voice
- Totally Radical (in the dub, at least)
- The Unfavorite
- You Gotta Have Blue Hair
- Yuji Ueda (his Japanese voice)
Chocolove McDonnell (Joco)
Is a shaman who wants to be the Shaman King because he wants to spread comedy and laughter in the world. The only problem with that is... he's not very funny. His spirit partner is Mic the Jaguar his mentor's spirit partner while he was in the Shaft Gang, later obtains Pascal Avaf, and as one of the elemental warriors owns the Spirit of Wind.
- Afro Asskicker: More in the manga than the anime.
- The Atoner: He really regrets some of the choices he made while in the Shaft Gang. Even going to prison afterwards for due time.
- Cross-Dressing Voices (in Japanese)
- Disability Superpower: Gives up his sight to atone for his sins, which has the side effect of highly enhancing his spiritual energy, to the point of turning him into the strongest shaman of the group by the later portion of the manga. Didn't happen in the anime, though, as the background involved was cut.
- Funny Afro
- Hurricane of Puns
- Incredibly Lame Pun.
- Token Minority
Lyserg Diethel
Lyserg, who was born in London, England, is also a dowser, a person who is able to find a person or persons using his special abilities. Lyserg uses his Crystal Pendulum for dowsing and Oversouls. He channels his Oversoul into his dowsing pendulum, allowing it to become a rope dart. His method of fighting with it consists of using high speed attacks that come out too fast for his opponent to react against.
At first, Lyserg joins with Yoh Asakura and the others, but later joins the X-Laws, a group dedicated to destroying Hao. When Lyserg joins them he is unsure about the ways the X-Laws try to eliminate Hao. Though Lyserg holds great hatred for Hao, Yoh's own philosophies and personalities keep him from crossing the line. Lyserg abandons his spirit Morphine for a time for an angel spirit called Zeruel in the anime, but in the manga they are inseparable. Finally, he rejoins Yoh's team. He is among the five elemental warriors and outside Hao Asakura, he is the OFFICIAL owner of the Spirit of Fire.
- Badass Longcoat
- Beware the Nice Ones: Usually, he is very cute and a nice boy... but you're in for a real storm if you get him angry.
- Broken Bird: Bad enough losing his parents to Hao. But then his friend, who had taken him in, has a mentor whose involved in criminal activity and he's forced to kill the two out of self defense.
- Cross-Dressing Voices
- Curtains Match the Window
- Cute Shotaro Boy: Especially when he was even littler.
- Despair Event Horizon: His parents' deaths.
- Dropped a Bridget On Him: On Ryu and the others. It was hilarious.
- In the manga he cleared the mistake in a... *ahem* "blunt" way. By flashing his genitals, no less.
- Getting Crap Past the Radar: Here's a hint: it's his name and his spirit companion.
- Green Eyes
- Man in White
- Parental Abandonment
- Revenge: Against Hao. It's later subverted in that his taking control of the Spirit of Fire is meant to suppress his anger for Hao.
- Revenge Before Reason: In the anime, so much so that he abandons his own spirit and is willing to fight against Yoh, someone who is against Hao, just to achieve it.
- Yoko Soumi
- You Gotta Have Green Hair
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: When he joins Jeanne's Knight Templar group the X-Laws.
Faust VIII
Johann Faust VIII is usually a very detailed and patient person who thinks scientifically unless the matter concerns his beloved Eliza. He does not tolerate any kind of insult towards her.
Faust is the embodiment of dedication; he has given up everything for his wife and is willing to do anything, no matter the costs to protect and take care of her. It is this single-mindedness and selflessness that gives him his great strength in the Shaman Fight. Beyond all emotional suffering and somewhat gothic moods, his greatest strength comes from his pure heart; pure because he knows that he only lives to love and protect his dear Eliza.
Faust is a slightly insane but incredibly brilliant medical doctor who delights in saving lives. Naturally, his work reveals facts of his personality. He cures one of his opponents after their shaman fight, an illness that many doctors have given up on previously. Because Faust had devoted much of his time to seeking cures for illnesses, he is utterly devastated when he is unable to save Eliza and goes as far as attempting to resurrect her.
- Anti-Villain -> Anti-Hero
- Artificial Limbs: Manga only. A temporary variation, he can turn his dead dog's skeleton into replacement legs. Most of the time, however, he stays in a wheelchair.
