Hoshin Engi Main Antagonists / Characters

A list of the main antagonists of Hoshin Engi.

Watch out for spoilers, especially near the end. Watch out.

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Dakki and Her Sisters

Dakki

Dakki / Dahi

Paopei: Keisei Genjo, Gokashichikinoh, Kinkabo, Unnamed Paopeis, Bankohan (anime only)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dakki.png

Voiced By: Yumi Kakazu (1999 Anime, PS1 Game), Yōko Hikasa (2018 Anime)

Voiced in English By: Megan Shipman

Voiced in Latin American Spanish By: Mayra Arellano

The favorite wife of King Chu, Dakki appears to be a stunningly beautiful and innocent young woman who wants nothing more than to enjoy herself. In reality, she is an ancient fox spirit formerly affiliated with the Kingo Islands who took over the body of a woman brought before King Chu, and used her supernatural skills to gain absolute power. Her backstory reveals that she has been doing that for hundreds of years in order to live in luxury, but lately her powers have increased considerably and her exploits have taken a decidedly vicious turn, as she began to drive the country to the brink of starvation and civil war for no apparent reason. She lives in Choka, the capital of Yin, surrounded by her underlings, for which she throws lavish parties at the cost of the populace.

Adaptational Curves: While she has normal if generous breasts in the manga, in Hakyu Hoshin Engi her boobs are noticeably bigger and fuller. In Gaiden, she shows up with vastly larger breasts and hips but is actually Yozen disguised as her.
Adaptational Wimp: In the first anime where she's nothing more than a barely self-conscious doll used by Genshi Tenson to manipulate historical events. She even goes on a rampage and dies.
Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: The last volume reveals that she had this in mind since Joka showed her the other precursors, merging with the Earth and giving it sentient life. Realizing how petty her conquest for power, beauty and immortality is compared with them, she wished to be like them, to merge with nature and become its protector divinity. But to do so, she will have to do it with Joka's body, making her into more of a Dragon with an Agenda. Despite Joka managing to re-assimilate part of her body after Dakki assimilated it to nature, Dakki gets what she wants. At least she saves Taikoubou's life near the very end and Gaiden reveals that she no longer has a way to interact with the human world.
Asian Fox Spirit: Her true form is that of a nine-tailed fox demon and she's based on one of the best-known of them all, the infamous Chinese empress Daji.
Barrier Warrior: A side effect of her Keisei Genjo (Entrancing World Ritual) is an impregnable barrier which allows her to deflect even blasts from other Super Paopei.
Beauty Is Bad: Nobody in the series can measure up to her in terms of this.
Berserk Button:
- Leading to a Tranquil Fury followed by a Disproportionate Retribution. Threatening to hurt her beloved sisters will make her furious, as Taikobou finds out.
- She also displays Tranquil Fury when Hakuyuukou resists her Temptation spell, and frames him, personally chops him into pieces, and feeds him to his father.
Betty and Veronica: She is Veronica to Empress Kyouhi's Betty for King Chu.
Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Dakki acts like an innocent and fun-loving young woman in front of the Emperor and her minions.
Big Bad: Seems to be this for most of the series - in reality, she is a Dragon with an Agenda for Joka. She is, however, the antagonist of the 1999 anime, in which Joka does not appear.
Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: The redhead of the trio, with Kibi being blonde and Kijin being brunette.
Boobs-and-Butt Pose: Poses like this several times in the manga and in supplementary anime materials.
Breaking the Fourth Wall: Including declaring herself the heroine of the manga, trying and failing to improve her Charm Person, comment her Death by Adaptation and, in Gaiden being aware that she's in a spin-off so she and King Chu can have a party with all her human and Youkai followers.
Card-Carrying Villain: And proud of it. In hindsight, it's an Invoked Trope.
Charm Person: The pheromones emitted by her paopei work like mind control on men, bending them to their will. Women are unaffected, and depending on how strong someone's will is, the influence can be resisted, as proven by Kou Hikou.
Cool Big Sis: For Kibi and Kijin, even though Kibi is older than her.
Dissonant Serenity: Is in turns cheerful and nonchalant about the gruesome executions she orders.
The Ditz: She pretends to be one most of the time, but nobody aside from King Chu buys it. In reality, she is very clever, meticulous and calculated.
Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Dakki may be horrible beyond imagining, but she truly cares about her two sworn sisters Kibi and Kijin, and her feelings are shared by them. Threatening to hurt any of them is the only thing that makes her angry. After becoming one with Earth, one of her last actions before being assimilated is to return Kijin back to life.
Evil Has a Bad Sense of Humor: Especially in the anime.
Evil Redhead: Her hair is always red regardless of the body she inhabits. In Hakyu it's pink instead.
Facial Markings: She has three on her forehead, somewhat similar to a tiara. She has these markings in her fox form as well.
