Terminology

This page lists the various terminology used in Shaman King.

Mochirei

 * See More: Guardian Ghost

Mochirei (Guardian Spirit or Guardian Ghost) are spirits that accompany shamans and allow them to use various skills such as Hyoui-Gattai or Over Soul. Depending on the shaman this mochirei can be treated as a friend and loyal companion or as a slave. The relationship between the mochireis and the shamans can also affect their ability to fight because the mochirei can chose to disobey their shamans if the do not approve of what they are doing leaving the shamans to fend for themselves.

Furyoku

 * See More: Furyoku

Furyoku (巫力), called Mana in the English Manga, is a term used to determine the measure of sixth sense a person possesses. This can be increased by having a near-death experience such as when Asakura Yoh went into the Yomi Cave to train. With this power, a shaman can produce an oversoul. More Furyoku means more control over one's spirit and more powerful forms of the oversoul.

Reiryoku
Reiryoku (靈力), is a term used to determine spiritual power & strength that a ghost possesses. This power is manifested in the form of magic and supernatural ability (e.g. Kororo's ice magic). A shaman must be careful consideration when creating an Oversoul with high Reiryoku, because a spirit's Reiryoku level determines how much shaman's Furyoku is needed to form an O.S

Manjien
The *Manjien (万辞苑) or Mantannian Dictionary in the English manga, is a compendium of all human knowledge that Manta frequently consults to find information on people, cultures, and other subjects. The book's Japanese name blends Manta's name with the word Kōjien (広辞苑), the name of a famous dictionary.

In the English anime, the book is either not given a name or it is called a "ghost story book" or "book about shamans".

Seirei-class
Seirei-class (Sacred Souls in English Anime, or 'Nature Spirits') is the classification for spirits who have existed for 500 years or more and whose souls have shed their physical attachment to achieve their purest form. Sacred--or 'higher'--spirits are more appropriately ghosts who have ascended beyond their ego, enabling them to assume any form or shape freely. After this "ascending", the spirit does not have to become stronger since this is the highest form of power. Only the shaman has to train and grow stronger.

Kami-class
Kami-class (god class) is the classification of the most powerful ghosts in Shaman King. Sixteen are known to exist at this time: the Great Spirit, Spirit of Fire, Spirit of Earth, Spirit of Rain, Spirit of Wind, Spirit of Thunder, Big Chief, Shamash, Dainichi Nyorai, Jizoh Nyorai, Batoh Nyorai, Fudo Myooh, Gundari Myooh, Aizen Myooh, Asura and Dai Tengu. These ghosts have near bottomless power and can grow stronger by eating other ghosts. The problem is that these ghosts require a lot of furyoku to keep themselves going. The shaman who controls one of these must be incredibly strong and be extremely cautious around them since they will eat any spirit that comes in their way.

Hitodama Mode
Hitodama Mode (Spirit Ball form in the English anime) is the form of most spirits take before performing any kind of Oversoul. When in this form the spirit takes the form of a small ball, sometimes with a fiery tail and only their faces and a few small details are present. Sometimes the mochirei take this form even when they're not about to use Oversoul, most likely this is for them to take less space.

Hyoui-Gattai
Hyoui-Gattai (憑依合体 Spirit Unity or Over Soul Merge) is the earliest form of Over Soul shown in the manga and anime. Instead of using a medium to manifest the spirit into the real world, it uses the shaman's body and allows them to take over the body for as long as necessary. Because it is a form of possession and it doesn't manifest the spirits in the real world, this form of Over Soul barely uses furyoku.

Oversoul

 * See More: Over Soul

Oversoul (O.S. for short) is the result of a Shaman placing his guardian ghost into an object (Medium) to create a powerful weapon, or to manifest the ghost into the real world.

Medium
A medium is an object that is used for Over Soul. This could be anything but usually reflects the guardian ghost like Amidamaru's katana, Harusame or Tao Ren's kwandao. Sometimes the medium is changed to reflect a power increase of the shaman or guardian ghost's power increase. This was the case of both Asakura Yoh and Tao Ren since they both needed a second medium for a power increase and for new techniques.

Patch

 * See More: Patch Tribe

The Patch (Dobie in the English anime) are a Native American tribe that officiate the Shaman Fight. The Patch are known to be good shamans and have developed their own shamanic techniques. The Patch are unfortunately known to be very poor, the ten officiants have complained about this but the reason why they are so poor is that every five hundred years they must put up the penniless shamans in hotels and fix the damage the fights caused to the fight location. The Patch have a policy of 'make do on your own' to the officiants which creates a few problems for them.

Jiang Shi (Kyonshi)
The Jiang Shi (Zombies in the English anime) are zombies that the Tao Family uses instead of ghosts. They are created from reasonably intact corpses or freshly dead people. The process of creating is simple: the body is first stripped of all clothing and is changed to a standard uniform or other clothing depending on the final job of zombie. Next, the ghost of the deceased or the ghost of another is placed into the body forming a perfect union since the body is a hollow shell. Then, the zombie is given a talisman on its head allowing someone to use the zombie. The optional step is to change a zombie's body structure with added things like animal parts or machinery creating a new weapon. The (current) only exception to the talisman control of Kyonshi is Tao Jun's "zombie" Lee Pyron, whose talisman was removed because he didn't want to be controlled by them. Also, Tao Ren and his father Tao Yúan use spirits, Ren's being Bason and Yúan's being a multitude of Tao Family spirits.