- Badass
- Bad with the Bone: Most of his work as a necromancer requires bones of the deceased, including his oversouls.
- Berserk Button: Faust is a master of Dissonant Serenity and takes all kinds of insults thrown at him in stride. But the moment you insult his beloved partner Eliza? That is the moment the guy will completely flip his shit and go Ax Crazy on you.
- Blond Guys Are Evil In his first appearance, Faust is pretty terrifying. He mellows out later, tho.
- Combat Medic
- Creepy Good: He joins up with Yoh, the protagonist, despite him introducing himself by trying to vivisect Yoh's sidekick. He looks and acts depraved but is generally good-natured otherwise.
- Dark Is Not Evil
- Defeat Means Friendship: Subveted. he became an ally through off-screen negotiations with Anna. Fighting Yoh had nothing to do with it
- Despair Event Horizon: What Eliza's death was for him. Unusual for the trope, he came back from it because Anna reversed its cause and sent him back to more or less normal.
- Determined Widower
- Happily Married: 'til death...oh, wait.
- Love Makes You Crazy: Eliza, Eliza, Eliza
- Mad Doctor
- The Necromancer: How did we miss this one?!
- Necromantic: His entire motivation for the Shaman Fight is to resurrect his beloved wife Eliza.
- Nightmare Fuel Station Attendant
- Phenotype Stereotype (He's German, tall, blond and blue-eyed)
- Reformed but Rejected (After his horrifying treatment of Manta during his first appearance, the poor boy is terrified of the Heel Face Turned Faust.)
- Sociopathic Hero: A mild version of this at the beginning of his Heel Face Turn, but eventually grows out of it.
- The Smart Guy
- Takehito Koyasu
Ryunosuke Umemiya / Bokken No Ryu (Rio)
Ryu in the beginning of Shaman King is a gang leader who is always on the lookout for the Best Place (The Sacred Hang in the English anime; His gang is known as the Dead Enders).
In the manga, he is seen to first have a grudge against Yoh for slicing his hair off (this is a running gag throughout the first part of the series) and then discovers that Yoh is a Shaman, and can work with spirits. He goes off to his gang's new 'hang' which is the run down Bowling Ally, where he breaks down and believes he's useless. He gets possessed by Tokagero who is out for revenge on Amidamaru. The possessed Ryu breaks into the museum, and steals Harusame, at the same time kidnapping Manta.
He confronts Yoh and Amidamaru, and orders Amidamaru to integrate with his master so they can fight. He tricks Amidamaru into attacking Harusame and fights back with a technique called Tokage Kenpo (Lizard Style). Tokagero mocks Amidamaru saying that the same blade that was supposed to save his life will take his life instead. After remembering how much Harusame meant to his friend Mosuke, Amidamaru breaks Harusame and Tokagero is surprised. Yoh says that Tokagero had already lost, because of Amidamaru's commitment to Mosuke. He tells him that he should just move on. Tokagero refuses. Ryu's gang then attack him, and tell Ryu to fight back.
Soon after, Tokagero pulls out a knife and tries to kill Ryu, but the painful stress of two souls fighting each other makes him unable to control Ryu's body. Having no other option, Yoh offers Tokagero to possess him, which he does. After saying it was foolish, Tokagero tries to kill Yoh, but realises that he can't bring himself to do it, and after receiving trust from Yoh he doesn't need to take revenge. This ends the struggle, and later Ryu becomes a shaman thanks to the experince.
- Badass Biker
- Bi the Way: Hinted in a rather creepy manner. To his credit, it didn't go beyond PG, and he is a very devoted friend otherwise.
- Butt Monkey
- Delinquent
- Defeat Means Friendship: He practically bows down to Yoh and Anna's every whim after this.
- Expressive Hair
- Expy: A former gang-leader Jerk with a Heart of Gold with epic hair and affinity for blades, whose parents are not present and who later joins a gang of (significantly) smaller kids in order to fight a greater force? The Teddy Expy is really obvious. [2]
- Heel Face Turn
- Improbable Hairstyle: Come on. That pompadour is FUCKING EPIC!
