Usui Horokeu

Usui Horokeu(碓氷ホロケウ, Usui Horokeu) nicknamed "Horohoro"(ホロホロ, Horohoro) is a fictional character in the manga and anime series Shaman King. He is part of the Ainu Tribe, the son of Usui Lycan and brother of Usui Pirika. During the second round of the shaman fights he forms Team "The Ren" together with Chocolove McDonell and Tao Ren.

Appearance
Horohoro is a slightly taller boy: He is 5' 7" and weighs 142 lbs. He is most commonly seen wearing a white and blue skiing outfit, dark blue shorts and skiing shoes that can be attached to his snowboard. He has long light sky blue hair that when tied together with his head band, that has Ainu styled patterns on them, sticks up in spikes.

His street clothes are a plain white shirt, shorts, and tennis shoes. He also wears a towel as a headband. He usually carries his snowboard and all of his personal belongings in a bag on his back.

When he was using his new medium he wore his new battle outfit, sewn and given to him by Usui Pirika, consisting of a black headband, black vest, black shorts, black gloves and black boots, with a blue lining, all with red Ainu markings. He also wears an open sleeveless jacket with blue lining and Ainu styled patterns. He has black shorts tied with a white band. The markings on his headband and boots are called: "Morew-siriki" and "Ay-us-siriki". The outfit is used by Ainu for hunts.

Personality
Horohoro is good nature and cheerful, but he gets serious in dangerous situations. He constantly argues with his teammate Tao Ren and they don't seem to get along at all. However, it is shown that he really does care for him when he tells Yoh that if he can't save Ren, as his friend, Horohoro would never forgive him. Horohoro is also very secretive about his past not willing to talk about it and became visibly enraged when Kalim called him by his birth name. In addition, Horohoro can also get very competitive, even going so far as to turn Ryu's arms to ice and shatter them during the fight between Team "The Ren" and Team "Funbari Onsen". Opacho, while reading his mind, has called him a wolf.

Horohoro was taught from a young age to respect and admire nature. He is very proud of his Ainu heritage and is willing to help any living being. His obsession with nature has helped him take on many along his way and has even saved nature in a national park.

Horohoro can be a very responsible person too. For he can take care of himself and his sister on his own. He seems to have a bit of a crush on Iron Maiden Jeanne showing every time she mostly appears, he yells out "Maiden-chan" and blushes at the same time. He is also a very sensitive guy that can easily be provoked and his moods change quickly. During the final part of the shaman king tournament he changed radically to a very serious fighter with little joy during a fight but when he was not in combat he was joking and very jovial.

Abilities and Powers
He is quite crafty, being able to carve and made himself a snowboard out of wood with Ainu Symbols on it. He is also able to makes small trinkets that he sell in order to survive.

While fighting his way through the Plants, Kyōyama Anna looked through the Furyoku values of Horohoro and the others. There it is revealed that his Furyoku is about 120,000.

During the second round of the Shaman Fights, Gandhara determines that he is one of the Five Elemental Warriors and gains the Spirit of Rain, that according to Pascal Avaf.

Spirit

 * See More: Kororo | Spirit of Rain

His guardian ghost is Kororo(氷;Kōri meaning ice;Corey in the English anime), a small nature spirit.

For his first over soul he channels Kororo into his snowboard. The snowboard sprouts Kororo's eyes and mouth and is covered in a blue aura. He can also attach his snowboard over soul to his arm and use an attack called the Nipopo Punch. Horohoro mainly uses his over soul to freeze water vapor into ice and use it to attack his opponents. He later forms a new over soul by channeling Kororo into an Ikupasuy given to him by Pirika. The oversoul creates an icy blue shield with eyes and six blades.

He later develops an armor over soul called the Nipopo Gauntlets after being taught by Pascal Avaf. This over souls can manipulate moisture in the air so intensely that it can cause limbs or an entire body to shatter in the blink of an eye.

