Characters / Ushio and Tora Heroes

The Character Sheet for Ushio and Tora, focusing on the main characters and their allies. Watch out for unmarked spoilers.

For the villains, go here.

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Main Characters

Tropes applying to both

• Back-to-Back Badasses: Ushio and Tora have been doing this since day one and it's a major factor into just how unstoppable they are together.
• Badass Adorable: Both are badasses and can be surprisingly cute in their awkward and funny moments.
• Bash Brothers: Whenever they stop fighting between them, Ushio and Tora form an awesome duo as they kick youkai ass together.
• Deal with the Devil: Ushio having to work with Tora after he accidentally runs into him, and then the latter's aura attracting nearby demons. Tora planned to betray him and wreak havoc after having been freed, but the power of the spear enables Ushio to become a badass. So much so that Tora agrees to work with him, not wanting to be speared for another few centuries.
• The Dreaded:
  • The Beast Spear and its wielder has this reputation among youkai. And with good reason as it's capable of killing them rather easily and are seen as unstoppable forces.
  • Tora, especially his identity during the first war. "Nagatobimaru" is infamous within the youkai for being such an instrumental figure who helped in making Hakumen flee. Any lesser youkai who had to fight Tora, and know of his previous feats, shiver before their battle.
• Enemy Mine: Ushio often whacks Tora with the Beast Spear to keep him in line, and Tora always makes the excuse that no youkai but him is allowed to eat Ushio, but as the story progresses the two become fast friends and watch each other's back - even while still giving the same excuses as ever.
• Establishing Character Moment: Ushio first meets Tora in the basement of their storehouse, impaled by a spear. Tora stupidly says he'll eat Ushio the moment he's freed from the spear, prompting Ushio to jam it into him even more. This scene shows that both have a comical side and can act in tandem.
• Fire-Forged Friends: Originally, Tora only hangs around Ushio to eat him and he only helps Ushio because the latter forces him to. As they work together to defeat monsters, they end up saving each other several times. Eventually, it becomes obvious they are now friends thanks to their teamwork in battle. Not that Tora wants to admit it.
• Foil: Some of their traits, while contrasting at first, actually complements each other when they fight together.
  • Even if the Beast Spear can move on its own, Ushio's fighting style is mostly limited to melee and physical damage, while Tora can dish out anything (melee, ranged, physical, elemental). However, there are enemies that Tora can't defeat by himself.
  • Individually, they get beaten up by surprise attacks. Together, they cover each other's backs and protect each other if possible.
  • This is best explained by Jie Mei - Ushio is a human who sympathized with, and saved monsters (e.g. Tora, the Kamaitachi trio, Omamori-sama), while Tora is a monster who saved humans (e.g. Ushio, Asako, Mayuko). Seeing the two of them together gives the hope that humans and youkai can join forces to stand against a greater threat.
  • Even if Ushio is the chosen wielder of the Beast Spear, his attacks get anticipated by Hakumen. Only by jamming the spear through Tora's body (hiding the spear's presence from a just-blinded Hakumen) allowed them to finish it with a killing surprise attack.
• Foreshadowing: Ushio has wavy long hair when he enters into the Super Mode granted by the Beast Spear. It's like Tora's own hair. We later find out that those who continually use the Beast Spear become monsters eventually, and Tora's the first one who ever wielded its power.
• Grievous Harm with a Body: Tora has grabbed Ushio and thrown him at youkai as a battle tactic a few times.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: Their relationship evolves into this, though in a vitriolic fashion. Ushio and Tora go everywhere together and have each other's backs no matter what, even if Tora will still come up with the excuse that he's just protecting his prey.
• Interspecies Friendship: The human Ushio and the youkai Tora end up becoming best friends, not that either of them is going to admit it.
• Mayfly–December Friendship: Ushio is a regular teenage boy and Tora is a youkai who has already lived for over a thousand years. After a very rocky start, they develop a Vitriolic Best Buds relationship.
• Meaningful Name: Although it's borderline Punny Name, Ushio and Tora's names are meaningful in the outcome of their journey. Ushitora is the Japanese word for "northeast", which has been considered an unlucky direction since ancient times. And indeed, many hardships befell upon them throughout their journey.
• Mid-Season Upgrade:
  • In Episode 30, Ushio gets the armor that the demons originally meant to give him earlier before Hakumen no Mono's mass Laser-Guided Amnesia attack.
  • Tora also receives some "upgrades" as well, in the form of the Azafuze who allow him to use their powers so that they can take part in the final battle against Hakumen no Mono.
• Name and Name: The two titular characters are also the name of this show.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Ushio's curiosity gets the better of him after he stumbles on a secret passage, and runs into Tora. Though he doesn't free the demon initially, Tora's aura attracts nearby demons which then forces Ushio to release him in order to deal with the new threat emerging. Though this later is Subverted as a case of Because Destiny Says So and turns out to be the right move all along.
• Reverse Psychology: Ushio uses this on Tora to get him to help land the plane after its rear wheels are unable to deploy. He tells Tora he's scared that he might die, prompting Tora to laugh at him. He then says he doesn't fault Tora for not being able to lift a plane up, causing him to do exactly that. Fortunately with his help, they manage to land.
• Running Gag: Ushio and Tora during the more comedic sections often butting heads with each other, usually with the latter trying to eat or kill him. Tora's excuse for accompanying Ushio? So that he could eat the boy when he's vulnerable. But he can't actually bring into himself the thought of harming Ushio, something that a lot of characters notice. However, in episode 7, Tora settles for just eating the sausage that Ushio was planning to. Which then also leads into them fighting with each other.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Much of Ushio and Tora's early fights work in this fashion, as they can barely tolerate each other. As the series moves on, and they learn more about Hakumen no Mono's past and what it plans to do to destroy both humans and youkai, it gradually morphs into Fire-Forged Friends.
• Too Dumb to Live: A slight variation of this is used when Ushio first bumps into Tora. The latter demands he pull the spear out, and when questioned about his newfound freedom, Tora promises to kill him. Ushio jams the spear into him some more, then leaves. And even after he frees Tora, his ability to channel the spear's immense power keeps Tora in line, as he doesn't want to spend more time impaled by that thing.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: Ushio and Tora tease and fight each other all the time, yet they become best friends eventually. Later on, Tora's attempts to eat Ushio are played for their usual bickering rather than serious attempts to kill him.
• The Worf Effect:
  • Ushio suffers this from time to time, usually because he's still new to fighting demons and getting used to his newfound powers. Fortunately, Tora is usually around to help, whether unintentionally, or because he feels he's the only one allowed to eat Ushio, and doesn't want some random demon eating him first.
  • Tora suffers this from Hyou in episode 5. Though he puts up a fierce fight, Hyou still seems to have the upper hand even after a day and night of fighting. Were it not for Ushio begging him to spare Tora because he wasn't the beast that killed Hyou's wife and child, Tora likely would have died there.

Ushio Aotsuki

Click ^here to see what he looks like when using the Beast Spear.

