Bason

Bason (馬孫, Mǎsūn in Chinese pinyin) is a former Chinese military general that serves under the Tao Family. He is voiced by Shinpachi Tsuji in Japanese, and David Brimmer in English.

About
Five Hundred years ago when he was still alive, Bason was born in the time of war and became a Chinese Wujiang/Bushou (武将; a military class of ancient China) that served the Tao family. His date of birth and blood type are unknown. In his early days as a Chinese warrior, Bason rode into battle on a horse named Hei-Tao. He has crossed swords with so many other warriors, who used all sorts of weapons and different martial arts techniques. He has defeated them and learned all about their techniques becoming the true "Master of Arms". When he died he became a spirit and continued to be loyal to the Tao family and eventually ended up becoming the guardian ghost of Tao Ren.

Originally, Bason was merely an empty shell just to stick with Ren throughout much of his time. However, as the shaman king series progressed and in many instances of Bason's own accounts, he was merely someone who was fiercely loyal to Ren, refusing to part with him even if Bason's own life was in jeopardy. To that end, he refers to him as "young master" and Ren by between as the shaman king series progressed, Ren respects Bason the same way.

Hyōi-Gattai
When Ren was first introduced he used Hyōi-Gattai to fight Yoh and revealed he believes that spirits should be dominated, otherwise the union would tear the body apart because the two spirits would not agree on everything. This battle strategy was later dropped when Ren learned of the more powerful Over Soul technique.


 * 100% Hyōi-Gattai (100% 憑依合体, 100% Spirit Fusion): Using his complete dominance over Bason, Ren creates a far more powerful Hyōi-Gattai allowing him to use all of Bason's attacks to the fullest, including the Vorpal Dance.

Attacks


 * Chūka Zanmai (中華斬舞, Chinese Slash Dance): One of Ren's more basic attacks. Originally used by Bason, by using the Hyōi Gattai with Bason, Ren eventually memorized it himself. It consists of a series of fast thrust attacks with the guandao. Also known as Vorpal Dance, and in the English anime, it is called Rapid Tempo Assault.

O.S. Bason
O.S. "Bason" (O.S. 馬孫) Description: Ren's original Over Soul which integrates Bason's spirit with his guandao, enabling him to materialize onto the physical plane. It's a Spirit-type O.S which molds Bason's spirit into a giant, golden battle spear, named "Golden Over Soul". The basic form is Ren's guandao with a giant armored ball at the tassel area, in a scheme no different from Bason's shoulder armor. The golden balls each sprout a spike and at the very end of it is Bason's head sprouting the spear tip from the top of his helmet.
 * Shaman: Tao Ren
 * O.S. Type: Weapon Type
 * Spirit Ally: Bason (human ghost)
 * Medium used: Basontou; later Bâo-Lèi Sword

The battle spear Over Soul is formidable in itself, but the most intriguing aspect about this O.S. is its ability to change shapes when fully supplied with the adequate amount of Furyoku.

Attacks


 * Chūka Zanmai (中華斬舞, Chinese Slash Dance): One of Ren's more basic attacks. Originally used by Bason, by using the Hyōi Gattai with Bason, Ren eventually memorized it himself. It consists of a series of fast thrust attacks with the guandao. Also known as Vorpal Dance, and in the English version of the anime, it is called Rapid Tempo Assault.


 * Golden Chūka Zanmai (ゴールデン中華斬舞, Golden Chinese Slash Dance): Stronger version of the Chuukan Zanmai. During his tournament fight with Yoh, it was the first attack used by Ren. Using his large Over Soul Ren slams it down on his opponent. When Yoh dodged it, it was shown to have enough power, to leave a small crater in the earth where it had hit. However, it can also be a merely prolonged version of the original that can take out several targets at once, as demonstrated by Ren himself after Yoh loses to Faust VIII.


 * Exploding Over Soul: Turning the tip of the spear the other way around Ren releases a large amount of Furyoku into an explosion propelling himself forward and using the arrow-like tip of the other end to attack. This was first seen during his battle with Yoh, in the first part of the Shaman Tournament.

