Shinki (Noragami)

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Shinki in human form.

Shinki are artifacts that feature in Noragami.

Contents

History

Yato wields Yukine.

Shinki (神器, meaning “sacred treasures”) were living weapons that were used by the various gods and composed of spirits that served the deity. Not any denizen of the Farshore could become a Shinki as they consisted of deceased humans that died for reasons against their will and not those that committed suicide. As such, only a select number of spirits could become a Shinki and Phantoms could not be used in this role. It was said that Yato at one point killed a Regalia that belonged to the war god Bishamonten. In reality, this was because a blight had erupted among Bishamon's family of Shinki with suspicion erupting between them. Despite ablution ceremonies, they were unable to find the culprit and the added negative emotions caused the blight to spread as well as multiply. This caused the regalia to slowly transform into monstrous Phantoms with this causing Bishamon to be afflicted with the blight and unable to function as she experienced her Shinki's pain. In desperation, her Shinki Kazuma had heard tales of a god of calamity that could be used to purge a god's family of regalia. Kazuma reached out to the god Yato who wielded a Nora and proceeded with killing the emergent Phantom. Bishamon witnessed her Shinki being killed as they called out for her help with her begging Yato to stop the slaughter but he did not as he purged the family of the corruption. In the aftermath, the sole surviving member of the family was Kazuma who tended to his god after Yato had departed. Kazuma was ashamed of his actions despite them saving his god and could not confess to Bishamon that he had called upon Yato's god. As a result, Bishamon believed Yato had ruthlessly slaughtered her Shinki family and swore revenge him whereupon she hunted him in order to kill him.

Overview

In appearance, the form of a Shinki greatly varied depending on its state. They were uncorrupted spirits of the dead and as such were invisible to the mortal world. Only those that could see the supernatural could see the spirit and the early form of a Shinki could be a simple speck of spiritual light. This changed once a contract was form whereupon a Shinki could adopt the form of any tool desired by their master. Such forms ranged from daggers to sword and even to a smoking pipe, fighting gloves or animal mounts. After which, they could take a human spirit form that resembled their own appearance prior to their demise. The spirits of those harmed prior to their transformation into a regalia were incapable of becoming a complete Shinki and instead in their tool form appeared broken. As former humans, the regalia whilst their flesh was gone their spirits remained with them able to feel emotions such as fear, suspicion, envy, resentment and so on. As such, some struggled with their existence of being spirits that were dead to the mortal world. They could also not age thus remaining the same age as before which meant that they could witness mortals grow old and die whilst the remained the same. Certain mortals could see a Shinki but after a length of time away from them began to forget them as their memories of these encounters simply vanished.

Bishamon and her Regalia.

At a command, the human form of the Shinki disappeared and took the shape of a weapon for use by the god. According to Yato, a god without a Regalia was powerless and unable to effectively combat Phantoms. They were described as being tools that allowed a god to accomplish anything. In reality, they were simply uncorrupted spirits of the dead that could be called upon to take on tool or weapon form. It was important to find a particular type of spirit with this being noted as a difficult task. Once found, a god forged a contract between themselves and the spirit with the latter tasked with serving their master. By calling out their name, the spirit took on their weapon form and when their name was called again they returned into a spirit body. Similar to a god, a Shinki in its spirit form was not noticeable by ordinary humans and ignored as a result. Whilst their weapon form operated in battle, a Shinki was not helpless in their human spirit form as they could use certain abilities. By making a halberd gesture with their hands, they could create a barrier known as a borderline which repelled Phantoms who could not cross it. A further ability was Restrain that allowed them to create mystical ties that incapacitated a target. More powerful regalia were also able to cast invocation spells that could only be done so against weaker Shinki. Such spells included restrain whereby calling the name of a Shinki could force them to remain unable to move until the user removed the command. These invocations could only operate by knowing the name of the regalia which meant that those Shinki which had multiple names had an advantage over those with a single master.

In weapon form, Shinki had a wide range of powers that could be used by their master. A particular ability that they offered their god was the capacity to deal with Phantoms and purify their presence from an area. Among them was the ability to sever ties between people allowing the person to forget someone that they were deeply attached to in their lives. Such an example was when Yukine severed the ties of a banker who was deeply in love with Kofuku despite the fact that his attachment and need to spend money on her caused him to become poor as well as suicidal. Once severed, the act appeared as invisible strings over the person was cut allowing them to continue their lives without that person in their lives. If infected with blight, a Shinki's blade form could become dulled making them less effective unless purified. Certain Shinki offered enhanced traits to their master such as being in their regalia form and offering combat skills to their master that was normally incapable of fighting. In other cases, they could offer a protective barrier to their god to prevent corruption from Phantoms or other threats.