Femme Fatale: A gorgeous, but deadly seductress.
Foe Romance Subtext: With Taikobou. She is shown to be frequently impressed with his intellect and adaptability and enjoys playing mind games with him. It is also heavily hinted that she is attracted to him despite their status as arch-enemies.
Flat Character: In the first anime, since she's just a living puppet made by Genshi Tenson to manipulate historical events.
Foil: To Genshi Tenson: both are extremely powerful sennin who manipulates mortals and sendo alike for their goal, are aware of Joka and are plotting to overthrow it. However, Genshi is an old man, Dakki a beautiful young lady and while Dakki plans to merge with the Earth and follow the steps of the other Ancients, Genshi, the supposedly good guy, is motivated by petty vengeance.
For the Evulz: She looks like this on the outside, but it turns out she's running her own Evil Plan.
Foul Fox: She's an ancient fox spirit who's also a major antagonist, pretending to be innocent but actually being very ruthless and manipulative.
From Nobody to Nightmare: Thanks to her powers, she goes from a simple concubine to a vicious, abusive and monstrous empress who ends up destroying the Yin dynasty and bringing the country to the brink of starvation and despair.
God Save Us from the Queen!: Dakki's supernatural influence over the Emperor has allowed her to drive millions of people to starvation and subject others to gruesome deaths and tortures. She also enjoys driving people to commit suicide, tearing apart families and spitting on everything good and holy.
Gold Digger: She seduced and became the concubine of various Chinese emperors because she loved living in luxury.
Grand Theft Me: Dakki pulls one on Joka's real body.
- Since she needs a new body from time to time, she steals the bodies of those compatible with her. That's how she ends up stealing the real So Dakki's body and using her identity.
Hidden Depths: Her character is incredibly more complex and sophisticated than you're lead to believe, rather than being a morally black villain who does stuff for fun alone. Upon learning of the Ancient ones, she realized how shallow and pointless her actions were.
I Did What I Had to Do: Turns out, this was her true motivation all along. She just enjoyed being a bad guy.
I Have Many Names: We never find out Dakki's real name. Throughout history, she has taken the names of the women she possessed: Bakki, Oushi, Dakki etc.
I Surrender, Suckers: Pulls this with Taikoubou's group on Horai Island when they win the tournament. Despite their suspicion, she doesn't betray them.
I'm a Humanitarian: In one memorable scene, Dakki is shown gorging herself on human remains from the snake pit.
Impossibly Cool Clothes: She wears a new outfit almost every time we see her. Most of what she wears are actually paopei, even the hats!
Karma Houdini: She never gets any comeuppance for the crimes she has committed, though admittedly the same could be said for Fukki and Genshi Tenson themselves. The first anime has her soundly defeated, but then again, the first anime follows a whole different route.
Manipulative Bitch: Toys around with everyone as if they were chess pieces.
More than Mind Control: Dakki has a paopei that gives off pheromones which cause anyone to breathe it to fall madly in love with her and bend to her every whim.
Number Two: She was this to Tsuten Kyoshu back when she was still a sennyo in Kingo Island.
One-Winged Angel: Turns into a fox-like beastwoman in the anime.
Razor Wind: Her Paopei Gokashichikinoh (Five Fires Seven Birds Fan) allows her to attack with rainbow-colored shockwaves.
Sadist: Immensely enjoys torturing people and even builds several torture instruments herself. Even Joka admitted that she overdid it a little.
Say It with Hearts: All her sentences end with hearts.
Parental Substitute: For Ohtenkun. She even calls herself his mother.
Red Eyes, Take Warning: Her eyes are blood red in both the manga and the anime.
The Tease: She enjoys having men worship and desire her, but she never shows sexual interest in anyone outside Taikobou.
Themed Aliases: She uses short, clipped names ending in "i": Bakki, Oushi, Dakki.
Underestimating Badassery: She didn't think that Taikobou, an unknown doushi at the time, would be a danger to her. Cue to Taikobou waltzing in the palace with Dakki's beloved sister as his hostage. Even if she thwarted his plans in the end, he did cause Kijin the great humiliation of reverting to her helpless original form and forced her to spend years in an isolated place to recover.
Unlimited Wardrobe: In the manga. She wears something different almost every time we see her.
Villainous Breakdown: Dakki in the anime goes from a Faux Affably Evil manipulator to a shrieking monstrosity once Shinhoukyou decides to detain her after her resurrection.
Villainous Rescue: As Fukki is about to die alongside Joka, Dakki rescues him.
Wicked Stepmother: She is this for the Emperor's sons, as she is trying to bring down the Yin dynasty.
Would Harm a Child: In the manga, she is responsible for the deaths of countless children through starvation, executions and the raids she ordered. Under her orders, the Yin soldiers murder Ryobou, the young boy who was to become the shell for Fukki's Taikobou half.In the anime, she releases a blast that kills Yin Hon, the emperor's youngest son.

