Asakura Hao

Asakura Hao (麻倉ハオ Asakura Hao, Zeke Asakura in the English Anime and games) is the main antagonist in the Anime and Manga in Shaman King. He was born Asaha Douji (麻葉童子, Asaha Doji) in Japan during the Heian era. During his third life he becomes the twin brother of his descendant Asakura Yoh. He is the most powerful shaman in the entirety of the series. His childhood is told in the manga side story Mappa Douji.

Appearance
Being Yoh's twin brother and ancestor, Hao is identical to Yoh in many ways physically, prominently in facial features and body structure, as they both have dark brown hair and brown eyes. Differing from his younger twin, Hao's hair is much longer in length, reaching past his waist. He also seems to be a bit taller than Yoh, being that he is the older one of the twins. He often wears a poncho that covers his upper body, with nothing beneath.

He wears fingerless gauntlets with four small protrusions where the knuckles are imprinted with his name and as well as a pair of baggy pants with two sections each with a set of three straps on each leg and shoes with two studs protruding from the toes. He also wears a belt embedded with the Patch Village insignia and the straps are lined with it as well. When Hao uses the Over Soul or his Yin Yang Jutsu, his hair goes up in several spikes.

When out in public Hao wears a pair of dark blue jeans and a half buttoned white dress shirt with oversized collars and cuffs.

Personality
During his first life, Asakura Hao was constantly surrounded by the horrors of war and thus saw the world as a grim and dark place, until he met the small demon Ohachiyo, who taught him all the positive aspects of life. However, after an accident involving Hao's first Over Soul, Ohachiyo became a permanent part of Hao and cursed him with the very dangerous ability of Reishi (霊視, Reading the Heart). As he grew into an adult, Hao became a relatively peaceful man who sought to help the people around him, and thanks to him the Asakura Family prospered. It was because of this gentle and kind nature that he took in the cat Matamune, who wound up becoming what he considered his 'only friend'.

However, his Reishi abilities became too strong and eventually went beyond his control. The negative emotions and thoughts of others were constantly overwhelming him and, since he was unable to turn his Reishi off, the deluge of negativity eventually created an "Oni" inside his own heart. The internal confusion and disorder that was also created eventually led to his desire of creating a Shaman only Kingdom on Earth and drove him to become the Shaman King in order to reach this goal.

In his third and most current incarnation, Hao is usually calm, cruel, and always smiles. The occasions when he is really angry are very rare and when he is angry with someone, that person is usually killed and burned to their soul by The Spirit Of Fire. He also likes to watch Shaman Fights, particularly those that involve strong Shamans, and Asakura Yoh. He is not only interested in that, but also claims that when Yoh reached his limit, he will eat him to become the strongest Shaman.

He has shown some dislike of being given family titles, as he glared at Yoh when the latter addressed him as "Nii-chan"(Big brother). Hao regards money as a primary reason behind the corruption in society, he refuses to use it and has his group follow the philosophy of being completely self-sufficient - even if it means stealing something to obtain it.

Abilities and Powers
Because he has died and reincarnated two times he has a high level of Furyoku, 1,250,000, as of his current life. During his first life, according to Asakura Yohmei, he was so strong that even the strongest Shikigamis swore him loyalty.

Shamanic Techniques
Because Hao has lived for a long time and was reborn twice with all the knowledge of his previous life, he has many techniques and spells. Most of them learned during his first life.

Hao's original abilities of a taijitsu master from his first life has given him full control over the elements and divination powers. He is not only able to manipulate the six elements of nature, fire, earth, wood, metal, and water materially, but also spiritually as shown when he converts the Spirit of Fire into the Spirit of Water, albeit temporarily. Even without the spirit of fire, Hao possesses great elemental and divination abilities and can easily bend oni and demigods to his will. However, with the addition of the Spirit of Fire, one can only assume that he can greatly amplify the circular properties of his art by using the it as a power source. However, the spirit of fire uses mostly physical attacks, and on occasion its fire attributes have been used in combat. Since Hao is fond of the element fire, he is rarely seen using his taijitu arts in both the manga and the anime. Nevertheless, the combination that his Onmyōdō abilities and the Spirit of Fire forms definitely gives him an Oversoul second in power only to one with the Great Spirit.
 * Onmyōdō (陰陽道)

This is the ability to read the hearts of others. Whilst in some ways a useful ability, it is incredibly hard to control, with the end result that Hao was constantly inundated with the thoughts of those surrounding him. As a result, his contempt for the human race grew until he sought to create a world of only shamans.
 * Reishi (霊視, Reading the Heart)