A god was not restricted to a single Shinku and could possess multiple such tools in their service. In fact, entire groups acted as a family to their god where they provided support to them either in combat or help in their households. Such regalia provided an important role if their god died and reincarnated into a new body with them teaching the new incarnation about their past lives. Among the multiple regalia, a god chose one that served as their advisor and chief aide that commanded the other Shinki with this one being referred to as an exemplar. Exemplars were considered guides of virtue that were to be an example to other Shinki. As such, there was a certain way they were expected to behave and that they had to operate in a manner that best served their god. Thus, it was held that things such as greed were beneath an exemplar. Once bonded, a god and their Shinku shared a link with one another. This was to the point that the master could sense the thoughts of their Shinku. Such a connection only worked one way from the Shinki to their master with the god experiencing all the sinful thoughts and them experiencing mild pain as a result. Through a simple incantation, a god was able to sever the tie between themselves and a Shinki freeing the latter from any further service. It was considered bad practice for a bonded Shinku to bow to another deity as it meant disrespect to their master. Whilst generally bonded to a master, some Shinki had more than one name on their body with this indicating that they held multiple masters. These stray Regalia were known as Nora with them becoming one when another god brands their name on an existing Shinki with a master. They were seen with disgust by god's and Shinki due to their practice of going to any god and offering their service. A Nora was created when a different god branded heir name on the regalia in order to use them with some possessing many names of different masters. Despite being unsavory, Nora were used at times when a god wanted to conduct a task that they did not want for their own Shinki. Another class of regalia were the sentinels who served the heavens instead and were dispatched on official assignments such as the apprehension of a stray deity.

Upon naming them, their respective god was connected to their Shinki to the point that they could feel their emotional pain and actual deaths. In some cases, a Shinki's indulgence in impure sinful behavior can lead to their corruption in which case the god that served as their master could kill them. Whilst the bond was useful, spirits affected by strong negative feelings deeply impacted the god wielded them with this eventually manifesting as a blight that slowly consumed the gods body. Unless the tie was severed or the Shinki controlled their emotions than the blight could not be treated and in fact grew as it affected the god by making them weaker and slower. This was because the Shinki was actuakly slowly becoming a Phantom as their dark emotions consumed them. Eventually, if the matter remains untreated, the god will die where they had only two options; kill the Shinki or conduct an Abluation. The latter was done so by three Shinki that caught the offending inside a borderline prison. Once inside, they experienced great pain as the dark infection permeating their being was being burnt away. Only by confessing to their sins did the Shinki purge themselves of the growing Phantom in them. Otherwise, the Shinki became consumed by the darkness and transformed into a fully fledged Phantom requiring their elimination. Only Regalia were able to conduct this ritual as it was held that only they could judge their own kind. However, an Abluation was considered a very dangerous act that could kill the participants involved in the ritual. A god that was blighted could also through contact spread the infection to non-infected Shinki.

During rare moments, a Shinki that was pure in purpose and loyalty to its god could experience a transformation. This transformed them into a more powerful tool that was known as a blessed vessel. In some cases, it could restore a regalia back to life if they were killed and also increased their utility to their wielder. A result was the god now used a much more powerful tool in combat thus adding to their effectiveness.

A god with a shrine and followers was able to travel to Takama-ga-hara (高天原; literally "the Plain of High Heavens") with their Shinki able to accompany them there.

Known Shinki

  • Yukine :
  • Kazuma : browned haired glass wearing exemplar to Bishomon who was originally part of her former family that suffered from a blight and in desperation he asked the god Yato to slaughter them after they became Phantoms in order to save his master. Though grateful to Yato, Kazuma was ashamed of his actions and was unable to tell his master that he was the one that summoned Yato. The pureness of his service turned him into his masters blessed vessel and he served as exemplar to her new family of Shinki.
  • Kugaha : a white haired male Shinki who once served Bishamon as her curer who came to hold disgust for his masters habit of adopting any spirit as a regalia with him seeking to kill her and have her reincarnate so that he could become her exemplar allowing him to guide her actions as a war-god. He orchestrated a blight to affect her and intended for Yato to kill Bishamon but he was discovered with his god banishing him from her service as she stripped him of his name instead of killing him.

Notes

  • The dubbed anime referred to the Shinki as Regalia.

Appearances

  • Noragami:
  • Noragami Aragoto' :

External Links

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