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Hao Asakura

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Hao Asakura (麻倉葉王 Asakura Hao, also written as ハオ Hao), known as Zeke Asakura in the English anime, is a fictional character in the anime and manga series Shaman King.

Hao Asakura
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Hao Asakura


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[Spoiler warningSpoiler warning]: Plot and/or ending details follow.





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Character

Hao is the main antagonist and the ancestor and twin brother of Yoh Asakura, the main protagonist.  Their ancestor was re-incarnated in Hao. 


A powerful shaman of the Asakura clan, he strived to become Shaman King one thousand years prior to the start of the story.  He had mastered all the arts and techniques of Onmyoudou, including the ability to see the future, use reishi (soul sight), command powerful spirits and allow and control the circumstances of reincarnation.


Hao had the reishi (a form of telepathy that allows the user to see the hearts of others), but he could not control the limit of the power.  Because he lived in a time of war, disease, and famine (the Heian period), he attempted to help others with his powers.  However, he began to see the darker side of human nature as he discovered through his reishi that those he helped were jealous and afraid of his power, and convinced themselves that he was evil.  His heart became consumed with hatred for humanity and began to plot the destruction of humanity by becoming Shaman King. He believes that by doing so, the planet and other animals that humans abused would be saved. In this time, he also allowed people to worship him as god, and appears to have developed an acute superiority complex, believing himself to be superior to everyone;  a delusion made ore dangerous by his ability to back this claim up.


Hao is by far the most powerful and learned shaman who has ever lived. In his original life, he was already the strongest shaman of his day, but since learning the ways of reincarnation, he has become a truly powerful being, his strength many hundred; perhaps many thousand-times greater than his nearest rivals. Both the Shaman Council and his descendant's- in both the Asakura family and Silva's tribe- fear him greatly. They have sought to bar him from the Shaman tournament, but know this is impossible, in part because he distacts the brutal rival Shaman faction the X-Laws, but mainly because if they tried to stop him, they know they would have no way of winning.



History



Hao learns of the Shaman Fight, of which the winner becomes the Shaman King.  He comes to believe it is the key to cleansing the world of non-shaman, which he felt were defiling the natural world.  His plans are discovered and the Asakura clan gathered against him and defeated him.


His mastery of the five elements of nature (fire, water, earth, wood, and spirit) prevented his permanent death as he could now control the circumstances of his reincarnation.  He chose to be reborn 500 years later, in time for the next Shaman Fight.  His new incarnation was as one of the Patch, the clan that organises the Shaman Fight. His eventual descendants include Silva, a distinguished Patch Official who serves as a referee in shaman fights.


He was killed once more, by Asakura Yohken with the assistance of Matamune (his former loyal companion) using the Futsu no mitama(the Antiquity in the English anime), a sword of spirits, and the Senhachijuu (only in the anime), a set of 1080 prayer beads containing powerful spirits of the Asakura family.


Despite the fact he died before becoming Shaman King, he achieved his goal of capturing the legendary Spirit of Fire for use as his guardian spirit in his next life. The Spirit of Fire is one of the five most powerful spirits in the world. (The other four are the wind, earth, rain, and lightning spirits).



About Hao

Hao Asakura likes to watch fights.One day when Yoh's team and the X Laws fought, Chocolove saved Yoh when the X Laws combined their forces while Hao watched again. During the anime, ever since Yoh arrived in America, Hao is always watching him at some point. However it is the fights that the strong shamans and Yoh are in that Hao is most interested.


Hao constantly keeps an eye on Yoh or sends his men or women to do his bidding in an effort to make Yoh stronger so that when he and Yoh "becomes one", Hao won't be pulled back by Yoh's weakness. 


Near the end of the series, there are some diffrences that should be noted: In the Japanese version of the anime, Hao is disgusted with Yoh due to his "Everything will work out" attitude. In addition, he says that he has more than enough power ever since the Spirit of Fire consumed Shamash, so he no longer needs Yoh. However, he still consumes Yoh's soul because he considers him an eyesore. In the English dub, Hao says that Yoh's true purpose is to join forces with him so that they can take the Great Spirits (King of Spirits in the English dub), but since Yoh refuses, he consumes his soul, but not before hinting that he would've spared Yoh had he just "fulfilled his destiny".



Events of Shaman King

Upon Hao's second reincarnation, he chooses to be reborn as a member of the Asakura family once more.  However, his soul ends up splitting in two; the other half becomes Hao's twin brother, Yoh Asakura.  That made both of them the reincarnations of the original Asakura Hao, and it was said since Yoh was in a sense Hao, as the two of them were once one and the same person, he might be the only one able to defeat Hao.


As he is being born into his third incarnation, Yohmei Asakura attempts to assassinate him, but hesitates at the last moment. The moment of hestiation is enough as the Spirit of Fire (Depowered form) appears and takes Hao away forcefully. In the fight that ensues, Mikihisa Asakura, Yoh and Hao's father, is permanently disfigured, and has to wear a mask of the wriath at all times. While Asakuras had failed to prevent Hao from attempting to becoming Shaman King, the birth of Yoh brought hope that Hao would finally be defeated.


In this form, Hao is Yoh's identical twin, who is a smaller part of Hao, and he has regained a body with the powerful blood of the Asakura lineage. His guardian spirit is the Spirit of Fire. However, because of the Spirit's journey back, it lost much of its power, which it regained by comsuming other souls. By the time of the Shaman Fight, he is as powerful, if not more, than he was when stolen from the Patches.



Abilities/Techniques

Note: Because Hao mastered all five elements, he can simply change the Spirit of Fire into any of the other elemental spirits as he wishes. The only reason he uses the Spirit of Fire instead of the others is because he likes fire. The only spirit capable of defeating any one of those five are the great spirits themselves.


Reishi (霊視)
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.


Taizanfukun no Sai (泰山府君ノ祭)
Taizanfukun 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.


Ring of Fire (リング・オブ・ファイアー)
An attack similar to that of Yoh's ShinkkuBuddha Giri (Celestial Slash).



Anime vs Manga






Side Note


Hao's name was changed to Zeke in the English anime in an alteration that was never explained.














 





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