Taizan Fukun is the ancient Chinese name for the King of Hell, who judges the dead and decides their fate. It is through this technique that Hao was able to be reborn 500 years later as one of the Patch, and then again 500 years later in the Asakura family. This is probably one of his greatest achievements, because to get to Taizan Fukun, one has to get passed the 75 Lords of Hell, something not even spirits can achieve easily and they can access the underworld far easier than a living human. It is notable that he achieved this in his first time, when he was at his weakest, hinting at his future potential.
 * Ritual of Taizan Fukun (泰山府君祭)

Curse Reflection is a skill used once by Hao during the invasion of the secret Patch island by the military, when Amano Teruko tried to use her special skill, 2'O Clock Curse, which backfired and killed her instantly. It appears that Hao used this technique subconsciously, not showing any signs of acknowledging her presence.
 * Curse Reflection

Spirit

 * See More: Ohachiyo | Zenki and Kouki | Spirit of Fire | Great Spirit

His first Guardian Ghost was a demon named Ohachiyo. He was once a human but would eventually become a small demon resembling a rabbit with exaggerated long ears. Hao only used him once to create a small kanabo Over Soul with a broken katana as a medium.

As an adult during his first life Hao would use his onmyōdō (陰陽道) magic to turn the shikigamis Zenki and Kouki into demi-god spirits, who he would later use to guard his book of teachings, the Chou Senji Ryakketsu. It was also during this time that he gave a cat he had saved, Matamune, a portion of his furyoku to keep with him after Hao had died.

When he reincarnated into the Patch Tribe, Hao stole the Spirit of Fire, one of five elemental spirits created from the Great Spirit itself. However as he reincarnated again, so did the Spirit of Fire, and Hao has, as of his third life, been constantly feeding it the souls of those he has killed to make it stronger.

Having won the Shaman Fight, Hao has become the new Shaman King and has assimilated with the Great Spirit. This grants him both omniscience and omnipotence. He is now able to absorb other souls simply by looking at them.

First Life
Born in Japan by Asanoha Douji, he was named Asaha Douji (麻葉童子, Asaha Doji) by his mother. However, later a group of humans killed Asanoha, because they thought that she was a demon. Having his house burnt, Hao wandered and lived aimlessly, believing himself to be a boy with demonic powers and thought of exterminating all humans. However, one day while sitting by a gate, he met a spirit named Ohachiyo (乙破千代) and they quickly became friends. Ohachiyo gave him the nickname Mappa Douji (麻葉 童子), based on an alternate reading of the kanji for "Asaha" after noting the similarity between Asaha's and Asanoha's names. The demon persuaded Asaha to forget his vengeance towards humans and rather enjoy the aspects of life. Ohachiyo taught him things such as the skill of fishing, the sweetness of candy, the names of different song birds, and most importantly the ability of Reishi (that allows one to read the mind of others) and with that he started to have a peaceful life.

Hao followed his word and lived life with a smile, for a moment at least. However, when a guard apparently heard Hao conversing with himself at night, he immediately suspected Hao of being a demon, and reported to Monk Densen, a known exorcist. Densen proved to be a fraud, and was easily overpowered, however this battle also proved to be a breaking point in Hao's path to evil. Hao recognized the man to be the one who killed his mother, and with his first oversoul, performed his first murder. By over depleting his Furyoku, Hao was unable to maintain control of his powers and unintentionally consumed Ohachiyo's power.

With the experience of his childhood, Hao had tasted the power of a Shaman. He proved to be a genius in the divine abilities and his skills flourished with time. He wrote the book called Chō-Senjiryakketsu, detailing advanced Shaman abilities as well as strategies for battle. Hao grew to possess a good nature and he began training to become a onmyōji that eliminated demons. Due his loneliness Hao created an Oni, but that wasn't a problem to him because he had the ability to control demons. During that time Hao met Matamune a stray cat. Hao stated that Matamune was his only true friend, and gave it some of his spiritual energy in the hopes that Matamune would stay with him forever.

Nevertheless, the curse implanted on Hao from Ohachiyo was permanent and eventually drove Hao mad. Hao eventually learns of the Shaman King, and came to believe it is the key to cleansing the world of non-shamans, which he felt were defiling the natural world. During the tournament he also fought and killed Pascal Avaf. His plans were discovered and the Asakura clan stood against him and managed to kill him.

Second Life
However, Hao's Yin-Yang jutsu, the mastery of the five elements of nature (fire, metal, wood, earth, water), prevented his permanent death as he could now control the circumstances of his reincarnation. He was able to gain the ability to control his soul using the ritual of Taizan Kuzun, one of the greatest and most esoteric of Onmyodo arts, and an old name for the god of the underworld. Though Taizan Kuzun could only be reached by getting past the seventy five Lords of Hell, succeeding in making a contract with him gives one the ability to resurrect the dead or reincarnate themselves at will. The fact that Hao was able to perform this act as a living human being is a testament to his power, given that not even ghosts can reach Taizan Kuzun.