O.S. Bason, Big Over Soul
O.S. "Bason Big Over Soul" Description: As Ren charges more Furyoku into the O.S., Bason's body begins to materialize on a higher plane of existence, ultimately materializing his whole upper body, though in colossal proportion. At this phase, Bason O.S. can assist with the halberd's attacks using his fists, or can handle the guandao itself (i.e. Super-Golden Vorpal Dance). It also has the ability to throw high voltage discharges.
 * Shaman: Tao Ren
 * O.S. Type: Spirit Type
 * Spirit Ally: Bason (human ghost), Hei-Tao (Animal ghost)
 * Medium used: Basontou(Over Soul), Bái-Feng (Hyōi Gattai)

When first shown during his fight with Yoh, Ren only pumped in enough Furyoku to only materialize his upper body armor and helmet with a large spear tip at the top of the helmet. With this Over Soul, Ren can fly using his Furyoku as a propellant. Pumping in more Furyoku the Over Soul also gains Bason's arms and with even more it completely materializes Bason's upper body.

Attacks


 * Golden Punch (ゴールデンパンチ, Gōruden Panchi): Materializing Bason's arms, Ren can use his Over Soul to punch his opponent with great force and speed. This was first seen used again Yoh.


 * Double Golden Sledgehammer (ゴールデンダブルスレッジハンマー, Gōruden Daburu Surejjihanmā): With this technique, Ren's uses both fists of his Over Souled Bason. Gathering both fists together, Bason slams them down on an opponent following the movement of the guandao which does the same thing.


 * Chou Golden Chūka Zanmai (超ゴールデン中華斬舞, Super Golden Chinese Slash Dance): Over Souling Bason's complete upper body at the tip of his guandao Ren allows Bason to wield an Over Soul guandao. Doing this Bason can use the Vorpal Dance with great power and size. This attack also seems to make Ren's hair spike grow. This was first seen used against Yoh.


 * Kanzen Saigen Chūka Zanmai (完全再現中華斬舞, Perfect Re-enactment Chinese Slash Dance): When Bason was still alive he rode into battle on the horse Hei-Tao. The spirit of Hei-Tao can be integrated into another horse kept by Ren, named Bái-Feng. Ren then stands on the top of the giant Bái-Feng holding his guandao that has the materialized upper body of Bason at the tip. Using these two spirits in unison Ren can now do the Perfect Re-enactment of the Vorpal Dance which is also its most powerful version to date, with a tremendous strength and speed to back it up. As noted by Faust VIII who watched his fight, this attack has a risk added as one depletes more Furyoku by controlling two spirits at the same time.

O.S. Super Bushin
O.S. "Super Bushin" (O.S. スーパー武神 (ブシン) Sūpā Bushin) Description: This Weapon-type O.S. integrates Bason with the Tao family's heirloom Bǎo-Léi Sword and transforms him into a monstrous guandao O.S., with the ability to alter its shape on command. This O.S. takes full advantage of the spirit-refining powers of the Bǎo-Léi Sword, enabling Bason to evolve into a Seirei-class ghost and access his wealth of military knowledge of weaponry and tactics. The end result is an O.S. in a constant state of evolution, able to transform into any weapon Bason has ever wielded. The name compliments this O.S.'s abilities well, as Bushin means "a god of military arts", reflecting Bason's expertise in weaponry and military might.
 * Shaman: Tao Ren
 * O.S. Type: Spirit/Weapon Type
 * Spirit Ally: Bason (Seirei-class)
 * Medium used: Bâo-Lèi Sword

Attacks


 * Blade Paradise (刀幻境 Tōgenkyō): This technique makes use of Bason's wide knowledge of various weapons. Over Souling the "Bǎo-Léi" Sword and thrusting it into the ground, Ren makes several blade weapons randomly sprout out of the ground around him. The more Furyoku he puts into it, the more weapons it sprouts and the faster it becomes. This was first used against Mikihisa's Imari and Shigaraki, who had surrounded Ren. This is called Golden Thunder Impalement in the English translation of the 2001 anime series.


 * Four-Flash Blade Paradise (四閃刀幻境 Shisen Tōgenkyō): Also based on Bason's wide knowledge of various weapons, it launches four types of weapons at the opponent in quick succession: spears (槍 (ソウ) sō), swords (刀 (トウ) tō), halberds (戟 (ゲキ) geki), and multi-blades (多刃 (タジン) tajin). This was first used against Mikihisa, who easily dodged all of them.