Horohoro's attacks with this over souls are Harakihoku: Wose(Left Husband: Little Regret) in which he punches the air with his left gauntlet freezing solid and then shattering anything that is in the linear path of the hand even if out of arms reach, Shimonmataki: Rupushikateku(Right Wife: Freezing Hands) in which Horohoro freezes and shatters anything he touches with the right gauntlet but this is a defensive technique, and Shushu Waki: Kamuiranke Opukeni(Howling Wind: The fist that god offered) an offensive version of the previous technique in which Horohoro punches the target and flash freezes them at the same time which causes them to shatter making this his most powerful attack.

Past
Born Usui Horokeu on November 27, 1985. Horohoro is an Ainu from Hokkaidō, a prefecture in Japan. He was raised by his tribe to be the one that participated in the Shaman Fights to save their village. As part of this goal, he intends to plant a vast field of Butterbur. He was raised with the believe that the strongest prey on the weakest.

When Horohoro was a child, a new girl named Damuko moved to the small village he lived in. Her family had moved there because her father was constructing a dam that would eventually destroy everything in the area thus making her shunned by all. Being lonely like Horohoro, she wanted to become friends with him and even gave him his nickname Horohoro, saying that Usui-Kun didn't sound good and that Horokeu was to hard to pronounce. However, the Ainu tribe Elder forbid that Horohoro to be with her. Horohoro stopped talking to her and Damuko did not know why. One year later, after following Horohoro into the mountains Damuko died by exposure to the elements though the rest of the village people believed that she died in an accident in the woods. Horohoro blamed himself for killing her and never forgave himself. Sometime later he met Kororo, not knowing it was his old school friend and made her his spirit ally.

Shaman Fights First Round
After the destiny star was seen he came to Tokyo in order to participate in the Shaman Fight. He was tested by Kalim of the Ten Patch Officiants and won his Oracle Bell which a little while later revealed that he would fight against Asakura Yoh. The fight would take place at the famous Sunshine 60 building in Ikebukuro. Horohoro dropped sixty stories to meet Yoh. Horohoro was rather taken back by Anna's engagement to Yoh and believing Manta was a Koro Pokurru. He attacked Yoh just before the match and the the bell beeped. The battle begins.

Horohoro launches attack after attack but Yoh blocks one asking what horohoro's dream is. Horohoro responds by saying that he wants to build a massive Butterbur field. Yoh cries and considers forfeiture but Anna knocks Yoh back to his senses. Horohoro wonders what to do next but decides on attacking but is stopped at everything he does. Horohoro uses a massive avalanche and Yoh goes to full power and they clash. Horohoro thinks he has won but Yoh busts out and strikes him winning the match.

Horohoro is seen at the celebration party for Yoh and enjoys himself for awhile. Horohoro's sister Pirika shows up and nets him. Horohoro says he wants an another crack at Yoh and they leave. Horohoro somehow wins two matches and goes to opening ceremony. He watches Yoh and Tao Ren tie and the gang celebrate their entrance into the second rounds.

When Ren was captured by his father Horohoro went to China to rescue him. The gang entered the Tao compound and were immediately attacked by Yuan bodyguards. The zombie cut Ryu's hair in half and Horohoro moves the gang to safety. The zombie with the elephant legs jumps and Horohoro hits him with the Nipopo Punch freezes and kills it. The zombie with the cheetah legs appears behind him and Ryu cuts it down. Horohoro tells Yoh to move on and they will deal with what is left. The two quickly take out two more zombies but the final zombie defeats them with little problem and Horohoro is nearly thrown through a wall and is knocked out. Pyron takes care of it. Horohoro gets up and the gang moves on. The gang find Yuan and they attack with Horohoro freezing an arm but is knocked out. the entire gang gets knocked out but they get back up and continue fighting. Ren defeats his father. Horohoro then heads home and is put up in a hotel.

Horohoro relaxes before the next round and his sister gives him a Ainu prayer stick. He leaves to go to the military base with Yoh. Hao shows up and hits him fast and they get on the plane.