Hao then chose to be reincarnated as a Patch Tribe member, the ones that organized the Shaman King Tournament, and then he stole the Spirit of Fire from the Patch tribe. During this time he also had a wife and a child. With his new guardian ghost, Hao conquered many enemies with ease, including the Five Seminoa Warriors, who after hearing his goals decided stop him.

He once again projected his idea of a Shaman world, but was rejected by the shamans he was trying to promote. He again had the same plans of conquering the world and killing all humans, but he was stopped by Asakura Yohken and Matamune. Despite the fact that he died before becoming Shaman King, he achieved his goal of capturing the legendary Spirit of Fire for use as his guardian ghost in his next life. The wife and child he left behind were about to be killed, when the Patch Tribe realized that they were now missing a priest, so they allowed both of them to live in order to keep the line of Patch Priests. As a result, several generations later Silva of the Ten Patch Officiants was born from the same lineage of Patch Hao.

Past
After being killed as Patch Hao he chose to be reborn into his original bloodline to become stronger. His actions were foreseen by Asakura Yohmei and it was decided that Hao should be killed upon his rebirth. However, when Yohmei was about to strike the infant he hesitated, and that was enough for Hao to summon the Spirit of Fire. Mikihisa placed himself in the way after Hao tried to kill Yohmei with a punch, and got badly burned in the process. Hao then told Keiko to stay still as he did not wish his important other half to die before being born. With these words he laughed and disappeared.

After escaping the Asakura family he was apparently raised by Brocken Meyer. When he was five or six, he and Brocken left their home looking for followers. Wherever Hao went, he left a path of destruction in his wake. He killed Lyserg's parents when they recognized him as an great evil and tried to stop him, maimed Cebin Mendel for no reason, killing military units when he was looking for Mohamed Tabarsi. He also destroyed the church-orphanage home of Marco Lasso and killed his entire family. Soon, already at the age of 8, Hao had gathered himself an incredible amount of followers that he would teach many of his own personal techniques, such as the Fumon Tonkou.

Shaman Fights Second Round
Hao watches Yoh in his first match and is impressed by his new oversoul: Spirit of the Sword and especially how quickly he was able to master in a mere month. He then leaves to follow Ren out of the stadium. Ren notices this and tells Hao to stop following him. Hao then offers Ren a chance join his group but he declines and promptly attacks Hao. Hao blocks his halberd so easily and quickly, reducing it into ashes. He leaves for his own match while Ren is shocked by Hao's strength and returns to the stadium to learn more about Hao.

Hao's team - Hoshi-gumi consists of himself, Luchist and Opacho. Hoshi-gumi is to fight one of the X-law teams. Before the match begins, Hao tells Opacho and Luchist to leave the ring so he can face them all at once by himself. Knowing that they will lose, the X-laws decide to fight Hao one on one so that the other shamans can learn more about Hao. In a single move, Hao quickly summons the Spirit of Fire and kills two of the X-laws. The third X-law is being crushed by the Spirit of Fire. Hao later reveals that his spirit medium is the air itself. Hao admits this to be the case as what else would be a better medium of fire. Marco is furious as it shows that Hao doesn't care if anyone knows this secret and he is mocking the sacrifices of the X-laws. However the X-law surprises Hao with a special prototype grenade and with it, he can vaporise every molecule of oxygen in the ring.

Fortunately, the forcefield around the ring takes the full blast of the explosion and it appears that Hao was destroyed. As the smoke clears, Hao is still standing but the Spirit of Fire has now become water. With his knowledge of the elements, Hao converted the Spirit of Fire into water to shield himself. As a reward for their bravery, Hao gives the X-laws the honour of being consumed by the Spirit of Fire to enable it to become stronger.

When Hao learns that Yoh is leaving the Shaman Fight, he threatens to kill the Golem and the children unless Yoh returns to the competition. Hao then instructs Luchist to help Yoh take down the X-laws. After that, Hao watches Team Ren fight one of the Gandhara teams and realises that Horohoro's real name is Usui Horokrew. Hao leaves for his base and begins the Star Festival. He then orders his group to foil Gandhara's plan to create the "Five Warriors". On his own, members of the X-law use a secret satellite to fire a beam to destroy him. This fails when Hao reveals his armoured oversoul which protects him. The Spirit of Fire then completely destroys their souls.

