AN AWAKENING OF DEMONS: INFORMATION
By Kagami
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Cardinal Points - An Integral Concept:
Each of the four Demon Lords represents one of the
cardinal points: the principal points of the compass -
East, South, West, North. In turn, each Demon Lord has four
cardinal servitors directly below them, again representing
the four cardinal points. These servitors are usually the
Lord's most powerful demonic servants and in many cases,
they represent ancient beings that sometimes seem vastly
more powerful than the Demon Lord himself. In these cases,
a new Lord must overcome his servitor in some form of
contest before that being will agree to serve him, though
precisely why such an ancient being would agree to serve a
Demon Lord remains a mystery.
The four cardinal servitors represent an extra source of
power that the Demon Lord can call upon, with each servitor
usually granting a ruling Lord some type of increase in
power or new ability. This makes direct command over his
cardinal servitors the very first action that a new Demon
Lord has to achieve in order to secure his position. (Note
that while I have consistently used the masculine
possessive above, the new Demon Lord might very well be
female or neuter, rather than male).
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A Character List of Demons:
HEIZEN-TO-NO-KAMAITACHI
Relationship: A cardinal servitor of the Demon Lord of the
South. He represents the North.
Age: Unknown.
Character: Psychotic.
Powers/Attack:
(1) Sickle Tail: As a sickle weasel, Heizen-To's tail has
developed into a massive curved blade of metal. Called the
'Cutting Wind', his tail can strike with blinding speed and
slice through anything it hits.
Notes:
(1) Heizen-To can be translated as 'without compunction'.
(2) Kamaitachi can be translated as 'sickle weasel'.
Brief History and Description:
As one of three brother sickle weasels, Heizen-To desired
to grow his tail-blade with the deaths of his victims.
However, they always worked as a team, with his elder
brother knocking down a victim, Heizen-To cutting, and his
younger brother healing the wound. As a result, his tail
never increased in size. Eventually, Heizen-To's mania
overcame his sanity and he slew his brothers. He embarked
on a spree of savage murders, killing many humans and
demons, and growing his tail and gathering great personal
power. Finally, he became a cardinal servitor to the Demon
Lord of the South and serves as an assassin.
Heizen-To attempts to assassinate Ranma and Shukumaru
during their confrontation at the Tokyo harbour piers but
Ranma manages to detect him and hurls both himself and
Shukumaru away from the killing blow of the 'Cutting Wind'.
The mission having failed, Heizen-To retreats but declares
that they will meet him again.
Heizen-To appears as a molten silver wolf of enormous
size with a massive metallic sickle at the end of his tail.
HIWAI OUSHI
Relationship: An oni. One of Shukumaru's servants.
Age: Three hundred years old.
Character: Arrogant, lustful, perverted.
Powers/Attacks:
(1) As a demon of some age, Hiwai protects his soul in an
unusual location, within his male member, keeping his body
invulnerable to most weapons.
Notes:
(1) Hiwai Oushi can be translated as 'obscene bull'.
Brief History and Description:
A bull-ogre of three hundred years, Hiwai Oushi attempted
to capture Ryoga while the latter was trapped in his cursed
form. The 106th Devil Hunter of the Kuno Clan, Kodachi
Kuno, appeared in time to save P-chan. After a desperate
battle, Kodachi managed to discover and destroy Hiwai's
soul, thus slaying the oni permanently.
Hiwai Oushi stands over eight feet tall, with a
impressively muscled figure and an imposing bull's head.
His black horns are streaked with gore from his past kills.
Obviously male, Hiwai has a large male member that he
proudly displays.
JAKUTEN
Relationship: Shukumaru's demonic servitor.
Age: Unknown.
Character: Servile and unctuous.
Powers/Attacks:
Unknown currently.
Notes:
(1) Jakuten can be translated as 'weakness'.
Brief History and Description:
Jakuten seems to be Shukumaru's relay to her oni
servants, launching the army of ogres at the Ranma and
friends at the Tokyo harbour pier before leaving with two
kitsune-tsuki (fox-demons) to abduct Nodoka Saotome. In
other words, he's Shukumaru's general dogsbody.
Jakuten is a short (about four feet tall) demon with
large bulging eyes and a lizard-like face. His ears stick
out prominently from the sides of his head. He carries a
wooden, metal-shod staff.
MAKIZOKU ANSOU, also YAMI-NO-TSUME
Relationship: Demon Lord of the East. Father of Ranma and
Shukumaru. Lover of Nodoka.
Age: Unknown.
Character: ???
Powers/Attacks:
Unknown currently.
Notes:
(1) Makizoku Ansou can be translated as 'demon noble dark
claw'.