Voiced by: Nozomu Sasaki (OVA), Tasuku Hatanaka (series) (Japanese), Randy Sparks (OVA), David Matranga (series) (English)

The protagonist of the series. His family maintains a temple in Japan, where 500 years ago, his samurai ancestor battled a monster to a standstill, and eventually trapped him against a rock using a cursed spear called the "Beast Spear". One day, Ushio accidentally unsealed the cave the monster was trapped in and ended up releasing him from the Beast Spear. Ushio then names him Tora and together they go to battle evil demons.

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• Accidental Pervert: He accidentally peeps at Saya when she's bathing.
• All-Loving Hero: Ushio is one of the kindest, most compassionate and most forgiving heroes you will ever meet. He will do anything for those he cares about, go to extreme lengths to save strangers and will give second chances to monsters that tried to kill him without a second thought.
• Anguished Declaration of Love: Gets a particularly gut-retching one towards Asako before the final battle especially since she currently doesn't remember him.
• Animal Eyes: His eyes turn like this when he uses the Beast Spear.
• Art Evolution: In-series example; Ushio's art drastically improves from the first volume to the next one we see, in volume 15.
• Badass in Distress: In the H.A.M.M.R. arc, he gets Kidnapped for Experimentation by American scientists and put through painful experiments, including Electric Torture. It's up to Tora and Asako to save him.
• Badass Longcoat: Ushio acquires one on his trip to find out about his mother. Unfortunately, since he got it from a yakuza, it's far too big for him.
• Belligerent Sexual Tension: Ushio and Asako have been butting heads ever since their childhood. Despite their frequent denials, they love each other.
• Berserk Button: He's pissed when the scientists of H.A.M.M.R. treat the Beast Spear as a mere object for experimentation, as Ushio believes they're desecrating the sacrifices of Giryou and Jie Mei who both died to make the spear.
• Big Ol' Eyebrows: He has very thick eyebrows, inherited from his mother, no less.
• Blithe Spirit: Ushio has a strong influence on people and he has a tendency to rush into their lives and change them for the better. When he goes on a journey and he skips school several days, his classmates become depressed without him around as Ushio is the one who lightens up the day for everyone.
• Book Dumb: He does poorly at all school subjects, except for PE. He fries his brain simply trying to solve a math problem.
• Bridal Carry: In Episode 11, Ushio carries Asako in his arms, although the girl is barely awake.
• The Call Knows Where You Live: He initially refuses to take the Beast Spear, partly because of Tora's threat to eat him the moment he's freed, and partly because he really didn't want to do any of that stuff. But after youkai start showing up around their temple, attacks Asako and Mayuko, he's forced to deal with the spear and Tora.
• Can't Bathe Without a Weapon: Ushio never lets go of the Beast Spear, not even when bathing, to Tora's dismay.
• Chekhov's Skill: The focus ability Ushio learns later on quickly becomes relevant when enemies are attacking and even goes on to still be relevant come the final battle.
• Chick Magnet: He has at least four girls attracted to him. With the corollary that it comes in handy later giving him enough girls with connections to him to save him from turning into a beast
• Childhood Friend Romance: Ushio and Asako have known each other since childhood and despite all their bickering, they clearly have feelings for each other.
• Childhood Friends: He has been good friends with Asako and Mayuko since elementary school.
• The Chosen One: He was destined to wield the Beast Spear. It's revealed that Giryou, the blacksmith that created the Beast Spear, chose a time-traveling Ushio, also known as "Tsung Yue", as the rightful owner of the spear from the moment it was created.
• Chronic Hero Syndrome: Ushio will never, ever turn his back on people in trouble. He will do anything he can to help them.
• Clothing Damage: Happens a lot to Ushio simply due to the course of battle.
• Determinator: It takes a lot to make him give up and even then he tends to bounce back. After losing so many lives that he just failed to save, Ushio refuses to let anyone else close to him die on his watch... Especially not the love of his life. This trait is what resonates him to Giryou, the blacksmith of the Beast Spear.
• Dumb Jock: He's an excellent athlete, but gets laughably low grades at every academic subject.
• Et Tu, Brute?: During the final battle, Ushio feels Tora betrayed him when the latter tells him he killed Nagare, something Ushio precisely asked him not to do.
• Friendship Token: Ushio kept certain belongings from a few of those he met as a reminder, such as the toy cellphone of the child at the beach, and even a Cream Bread's wrapper from when Yamanmoto disguised himself as an old man. During the final battle, Ushio hurries back at his home just to ensure that these are safe, much to Tora's surprise.
• Fun T-Shirt: He has a shirt with "Kojiro: What a fucking teacher" on it.
• Get A Hold Of Yourself Man: Asako suspects something is wrong with Ushio in episode 5, but he won't talk about it. So she simply follows him around, and then smacks his head with her bookbag after having enough of his mopiness. She then tells him to stop running away from all of his problems and to take them head on. In this instance, it was due to him lying about Tora being responsible for Hyou's wife and daughter's death. Ushio then has second thoughts about it, admitting later to Hyou that Tora was innocent as he was stuck in the storehouse for 500 years.
• Gonk: Ushio in his regular form is not particularly pleasant to look at, with thick eyebrows and nose, with eyes quite larger than the most cast.
• Go Through Me: Ushio does this for Tora in Episode 5 to stop him from being killed by Hyou.
• Heroic BSoD: Happens to Ushio at the climax when everyone he knows or loves has forgotten him, seemingly betrayed him or seemingly been killed. Then the Beast Spear shatters with its first blow against Hakumen...
• High Hopes, Zero Talent: Ushio is passionate about art and aspires to be a great painter. Unfortunately, his art sucks and no one believes he'll be able to make a living out of it.
• Hilariously Abusive Childhood: Ushio's father constantly insults and beats up him, but Ushio does the same in return so it doesn't come off as abusive as it would normally be.
• Hope Bringer: Ushio brings hope to those around him with his great courage, charisma and strength. This is one of the reasons why Hakumen no Mono views him as a threat and tries to get rid of that hope by having everyone forget about him.
• Ideal Hero: While he has his temper issues, Ushio is heroic, honorable, selfless, honest, always fights to protect others and can't stand things that are wrong and unfair.
• Improvised Weapon: Even without his Beast Spear, he tends to use long objects such as pipes or broomsticks as improvised weapons.
• Incorruptible Pure Pureness: Pure-hearted and incorruptible to a fault. Ushio is actually so pure that Nagare sided with Hakumen no Mono because just looking at Ushio's innocent, trusting eyes was too much of a burden for someone like him.
• It Sucks to Be the Chosen One: Because he's the chosen wielder of the Beast Spear, Ushio has to constantly battle evil monsters that come after him and that's not the worst part. Everyone around him expects him to be the one to defeat the world's greatest evil and force the responsibility of saving the world on him when he's still a kid who never wanted anything to do with any of that in the first place.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's short-tempered, brash and impulsive. In spite of his jerk qualities, he's actually quite friendly, kind, forgiving and polite most of the time.
• Kid Hero: He's the main hero of the story and onlu 14 years old.
• Kidnapped for Experimentation: The H.A.M.M.R. kidnap him to experiment on him and the Beast Spear.
• Kid with the Leash: Ushio keeps Tora at heel with the Beast Spear, as the two begrudgingly cooperate in fighting demons.
• Magnetic Hero: He gains the loyalty of many allies in the course of the series thanks to his heroic deeds.
• Manly Tears: Sheds these from time to time, usually when witnessing tearjerker moments such as:
  • When Jie Mei sacrifices herself to imbue the Beast Spear with the power to defeat Hakumen no Mono.
  • In episode 9 as he relates to Juurou, and attempts to apologize for humanity's actions against them forcing them to move from their homes repeatedly.
• Meaningful Name: His name means "tide", which is fitting for someone as stubborn and nigh unstoppable as him. His mother gave him that name because of the underwater base she's forced to stay in and because she wanted her child to have a strong will that would bend to no one.
• More Teeth than the Osmond Family: His teeth turn beast-like when he uses the Beast Spear.
• Mundane Utility: He uses the Beast Spear to cut sausages, to his father's dismay.
• Ordinary Middle School Student: Ushio lives as a normal middle school student, until one day he releases an ancient youkai from the basement of his house and now has to battle evil monsters on a nearly daily basis.
• Piggyback Cute:
  • Ushio carries Saya on his back after he finds her passing out on the street.
  • Ushio also carries Asako like this in a flashback in episode 11.
• Playing Pictionary: Ushio's drawings are so terrible that people can hardly figure out what they are supposed to be. Only Asako and Mayuko know what Ushio's drawings are supposed to be.
  • One guy thought Ushio's painting of a house with a tree was a fallen Tokyo Tower.
  • After quite a long build-up of the idea that Ushio has been making a portrait of Reiko, the final product looks so cartoonish that Reiko could only laugh in surprise.
• Power Makes Your Hair Grow: When Ushio uses the power of the Beast Spear, it usually results in him growing hair past his legs.
• Ret-Gone: During the final arc, Hakumen no Mono causes his minions to delete all trace of Ushio from everyone's memories, including those he sees everyday or whose life he saved.
• Scars Are Forever:
  • After he gets attacked by Juurou, he gets a little scar on his forehead.
  • He also gets a scar on his left cheek, courtesy of Tora. Though he mentions that it would eventually heal and go away, said scar is still on his face when he goes to school, and is commented on by some of his Mayuko and Asako.
• Sins of Our Fathers: Many youkai come to kill him because he is the son of the Oyakume that youkai despise for getting in their way to kill Hakumen no Mono.
• Stock Shōnen Hero: Ushio is a rash, but kind-hearted and compassionate Kid Hero with a strong sense of justice. He will do anything to help anyone in trouble, be it a stranger or a close one and will show mercy for any of his enemies. He was chosen to be the owner of the Beast Spear who will destroy the world's greatest evil. He lacks the Idiot Hero traits for most of the part, but he is Book Dumb.
• Summon to Hand: As the chosen wielder of the Beast Spear, Ushio can summon it back to him by extending his hand and calling it.
  Come, Beast Spear!
• Taking the Bullet: Done in Episode 5 with Ushio intercepting the attack for a nearly beaten Tora against Hyou.
• Taking You with Me: During the finale of the Lost Gedou storyline, Ushio lets the Lost Gedou possess him, knowing that in doing so it won't flee or split apart like it had been doing previously, then uses every ounce of his willpower to snatch up the Beast Spear and stab himself, killing the Lost Gedou and leaving nothing but a wound that the Beast Spear's powers can easily heal.
• Tell Me About My Mother: Once he finds out his mother is still alive, Ushio asks his father to tell him about her and where she is now. His father refuses to tell him, but once Ushio shows him his resolve, he allows his son to go on a travel to find out the truth himself.
• Terrible Artist: His paintings always turn out pretty awful.
• Traumatic Haircut: When Ushio is completely possessed by the spear, the only way to get him back to normal is for the girls he's saved to comb his long hair, yanking huge strands of it every time.
• Unstoppable Rage: Ushio completely loses it and goes berserk when he finally faces Hakumen no Mono, the monster that screwed up his life and made everyone he cares about forget about him. However, since hatred and rage can't beat Hakumen, the Beast Spear breaks.
• Walking Shirtless Scene: Due to Clothing Damage, Ushio spends most of his Beast Spear-induced fights topless. This is also prominent in official artworks featuring him.
• Weapon Wields You: The Beast Spear is a sentient weapon that can move on its own, which explains why Ushio, an Ordinary High-School Student, instantly gains the necessary prowess to fight monsters whenever he wields it, and why he's just a normal human when he lets go of it. This is best exemplified when the spear automatically stabs Juurou when Ushio let his guard down trying to persuade Juurou by talking.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Ushio breaks down crying as Hizaki Mikado dies from rendering Kuragi immobile. Kirio mocks such unheroic display, especially since they are still in battle and Kuragi isn't totally dead yet. By the next episode, even Tora got sick and tired of Ushio acting like a crybaby that he decides to leave him for a while.
• Wouldn't Hit a Girl: He doesn't like to fight women.
• "X" Marks the Hero: He gets a little X scar on his forehead and his left cheek.