Hao goes to the area where Marco and Jeanne are and meets Anna there. The two fight and Hao is disappointed by Anna's strength. Anna then uses a curse reflection to hurt Hao, promptly Hao to unleash his Armoured Oversoul: the Raven. Hana-gumi arrive to the battle as ghosts and asked if Hao is just using them. Hao reveals the truth and attempts to absorb their souls but Anna uses one of Hao's old spirits to save them. He then finds Yoh with them and settles down to have coffee with Yoh.

He then leaves when he senses Yohken's presence in Yoh's mind. Hao is then seen in a hotspring during the fight between Team Ren and Funbari Hot Springs. Hao hears through the radio that apparently he has no friends, shocking everyone. Hao reveals that this thought was in Yoh's head the entire time. He also learns of the new technique Yoh learnt in Hell.

Invading the Plants
After the end of the Second Rounds of the Shaman Fights the Patch brought Team "Hoshi-Gumi", Team "The Ren", Team "Funbari Onsen", and Team "X-I" to the Continent of Mu, where the third and final rounds would be held. But instead of continuing the competition, the other three teams forfeited, thus making Hao the new Shaman King. Lip and Rap then proceeded to lead him through the Plants to the Kings Sanctuary where Hao would sleep a pseudo like death while being united with Great Spirit. When he finally awakens he sends a message to the Oracle Bells that reads ''"'so small". ''

He effortlessly kills everyone with a simple glance, excluding Rutherfor, Opacho and Yoh. Opacho commented that the Hao she knew wasn't here anymore and Yoh was able to deduce that Hao was controling his body even though his spirit had already moved on as the Shaman King. Yoh then states that this Hao is nothing but a walking corpse and decapitates it. Hao however doesn't die most likely due to being omnipotent after his merge with the Great Spirit.

After he grins, Yoh's soul and Amidamaru are seen being absorbed by Hao. When Yoh wakes up, he realises he must be inside the Great Spirit and Hao appears, revealing that he's actually inside him and in the highest society of the Great Spirit, the society of the Shaman King where only people Hao wishes to enter may come. The two start a conversation during which Yoh reveals that he too dislikes humans because they really are destroying the Earth. But he also admits that he could never go as far as to kill them, so Hao orders him to leave. Somehow Yoh isn't banished and Tao Ren, Lyserg Diethel, Chocolove McDonell and Usui Horokeu appear too. Then a fierce battle between the Five Elemental Warriors and the Shaman King begins.

The battle is so evenly matched that the fight ends in a complete stalemate until Hao reveals that the fight was merely his preparations for their defeat and creates a supernova that developes into a black hole. As the five are being dragged in the Soul Train appears out of nowhere, anchoring the five. Onboard are all the people Hao killed when he became king, as well as the dead family members and friends of the Five Elemental Warriors. Yoh finally manages to calm Hao by letting Opacho jump into a black hole, which Hao stops immediately because of the bond between them.

Hao realizes that his quest was not for what he has become but for something else that he could not remember. The Asakura family says that his quest started because of his mother. Yoh finally knows what Hao is after and tells him that his mother was always beside him as a ghost. Hao sees that his mother could have been his guardian ghost and oversoul but he was so blinded by his quest that he could not see the truth. When his mother arrives on the scene Hao appears overjoyed to see her again, even though she slaps him for all that he had done and embarrasses him in front of everyone. Afterwards, he lets everyone return to Earth, but tells Yoh that he still hates humans, but will let them sort out their problems before he passes judgement, and not to be so impertinent.

Funbari no Uta
At the end of the series, it shows Hao watching over Yoh and his friends happily, implying that he finally let go of his hatred and accepted his role as Shaman King.

Anime/Manga Difference
Very little is told of his past in the anime, only how he was reincarnated and that he stole the Spirit of Fire. Also because Asakura Yohken and Matamune are manga characters only it is never mentioned who precisely killed him, only that it was an unnamed Asakura and that it was done while he was sealed with the 1080 Prayer Beads. Also he shows a lot more interest in joining with Yoh in the anime, and far less in the manga.

In the anime he is played straight as the villain, being cruel, uncaring, and deceitful (in the way that he even smiles when maiming enemies and has no problem sacrificing his followers). However, in the manga he starts out this way, but is eventually revealed to be more of the 'Tragic Villain' variety. This is backed up by Manta's dream of Hao being a Princess who needed to be "freed".

In the anime, he keeps the Spirit of Fire and has it devour the Great Spirit to gain its power instead of actually winning the tournament and the Great Spirit as he does in the manga.

Trivia

 * Silva, being the descendant of the Patch Hao, bears a great resemblance to him.
 * According to Marco of the X-Laws, over 80% of the contestants in the Shaman Tournament are related to Hao in some way.
 * Hao seems to be based off the historical person of Abe no Seimei, the most powerful Onmyoji living during the Heian era.