Hao Asakura
Hao Asakura is a male anime and manga villain who features in Shaman King.
Contents |
Biography
Origin
Hao Asakura (Japanese: 麻倉ハオ, Hepburn: Asakura Hao, English Dub: Zeke Asakura) was a Japanese male born thousands of years ago where he was the son of Douji Asanoha (麻ノ葉童子, Douji Asanoha) who originally named him Douji Asaha. When he young, he came to be orphaned when his mother was killed by a group of Humans who believed her to be a Yokai demon. His house was burnt down and Hao was left to wander the world aimlessly and believed that he had demonic powers for it was the only explanation for why the other boys bullied him. He thus dreamt of being able to exterminate all Humans for the crimes they committed to him and the persecution he had suffered from for all the years he lived. However, one day he was sitting by a gate where he met a spirit named Ohachiyo with the two becoming friends quickly. The spirit named him mappa-douji which meant demon boy and taught him many skills from fishing to the sweetness of candy and the names of the different song birds along the technique of Reishi. Hao followed his word to the spirit and lived his life with a smile for a time. During one moment when he spoke to the spirit Ohachiyo, a guard noticed that he was apparently conversing with himself. Thus, he suspected the boy with being a demon and reported him to a monk called Densen who was a known exorcist. Densen proved to be a fraud and was easily overpowered though the battle was a breaking point for Asakura. This was because Hao learnt that the monk was the man who had killed his mother and in his anger he used his first oversoul in order to perform his very first act of murder. But the act depleted his stores of Furyoku and he began to lose control over his powers. In his attempt at maintaining his powers, Hao unintentionally consumed Ohachiyo's power leading to his death. This put Hao to the path of evil and also led to his constant state of Reishi which he was unable to turn off and influencing the path of destruction he would take in the future.
After experiencing life as a shaman, Hao proved to be a genius in the divine abilities and his skills began to flourish in time. He had a good nature and worked as a onmyōji who eliminated demons though it was known that he sometimes created Oni from his anger and sadness. He was able to control the demons and bend them to his will. At the time, he came across Matamune who was a cat whose strong spirit attracted Hao's attention and who he converted into a spirit after the death of the animal's physical body. The friendship he held with Matamune was great enough that the cat was considered Hao's only true friend. Asakura even imparted it with some of his spiritual energy in the hopes that Matamune would stay with him forever. But ultimately the curse of a constant of Reishi eventually drove Hao made and in sadness, Matamune left his friend after seeing him fall into madness and blamed himself for not being able to help him. It was during this period in life when Hao learnt of the Shaman King Tournament that was a contest where the victor bonded to the Great Spirit and becoming the Shaman King. However, Hao sought it as a means of cleansing the world of non-shamans which he felt were defiling the beauty of the natural world. He began to develop a plan which involved creating a shaman only world but he was discovered by the Asakura clan who stood against him. Hao would remain in Kyoto for a time where he founded a branch of the Asakura family. Eventually, he came to be killed by one of his own relatives during the Shaman Fight of this era. Due to his evil actions, the Asakura family decided to change their family symbol from Hao's traditional Yin-Yang five star sign to a seven star tree that stated their renewal.
Though killed, Hao's Yin-Yang Jutsu that gave him mastery over the five elements which prevented his permanent death and allowed him to be reborn. This was by learning the Taizan Kuzun which was one of the greatest and most esoteric of the Onmyodo arts which was an old name of the god of the underworld. Using this technique, Hao managed to reach past the seventy-five Lords of Hell succeeding in making a contract with him and giving him the ability to resurrect the dead or reincarnate themselves at will. With this power, he chose to reincarnate many centuries later as a child of the Patch Tribe who were the official organisers of the Shaman King Tournament. Born with full knowledge of his old life, he came to be a prominent shaman amongst the Patch Tribe. In this time, he came to be married and even had a child whilst he was among them. He was also able to steal the Spirit of Fire (スピリット・オブ・ファイア, Supiritto obu Faia) to be his new guardian ghost. With its power, he was able to defeat many great enemies with ease. Among those he fought included the Seminoa Warriors who attempted to stop him after hearing of his goals. This was cause Hao espoused the view of creating a world ruled only by shamans which could be achieved by killing off all of mankind. However, he was rejected by the other shamans with this culminating in a battle with Yohken Asakura who alongside Matamune fought Hao and killed him. Though defeated, this life was deemed a victory for Hao as he gained a powerful spirit at his command which he could manifest in his next reincarnation. The wife and child he left behind later faced execution but the Patch Tribe came to note that the death of Hao meant that they were missing a priest. Thus, they allowed the pair to live to continue the line of Patch priests where several generations later Silva was born from the family that Hao had left behind.