- Jerkass --> Jerk with a Heart of Gold
- Nakama
- Wooden Katanas Are Even Better
Tamao Tamamura (Tammy/Tamara)
Tamao is a shy girl who is in love with Yoh Asakura, even though she knows that Yoh is engaged to Anna Kyōyama. Initially, she is so shy that she uses her sketchbook and points to pictures in order to tell people what she wants to say. Orphaned at a young age, she was brought to the Asakura family by Yoh's father, Mikihisa Asakura and trained as an ascetic monk. In recent KanZenBan, it was revealed that Tamao attended Shinra High right after Yoh and the others went to America.
Tamao's specialty is her ability to perform divinations. She is also an ascetic, like Mikihisa; her spirits are Konchi, a kitsune, and Ponchi, a tanuki. Tamao is named for Tamao Nakamura. When the manga ends the Asakura family owns a resort were Tamao works and lives. Tamao also acts as the mother of Yoh's only son Hana/Han while Yoh and Anna travel the world. She also became an Enka Singer.
- Alliterative Name
- Feminine Women Can Cook
- Magical Girl (Her alter-ego, Kokkuri Angel Cupid Tamao, in bonus strips.)
- Nana Mizuki
- Parental Abandonment
- Shrinking Violet
- Shy Pink Haired Girl
- Unlucky Childhood Friend
Pirika Usui (Pillica)
Horohoro's /Trey's little sister, who trains him in a similar manner to Anna's training of Yoh. Pirika later becomes friends with Anna and Tammy.
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 Jun (June Tao)
Ren's older sister and a dao-shi (spellcaster), who can re-animate corpses. Her(guardian ghost/zombie) 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.
- Action Girl
- Bodyguard Crush: She seems to grow quite found of her guardian ghost. And after a time, the feeling seems to be mutual.
- Cool Big Sis: After her Character Development
- Lady of War
- Michiko Neya
- Tall Green haired And Bishoujo
- You Gotta Have Green Hair.
Iron Maiden Jeanne
Jeanne is an 11-year-old young girl from France and powerful shaman in her own right, Jeanne is the leader of the X-Laws. Her title of Iron Maiden refers to the fact that she spends nearly all her time inside an iron maiden in order to increase her strength by keeping her in a near death state. She rarely leaves it unless she is desperately needed, believing her suffering will bring justice to the world. Her iron maiden, however, was crushed most likely beyond repair.
She is known for her red eyes, pale hair and delicate appearance. She is extremely charismatic; in the English anime Tamamura calls her a "princess" after hearing her speak for the first time.
- Heroic Albino
- Incorruptible Pure Pureness: Deconstructed big-time.
- Iron Lady
- Knight Templar
- Rapunzel Hair
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: Well...she means well, but Jeanne has her own way of dealing with sinners.
- Ship Tease: With Ren Tao of all people and is hinted that they have a son together.
- To the Pain
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: She truly believes that she is The Messiah (Yoh Asakura has that role) or at LEAST the Big Good (She has only one-half that role, the other half belongs to Lady Saigan Sati the leader of the Gandhara group).
- White-Haired Pretty Girl
- Yui Horie
Marco
The defacto leader of the group, whose authority is overruled only by Jeanne herself. He helped found the X-Laws with the shaman Luchist Lasso, who would later fall under the influence of Hao Asakura.
Marco Lasso is extremely loyal to Jeanne, and will stop at nothing to achieve what he believes will bring about Jeanne's ideals of a world free of corruption and evil. Like Jeanne, he tends to see issues in black and white; either something is good or evil. Those who join the X-Laws are considered good and those who do not are automatically evil and with Hao Asakura. Because of his utter and complete devotion to Jeanne, he is the most devastated when Jeanne's attempt to destroy Hao by opening the Gate of Babylon fails. However, while the other X-Laws go to challenge Hao and avenge Jeanne's defeat, dying in the process, Marco becomes the only survivor (not counting Lyserg, who leaves the group to help Yoh).
As Yoh Asakura prepares to defeat Hao, Marco chooses to follow Jeanne's lead and places his faith in Yoh in hopes that Yoh will achieve what the X-Laws failed to do.
The manga reveals details from his past left unsaid in the anime. Marco was originally an entrepreneur who worked with cars and a close friend of Luchist, the leader of the X-Laws at the time. Marco's company was on the verge of creating a new sports car, but gave up when Hao apparently destroyed his house and killed his entire family. Marco was driven to attempt suicide, but eventually chose the path of revenge.