Okijin

Paopei: Shiju Hagoromo

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ou_kijin.png

Voiced By: Ryōka Yuzuki (1999 Anime, PS1 Game)

Voiced in English By: Leah Clark

Voiced in Latin American Spanish By: Circe Luna

Dakki's youngest sworn sister, she is a Jade pipa youkai. Kijin has the unflattering distinction of being the weakest and most impulsive of Dakki's sisters, and this gets her reverted back to her original shape more than once. She uses a poisonous paopei called Shiju Hagoromo, woven from the silk of poison moths by Tsuuten Kyoshu himself.

Boyish Short Hair: She grows it a bit longer later in the manga.
Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Her love and loyalty for Dakki and Kou Kibi are unquestionable.
Flight: A side effect of her paopei allows her to fly.
Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Kijin seems to be more mature and level headed than Kibi, but in the end, Kijin's overconfidence and her well-intended, but poorly executed attempts to aid Dakki end up getting her sister blackmailed, as she and Kibi are Dakki's only known weak points.
Game Face: In her first battle, her hair turns white and she gains odd stone protusions on her ears.
Hot-Blooded: Is quick to get angry, make threats and acts impulsively, with disastrous results.
Licking the Blade: A manga example: during the first confrontation between Taikobo and Okijin, the latter licks the blade of her dagger.
Ms. Fanservice: Not to the extent of Dakki, but she's quite a looker.
Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain: For being a sister of Dakki, Okijin has the misfortune of being defeated by Taikoubou first, and after resurrected, getting blown apart again, this time by Nataku. She recovers in the end, though somewhat pissed off.
It's Personal: She holds a serious grudge against Taikobou, because the defeat she experienced at his hands humiliated her deeply.
Poisoned Weapons: Kijin's paopei, Shiju Hagoromo (Purple Ribboned Cowl), can shed a poisonous mist which expands over a vast area.
Razor Floss: In her second appearence, che can use pipa strings as razor floss to shred to pieces even the likes of Nataku.
Took a Level in Badass: After being powered up by Joka, she becomes strong enough to fight Nataku on equal footing, losing only because she didn't know of the hidden Reijuu, or that he had a Super Paopei.
Villainous Breakdown: When she's about to be defeated a second time, she throws a hysterical fit, declaring her undying hate for Taikoubou.
Weaksauce Weakness: Her mist is flammable, and so she's weak against fire. Semi-averted in the first anime, where she actually weaponizes this to burn her enemies.