O.S. Bushin Fish Fin
O.S. "Bushin Yúchì" (O.S. 武神魚翅) Description: This Armor-type O.S. is the evolution of the Super Bushin. It integrates Bason with the Bâo-Léi Sword and materializes as protective armor and shield for Ren's right arm. With this O.S. Ren can attune his Furyoku to the element of lightning and generate great amounts of voltage. The Bushin Fish Fin embodies the understanding of Pascal Avaf's advice and the epiphany of the nature of his strength, as achieves true harmony with his spirit ally, Bason.
 * Shaman: Tao Ren
 * O.S. Type: Armor Type
 * Spirit Ally: Bason (Seirei-class)
 * Medium used: Bâo-Lèi Sword

Since its introduction, the Bushin Fish Fin has undergone two major metamorphoses; the initial design is a two-part O.S. which separates into a giant blade-arm and an airborne electrical capacitor. The second version took the shape of a protective armor and shield, with a trademark, shark-fin blade protruding from the arm-shield.

Eventually, Ren's improvement in strength causes his O.S.'s design to be more streamlined and sleeker, dropping the armor and ultimately settling in the form of a large, sleek, shark-faced forearm-shield with the trademark shark-fin blade. He can also reshape the blade into a fist, called Fist Mode (拳の様 Kobushi no Sama).

Attacks


 * Raisō (雷槍 Thunder Spear): With the first version of this O.S., Ren detaches the back part of the amour into the sky where it works as an electric conductor. Changing his Furyoku into lightning, the O.S. in the sky sends several lightning bolts down on an opponent. After evolving the O.S. into its third and final form, Ren can use the attack by just pointing the O.S. at the sky. This attack was first seen when Team "The Ren" fought against Team "Myooh".


 * Kuten Ōgenraisei Fuka Tenson (九天応元雷声普化天尊; lit. "Nine Heavens Replying Origin Thunder Voice of Puhua Tianzun"): Ren's strongest attack. Striking his opponent with his fish fin, he can send enough electricity through their body to kill even the strongest shaman. This was first used against Yoh during the team fights between his and Yoh's team.


 * Bason Golden Punch (馬孫ゴールデンパンチ Bason Gōruden Panchi): After turning the blade into a hand, Ren creates a rather large version of Bason's fist. The power of this move has not yet been fully demonstrated as the attack was just absorbed. This attack was created when Ren could not use his lightning-based attacks because of the lack of moisture in the air.


 * Elec-BANG (エレキ-BANG): Ren's fastest attack, which creates a massive bolt of lightning that strikes Ren's exact location. It was created out of a desire to have an attack faster than his teammate Chocolove McDonell's incredible speed.

O.S. Super Horse Dragon
O.S. "Chāo Mǎ Lóng" (O.S. 超馬龍) Description: Men's Over Soul is created with a guandao, like his father's first Over Soul. Bason forms a large serpentine dragon whose head bits down on the guandao's polearm at the top near the blade. The Over Soul is strong enough to defeat Ibuki Gakko's Ogre Hunter Over Soul with a single strike.
 * Shaman: Tao Men
 * O.S. Type: Spirit Type
 * Spirit Ally: Bason (Seirei-class)
 * Medium used: Basontou

Giant Over Soul
Giant O.S. Bason Description: In the anime series, after literally experiencing the teaching of the Chō-Senjiryakketsu, written by the original Asakura Hao, Ren gained an enormous amount of Furyoku. By using this heavy amount of Furyoku, Ren is able to evolve his Over Soul and supply the fully materialized Bason with a robot body, made purely out of Furyoku. With this body, Bason gains a tremendous strength, two pairs of jet rockets on his back and the ability to fly. In this form, Bason is also able to launch fireballs. Even though Bason now has a massive form, it can easily be defeated by using smaller, more concentrated attacks, as proven by Mikihisa.
 * Shaman: Tao Ren
 * O.S. Type. Giant Type.
 * Spirit Ally:Bason (Seirei-class)
 * Medium used: Bǎo-Léi Sword and guandao

Attacks


 * Chūka Zanmai (中華斬舞 Chinese Slash Dance): Using his guandao and Bǎo-Léi Sword in conjunction, Bason's pair of jetpacks transforms into a giant size version of Ren's Super Bushin. This allows Bason to wield a guandao and use the Vorpal Dance.

Trivia

 * In the anime series, the Super Bushin is referred to as a Giant Over Soul.


 * The "Kuten Ōgenraisei Fuka Tenson" technique is named after the exact title of Leizu, one of the Chinese Daoist thunder deities.