- Badass Longcoat
- Four Eyes, Zero Soul
- Jerkass
- Man in White
- Psycho Supporter: Claims to enforce the Maiden's will, which to him, translates to "annihilate anyone who so much as questions her." At the same time it also shows his...
- Undying Loyalty: Towards the Iron Maiden.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist
Miine Montgomery (Meene Montgomery)
A former member of the Canadian Special Forces and the only female member of the X-Laws, other than Iron Maiden Jeanne. In the anime, she is shown to be more sensitive than Marco and she appears and returns Morphine to a disillusioned Lyserg in the hopes that he will leave that group and not be killed as the rest of the surviving X-Laws attempt to defeat Hao. In the manga, however, she is the first member of Team X-III to be killed by Hao.
- Action Girl: Was a member of the Canadian Armed Forces before joining the group.
- Cool Big Sis: Was less of a Jerkass than Marco in the anime, to the point of telling Lyserg to take Morphine back.
- The Gunslinger
- Psycho Supporter - Still, less than Marco
- Vasquez Always Dies (in the manga)
- Woman in White
- Well-Intentioned Extremist
Kurisu Bunsutaa (Chris Venstar)
Is a member of the X-Laws and is a part of Team "X-III". He once served in the military fighting of teriorist in the middle east and barely survived an onslaught of Hao on his unit, during combat.
- Badass Longcoat
- The Big Guy
- Man in White
- Psycho Supporter: He is a little nicer about it than Marco. He and Cebin would often show kindness to Lyserg.
- Undying Loyalty: Towards the Iron Maiden.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist
Kebin Menderu (Cebin Mendel)
A member of the X-Laws and Team "X-III", who seeks revenge against Hao Asakura. He is commonly seen wearing a black smiling mask.
- Badass Longcoat
- Heroic Sacrifice: We'll he tried in the anime but, it was pretty much a Senseless Sacrifice.
- Man in White
- Psycho Supporter: He is a little nicer about it than Marco. He and Kurisu would often show kindness to Lyserg.
- Undying Loyalty: Towards the Iron Maiden.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: More so in the anime than the manga.
- Black Mask of Doom
Hao Asakura (Zeke Asakura)
The main antagonist, Hao Asakura is a member of the Asakura family. Hao failed to win his first Shaman King tournament but 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, Hao was reincarnated as a member of the Patch tribe and was successful in taking control of the Spirit of Fire, an elemental spirit that embodies the essence of one of the five elements of nature. Currently Hao was reincarnated as identical twins, with his soul split between Yoh and himself. Following his rebirth, Hao escaped from the Asakura family with the help of the Spirit of Fire.
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.
- Affably Evil: Moreso in the manga.
- Ax Crazy: In the Anime.
- Badass Poncho
- Big Bad
- Blessed with Suck / Power Incontinence / A Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Read: The Reishi.
- Chick Magnet In the manga, it's all but outright stated that Matti and Mari are in love with Hao, which is why they follow him so devotedly.
- And let's not even get started on his fangirls.
- Clean Cut: In the anime, Yoh slices right through him thus putting an end to his plans.
- Of course that's probably nothing compared to what the 'King of Spirits' did to him afterwards. After all, why else would it have taken so long for the Shaman tournament to start up again?
- Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas (Hao is interested in Anna mainly because she reminds him of his mother; there are even hints that she could be said mother's reincarnation.)
- Evil Twin: Of Yoh in his recent reincarnation.
- Evil Plan: In both the anime and the manga its to win the Shaman Tournament and acquire the Great Spirit/King of Spirits. His motives vary between the two.
- I Love You Because I Can't Control You: He's rather pleased when Anna slaps him around and talks back to him.
- Invincible Villain: The guy is pretty much untouchable. Only Anna was able to harm him and that was with a slap and only because he let her. His mother does the same in the climax as punishment for the whole "destroy humans" plot.
- The Juggernaut
- Minami Takayama
- Nietzsche Wannabe
- Omnicidal Maniac: In the Anime.
- Psychic Powers
- Rapunzel Hair
- The Bad Guy Wins: In the manga, he successfully obtains the Great Spirit. But...
- Talking the Monster to Death: ... Yoh and his group manage to convince him to at least keep an open mind and not kill everyone over a petty grudge.