Kokibi

Paopei: Nyoi Hagoromo

Voiced By: Chiemi Chiba (1999 Anime, PS1 Game), Yoshino Nanjo (2018 Anime)

Voiced in English By: Sarah Wiedenheft

Voiced in Latin American Spanish By: Claudia Motta

Dakki's other sworn sister, she is a childish and cheerful youkai who loves to play games.

Adaptational Villainy: She's clearly evil in the anime.
Alien Hair: Her hair is tinted green at the ends (red in the anime) and resembles feathers. It is a clue to her true nature, as her youkai form is that of a three headed bird.
Ambiguous Innocence: It's not clear how innocent she actually is. In the anime she's Obviously Evil.
Beware the Silly Ones: Hurt this ditzy and childish youkai and she will make you age backwards until you disappear from existence.
Deer in the Headlights: In the first anime, she's paralyzed when Yin Hon's paopei shows her her true form, and dies when a transformed King Chu crushes her.
Dissonant Serenity: Her default mode.
The Ditz: She's an unintelligent airhead with the emotional maturity of a child, despite being 3,000 years old.
Dumb Blonde: Despite being more than a thousand years old and ridiculously powerful, Kibi's intellect is equal to a nine year old's. Even her older sister Dakki jokingly remarks that she is stupid.
Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Her love and loyalty for Dakki and Okijin are unquestionable, and she seems to genuinely love Suupuushan as well.
Genki Girl: Albeit one who only looks like a girl and is pretty much a psychopath to boot. In the anime at least.
Hero Killer: She technically kills Taikoubou, though Ohtenkun saves him.
Imagination-Based Superpower: Her shapeshifting paopei is based on her imagination, allowing her to transform into or do anything she can imagine; including warping herself away from reality.
Karma Houdini: She's happy to watch people being burned to death and she's the one who helped Dakki make hamburgers out of Ki Shou's son - she never got as much as a slap on the wrist for it.
Moral Myopia: Ko Kibi giving up her hagoromo in exchange for Suupuu's safety and saying "Life cannot be restored." This is the gal who watched with a smile on her face as men burned alive, celebrated the thought of going to war and gleefully helped Dakki make hamburgers out of Ki Shou's son.
Not So Harmless: She appears to be the least threatening of Dakki's sisters, but in reality, she is a terrifyingly powerful youkai, as Taikobou found out.
Say It with Hearts: Appropriately for her, she says it with stars.
Villainous Crush: She is obsessed with Suupuushan and carries a doll resembling him everywhere she goes. Before that, she was obsessed with Kokutenko.
Voluntary Shapeshifting: She and Youzen are the only ones with this ability. She needs her Nyoi Hagoromo (As you Wish Cowl) paopei for that.

Dakki's Servants

Chintou

Paopei: Karyuuhyo

A middle-high-ranking youkai working under Dakki and hopelessly caught in her spell, Chintou is tasked with enslaving some peasants to build a party pagoda that Dakki wanted. He eventually crosses paths with Taikobou, who does his best to protect the villagers and ends up defeating him and claiming his paopei, Karyuuhyo.

Hoist by His Own Petard: His reckless usage of his fire Paopei leds to him accidentally surrounding himself with a ring of scorching hot flames.
Jerkass: Like most youkai, he does not care about humans and orders his soldiers to murder any villager who resists enslavement.
Mook Lieutenant: One of the higher-ranked minions under Dakki's orders.
One-Winged Angel: Turns into a half-youkai form with Creepily Long Arms and legs, along with red eyes.
Precision-Guided Boomerang: His weapons are two arched sticks called Karyuuhyo (Fire Dragon's Dart), which leave trails of fire behind them. The fire produced is hot enough to melt stone.
Starter Villain: The first of Dakki's underlings that Taikobou faces off against. Lampshaded by Taikoubou, who's actually disappointed and even says that Chintou's a small fry name (as the Author apologize all the Chintous in the world).
This Was His True Form: When Taikobou defeats him, he reverts back to his true form, that of a praying mantis. Taikobou then promptly crushes him, sending his soul to the Houshindai.
Villainous Crush: On Dakki. Most of it is artificially induced by her paopei.