Traveling Through America
Horohoro is dumped on route 66 with Ren, Ryu, and Yoh. Ryu summons Billy and they get to the next town. Horohoro experiences the Patch Hao's past. When three shamans from the fight appear he knocks them out easily. The gang goes to a hotel and stays the night. The next day they meet a young boy named Lyserg Diethel. After a shuffle between Lyserg and Horohoro, he prepares his snowboard for an attack against Lyserg, to which Lyserg shows off his over soul and strikes Horohoro, who barely dodges. Suddenly appearing in front of Lyserg, Horohoro reveals his own Over Soul, but the Pendulum Over Soul appears next to him and suddenly its tip is right at his face. Ren prepares to cut the wire with his own fully charged Over Soul, but Lyserg easily incapacitates both Ren and Horohoro by cutting them with the wire and crushing their mediums. After a short fight, Yoh gets Lyserg to join them.

A few days later he has his snowboard fixed and Horohoro flies off a mountain, but with no over soul. He is found by the park ranger Bluebell and he spends the the next three days unconscious. Horohoro wakes up and thinks he had a dream then he looks at what is around him and yells "Where the heck am I!?". Bluebell tells him he has been out for three days and Horohoro leaves. Bluebell fires her gun at him explaining why he should not go out and Horohoro preaches some things about his Ainu heritage. Horohoro eats dinner at her place and she says she will drive him to town the next day.

Bluebell goes upstairs to sleep but Horohoro has other plans. He changes his battle costume, grabs his new Prayer stick and goes out in the forest. Horohoro finds Apollo the bear that bluebell has raised from a cub. Bluebell arrives on scene by hitting Horohoro with her car. She pleads with Horohoro to get in the car and pretend nothing happened, but Horohoro refuses and is smacked around by Apollo. Bluebell screams that he stop but Horohoro says that her screaming is upsetting Apollo more. He explains that helping other creatures is a good thing but there has to be a limit on wild animals. Apollo is so dangerous because he was marked with human scent and that could hurt since he could not go back to the wild or stay with the human population. Hearing this Bluebell understands her actions in the past.

Horohoro pours a drink for him but Apollo is shot, killing the once noble creature. Poachers come to take their prize but they run at the sight of bluebell. Horohoro tells them to take the bear for food but the poachers say they did it for sport. Bluebell runs toward them with her gun loaded but Horohoro is faster, angered by the hunters disregard for nature and for killing the bear. The poachers fire and hit Horohoro but he gets back up. The bullets are useless since Horohoro iced over his body and the bullets drop harmlessly to the ground. Horohoro preaches that a animal being killed without being put to good use existed for nothing and that they will pay. Horohoro activates his new prayer stick and freezes the entire forest behind them. He then leaves, thanking Kororo for the job done and spares the poachers from death.

Bluebell and Horohoro bury Apollo and says a prayer for him and he leaves with a new passion to be king. The next day Horohoro finds the group eating lunch and he has a new attitude be more calm and friendly. They move on to Patch village with Ren beating Horohoro up for his new attitude. They make it to village and encounter Hao's followers. Horohoro stands back most of the time for Ryu and Boris' fight but freezes the blood spikes that Boris uses. The group enters the Patch village knowing something will be coming.

Invading the Plants
When at the plants he fought in every battle against the priests though he could not win, he but was able to stall them enough to allow the others to defeat them. He and Ren were killed by Bron in the Marsh Plant, but both were brought back by Iron Maiden Jeanne. When they reached the, Grassland plant he fought against Kalim himself using his armor over soul in the process but was utterly defeated. Despite this, Kalim still offers them to rest as they were all weak, something all of them accept.

The next day Kalim suddenly appears before the group and after a small conversation he quickly creates his Over Soul. Horohoro, with a deviant smile, creates his own Over Soul and slams the fists together to attack Kalim, showering him with a hail of huge icicles and slowly freezes Kalim.

However Kalim just notes that Horohoro is still not fighting at his full strength and charges towards Horohoro, crushing all of his ice and Over Soul. He tells him to reveal his true self, something Horohoro has never done. Calling him by his birth name Usui Horokeu, Horohoro becomes angry and proclaims how he threw it away a long time ago calling it a name of a bastard who would kill the only girl he loved.