Tora

Voiced by: Chikao Ohtsuka (OVA), Rikiya Koyama (series) (Japanese), Brett Weaver (English)

An tiger-like youkai who was trapped in the basement of Ushio's temple for 500 years and was released when Ushio pulled off the Beast Spear. He claims he wants to eat Ushio, but they eventually become true friends, not that they want to admit it.

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• All of the Other Reindeer: In his life as a human, he was shunned as a child because he was believed to be a cursed child, which made him hate everyone around him.
• Amnesiac Hero: Tora was once the human that gave birth to Hakumen no Mono and the first wielder of the Beast Spear. He doesn't remember any of it because his transformation into an Azafuse erased all his memories of his human life.
• Anti-Hero: Was obviously an evil spirit prior to Ushio taking ownership of the Beast Spear. But as they spend more time together, he stops being outright evil, and acts more like this instead. He even goes so far as to rescue humans, particularly ones close to Ushio such as Asako and Mayuko, fearing retribution from Ushio if he simply allowed them to die. A special volumes showing a few stories with Tora in the past, however, show that he wasn't as evil as he boasted.
• Beast and Beauty: Tora and Mayuko. Tora is a powerful ancient youkai who repeatedly protects the sweet teenage human girl because he wants to eat her. Mayuko quickly becomes fond of "Tora-chan" and eventually develops a crush on him.
• Berserk Button: He doesn't like being underestimated or insulted, especially if the perpetrator is a younger, less experienced Youkai.
• Best Friend: Even if he will never admit it, Tora is Ushio's inseparable friend and partner.
• Big Damn Heroes: Pulls these off from time to time. Sometimes with Ushio's help, but other times he saves people because he doesn't want to deal with Ushio's wrath should they end up dying.
• Big Eater: He likes to eat lots of hamburgers for lunch.
• Blood Knight: Tora is always up to a good fight. He certainly likes it better when he knows his enemy is strong.
• Breath Weapon: Fire, though he's unable to do it if his mouth is obstructed.
• Bridal Carry: In "Fools Gather at a Party", Tora carries Mayuko this way as well when he catches her.
• Chick Magnet: Not as many girls as Ushio, but Tora has at least three girls who find him attractive, including Mayuko.
• The Chosen One: A very dark example: Hakumen no Mono chose him as his vessel so he could gain a physical form from his host's hatred.
• Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Tora repeatedly attacks Ushio at various times when they're not fighting something else. However, the beast spear prevents him from killing and eating Ushio, and they usually end up having to call a truce to team up and defeat the Monster of the Week.
• Combo Platter Powers: Tora. His list of powers consists of: Super-Strength, Flight, Invisibility, Limited Intangibility (phases through mundane object - does not work on other demons, magical weapons, or modern-day substances he isn't familiar of such as concrete), Firebreathing, Lightning Summoning, stretching his neck several meters long, re-attaching his limbs when they're cut off, and Magic Hair / Prehensile Hair mentioned below, which also includes Voluntary Shapeshifting.
  • Justified in that he is an ancient and experienced Youkai and probably developed them over a course of years.
  • Justified, but as later revealed (see Single Specimen Species below), for a different reason.
• Cool vs. Awesome: Tora and Nagare's second fight where both of them go all out to battle each other.
• Create Your Own Villain: Turns out Tora is responsible for the existence of Hakumen no Mono, since Hakumen was born out of the hatred inside Tora's human self.
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: After centuries buried underground, Tora is naively intrigued and often befuddled by the advances of human technology and is drawn in a super deformed cartoon style during his comical misadventures. He gets better.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Tora was once a human general of Ancient India near 3000 years ago, named Shagaksha. Supposedly born a cursed child, Shagaksha grew up hating everything and everyone around him because of being constantly reminded of the deaths surrounding his birth. He found solace only in fighting in wars and battles, enjoying killing and venting out his hatred. He found companionship in his attendant, a young boy named Rhama, who idolized his master, and he fell in love with Rhama's older sister. But then war came again and Shagaksha was called to arms once more. Before heading into battle, he took Rhama's sister in attempts to take her somewhere safe. But as they fled, they unfortunately met an enemy squadron who let loose their arrows on the two. Shagaksha survived but Rhama's sister died. His hatred reached its peak as Shagaksha killed the enemy soldiers. Shagaksha's hatred gave birth to Hakumen no Mono and the demon fox then revealed as a side-effect of having been inside him, Shagaksha could not die, and destroyed his village to make him even more hateful. Shagaksha ran to his village and found Rhama on the verge of death and the boy died in his arms. As he could not die, Shagaksha wandered Asia, seeking a way to take his revenge on Hakumen for 400 years. Finally, after hearing about it from a wise man, Shagaksha sought the Beast Spear and became its wielder. However, his soul was eventually consumed by the spear and he was transformed into a youkai that attacked humans until Ushio's ancestor sealed him. Yes, it is that bad.
• Deuteragonist: Tora is the other protagonist of the story.
• Disappears into Light: Tora's ultimate fate after he sacrifices his life in the final battle.
• Dramatic Irony: During episode 20, Jian Mei states that the Beast Spear laid dormant in a hidden valley in China until one man decided to use it against Hakumen. Tora snarkily states that the man should've been wise enough to leave it alone, but his human self was the the very same man who decided to free the spear and become its first wielder.
• Dumb Muscle: Tora is one of the toughest youkai out there, but he's not very smart. When he first met a human who could free him after 500 years, he tells him the first thing he's going to do when freed is to eat him... twice.
• Early Installment Character-Design Difference: Tora used to have a slightly more monstrous face and, most notably, large, rabbit-like ears emerging from his mane of red hair and dangling in front of him. As the series progressed, Tora's ears are no longer visible in later chapters or rather, with the way his hair is drawn it's incredibly difficult to distinguish them. In the anime series, they use Tora's "earless" design from the start.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Tora attacks Ushio while he's sleeping early in episode 5. Then at the end of the episode, Taro once again approaches a sleeping Ushio. However, he's badly hurt and recovering after having taken some hits from Hyou to save the former. Taro then concludes that the hamburger Mayuko gave him in the last episode was more delicious, and holds off on attacking Ushio for now.
• Everyone Can See It: During a tearjerker scene, Mayuko calls out Tora on his excuse that he always sticks by Ushio for purely selfish reasons.