Houhitsu and Housou

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/stone_brothers.png

Nicknamed the Stone Brothers, Houhitsu and Houson were two ore youkais trapped under Dakki's control. Originally sent to kidnap the two crown prices of the Yin, they cross paths with Taikobou and are defeated thanks to his wit. At the request of the two princes, Taikobou spares the brothers, who return to living a quiet, normal life free from Dakki's spell.

Ain't Too Proud to Beg: When their body crack and Taikoubou threatens to use Dashinben on them, they actually mutter for mercy. Thankfully, the princes ask for mercy.
Adapted Out: They don't appear in the anime, save for a cameo in Hakyu.
Brainwashed and Crazy: They're actually not bad people, but they become this under the influence of Dakki's spell.
Carry a Big Stick: They fight with clubs, but are even more dangerous unarmed.
Evil All Along: They reach the princes before Kou Hiko's men and trick them into believing that they are their official escort. Once they reach Rintoukan, they reveal their murderous intentions. Subverted once the brainwashing stops.
Logical Weakness: Their stone bodies are hard, but when they're overheated and then splashed with cold water their bodies crack.
Made of Iron: Since they're made of stone, Dashinben and other physical attacks are useless against them.
Manly Tears: They openly weep when the Princes, (the two they tricked, insulted and wanted to kill) save their lives.
Rock Monster: They are both rock youkai. The fact that they are not human plays an important role, as this doesn't register with Taikobou initially, making him reluctant to attack them.
Sibling Team: They always work together.

Kouhei, Koso and Ryono

Paopei: Toumasho (Koso), Unnamed Spear Paopei (Kouhei)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kouhei_koso_ryono.png

Three weak and despicable youkai working under Dakki, they were sent by her to prevent Kou Hikou and his family from leaving the capital. They attempt to gain the upper hand on him by taking his father hostage, but are quickly dispatched by Hiko and his son Tenka.

Bears Are Bad News: Koso is a Panda-based Youkai. He's a murderous brute serving Dakki.
Big, Thin, Short Trio: Kousei is thin, Koso is big and Ryono is short.
Carry a Big Stick: Koso's paopei Toumasho (Demon-melting Pestle) is a giant mallet which can bombard enemies with stone fragments.
Establishing Character Moment: Kouhei's first action on-screen is to casually murder the Commander of Rintoukan Pass.
Even Evil Has Standards: Kouhei claims that he doesn't like the idea of using Kou Hiko's father as an hostage to keep the latter from fighting back.
In the Back: Kouhei tries to spear Kou Tenka while he's talking to Hikou, but is bisected for his trouble.
Facial Markings: Koso has large circles around his eyes while Ryono has markings under his eyes.
Mooks: They are all disposable underlings for Dakki, who sends them there specifically to die.
The Worf Effect: Koso, the largest and meanest paopei-wielding enemy, is the first to be killed by Kou Hiko.

Kohaku

Kokaku

A vegetable Youkai and one of Dakki's servants on Horai Island. Fights Chokei.

Boss-Arena Idiocy: Invoked, Youzen notices that in a limited arena, he cannot take advantage of his plant nature.
Green Thumb: He's a living mass of roots who can expand himself and hide in the dirt.
Logical Weakness: He's severely weakened if separated by his dirt.
Nightmare Face: He has a creepy, frowning face which scares the crap out of Taikoubou.
Self-Duplication: Being a plant, he can spawn clones of himself.
Smug Super: Dismisses Chokei and the Super Paopei Kinben as trash.
When Trees Attack: He's a living plant made mostly of underground roots.

Bazen

A gaseous Youkai and one of Dakki's servants on Horai Island. Fights Youzen.

