Shaman King/Characters

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Keiko Asakura

Keiko is Mikihisa's wife and Yoh's mother. She is capable hearing the voices of kami spirits.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

  1. ↑ Technically it's "Lian", but since Lian is a Chinese name, it's hard for Japanese speaking characters to pronounce it. For readers who know neither language natively, it simply comes down to whether you prefer Japanese or Chinese authenticity.
  2. ↑ If you've ever played MOTHER 1, that is.
Retrieved from "https://allthetropes.org/wiki/Shaman_King/Characters?oldid=1497662"