  Mayuko: You promised to eat me.
  Tora: Right after Ushio, you'll be my dessert.
  Mayuko: Then, Tora... You're never going to eat me huh?
• Evil-Detecting Dog: Tora's close enough. When he and Ushio are sent back to ancient China about 2200 years from their present time, Tora mentions to Ushio that he senses an extremely evil presence permeating throughout the countryside. But he feels a rather strong evil presence emanating from within the walls of the nearby fortress. His suspicions are later confirmed when one of the Emperor's concubines turns out to be none other than Hakumen no Mono in disguise.
• Fish out of Temporal Water: Having been trapped in a basement for 500 years, Tora has great curiosity over modern lifestyle and gadgets. When he first sees TV and vehicles, he has no idea what they are, nor does he seem to understand windows.
• Fluffy the Terrible: He's an ancient monster that is said to have eaten thousands of humans in the past, and Ushio decides to give him the simple name "Tora" (Japanese for tiger).
• Genius Bruiser: Shown better in the Manga, but Tora is quite smart when he wants to. During the manga-only Stray Gedo arc, he manages to overpower the Gedo by remembering and quoting the spell required to block its powers.
• Good Thing You Can Heal: He gets his limbs cut off a couple of times, but it isn't a major problem since Tora can easily reattach them.
• Go Out with a Smile: After defeating Hakumen no Mono, Tora smiles at Ushio one last time as he disappears.
  "I've already... eaten all of you."
• Head Pet: Tora usually rides on Ushio's shoulders. Hilariously, he's several times larger than Ushio, so often looks comical when riding on the latter's head.
• Heroic Sacrifice: At the very end, he sacrifices his life to allow Ushio to defeat Hakumen.
• Hey, You!: Tora normally doesn't call anyone by their names, instead calling them by "hey", "you" and other indirect ways. The only notable exceptions are Ushio and Mayuko.
• Hidden Heart of Gold: As much as he claims to hate it, Tora repeatedly ends up protecting and saving humans while always coming up with excuses such as that he wants to eat them or Ushio would beat him up if he just leaves them to die.
• I Have Many Names: Tora has been known as Raijuu (thunder-beast), Nagatobimaru-sama (Lord Long-Flyer), and Shagakusha. Not to mention his youkai "species" name, azafuse.
• I Lied: Tora promises Ushio that he would deal with the minor demon spirits manifesting outside the shrine if he releases him from the spear. The instant he does though, Tora attacks him, stating that he never intended to keep a promise to a human. It's only because Ushio channeling the power of the spear that keeps Tora a little more honest.
• Immortal Immaturity: He's an over 2,000 years old youkai, but Tora usually acts like a bratty and impressionable child who enjoys teasing Ushio. Hell, a teenage boy like Ushio is way less immature than Tora.
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice:
  • Ushio first meets Tora this way, who has a spear stuck in his body keeping him impaled and imprisoned for the last 500 years.
  • Tora is subjected to this in episode thirty when some of Guren's minions hit him with an attack which roots demons into the ground much in the same fashion as the Beast Spear did to him before Ushio showed up. Fortunately the Azafuze help break him out of it.
• Invisible to Adults: In episode 4, Tora attempts to lunge at a child he sees in the city. However, he's stopped by the glass and is unable to get through. A quick line of text then mentions that kids can sometimes see Tora, and said child freaks out. However, his mother is unable to see Tora, so she thinks that her child is just throwing a tantrum.
• Invisible to Normals: Tora normally can't be seen by people. Hence when he's talking to Ushio, it appears to many that he's talking to himself.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's a very rude and vicious monster, but isn't as evil as he wants to make others think. Spending time with Ushio makes the "heart of gold" more prevalent over time.
• Know When to Fold 'Em: While he's powerful and arrogant, there are enemies he knows he'd had an hard time beating. He openly admits having fled from fighting Fusuma and Shumuna, and when he realizes that Ayakashi's stronger than he thought, he sends Umizato looking for Ushio.
• Lecherous Licking: Does this to Mayuko in Episode 24.
• Let's Split Up, Gang!: Because Tora and Mayuko find it hard to deal with the youkai tag team of Tayura and Nodoka, Mayuko comes up with a plan where Tora mimicks her form, and the two split up to distract the youkai. Surprisingly, Tayura and Nodoka play along, but splitting up actually ended to their demise as Tora curb-stomped them one-on-one.
• Love at First Sight: Parodied with Mayuko. When he first sees her, Tora is stunned by her looks... because she's the most tasty human he has seen in 500 years. He decides he will eat her one day and will protect her until then.
• Magic Hair: Tora's can be used as prehensile limbs (that can catch bullets mid-flight), blades, replacement limbs for running, and even break off and shapeshift (e.g. Mayuko or Asako's form) complete with homing function! At least once every new arc, Tora will be drawn taking up almost of full page, with his exquisite mane floating about him.
• Malaproper: He tends to say the names of modern items wrong, such as calling a hamburger "hanbakka".
• Meaningful Name: Most of his name such as Raijuu (Thunder Beast), Waira (Terrifying), Nagatobimaru (Long Leap, for wherever he jumps he can istantly jump back) and Azafuse (Alias).
• Monochromatic Eyes: Overlaps with Red Eyes, Take Warning, being a youkai. The other azafuse have these eyes, a possible side-effect of losing their soul to the Beast Spear.
• Monster Progenitor: He was the first human to wield the Beast Spear and as such, he was the first to turn into an Azafuse.
• Mr. Exposition: Tora explains a lot of the supernatural stuff to Ushio (and viewers).
• Mundane Object Amazement: He finds airplanes and buses amazing, as he's a Fish out of Temporal Water who hasn't been around for 500 years.
• Nightmare Face: Tora's default expression is basically Chernabog... with fur.
• Noble Demon: Tora likes to emphasize that he is an evil monster. However, it usually doesn't take a lot to get him to help Ushio save innocent lives. He still says he's only hanging out with Ushio to eat him.
• Nominal Hero: Initially, he only helps Ushio fight demons because Ushio forces him to and Tora doesn't want anyone besides him to kill Ushio.
• "Not So Different" Remark: Tora points out Hakumen and Nagare are the same. Just like Nagare became Ushio's enemy because he couldn't stand Ushio's brightness, Hakumen became the light's enemy for the same reasons.
• Oblivious to Love: Tora gains the affections of Mayuko and Kagari over the course of the series, but he doesn't notice it and their advances only confuse or annoy him.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • Tora after seeing Ushio channel the power of the spear when he's first released and attacks the latter.
  • When he almost forgot to warn Mayuko not to go to the suspicious "dinner party", but realized it late as he was distracted munching a hamburger.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: "Tora" is the name Ushio gave him. He has been known by several other names prior to being pinned in the basement of Ushio's temple. His original name from back when he was human is Shagaksha.