Boss-Arena Idiocy: As Yozen points out, in an enclosed space and stuck against a master shapeshifter, Bazen has just too many weak points.
Deader than Dead: He's engulfed in Rikukonhan, as a result he's completely destroyed, soul included.
Deadly Gas: He's made of gas, which means he's immune to physical attacks and can kill his opponent in many ways. Deconstructed when Youzen points out that he has just as many weaknesses.
Super Smoke: He's made of gas and thus intangible.

Others

The Signpost of History (SPOILER)

Joka

Paopei: Sangashasshokuzu, Shihoken

The so-called "Signpost of History", a mysterious and all-powerful entity who is secretly manipulating the events of the world. In truth, Joka is an alien who, millennia ago, left her dying planet with a few members of her race. Upon landing on Earth, she realized that it was identical to her home planet and proposed to transform it into a perfect copy. She fought her companions and was sealed away, but she could separate her soul from her body and manipulate history so that she can replicate the exact history of her planet, destroying the world when things go off trail.

She's the one behind Dakki, and the Houshin Project was meant to take her down and get rid of her influence.

Achilles' Heel: She can move her soul freely, but as time passes, her powers grow weaker and she must rest from expedition to expedition.
Ain't Too Proud to Beg: When Fukki is about to kill her with Chusenjin, she begs him to stop.
Big Bad: The real mastermind and villain behind Dakki. The entire manga is a plot to defeat her.
Control Freak: She wants to replicate her original world event by event. The moment something goes awry, she's ready to erase the world and start anew.
Cool Sword: Shihoken, an Oddly Shaped Sword which alters the possibility of something existing or, in laymen terms, makes everything it slices go boom!
Cute Monster Girl: At one point she turns into essentially a gray alien with luscious long hair, eyelashes and visible rouge.
Dark Action Girl: She's much more willing to engage into battle herself, unlike Dakki.
Dark Is Evil: Her Mind Paopei Sangashasshokuzu (Picture of the Ruler of Nature) releases a stream of black snakes that trap the victim in a blank space where one minute outside is an hour inside.
Earth-Shattering Kaboom: She did this plenty of times to correct history.
Faux Affably Evil: When she appears in front of the heroes she's welcoming and polite, to the point of calling them beloved sons. The group calls her on her bullshit and things go south pretty fast.
God Guise: In her "public" appearance before the heroes, she resembles an ancient Chinese goddess in looks, and is named after the actual goddess Nu Wa.
The Grays: Her race is apparently this.
Lack of Empathy: When Youzen and Nento call her out on the many worlds she destroyed, she calmly replies that, as far as she's concerned, the whole thing is an experiment which can either be 0 (failure) or 1 (success). Nothing else matters.
Last of His Kind: Subverted, Fukki is still alive.
Last Request: As she dies, she begs Fukki to join her at least in death.
Logical Weakness: When she's just a wandering soul, she's immune to most attacks, but still vulnerable to paopei which can affect souls.
The Man Behind the Man: She's this to the entire Sennin World and Dakki.
No-Nonsense Nemesis: She has no time nor patience for Fukki's antics.
One-Winged Angel: She manages to recover part of her body in time before Dakki merges with Earth, turning into a shiny silver alien with elongated limbs, neck and cranium.
Our Souls Are Different: She can freely move her soul outside her body, empower people and even split it if necessary.
Out-Gambitted: Dakki beats her to her real body.
Sealed Evil in a Can: Her body is sealed in a special coffin, which is why she asked Dakki to find a way to release her.
Self-Duplication: In the final battle she splits her soul into a small army of clones to fight the heroes.
Sufficiently Advanced Aliens: Her race is one, as well as the true source of the Paopei.
Tears of Joy: She sheds seemingly genuine tears when Fukki appears before her.
Villain Has a Point: She calls Fukki a hypocrite and she's not entirely wrong since he too manipulated people for his plans without remorse.

Characters / Hoshin Engi Main Antagonists

Dakki and Her Sisters

Dakki / Dahi

Paopei: Keisei Genjo, Gokashichikinoh, Kinkabo, Unnamed Paopeis, Bankohan (anime only)