- Walking Shirtless Scene. Whenever he goes poncho-less.
- Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: In the manga. His brother Yoh knew that he doesn't have any friends. He spent 900 years in Hell and the worst part is that the 100 years he spent in the outside world were more unbearable than his time in Hell. Even among his followers they mainly follow him BECAUSE of his power, they never truly got to KNOW him. Combined with the Reishi it is no wonder he became what he is.
Yohmei Asakura
Yohmei is Yoh's grandfather and powerful shaman who utilizes leaf shikigami's for many tasks. He is also Tamao's teacher.
Kino Asakura
A master itako who trains young girls in the art at Osorezan. She is short-tempered and practical like her apprentice, Anna. Kino is Yoh's grandmother.
- Handicapped Badass: Anna is an itako despite not being blind. Kino, on the other hand, lost her vision when she was in her twenties, thus became an itako out of necessity.
- Hisako Kyouda
- Miko
- Never Mess with Granny
- Tsundere
Keiko Asakura
Keiko is Mikihisa's wife and Yoh's mother. She is capable hearing the voices of kami spirits.
- Hot Mom
- Miko
- Office Lady: Works as this
- Tall, Dark and Bishoujo
Mikihisa Asakura
Yoh's father, an ascetic priest working as a spy and messenger for the Asakura family and Tamao's master. He's also the leader of the Kabbalahers, a Shaman Fight team consisting of himself and the two children who control the Golem, Redseb and Seyram Munzer.
- Cool Mask
- Good Scars, Evil Scars: Was scarred when Hao was reborn as one of Mikihisa and Keiko's twin children.
- I Have the High Ground
- Kenyuu Horiuchi
- Understanding Boyfriend: He and Keiko met when she was crying over the last boyfriend who dumped her and asked him to play for her.
- Walking the Earth: Did this after the whole deal with the spirit of Fire, taking levels in badass meanwhile. He also met Tamao during said travels and took her in as an apprentice.
- The Watcher:
Team Lily Five (Sharona, Ellie, Lilly, Millie and Sally)
A team of five female shaman of fairly weak ability who appear only in the anime. They initially alternately attempt to hinder and take advantage of Yoh and his friends during the second round of the Shaman Tournament. Yoh holds no malice or ill-will towards them, unlike some of his friends. They eventually become allies of Yoh towards the end of the series.
- Break the Cutie: All of them.
- Beware the Silly Ones: They may not be very powerful and they may have made some mistakes early on but... they really turned themselves around after they meet Yoh and the gang.
- Broken Birds: Due to all of them being rejected by their loved ones at some point of their lives. Millie (rejected by her mom) and Lilly (bullied by her classmates) are specially sad cases.
- Canon Foreigner: They only exist in the anime.
- Cheerful Child: Oh, Millie.
- Deadpan Snarker: Lilly
- Fiery Redhead: Sallie
- Five-Man Band:
- The Hero: Sharona
- The Lancer: Ellie
- The Big Guy: Sallie
- The Smart Guy: Lilly
- The Chick: Millie
- Goldfish Poop Gang
- Meganekko: Lilly, whose glasses are her medium.
- Names to Know in Anime: Rumi Ochiai (Sharona), Yui Horie (Lilly), Miyako Itou (Millie), Inuko Inouyama (Sallie), Makoto Tsumura (Ellie)
- Odd Name Out: Sharona. Lampshaded in their debut.
- Smoking Is Cool: Sorta: Sharona summons her guardian spirit via her pipe.
- Unrequited Love: Millie, for "Prince" Lyserg.
- Weak but Skilled: Okay maybe their not that skilled but, they can be impressive when they put their hearts into it.
Spirits
Amidamaru
Amidamaru is a samurai who died during the Muromachi period 600 years ago and is now Yoh's guardian ghost and best friend. He is very powerful and wise but quite taciturn and extremely devoted. He was greatly known for killing several hundred soldiers during a battle. For many years it was believed that he'd turned rogue, and tried to kill the emperor. It turns out that he'd only tried to protect his best friend Mosuke. He is the original handler of the legendary sword named "Harusame", meaning "Spring Rain", a sword forged by Mosuke, who also appeared in the anime and manga as a spirit.
- The Aloner: For over 600 years while waiting for Mosuke, and he would have been there for another 600, now that's a true friend!