• The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: This becomes almost a Running Gag, becoming Tora's go-to excuse for why he's fighting alongside or saving others. However, it doesn't take long for it to be a lie, as he eventually grew as a friend to them.
  • He says he will one day eat Ushio, but until then he won't let any other monster eat him.
  • He takes the same attitude towards Mayuko, claiming he protects her only because she will be his dessert after he finally eats Ushio.
• Overly-Long Tongue: Briefly sports one in Episode 24, when he licks a droplet of blood off her hand.
• Play-Along Prisoner: He does a believable act of pretending to be captured by H.A.M.M.R. Tora later explains this to Asako on the way to the facility, so that the two of them would be taken to where Ushio is being held.
• Power Makes Your Hair Grow: Just like the other wielders of the Beast Spear, his long hair as an asafuze is a side-effect of using the spear too much in the past.
• Predator Turned Protector: Tora is an extremely powerful youkai, but just about the only thing that prevents him from going on a murderous rampage is Ushio being able to wield the Beast Spear. But as time goes by, Tora finds increasingly implausible reasons to rescue Ushio when he doesn't have the spear at hand, such as The Only One Allowed to Defeat You (or eat you, rather) or the monster eating Ushio mocking Tora.
• Prehensile Hair: He can use his massive mane to grab things, walk around or even shred lesser Youkai to pieces.
• Raijū: While Tora has been called a raijuu, his actual form looks more like a tiger, and lightning is only one of his Combo Platter Powers. However, it's not his real species, just another moniker.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Tora is amazing at giving these:
  • First, during his second duel against Nagare. After the latter's Motive Rant, Tora's response is to burst into laughter and call him a coward who betrayed his friends and joined Hakumen only because he got scared of a young boy's innocent eyes.
  • Later, he gives an epic one to Hakumen no Mono of all people. He calls Hakumen out on how it acts all mighty and terrifying, yet it's always looking up to others instead of looking down on them. Tora then concludes Hakumen actually envies and fears humans and youkai.
• Running Gag:
  • "Tora cannot be seen by normal people." Unless he's hit by the Beast Spear.
  • Just like Ushio, Tora's recurring excuse for always saving Mayuko when she's in danger? Because Tora sees her as a tasty dessert after he would supposedly eat Ushio. Then again, Tora doesn't actually want to harm any of them.
  • In the manga, Tora would always roast Izuna up with his fire breath whenever the little fox annoyed him.
• Sarcastic Devotee: Tora insults and makes fun of Ushio all the time and is annoyed by how Ushio goes out of his way to save others. However, as much as he tries to deny it, there's no doubt Tora is Ushio's best and most reliable friend and he will always be there when Ushio needs him.
• The Scapegoat:
  • Ushio immediately assumes that the workers killed at the construction site in episode 4 was Tora's doing, as a news reporter mentioned what's left of them appear to have been attacked by wild dogs.
  • Hyou believes that Tora was the one responsible for killing his wife and daughter. Since he was angry with Tora at the time, Ushio tells Hyou that Tora was the one who did it. But he has a change of heart later and begs Hyou to spare Tora, and just barely gets him to stop. Fortunately for Hyou, he does run into the demon responsible, Guren, and attempts to kill him, though he's unsuccessful during their first fight.
• Scary Teeth: Most of the demons have these kind of teeth, including Tora. However, because he's the Token Evil Teammate, along with being a Butt-Monkey to Ushio, Tora doesn't seem nearly as menacing as the random Monster of the Week demons who show off their pearly whites.
• Sealed Badass in a Can: He spent 500 years sealed in a basement until Ushio freed him and forced him to help him fight evil demons.
• Sealed Evil in a Can: Long ago, Tora was an evil monster that terrorized humans until Ushio's ancestor defeated him and trapped him in a basement with the Beast Spear. 500 years later, he's freed by Ushio and although Tora hates to admit it, he's also losing the "evil" part of the trope.
• Second Love: To Mayuko. She develops feelings for Tora after she gets over her unrequited crush on Ushio.
• Ship Tease: Gets some at times for Mayuko (the wedding dress) and Kagari (thinking of her when it looks like all the demons of the east have perished), not to mention he treats both of them surprisingly well considering his personality.
• Single Specimen Species: Seemingly played straight but then averted with Tora, who is shown to be merely the Monster Progenitor of a whole slew of youkai with similar shape and powers, all spawned by the Beast Spear consuming the soul of the user.
• Skewed Priorities: Tora became suspicious of the "dinner party" invitation that was given to Mayuko and was about to warn her not to go. However, because he got distracted by a hamburger she gave him, Tora realized late that he forgot about stopping her.
• Took a Level in Kindness: After he spends time with Ushio, the youkai that knew Tora long ago can tell that Tora is no longer the cruel and ruthless monster from back then.
• Trademark Favorite Food: He loves hamburgers, as they act like a substitute for human flesh.
• Tsundere: Tora is very much fond of Ushio and later, Mayuko. He's just too much of a hot-headed and abrasive youkai to admit it. The most he will do is to call them his food and claim he's protecting them so he can eat them later, so they better don't get the wrong idea.
• Uncertain Doom: Tora Disappears into Light after Hakumen no Mono is defeated. It really appears Tora is dead, but the final narration implies he only left temporarily and will return to Ushio's side someday.
• Villainous Rescue: Tora does this, and invokes the trope a lot.
  • Tora does this in episode 3 after Ushio is swallowed into the painting by the demon living in it. He claims he's only doing it so he can eat Ushio later.
  • Tora unintentionally rescues Mayuko from some demonic heads that were trying to eat her in episode 4. He then defeats most of them on his own because he was mad they tried to eat her before he could, and later because they thought they stood a chance against him.
  • Tora does this again in episode 9 to prevent Juurou from finishing off Ushio. When he's questioned later about why he cares what happens to Ushio, Tora merely claims Ushio would taste better alive after Juurou disables him.
  • In fact, he does it so much it isn't so much villainous as much as him being Vitriolic Best Buds with Ushio and a Tsundere about it.
• Was Once a Man: He was a human who wielded the Beast Spear and, after having his soul consumed, was transformed into a youkai.
• Weaksauce Weakness: Perfume and cologne repel him. Even common jewelry bothers him due to its anti-Yokai properties.
• Worthy Opponent: To Nagare. He always wished to fight someone as strong as Tora, which would allow him to give his all in a fight. Nagare joined Hakumen no Mono because he wanted another fight against Tora.