Shaman King
After his death, Hao decided to reincarnate back into his original bloodline in the Asakura family in order to become even stronger. This saw him becoming the child of Keiko Asakura and Mikihisa Asakura where he was born with a twin that would be named Yoh Asakura. Hao's actions though had been foreseen by Asakura Yohmei who planned to kill the newly born Hao at the moment of his rebirth. At the moment of his birth, Yohmei was ready to strike the infant but hesitated for a moment that was long enoug for Hao to manifest the Spirit of Fire. Mikihisa Asakura placed himself in the way when Hao tried to kill Yohmei with one punch and got badly burnt in the process. He then told his birth mother to not exert herself as she still needed to give birth to his 'other half' whereupon he disappeared whilst laughing. Following his escape, he was seemingly raised by Brocken Meyer where at age five the two went looking for followers to their cause. It was known that wherever Hao went that he left a trail of destruction in his wake. Around 8 years ago, he came to the home of the Diethel family where he wanted them to join his mission though they refused after recognising him to be evil. This resulted in Hao killing them though he decided to leave the couple's son Lyserg Diethel to live. In the aftermath, Lyserg swore revenge and intended to kill Hao for murdering his father and mother.
He came to be one of the many observers that watched the final qualifying match for the Shaman Fight that was being fought between Yoh Asakura and Tao Ren. Later on, he and his followers came to gather in Tokyo where they were at the airport where the Patch Tribe were set to transport all the shamans to the tournament. Whilst there, he met Yoh Asakura with Hao formally introducing himself and revealing his intention to become the next Shaman King. The gathered shamans then made their way to America on the Patch Tribe's plane. He came to battle Yoh's compatriot Horohoro and easily bested him. As Hao watches Yoh's progress in his first match he is impressed by Yoh's first Over Soul Spirit of the Sword and especially how quickly he was able to master it in a mere month. He then leaves to follow Ren out of the stadium. Ren notices and told Hao to stop following him. Hao then offers Ren a first chance to join his own group but he declines and promptly attacks Hao. but Hao blocks his attack so easily and quickly, reducing it into ash. As Hao leaves for his own match while Ren is shocked by Hao's powerful strength and returns to the stadium to learn more about Hao.
When it became apparent that Hao cannot be defeated in a direct confrontation, Yoh and his allies elected to allow Hao to become Shaman King uncontested and begin an alternate plan to eliminate Hao as he slept to merge with the Great Spirit. Yoh and his friends were unable to reach Hao before he awakened after which he annihilated everyone within the proximity of the continent of Mu where the final round of the Shaman Fight had been taking place. Within the Great Spirit, Hao was confronted with the souls of nearly everyone he has ever encountered who have come to save him from his loneliness and he began to doubt his own heart. After finally reuniting with the spirit of his mother after 1000 years, she reprimanded his behavior and encourages him to love and had faith in humanity. No longer blinded by hatred, he accepted the promise of Yoh and his friends to try and change the world for the better and told them that he would watch over them and see what would happen.
Shaman King: Flowers
Overview
Personality and attributes
In appearance, Hao Asakura by the modern age was a male human who physically resembled his younger twin Yoh Asakura. This meant that he had brown eyes and dark brown hair though in Hao's case it was grown to much longer length where it reached past his waist. It was also said that he had an uncanny resemblance to the Patch Officiant Silva which stemmed from their shared ancestry. He often wore a pale yellow poncho cloak that covered his upper body whilst wearing nothing beneath.
Hao was usually had a calm personality which always smiled as he embraced the teaching of his friendly spirit during his childhood who taught him to enjoy life. It was his gentle and caring nature that led to him taking in a stray cat. However, due to many years of hatred against Humanity, he began to develop a cruel nature. He was rarely angry with those occasions where he was angered resulting in the source being killed by his guardian Spirit of Fire. His elitism makes him enjoy watching Shaman fights which involved strong contestants fighting one another.
Due to his inability to control the limit of the telepathic Reishi technique, Hao was capable of seeing the hearts of others. However, as he lived during the Heian period, he witnessed a time where war, disease and famine were rife. Using his power, he attempted to help others with his shaman abilities. But the Reishi technique allowed him to see the darker side of Human nature and saw that those he helped were jealous as well as afraid of his powers. His seemingly supernatural abilities convinced many of them that he was evil. In time, his heart became consumed with hatred for the Human race and began plotting their destruction by becoming the Shaman King. His plan was simple, destroy all Humans except for Shamans thus allowing the planet and its animal to live in harmony without the abuse that Humans brought upon it.
