Shikigami
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In Japanese mythology, Shikigami (式神) are spirits summoned to serve or protect an Onmyoji, much like the western concept of a wizard's familiar. Shinto priests and miko (at least in fiction) also are capable of summoning shikigami.
Shikigami can take the forms of birds or other small animals, and the more powerful of the shikigami can even take possession of a person. The range of abilities possessed by a shikigami is dependant on the Onmyoji's capabilities.
It is said that one can summon up to one or two shikigami at a time. There are legends that the powerful Onmyoji Abe no Seimei is able to summon and use twelve shikigami simultaneously.
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Anime and Manga References
- In manga series such as Yami no Matsuei, Mahou Sensei Negima and many others, shikigami are depicted as magical servants made from folded or cut paper. This is possibly related to ofuda, Shinto talismans made from paper, but it is also a play on the word "shikigami" itself. The second character of "shikigami," which means "god" or "spirit", is pronounced the same as the character for "paper."
- In the anime OVA Doomed Megalopolis (adaption of the novel Teito Monogatari), the evil Onmyoji, Kato Yasunori, is constantly seen summoning hundreds of black shikigami to perform his bidding. In this series, the evil Shikigami are represented as blob-like monstrosities which can morph from one shape to another, or even be sliced in half and still continue functioning as two separate beings.
- In the anime series Shaman King, Hao Asakura owns two shikigami, Zenki and Kouki, who is later on used by Anna Kyoyama after she is able to tame the two. Zenki and Gouki are giant shikagamis; one of them wields an axe, has one eye and is red, the other blue one is holding a shield and has five eyes.
- Both Subaru Sumeragi and Seishirou Sakurazuka, onmyōji from Tokyo Babylon and X/1999, employ shikigami as summoned spies and also to spiritually attack opponants. Subaru's shikigami takes the form of a three headed white crow while Seishiro's is a bird of prey.
- Kikyo of InuYasha 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, which are powerful enough to create entire barriers. They are also able to fly and serve as Kikyo's messengers. Kikyo creates a third shikigami in her image called "Hijiri-sama" (or the Saint) who serves to distract and derail the plans of the antagonist of the story.
- Mizuchi Saiou of Yu-Gi-Oh! GX plays a deck supported by cards based on shikigami.
- In Volume one of DNAngel Yukiru Sugisaki added an extra story in which an eight-year-old girl named Kokoro Nagahara and her older brother Kodama had to summon shikigami in order to protect them from demons. Two shikigami were featured, Kujo, a female shikigami, looked after the house and acts like a mothering figure to both Kodama and Kokoro, while the younger Nishiki is summoned subconsciously when a pupil at Kokoro's school is possessed and tries to kill her.
- The anime Onmyou Taisenki revolves around the use of Shikigami as spirits or fallen deities summoned to fight each other. The main character, Riku Tachibana, has a Shikigami named Byakko no Kogenta, a white tiger spirit.