- Dual-Wielding
- Katanas Are Just Better
- Katsuyuki Konishi
- Leave Him to Me: Tries this once or twice with Yoh, Yoh never goes along with it. Which almost always leads to...
- Tag Team: With Yoh of course!
- Samurai: But of course.
- White-Haired Pretty Boy
Bason
Bason is the ghost of an ancient Chinese warrior who serves Ren faithfully and obeys him without question. In the English anime and manga Bason calls Ren "Master Len," while in the Japanese version he calls Ren "Bocchama," which means "Young Master." It was only after Ren's Character Development that he came to value Bason as a true friend.
- Blade on a Stick
- The Big Guy: Crossed with Gentle Giant.
- The Faceless: Not really though.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning
- Single-Target Sexuality: Anime-only, sometimes his devotion got him blushing and making heart eyes at Ren.
Lee Bai Long (Lee Pai Long)
Also known as "The White Dragon"; Lee was a Kung Fu movie star who was murdered by the Tao family to be Jun's guardian. He is a thinly-veiled reference to Bruce Lee, who died under suspicious circumstances. Technically, he is not a spirit, but a living corpse reanimated using Jun's "ofuda" or talismans. However, he can be considered to be serving a similar purpose, since he protects Jun and hangs around her perpetually.
- Bruce Lee Clone: AND HOW!
- Chinese Vampire: Introduced as such.
- Dan Green: In the dub.
- Lightning Bruiser
- Martial Pacifist: In life he played people like that in his movies, as well as off screen. And once he got over being dead.
- Nobutoshi Canna
- Our Zombies Are Different
- Spell My Name with an "S": Li or Lee? Bai Long, Bailong, Pai Long, Pyron?
Kororo (Kory)
Kororo is a Koropokkoru (which means "little people under butterbur leaves"), known as Minutians in the English anime. Surprisingly cute, she is Horohoro's spirit ally.
Her name in the English anime version sounds similar to "Kōri", which is the Japanese word for ice and also the element that Horohoro's attacks are based off.
- An Ice Person: Normally it's just her power that's ice cold, but don't even think about making her mad.
- Nana Mizuki
- Hypercompetent Sidekick
- It Only Works Once: When she made the deal to become a Koropokkoru, she was allow to regain her true form once and only once, in the time of her choosing before she's stuck in Koropokkoru form for good. It isn't until Horo-Horo finally divulges his past to the group that she chooses to do this.
- The Voiceless
- Unlucky Childhood Friend: She's the spirit of Horo-Horo's dead first love.
Tokagero
He is the Guardian Ghost of Wooden Sword Ryu. Though Tokagero always talks about being a nasty villain, but he is actually a big softie.
When he was sill alive, Tokagero was a thief that was born into poverty. He was later killed by Amidamaru unceremoniously. In the modern age, Tokagero attacked Yoh and his friends in order to get revenge on Amidamaru, who does not recall him at all. Through Anna's research, they learn that he is an obscure historical figure who was killed by Amidamaru. Tokagero possesses Yoh's friend 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. He becomes a good guy, , bonding with Ryu properly at a later date. He eventually takes on a Yamata No Orochi theme in his Giant Oversoul form.
- Heel Face Turn: Originally a vengeful ghost who wanted to kill Amidamaru and his current host, now a fellow Butt Monkey with Rio.
- Jerkass->Jerk with a Heart of Gold: After losing to Yoh, he becomes nicer and becomes Rio's guardian Ghost.
- Meaningful Name: "Tokagero" is japanese for "Lizard". Eventually he evolves into a giant eight-headed Oversoul and then a large sword.
- No Party Like a Donner Party: He states that his mother had given him "her own flesh" so he would survive. A little bit later on the story, we find out he really meant it.
- Unknown Rival: To Amidamaru
- Unusually Uninteresting Sight: At least in the Anime, Tokageroh is called a human and nobody ever mentions his lizardlike traits (including his green, scaly skin).
- You Fool!: I am the infamous Tokageroh!
- Wataru Takagi
Ponchi & Conchi
A racoon/tanuki and a fox/kitsune who are the familiars of Tamao Tamamura. Both Ponchi and Conchi have a habit of getting themselves beat-up ether by Anna or Tamao herself.