Ushio's Close Ones and Allies

Asako Nakamura

Voiced by: Yuri Amano (OVA), Mikako Komatsu (series) (Japanese), Allison Sumrall (English)

The tomboyish childhood friend of Ushio who happens to have a crush on him.

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• Amnesiac Lover: During the last arc, Asako forgets everything about Ushio even though she has loved him nearly her entire life.
• Belligerent Sexual Tension: With Ushio. They butt heads and deny their mutual feelings even though everyone knows they love each other.
• Big Sister Instinct:
  • She quickly becomes protective of a boy named Tatsuya that she meets at the beach, defending him against some thugs and later comforting him when they are trapped in Ayakashi's stomach.
  • She also feels protective towards Baldanders, a young yokai who looks like a little boy, and helps him escape from the H.A.M.M.R.
• Boyish Short Hair: She has short hair, emphasizing her tomboyish personality.
• Cannot Spit It Out: She completely refuses to admit she has a crush on Ushio.
• Childhood Friend Romance: Ushio and Asako have known each other since childhood and despite all their bickering, they clearly have feelings for each other.
• Childhood Friends: She has been good friends with Ushio and Mayuko since elementary school.
• Conveniently Seated: She sits in a seat by the window with Ushio at her side. When Ushio absents class, Asako is shown looking outside and sighing over Ushio's absence.
• Cool Big Sis: She acts like a loving and protective sister figure to Tatsuya.
• Damsel in Distress: She had to be rescued a lot by the protagonists:
  • Mayuko and Asako in the first episode, after they're attacked by some low level demons due to Ushio releasing Tora from the spear.
  • Asako, Mayuko and their classmates end up turned to stone by the Rock Eater.
  • Asako and a kid getting swallowed alive by the ayakashi.
• Designated Victim: She often gets attacked by evil monsters, which quickly sends Ushio into the action to save her.
• Everyone Can See It: After the girls Asako, Mayuko, Reiko, Yuu and Saya reverted Ushio back to normal from his transformation, they became aware of the fact that among them, Asako is the one who has the deepest or longest romantic affections for Ushio despite her denying it. This hit quite hard for Mayuko and Saya, who are of the same age as Ushio. They love him too, but fear that they will get in the way as rivals to Asako, so they just kept their feelings to themselves to give way for their friend.
• First Girl Wins: Everyone knows Ushio's childhood friend Asako, the girl who has known him the longest, is the one meant to be with him.
• Get A Hold Of Yourself Man: Asako suspects something is wrong with Ushio in episode 5, but he won't talk about it. So she simply follows him around, and then smacks his head with her bookbag after having enough of his mopiness. She then tells him to stop running away from all of his problems and to take them head on. In this instance, it was due to him lying about Tora being responsible for Hyou's wife and daughter's death. Ushio then has second thoughts about it, admitting later to Hyou that Tora was innocent as he was stuck in the storehouse for 500 years.
• He Is Not My Boyfriend: She frequently denies that there's anything between her and Ushio other than friendship. She is not fooling anyone.
• Heroic Sacrifice: She attempts this by offering herself as the sacrifice to create a new Beast Spear in Mayuko's place. Fortunately, Ushio arrives to save her just in time.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Mayuko. The two girls are best friends and almost always hang out together.
• Humanizing Tears: Asako is a harsh Tsundere, but there's rare moments in which she becomes sincere with her feelings and cries when she thinks she might lose Ushio.
• First Girl Wins: She has known Ushio the longest out of all the girls attracted to him and everyone acknowledges Asako is the one meant to be with Ushio.
• Girl Next Door: She's Ushio's ordinary and tomboyish friend who has known him ever since they were kids.
• Locked Out of the Loop: She's kept in the dark about Ushio's involvement with the Beast Spear and the youkai for a good part of the series. She only finds out when Jie Mei asks for her help to save Ushio from being consumed by the spear.
• Piggyback Cute: Ushio carries Asako like this in a flashback in episode 11.
• Please, Don't Leave Me: A tearful Asako says this to Ushio in episode 31 right before he leaves in a submarine to protect his mother. Despite having been hit by some Laser-Guided Amnesia and forgetting about their earlier interactions, she still recalls how much trouble he went through to save her from sacrificing herself in Mayuko's place despite the cold treatment she gave him earlier. She then tells him to come back safe, even if he's no longer human.
• Rescue Romance:
  • She developed feelings for Ushio after he defended her from some bullies when they were kids.
  • Asako and Mayuko fell for a certain long-haired boy who wields a spear after being saved by him from youkai. It takes a while until they later learn that the boy is no other than Ushio.
• Shipper on Deck: In a strange reversion, when Asako is about to perform a Heroic Sacrifice in place of Mayuko, she jokes that Mayuko can have the man whom both of them are infatuating for (Ushio), to herself. Granted, both girls had their memories of Ushio wiped during this, but only vaguely remember him.
• Shorttank: She's Ushio's tomboyish and hot-headed childhood friend who always argues with him.
• Single Woman Seeks Good Man: She loves Ushio for his good heart and great courage.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: The Tomboy to Mayuko's Girly Girl. Asako has short hair, is good at sports and martial arts, and has a much more aggressive personality than the gentle Mayuko.
• Tomboy with a Girly Streak: The tomboy Asako likes jewelry and cute clothes and actually wants her more girly friend Mayuko to express more interest in that stuff.
• Tsundere: Dere type. She's nice and friendly to everyone, but when it concerns Ushio she turns harsh, hot-headed and violent.
• Wham Line: Previously actually spending some time being happy and cheery with Ushio, Asako then asks who he is.