Horohoro then tells the tale about a girl named Kurobe Tamiko that he befriended in his childhood, and also gave him his nickname Horohoro, but was forced abandon by his village elder, because her father was building a dam that would take away the land and later got her killed. He then tells that his reason for training and calls himself pathetic. He punches Kalim and wants to know what Kalim now thinks about him. Kalim only laughs and calls it quite fine, saying that thanks to him he can now fight with his full heart as well. This revelation however causes Kororo to reveal her true form as Kurobe Tamiko who reveals how she died but still wanted to stay in this world and was offered to become a Koropokkuru by Gororo in order to stay in this world. Horohoro thanks Kalim for making this happen and somehow manages to defeat Kalim. Kalim's body is buried in his plant with a cross and Kalim's cow skull as an memorial to him. After the battle Horohoro is still shocked at what he did and Kororo's true form. The gang moves on to the next plant.

As the group finally arrives at the 10th and final "Plant of the Universe" they realize that there is no oxygen and no gravity and begin to wonder how they are supposed to fight in there. At first Lyserg suggest that they all protect themselves with their own personal O.S. but Ryu suddenly interrupts and suggest that they all use the heads of his O.S. Yamato No Orochi so that the rest can fight at full strength. As Ren questions the responsibility he would suddenly have he says that he wants to be useful too as the seven is currently his best place. Even though they are able to fight at their full strenght they are still beaten by Rutherfor until Yoh nullify her Over Soul.

When Hao finally awakens he sends a message to the Oracle Bells that reads "'so small" He arrives at the final plant and effortlessly kills everyone with a simple glance, excluding Rutherfor, Opacho and Yoh. After Hao attempts to banish Yoh from his area in the Great Spirit Ren, Lyserg, Chocolove and Horohoro appear within it, with the Five Grand Elemental Spirits. A fierce battle between the 5 Elemental Warriors and the Shaman King begins.

In the end Hao reveals that he was merely preparing for their end and use the Great Spirit to destroy a sun and create a black hole that almost sucks in the Five Warriors until the Soul Train arrives and anchors everyone. Hao is eventually discouraged from his plan of destroying humanity when his mother arrives and everyone is send back..

Funbari no Uta
In the seven years after the Shaman Tournament, Horohoro graduates from High School and learns about farming and agriculture. He seems to have begun working on creating a field of butterbur with his own hands and powers with his sister Pirika, though she is more interested in her boyfriend. He also fights against illegal logging companies. Horohoro have even created a blue candy-flavored Fresh Marimo ball, though it does not sell well.

When he arrives at the Funbari ga Oka train station he scares Asakura Hana who punches him in the face in return. He is reprimanded by Chocolove and Lyserg who arrive at the same time. He like the others is shocked to see Ren arrive in a Horse Carriage and later in the cafe he wonders who is the mother of Ren's son, Tao Men. Lyserg hint at it by pointing out the boy's features and his name, though he is interrupted by Ryu who announce that Yoh and Anna is delayed. After remembering their final promise to Hao, Yoh and Anna finally arrive and the group head to the party at the Funbari Onsen where he comes into a fight with Ren. After the party is over he is seen lying passed out on the table telling Hana to calm down when he yells at them.

Anime/Manga Difference
In the English anime, his real name is Horohoro but he prefers to be called Trey Racer. In the manga and Japanese anime, his real name is Usui Horokeu(碓氷ホロケウ) and Horohoro is a nickname. In the English anime, he is described as from "the Northern Woods" instead of from Hokkaidō. In the manga he gains a different battle uniform during his time in America.

Trivia

 * His birth name, "Horokeu", means wolf in Ainu language.


 * Horokeu's nickname Horohoro sounds and is spelled (in Katakana) like "boroboro" which means "crap". Characters mispronouncing/misspelling his name is a running gag in the series.


 * In the original Funbari no Uta miniseries Horohoro's hair is loose and let down. However, in the Visionz pages his hair is now naturally spiked, without a headband to hold it up.