- Bumbling Sidekicks: They are definitely not perfect and are great at being insensitive quite often but, they do mean well.
- Captain Ersatz: of Ren and Stimpy.
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Their battle forms are quite different from their "chibi" forms.
- Dirty Cowards: Both do and act horribly, but are easily intimidated.
- Jerk Asses: Act condescending towards Tamao and everyone else, when they're not pissing their pants.
Eliza
Eliza was/is Faust's wife, she worked as a nurse until she was murdered by robbers who broke into the Faust's home. Eliza's death led her (now extremely depressed) husband to dig up her skeleton from her grave and enter the Shaman Tournament to bring her back to life. But when Faust joined Yoh's group, Anna brought back 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. After Faust and Eliza reunited, both of them became heavily devoted to Yoh.
- Death by Origin Story: Her death by a mugger is what caused Faust to go Ax Crazy and join the Shaman Tournament in the first place.
- Diabolus Ex Machina: (Sure, Eliza, let your neighbor and Victorious Childhood Friend become a doctor and cure you! Then marry him and work as his right hand nurse! Nothing can go wrong, right! ...Right? Enjoy being shot to death by a burglar breaking into the clinic the night it opened, sweetie.)
- Emotionless Girl (What she looks and acts like. But don't mention it to Faust.)
- Hidden Depths: Whenever she goes into battle with Faust, she's one Badass Lady of War.
- Ill Girl: When she was alive.
- Stuffed Into the Fridge (Partially. She did die to push Faust to the Despair Event Horizon, but then was sorta brought back by him as his spirit partner. His goal is to fully revive her.)
- The Voiceless: Except once before fighting Team Ice Man.
Morphine (Chloe)
A pixie-like spirit who is Lyserg's guardian spirit. 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 the drug morphine.
- Guardian Angel: Becomes one in the anime, after absorbing the essence of the X-Laws Archangels in order to save the souls of thier fallen masters.
- Our Fairies Are Different: This one comes in two sizes, compact and giant Oversoul.
- Getting Crap Past the Radar: Her name.
- You Have Failed Me...: Lyserg tells her this pretty much word for word just before he ditches her.
Mic the Jaguar
Chocolove's main spirit, a jaguar owned by his previous mentor, Orona until his pupil's former gang kills him. He is often used for his master's lame yet effective pun theme attacks. Later when combined with Pascal Avaf, he can use wind to erode anything into a desert.
- Beast Man: What he does when combining with Chocolove.
- Half-Human Hybrid: Another interpretation of it.
- Charles Atlas Superpower: Enhances his senses, speed and strength.
- Team Pet: A jaguar.
- Panthera Awesome: Awesome as a giant winged mechanical jaguar in the anime, in the manga, it combines with an Olmec spirit named Pascal Avaf to make Chocolove the strongest of the Five Elemental Warriors.
- Punny Name: A play on Mick Jagger. Probably invoked, since his shaman is a comedian.
- Blow You Away: When combined with Pascal, he can erode anything into a desert using wind.
Five Grand Elemental Spirits
These five powerful elemental spirits are known as the Godaiseirei in the Japanese media. They are derived from the Great Spirit itself, and like it, constitute a collective of souls.
- Elemental Powers: There is
- Spirit of Earth: Dishing Out Dirt, Extra Ore Dinary, Green Thumb, Gravity Master
- Spirit of Fire: Playing with Fire
- Spirit of Rain: Making a Splash
- Spirit of Thunder: Shock and Awe
- Spirit of Wind: Blow You Away, Razor Wind
- Olympus Mons: Said to be of no equal except the Great Spirit itself.
Great Spirit (King of Spirits)
The strongest and most ancient spirit which the Shaman King unites with, and the whole purpose of the Shaman Fight. Their physical form is of a massive swirling pillar of furyoku. All spirits come from them and return to them upon death.
- The Bigger Good
- In Mysterious Ways: While it's not always obvious, It will often favor Yoh and his friends, even the Shaman Council aren't always able to tell what It's playing at.
- Minor Major Character
- Olympus Mons : Winning the Shaman Fight allows one to merge with it/them.
- God: of this series anyway. It's actually an amalgamation of every spirit taking the shape of a pillar of light.
- Eldritch Abomination: Only a select few Shamans can be in its presence, the rest fall asleep forever or go insane from its flashes of the history of the universe.