Mayuko Inoue

Voiced by: Yumi Touma (OVA), Kiyono Yasuno (series) (Japanese), Mandy Clark (OVA), Luci Christian (series) (English)

Asako's more sweet and feminine best friend.

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• A Day in the Limelight: Episode 24 focuses heavily on Mayuko and her interactions with Tora.
• Anguished Declaration of Love: She gives a heartrending one to Tora during the final battle, begging him to stay with her and protect her after she becomes the fourth Oyakume. Tora refuses because he doesn't want her to become the Oyakume and wants to end the battle with Hakumen no Mono once and for all.
• Barrier Warrior: As the descendant of a lineage of lady shamans, Mayuko is able to create powerful psychic barriers.
• Beast and Beauty: Tora and Mayuko. Tora is a powerful ancient youkai who repeatedly protects the sweet teenage human girl because he wants to eat her. Mayuko quickly becomes fond of "Tora-chan" and eventually develops a crush on him.
• Best Friend: She's Asako's closest friend.
• Bookworm: Although we don't see it, this is implied since she bought a book instead of earrings when she went to town on her own, and she's been noted as the library club president.
• Childhood Friends: She has been good friends with Ushio and Asako since elementary school.
• Cool Big Sis: To Kirio, who she adopts as her younger brother.
• Damsel in Distress: Just like Asako, Mayuko had to be rescued a lot by the protagonists:
  • Mayuko and Asako in the first episode, after they're attacked by some low level demons due to Ushio releasing Tora from the spear.
  • Asako, Mayuko and their classmates end up turned to stone by the Rock Eater.
  • Mayuko again in episode 4, this time being pursued by some demonic heads intent on eating her as payback for being sealed away a long time ago by a priestess who strongly resembled her.
  • Mayuko later got kidnapped by a perverted demon in a mirror who later strips her naked and goes touchy and feely with her.
  • Mayuko got invited to a strange "dinner party" by demons disguised as humans, one of which has a habit of sucking the brains out of its victims. Fortunately, a concerned Tora tailed her and rescued her from the demons.
• A Day in the Limelight: Episode 24 focuses heavily on Mayuko and her interactions with Tora.
• Designated Victim: She gets attacked by monsters about as much as Asako. She always gets rescued by either Ushio or Tora.
• Fond Memories That Could Have Been: In her final moments with Tora, she futilely tries to turn him back into human and talks about how much fun they could have if they were lovers. Tora dies shortly after.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Asako. The two girls are best friends and almost always hang out together.
• Identical Granddaughter: She looks identical to her ancestor Mikado Hizaki.
• Interspecies Romance: She's a human girl who develops feelings for the youkai Tora.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: She has harbored feelings for Ushio for a long time, but doesn't pursue him because she doesn't want to ruin it for her Best Friend Asako and only wishes for their happiness. She even admits it directly to Asako when they both have their memory of Ushio wiped, and she only remembers she was in love with this guy but rather let Asako have him.
• Let's Split Up, Gang!: Because Tora and Mayuko find it hard to deal with the youkai tag team of Tayura and Nodoka, Mayuko comes up with a plan where Tora mimicks her form, and the two split up to distract the youkai. Surprisingly, Tayura and Nodoka play along, but splitting up actually ended to their demise as Tora curb-stomped them one-on-one.
• Long-Lost Relative: She and Ushio turn out to be related as they are both descended from the Hizaki bloodline.
• Mayfly–December Romance: Mayuko is a teenage girl who develops a crush on the over 2000-year-old youkai Tora.
• Nice Girl: Mayuko is very polite, nice and friendly. She's also far more patient than the hot-tempered Asako.
• Rescue Romance:
  • Asako and Mayuko fell for a certain long-haired boy who wields a spear after being saved by him from youkai. It takes a while until they later learn that the boy is no other than Ushio.
  • She develops a crush on Tora after he repeatedly saves her from monsters.
• Samaritan Relationship Starter: When she met Ushio, she thought he was just a bad-tempered and troublesome kid. One day, her new hat was sent flying to a swamp by the wind and Ushio went into the mud to bring it back to her. This made Mayuko realize Ushio was a nice guy at heart and she developed feelings for him.
• Shipper on Deck: She supports Ushio/Asako and often encourages Asako to be more honest with her feelings.
• Strong Family Resemblance: In their maiden age, Jie Mei's direct descendants look exactly like her, one of which include the second Oyakume, Hizaki Mikado, as shown in an old photo. This also becomes a major plot point and a Chekhov's Gun for the reason why Mayuko looks like a certain priestess in the past.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: The Girly Girl to Asako's Tomboy. Mayuko has much more feminine behaviors and hobbies than the tomboyish Asako.

Shigure Aotsuki

Voiced by: Takeshi Aono (OVA), Keiji Fujiwara (series) (Japanese), John Swasey (English)

Ushio's father and the keeper of the temple he and his son live in. He goes off on travels, leaving his son on his own. His secret identity is being one of strongest priest of a special Buddhist sect named Kouhamei, dedicated to fighting youkai.