(2) Yami-no-Tsume can be translated as 'claw of darkness'.
Brief History and Description:
Nineteen years ago, Yami-no-Tsume was the Demon Lord of
the East. He fell in love with a mortal woman, and took
human form and the name of Makizoku Ansou to woo her. The
woman, one Nodoka Saotome, reciprocated his ardent desires
and became pregnant with a child. Unfortunately, once
Nodoka told him she was pregnant he vanished from her life.
Despairing, bereft of honour, and certain that she had been
abandoned, she attempted to kill herself. However, a human
suitor of hers discovered her in the act and convinced her
to live. He married her and took her name, promising to
treat her child as his. This was Genma Saotome.
One month after Ranma's birth, Ansou appeared at the
Saotomes' doorstep, bleeding from grievous wounds suffered
in a desperate battle against his full demon daughter,
Shukumaru. He explained the story behind her betrayal and
his forced disappearance, begging Nodoka's forgiveness.
Ansou bequeathed his power to Ranma before dying.
Ansou was apparently very handsome as a human but little
is known about his true form.
MASAKADO
Relationship: Demon Lord of the South.
Age: Unknown.
Character: Self-indulgent, power-hungry.
Powers/Attacks:
Unknown currently.
Notes:
None.
Brief History and Description:
Located in Okinawa, Masakado intends to kill the
offspring of Ansou and lay claim to the position of Demon
Lord of the East. To this end, he has dispatched Heizen-To-
no-Kamaitachi, one of his cardinal servitors, to slay both
Ranma and Shukumaru.
A self-indulgent Epicurean of questionable tastes,
Masakado sees the present conflict as a game of enjoyable
proportions. Apart from this, little is known about him.
SHUKUMARU
Relationship: Ranma's half-sister.
Age: Over 50 years old (still young for a demon).
Character: Arrogant, hates Ranma and Nodoka, seeks power.
Powers/Attacks:
(1) Raiha (Lightning Attack): Shukumaru can breath a
blast of lightning at her victim(s).
(2) Dokkasou (Toxic Flower Claw): Vitriol drips from
Shukumaru's claw to corrode anything she touches or attacks.
(3) Sendokutsume (Thousand Poison Claws).
Notes:
(1) Shukumaru can be translated as 'perfect destiny'.
Brief History and Description:
Shukumaru is Ranma's half-sister, the daughter of
Makizoku Ansou - the Demon Lord of the East and Ranma's
actual demon father - and an as yet unnamed demoness.
Nineteen years ago, Ansou discarded Shukumaru's mother to
court a human woman: Nodoka Saotome, Ranma's mother. This
is Shukumaru's main reason for the hatred that she holds
for her father, Ranma, and Nodoka, though this is not the
full story, of course.
Shukumaru slew her father in a savage battle, hoping to
claim both revenge and his position as Demon Lord of the
East. Unfortunately for her, Ansou sealed her away in a
magical prison as his last action and the seal has only
deteriorated recently. Now she has returned and her lust
for vengeance is even greater with eighteen years of
bitterness behind it. She intends to kill Ranma and Nodoka,
and claim the position of Demon Lord of the East.
Shukumaru stands nearly six feet tall, with white skin,
long white hair, piercing blue eyes, and pointed ears. Her
cheeks are traced with black markings and her fingers end
in sharp claws, denoting her demon heritage.
UMIBOUZU
Relationship: A cardinal servitor to the Demon Lord of the
East. He represents the South.
Age: Over five thousand years old.
Character: Very arrogant and bored.
Powers/Attacks:
(1) Fuuin (Power of Sealing): Granted to Umibouzu by
Susanoo-oh, his power permits him to go unnoticed in modern
times; there are other applications as well.
Notes:
(1) Umibouzu can be translated as 'sea monster' or 'sea
monk'.
Brief History and Description:
Umibouzu was one of the four cardinal servitors of
Makizoku Ansou, the Demon Lord of the East. He represents
the Southern cardinal point. With the death of Ansou, he
has finally shown up in Tokyo Bay to find out why the
successor to the title has yet to contact him - the
eighteen year interval is but a blink of an eye to such an
ancient beast.
His appearance sets up a challenge match between Ranma
and Shukumaru. Ranma inadvertently saves his revenge-hungry
half-sister from an assassination attempt by an agent of
the Demon Lord of the South and Shukumaru withdraws from
the challenge. Umibouzu agrees to grant his power to Ranma
in future battles - but not to serve him.
Umibouzu appears as a classical Western sea serpent:
black scaled and fluked with a huge serpentine head. His
vast body stretches over a kilometer in length. Called the
Great Devourer, Umibouzu has long been the bane of many
ships and sailing vessels throughout the ages.
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