Hao over time came to be a cold and callous figure who cared little for human life. He had a low opinion of humanity who he wanted to eliminate and instead promote a world filled with shamans. However, he was not above killing shamans in order to achieve his goal. He killed those shamans that did not align with his interests and abandoned those he considered weak. In one case, Hao threatened to kill innocents in order to get Yoh Asakura to return to the Shaman King Tournament.
Hao is shown to be rather duplicitous as well. While generally polite and respectful towards his followers who all venerate him due to in large part because he saved many of their lives, Hao in fact cares very little for them and views them purely as a tool to achieve his goals. He has no qualms about even devouring their souls if it means getting more power as he once tried to with Hana-Gumi. Hao in fact, scorns the vast majority of his followers, knowing from his Reishi that they secretly fear him, an experience he has long endured even during his origins as the people around him were both afraid and hateful to him, which fuels his disgust. True enough, their faith on Hao collapsed once they learned that he could read their minds the entire time and never told them. The sole exception to this are Luchist and Opacho whom Hao views favorably. The former because of his tremendous mental fortitude as he stays by Hao's side despite knowing of his mind reading abilities. The latter because she is pure of heart and follows him out of genuine loyalty.
He regarded money as a primary reason behind the corruption in society. As such, he refused to use it and had his group follow the philosophy of being completely self-sufficient even if it means stealing something to obtain it.
As he fell to the path of evil, he began to allow his people to worship him as a god and began to develop a superiority complex where he regarded all other beings as his inferior. This was made all the more dangerous as he often was capable of backing up his claims of superiority thanks to his advanced Shaman abilities. Despite his charisma, he actually trusted very few people and expressed his inner thoughts only occasionally to his teammates.
Despite all his misgivings towards humanity, Hao was shown to had genuinely loved his mother immensely as it was her death that primarily caused his extreme hatred and resentment towards mankind. Yoh believed that the only way to defeat Hao was not through a confrontation of power and the destruction of his soul but rather through the heart.
During his first life, he came to encounter a feral cat that he came to adopt and named Matamune (マタムネ). Sensing in the animal a strong spirit, Matamune came to be Hao's faithful companion and his only real friend. After the death of his physical body, Hao came to turn Matamune into a Goryoushin (御霊神 Goryōshin) Oni spirit with a Furyoko reserve that allowed him to maintain a physical body so long as it was not used up.
He was impressed by Yoh's determination and noted that he would make a useful ally before leaving with his allies.
Powers and abilities
Hao Asakura was the most powerful and talented Shaman who had ever lived. During his first life, he was already considered the strongest Shaman in the day and a powerful Onmyōji priest who possessed incredible spiritual powers. According to Asakura Yohmei, such was his power in his first life that even the strongest Shikigamis swore their loyalty to him. By the modern Shaman Fight, it was said that he had a furyoku level of 1,250,000 at his disposal. After learning the reincarnation technique, he was capable of bolstering his powers to truly become a powerful being. His strength was hundreds of times higher then that of his nearest rivals. Asakura's powers were so great that not even the Shaman Council were capable of stopping his entry into the Shaman Tournaments.
Thus, he knew the original taijitu master technique of Onmyōdō Onmyōdō (陰陽道) allowing him the full control over the elements along with divination powers. He was capable of manipulating the five elements of nature namely fire, earth, wood, metal and water; able to control them materially but also spiritually allowing him to convert his spirit from one element to another. He was not limited to the powers of his guardian spirit as he was able to easily bend Oni and demigods to his will. He was also able to sense the thoughts and desires of those around him. Regarded as a master of the Wu Xing pentagram, he was able to control the five elements that give form to creation.
Another noted ability was that of Reishi (霊視, Reading the Heart) which allowed him to read the hearts of others. This was a useful ability but very hard to control which meant that Hao was constantly hearing the thoughts of those around him. Initially, he used this power to help humans from suffering but this only exposed him to the darker nature of humanity. The reading of minds only heightened the contempt he felt for the Human race and shaped his view in creating a world for only shamans.
By adulthood, Hao Onmyōdō magic was strong enough to to turn a pair of Shikigamis into demi-god spirits. He was able to gift a portion of his Furyoku to keep with a newborn spirit long after Hao had died. One technique known to him was that of Curse Reversal (呪詛返し Juso-gaeshi) which allowed Hao to send the effects of a Furyoku attack back at the caster. Such was his skill in his power that following his reincarnation as a newborn he was able to use this technique instinctively without seeming to acknowledge the opponent.
