Nichrom

Nichrom of the Ten Patch Officiants (ニクロム) is a fictional character in the manga and anime series of Shaman King.

He is one of the Ten Patch Officiants and is responsible for overseeing the Niles Team, Team "Tsuki-Gumi" and also Faust VIII. He is also one of Hao's followers along with Magna. After his late brother, Chrom of the Ten Patch Officiants was killed by Tao Ren, Nichrom took Chrom's place as a Patch Officiant.

Appearance
Nichrom has messy brown hair that is braided together into a waist-long ponytail in the back. He has orange paint marks under his eyes and wears a simple blue native American headband with two feathers. He wears Native American robes with black patterns, and the silver plate on his chest is shaped like a scorpion stinger.

On his right hand, he wears a thick bracelet, with some sort of scorpion tail attached to it. He also wears a pair of fingerless gloves, with knuckle-braces.

Personality
There isn't a lot said in regards to Nichrom or his personality within the series, but it can easily be deciphered. Nichrom has a wandering and had a short temper which can easily rise up when he was around Tao Ren, especially when concerning the death of his older brother. Normally when he's calm, he is cool headed and very deceptive.

Spirits



 * See More: Yellow Whip | Purple Kick

His guardian ghost Yellow Whip is a scorpion spirit, using the medium of a bracelet seen on his wrist, that has an appendage shaped like a scorpion's tail. While fighting can the scorpion tail be extended to long lengths to attack the opponent with the poisonous stinger from any range. While grasping the opponents, paralyzing them and seizing the opportunity to inject poison in them, just like a real scorpion would do so.

Nichrom also inherited his deceased older brother's guardian ghost Purple Kick. This guardian ghost appears to be a locust spirit, that when materialized provides an incredible boost of strength to Nichrom's legs allowing him to move at extremely high speeds. It is stated by Nichrom that Purple Kick is the fastest of the ten Patch Official's guardian ghosts.

Invading the Plants
When Team "Funbari Onsen", Team "The Ren" and Team "X-I" forfeited the third round of the Shaman Fights, Asakura Hao was automatically declared the new Shaman King, and together with other nine Patch Officiants, Nichrom went to guard his plant of the cave.



When Tao Ren and the remaining three teams reached the 7th Plant of the Cave, Nichrom quickly revealed his spirit and Over Souled Yellow Whip. He told them he was strong and urged the group to attack him together, but Ren only revealed his old weapon and goaded him to attack him alone. Nichrom proceeded to attack Ren with the scorpion tail whip, only to have the tail wrap itself around the arm of Bason and is used to slam Nichrom to the ground and punch him with the massive Over Soul.

Ren proceeds to use 100 % Hyoi-Gattai, to the surprise and shock of Nichrom, to rapidly attack Nichrom with the Zhong Hua Zhan Wu leaving him in a bloody mess with his patch cloak tattered. Walking over to him, Ren pulled Nichrom by his ponytail and kicked him in the chin. Nichrom slowly got up and thinking that Ren was now open for an attack. he, in a state of insanity, he tried to attack Ren yet again, to which Ren easily grabbed the scorpion tail by the braid himself. Ren then tells Nichrom that he should fight with all his might or he will die.

Taking in Ren's words Nichrom throws away his tattered cloak and reveals a new form of Over Soul on his legs, made with the spirit of his deceased brother's Guardian Ghost, Purple Kick. Nichrom thanks Ren for his words and reveal that with this new form of Over Soul he gains an incredible speed and is able to appear behind Ren and then kick him into a wall.



Using the speed, Nichrom charges towards Ren and grabs him with the claw of his Yellow Whip Oversoul while piercing him in the gut with the braid of his scorpion tail. Nichrom reveals to Ren that his body is now dying of a poison that will not disappear as long as he is still alive. Seeing that Nichrom is now going all out, Ren prepares his own Armour Oversoul, calling it his real strength and both of them have one final clash. The result of the fight is not seen, but as Ren is later seen being bandaged up by Asakura Yoh using the ghost of Faust VIII, it would seem that Ren was the winner.

He later appears, together with all the other Patch Priests, within the Great Spirit.

Anime/Manga Difference
In the manga series, Nichrom supervised over Hao's followers, Peyote Diaz, Hang Zang-Ching, and Turbine as they fought with Horohoro, Tao Ren, and Chocolove McDonell, where in the 2001 anime series he does not. Also in the 2001 anime series is Nichrom's Over Soul showed as a long red scorpion stinger. Besides, he never clashes with Ren directly, rather he fights against Silva and Kalim with Zinc. After the final battle, Nichrom is not seen anymore and it is assumed he died in the final battle.

Trivia

 * Like the other Patch Priests his name is derived from an element from the Periodic Table of Elements, his name (Nichrom) derives from nichrome, a non-magnetic alloy of nickel, chromium, and iron.