Shikigami

"Shikigami" (式神) are a kind of spirit summoned to serve a practitioner of "onmyōdō", much like a western familiar. "Shikigami" cannot be seen by most people, but according to the Heian period "onmyōji" who were said to control them, "shikigami" often looked something like a child-sized "oni" demon. Although invisible, "shikigami" supposedly could, at the "onmyōji's" command, take a variety of human or animal forms, possess or bewitch people, and even cause bodily harm or death.

The famous "onmyōji" Abe no Seimei was believed to be particularly skilled at manipulating "shikigami", and even had them performing odd jobs around the house. The Twelve Heavenly Generals were said to be among the "shikigami" that he employed.

References in anime and manga

*In manga series such as "Yami no Matsuei", "" and many others, "shikigami" are depicted as magical servants made from folded or cut paper.

*In the anime OVA "Doomed Megalopolis" (an adaptation of the novel "Teito Monogatari"), the evil "onmyōji", Kato Yasunori, is constantly seen summoning hundreds of black "shikigami" to perform his bidding.

*In the anime series "Shaman King", the grandfather of Yoh Asakura, Yohmei Asakura, utilizes sprite-like "shikigami" resembling small Totoro using tree leaves as mediums for them. Hao Asakura owns two oni-like "shikigami", Zenki and Gouki, who are later on used by Anna Kyoyama after she is able to tame the two.

*In "Zenki", Zenki and Gouki were shikigami of Ozunu Enno, the ancestor of Chiaki Enno, the protagonist. In the series itself, the two act as shikigami for Chiaki.

*Subaru Sumeragi and Seishirō Sakurazuka, onmyōji from "Tokyo Babylon" and "X/1999", employ "shikigami" as summoned spies and also to spiritually attack opponents.

*Shikigami feature heavily in the manga/anime series "InuYasha". Kikyo creates three "shikigami" when she is poisoned and needs to bide time to find a way to recover. Two of her "shikigami" take on the form of two girls, Kochō and Asuka, and the third one is a replica of herself. Another character in the series, Tsubaki, creates several "shikigami" as well. Kururugi from the video game "Inuyasha: The Cursed Mask" uses "shikigami" as weapons, to heal, and to defend.

*Maggie Mui in the anime "Read or Die": the TV, the middle sister of the three Paper Sisters, creates paper monsters to act as weapons and tools; they are sometimes referred to as "shikigami".

*The anime "Onmyou Taisenki" revolves around the use of "shikigami" as spirits or fallen deities summoned to fight each other.

*The "Touhou" game "Perfect Cherry Blossom" contains a boss who is a "shikigami", and another who is the "shikigami" of that "shikigami".

*Shikigami along with "Shikiouji" appear several times in the Japanese video game series "Megami Tensei".

*The paper birds in the Hayao Miyazaki movie "Spirited Away", are also "shikigami".

*In Japanese anime and manga "Ghost Sweeper Mikami", Meiko Rokudō (六道 冥子), a sweet and innocent but extremely powerful teenage girl, directly controls twelve "shikigami".

*In the video game "", "shikigami" take on the appearance of paper-like floating spirits.

*In the Japanese anime and light novel series "Rental Magica", Nekoyashiki uses four "shikigami" which take the form of cats.

*In the video game "Tales of Symphonia", the character Sheena Fujibayashi fights alongside "shikigami" when faced as an opponent by the player.

*In the anime "Saiyuki", the four protagonists fight a "shikigami" that appears to be a giant crab with a "Sanskrit" character on its chest.

*In the anime "Ghost Hunt", "Koujo Lin" is a "onmyōdō" and he has many "shikigami".

*In the anime "", Eutus has a "shikigami" serving him. At one time he said he dozens helping him, but turned almost all of them off because they were too noisy.

*In the anime & manga, "Moon Phase" (aka "Tsukuyomi - Moon Phase"), the vampire girl, Hazuki has a "shikigami" by the name of Haiji. This information is according to AnimeNfo.com & the Moon Phase anime DVD set; Vol. 2.

Other literary references

*In several of Laurence Yep's books (most notably the Tiger's Apprentice series), the antagonists use monsters that, when killed, turn into paper dolls.

References

*cite book
last = Mizuki
first = Shigeru
authorlink = Mizuki Shigeru
title = Mujara 3: Kinki-hen
publisher = Soft Garage
date = 2003
location = Tokyo
pages = p. 61
id = ISBN 4861330068