Gandhara (Shaman King)

Gandhara is a group that features in Shaman King.

History

Gandhara (Japanese: ガンダーラ, Hepburn: Gandāra) were a Buddhist organisation of pacifist shamans who had the ability to control Furyoku. They were one of the oldest known organisations in the world whose history dated back before the birth of Christ. Around 2500 years ago, they rose to prominence where one of their chosen candidates won the Shaman Tournament of that era and became the Shaman King after merging with the Great Spirit. As a result, they were noted to hold no interest in winning any of the subsequent shaman tournaments.

In the modern Shaman Tournament, Gandhara participated to save all of humanity and prevent Hao Asakura from becoming the Shaman King as he planned to rid the world of all non-shamans. To this end, they have fielded three teams, all of which have made the top eight. Their current goal was to train Five Elemental Warriors, who will wield the Five Grand Elemental Spirits to defeat Hao whilst he was integrating with the Great Spirit. To this end, they have fielded three teams, all of which have made the top eight. Gandhara came to recover the Five Elemental Spirits with some of their members even entering into Hell to recover the four of the spirits hidden there.

As Peyote Diaz and Turbine fought and mortally wounded Ryunosuke Umemiya, Sati and Gandhara arrived where they attacked Peyote, as well as subsequently reviving Ryu. Sati explained that although they do not like fighting and killing, they came to help Ryu because they saw Yoh Asakura kind and pure-hearted prayer where she told Ryu to go thank Yoh for their aid. With their job done, Sati and Gandhara prepared to leave. Tathagata Nyorai succeeded the first round after crushing Team "Haiti 800". Team "Myooh" lost to Team "The Ren" and there was no mention of Team "Ten"; just that all teams including "Nyorai" withdrew after "Myooh"'s defeat. That move made Gandhara's real intentions clearer.

The leader of the Gandhara, Sati Saigan, came to choose Yoh and his friends to be the Five Warriors to wield the elemental spirits. Lady Sati instructs Kado, Yainage, and Jackson to prepare the future shamans to become the Five Elemental Warriors. Thus, she forced them to wander the depths of Hell as part of their training. As such, she sent Team "Myooh" to meet Team "The Ren" in the bathrooms in order to send them to the Netherworld. Whilst there, they would learn to bring their Furyoku to spectacular levels. She herself went to Asakura Yoh and killed him. With a powerful sutra chant, she sent him and Amidamaru to hell. While the Five Elemental Warriors fight their way through the Patch Tribe on Mū, Gandhara traveled to hell in order to retrieve the Five Grand Elemental Spirits. Sati fought Enma Daioh, the greatest of the Four Kings of Hell and the Guardian of the Spirit of Earth. Sati delivers the elemental spirits to the warriors after all five have been obtained. After that, she is seen on the Soul Train shouting encouragement to the warriors along with everyone else that was killed.

Overview

In appearance, Gandhara were a team of Buddhists noted for their pacifism that were completely neutral in their outlook. However, they did not hesitate to use force when needed, though they use it only as a last resort and even then just enough to meet their objectives. All the members of the Gandhara were Kami-class Shamans and incredibly powerful. All their guardian ghosts were those of Bodhisattvas in a strict adherence to their faith. In addition, they all possessed Furyoku-nullification abilities that enabled them to defeat most opponents without using violence.

It was noted that the group was divided into three sub-teams.

Members

• Saigan Sati (サティ・サイガン, Sati Saigan) : a princess of Japanese origin who became the leader of Gandhara. According to Ryu, Lady Sati was said to be as strong as Hao. Her Guardian Ghost was Dainichi.
• Daiei (大栄, Daiei) : an elderly, bald man of short stature who was a senior priest from China that served as Sati's advisor and accompanied her always with his guardian ghost being Jizoh.
• Komeri (コメリ, Komeri) : a young Indian girl who was the youngest shaman affiliated to the Gandhara with her guardian ghost was Batoh.
• Jackson (寂尊, Jakuson) : a long red-haired handsome man and Chinese monk with waist-length flaming orange hair and a white marking on his forehead where his guardian ghost was Fudo Myooh. A fierce follower of Sati Saigan and will do anything to protect her ideals, even attacking and throwing his own teammate out of the ring for losing his cool. He came to be assigned to Team "Myooh" during the Shaman Fight set to fight against Team "The Ren" only to lose after exhausting his Furyoku. When Sati wanted to have the Five Elemental Warriors to train in hell, it was Jackson's and Team "Myooh"'s responsibility to send Team "The Ren" to hell and watch over their bodies so that they would surely be able to revive. He later travelled to Hell itself in order to claim the Spirit of Thunder for use by Yoh and his allies.
• Yainage : a a Buddhist monk from India with his guardian ghost being Gundali Myooh.
• Kado : a Buddhist monk from India and his guardian ghost was Aizen Myooh.
• Mamy : Formally known as Mami Matoba (的場 真美, Matoba Mami), Mamy is a young woman with freckles whose eyes are usually closed. Once an aspiring writer, she joined Gandhara after they saved her while she was traveling in India and teaches Japanese at Gandhara's schools. When she forms an Over Soul with her spirit Ashura, they wield the other seven Devas as weapons in combat.
• Samy : formally known as Hisami Toda (戸田 久美, Toda Hisami), Samy is a young woman with long hair and glasses. Like Mamy, she was saved by Gandhara while traveling in India. Once an aspiring soprano singer, she teaches music at Gandhara's schools. Her spirit partner is also Ashura and she forms the Over Souls required for the other seven Devas to transform into weapons for Ashura and Mamy to wield.
• Ozam : formally known as Osamu Kidomura (鬼道村 修, Kidomura Osamu), Ozam is an extremely large and towering man who wears a mask. He works as a security guard and physical education teacher at the Gandhara school, but apparently was a professional wrestler in the past and still competes on occasion in Japan. His spirits are the Nio, which use vajras as mediums.
• Sei-Kyow : a bald monk who has trained in martial arts as part of his family's tradition and is very protective of Lady Sati. Though he is a member of Gandhara, he is not a member of the participating teams in the tournament phase of the Shaman Fight.[22] He descends from Taiwanese people whose paternal ancestors have included a Japanese priest in each generation. Along with performing covert activities while aided with spirits, he serves as a site manager for the Gandhara. His spirit is the Boddhisattva Marishiten and Seikyou uses a mirror as the spirit's medium.
• Aeon Lee : a Gandhara shaman who wears a suit and tie, Aeon is a businessman who runs an advertising agency. Often seen riding an elephant that has accompanied Gandhara throughout the Shaman Fight, he is not one of the participating members of the group in the tournament round. Like the other members of Gandhara, he will not hesitate to do anything to protect Sati and will accompany her wherever she goes.
• Tao Jun (道 潤タオ ジュン Dào Jun) : a green haired female shaman of the Tao family who was the older sister of Tao Ren. She came to briefly join Gandhara during the Shaman Fight.

Notes

• Gandhara was created by Hiroyuki Takei where they featured in the setting of the Shaman King universe.

In other media

Television

• In Shaman King, Gandhara did not appear in the setting of the 2001 anime television series adaptation.
• In Shaman King, Gandhara appeared in the setting of the 2021 anime television series adaptation. During the Shaman Tournament finals, Ren's team had to contend against the Myo from the Gandhara faction to advance. Ren's team developed new Oversouls that could move on their own forcing Yoh's team to escape and prepare to get stronger. Gandhara's faction was defeated but Sati was satisfied reveals she has been working with Yun in order to find five mentally neutral fighters.

Appearances

• Shaman King:

External Links

• Shaman King Wiki Entry

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