He also knew the Ring of Fire (炎の輪, "Honō no Wa") ability which was similar to that of Yoh's Celestial Slash attack. Furthermore, his Kurobina technique was a form of armor oversoul which was used to defend himself from attacks. It was immense in powe and was capable of destroying a fleet of battleships. The ability allowed him to hover and fly in the air while being able to fire powerful blasts using the shuttle packs on his back
A final technique he knew was Taizanfukun no Sai (泰山府君の祭) that was one of the greatest and most esoteric of the Onmyodo arts and also the old name of the god of the underworld. It was named after the ancient Chinese name for the King of Hell who judged the souls of the dead before deciding on their entry into the afterlife. It could only be achieved by mastering all five elements of the pentagram and defeating the seventy-five lords of Hell. This technique was the key to his immortality for it allowed him to be reborn every 500 years allowing him numerous opportunities to exact his plans for the world. Hao's mastery of the technique was a testament to his power as he was a living Human being who had the ability and not even ghosts were capable of reaching Taizan Fukun.
By the modern age, he came to claim the Spirit of Fire (スピリット・オブ・ファイア, Supiritto obu Faia) that was an powerful elemental spirit which was one of the five Godaiseirei and was derived from the Great Spirit itself. Hao only gained the spirit during his second life when he was born into the Patch tribe. He discovered that Spirit of Fire within the tribe and managed to steal it from the Patch in order for it to become his guardian spirit. When using Over Soul, he was able to manifest the spirit into the physical plane by integrating it with the oxygen in the atmosphere which allowed him to form the Spirit of Fire at incredible speeds. Using his onmyōdō magic, Hao was also able to alter the nature of the spirit into any of the five elements whereby he could control the forces of nature and throw a variety of elemental attacks against his enemies that dealt incredible damage. According to Hao, the Spirit of Fire was more quick to anger than himself. The flames it was able to generate were capable of destroying anything from matter to even souls. He could also use the Spirit of Fire to carry himself and his followers where it could fly through the air.
He was able to equip the spirit as an armor-type OverSoul called O.S. "Spirit of Fire: Black Fowl (O.S. スピリット・オブ・ファイア 黒雛 Supiritto obu Faia Kurobina). This led to the transformation of the Spirit of Fire into jet armor.
In his first life, he wrote a book called the Chō-Senjiryakketsu (超・占事略決 , Ultra Senji Ryakketsu in the English manga) that contained every secret of his Onmyōdō techniques within the book's 16 chapters with this ranging from soul manipulation and methods for making Shikigami to fortune telling techniques and battle strategies. It was oriented towards advanced shaman studies and was very hard to read though studying it helped increase a shaman's power.
After winning the Shaman Fight, Hao became the new Shaman King and assimilated the Great Spirit (G · Sグレートスピリッツ Gurēto Supirittsu). This granted him both omniscience and omnipotence where he was able to absorb other souls simply by glaring at them.
He came to gather a group of followers consisting entirely of shamans whose number was so great that they ranked as one of the three largest groups in the modern Shaman Tournament. The twelve strongest of these came to be known as Hao's 12 Apostles (ハオの12使徒, Hao no 12 Shito).
Notes
- Hao Asakura was created by Hiroyuki Takei where he featured in the setting of the Shaman King universe.
- In the English anime dub, the character was re-named Zeke.
In other media
Television
- In Shaman King, Hao Asakura appeared in the setting of the 2001 anime television series where he was voiced by Japanese actress Minami Takayama and English actor Sebastian Arcelus in the dub. Within the dub, the character was renamed as being Zeke Asakura. It was said that his incarnation as a Patch member was defeated by an unnamed member of the Asakura family using the Futsunomitama Sword and the 1080 beads containing the powerful spirits of the Asakura family. Towards the conclusion of the series, he is confronted by the X-Laws, a paramilitary organization of shamans led by Iron Maiden Jeanne, who makes a disastrous attempt to defeat him by opening the Gate of Babylon. Hao subsequently comes to regard the Shaman Fight as a waste of time and elects to seize the Great Spirit by force using the power of the Spirit of Fire, which has become sufficiently powerful after consuming Jeanne's spirit Shamash. Yoh attempts to defeat him before he can succeed, but is overwhelmed and his soul is consumed after Hao expresses disgust with Yoh's attitude that "everything will work out". Yoh's friends later arrive and try to defeat Hao using a binding spell that defeated him 500 years prior with the spirits of the Asakura ancestors containing the 1080 beads wielded by Anna. as Hao's defeat comes when Yoh's soul breaks free before being fully consumed, and later Yoh uses the combined power of all the shamans in the tournament to boost Amidamaru's power to cut both Hao and the Spirit of Fire in half.
- In Shaman King, Hao Asakura appeared in the setting of the 2021 anime television series where he was voiced by Japanese actress Hiroki Nanami and English actress Erica Mendez in the dub.
Video games
- In Shaman King: Funbari Spirits, Hao Asakura was a playable character in the video game and featured in the story mode.
Appearances
- Shaman King:
External Link
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