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• Action Dad: Ushio doesn't know it at first, but his dad is one of the strongest in a secret order of youkai-trashing monks and his training travels are actually missions to exterminate youkai.
• Barehanded Blade Block: In the manga, at one point does a simultaneous one to the Beast Spear and Kyoura's Tsushinkaku with two fingers each.
• Blood Knight: In his youth, Shigure enjoyed killing youkai so much that even his fellow monks considered him a problem.
• Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: In the past, Shigure was a violent and moody man who was considered a problem even by his fellow monks. When he met his wife Sumako, her kind and gentle nature got through him and turned him into the man he is today.
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: In early scenes with Ushio, they are often butting heads in a comical fashion, and he often ends up leaving on a journey on a whim. However, it's later revealed he is actually quite a badass, as he's seen banishing a youkai and cleansing the area they were in. He also manages to hold his own against some monks within their religious order that wanted Tora killed along with the Beast Spear being forcefully taken away from Ushio.
• Fourth-Date Marriage: With his wife Sumako, who he only knew for a couple of days before they agreed to get married. Sort of justified; Sumako only had two years to marry and have a child before returning to hold up Hakumen no Mono's barrier.
• Having a Blast: He can use his Dharmic powers to set things ablaze. Manga-only.
• Improbable Weapon User: While he carries a Khakkara crosier like all Kouhamei Monks, he's seemingly at best with the "Senpourin" (Buddhist Wheel), which he employs in his offensive technique "Gishiri".
• Mr. Exposition: Shigure does this in episode 7 when he's asked by Ushio about his mother not being dead as he was led to believe, but still alive.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • He's left dumbstruck when he realizes that Ushio has opened the underground vault and obtained the Spear.
  • He also freaks out when, while he's scolding Ushio for using the spear to cut fish wieners and hold the cup ramen's lid closed, Ushio points out he's treading the Beast Spear.
• Open-Minded Parent: Once his son shows him his resolve, he gives him 1.2 million yen to go on travel to find out about his mother.
• Running Gag: Ushio's father is often seen early on leaving on a whim, leaving him alone for the most part, and often in a comical fashion.
• Secret Test of Character: Ushio's father really drags his feet on explaining to Ushio more about his mother. He then has a duel with Tora in order to kill or banish him. Ushio manages to stop their fighting when he uses the Beast Spear to break up their fight. Then it turns out they were just having a friendly sparring match to show off to some of Shigure's higher ups that Ushio was competent enough with the spear, and that Tora posed no threat to humans. Unfortunately they don't care, and attack Tora anyway, while attempting to take the spear away from Ushio.
• Shaping Your Attacks: Like his co-workers, he can created crescent-shaped of circular-shaped barriers to paralyze people and monsters.
• Taken for Granite: He and the entire Kohamei sect turn themselves to stone to avoid having their minds altered by Hakumen's Hiyou army. They return to normal in time to join the final battle.
• Umbrella of Togetherness: He met his wife Sumako when she was having trouble opening her umbrella and she shared it with him after he helped her. She also shared her umbrella with him when they agreed to get married.
• Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: He looks very old for his age, but his wife looks very young and beautiful.
• Warrior Monk: A low-key variety, at least early on. It's not until Ushio and Tora have killed, cleansed, or banished several youkai that we finally get to see what he really does when he runs away from home.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Ushio calls his dad out on this when he fights with Tora, wondering what the whole point of it was. It turns out to be a Secret Test of Character, and Shigure merely wanted to test Tora's abilities despite the ferocity of the fight.
• When You Coming Home, Dad?: He usually has to travel and leave Ushio alone in the temple to do his job as a youkai-slaying monk.
• You Are Better Than You Think You Are: During the Mountain Fish arc, he gives kind encouragement both to a bullied student with big self-esteem issues and his teacher.
• Younger Than He Looks: He's 47 years old, but he looks old enough to be Ushio's grandfather.

Reiko Hanyuu

Voiced by: Yui Makino (Japanese), Kira Vincent-Davis (English)

A girl from Ushio's school who is the daughter of an artist Ushio admired. She is haunted by the spirit of her father, who turned into an oni after his death and attacks any man who tries to get close to her.

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• Broken Bird: She stopped smiling after her mother abandoned her and her father to run away with another man. Her pain only got worse after her father returned as an oni to haunt her, forcing her to stay away from others in order to protect them and attempting suicide multiple times.
• Bunny-Ears Lawyer: She has many goofy moments later on in the series.
• Cartwright Curse: Every boy who tried to ask her out on a date always meets some kind of unfortunate accident. As a result, she tends to distance herself from people. They were caused by her father's vengeful spirit wanting to keep Reiko for himself.
• Childhood Friend Romance: Reiko apparently starts dating her childhood friend Kenichi Masaki after Ushio and Tora exorcised the vengeful spirit of her father.
• Creepy Loner Girl: When Ushio meets her, Reiko is a lonely, depressed and suicidal Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette who does whatever she can to avoid people because her deceased father turned into an Oni and is trying to kill whoever gets close to her. Ushio befriends her despite this and gets rid of her father's spirit, finally setting Reiko free to live a happy life and have friends.
• Daddy's Girl: She and her father were very close when he was alive. Even with all the troubles he gave her when he returned as an oni, Reiko clearly still loved him and didn't resent him.
• Damsel in Distress: In Episode 3, Reiko is haunted by the vengeful spirit of her father who is determined to have her protected. In the worst case, she almost fell from a building while her father is waiting for her below.
• Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: She has long jet black hair and very pale skin. She's a bit creepy when first introduced because her father's hauntings made her depressed and suicidal. After that is resolved, she loses the 'eerie' part of the trope.
• Go Through Me: Reiko does this for his father (who was a vengeful spirit at that time) in Episode 3, despite Ushio already having a charging momentum with the Beast Spear. Fortunately, the spear simply phases through his body and exorcises the father. As the humans were surprised at this, Tora explains that the spear is meant to harm and kill only the youkai.
• Interrupted Suicide: Reiko attempted suicide four times before meeting Ushio, but was always saved in time. She then attempts it a fifth time, but is stopped by Ushio and her childhood friend who promises never to leave her again.
• Parental Abandonment: Her father died some time ago and her mother left the family to run off with another man.
• Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: After she's set free from the things that made her suicidal, Reiko regained her smile and managed to appear more beautiful again.
• Rescue Romance: Thanks to the protagonist duo's help, after Masaki Kenichi saved Reiko from her fifth attempted suicide, the two have been seen together a lot whenever they appear on screen. Both are also childhood friends, overlapping this trope with Childhood Friend Romance.
• Shipper on Deck: Apart from Mayuko, even Reiko, Yuu and Saya are all aware that Asako has been with Ushio for the longest, and thus, has deeper romantic affections to him than any of them.
• Sugar-and-Ice Personality: She shows herself as cold, distant and gloomy, but that is just a facade she puts up to keep others away from her. Once she drops the act, she reveals herself as a Nice Girl.
• Taking the Bullet: Reiko jumps in front of Ushio's spear as he prepares to stab her father, whose spirit turned into a demon. Fortunately, it goes right through her and hits the cursed painting. Tora explains that the spear was designed to only hurt demons, so she's perfectly fine.
• When She Smiles: Once she's able to smile cheerfully again, Ushio asks her to model for him with that smile.

Hyou

Voiced by: Norio Wakamoto (OVA), Daisuke Namikawa (series) (Japanese), Ed Paez (OVA), David Wald (series) (English)

A powerful Chinese exorcist. He travels around China and eventually comes to Japan to seek the youkai who killed his wife and his daughter. Hyou initially thinks Tora is the one who murdered his family, but Ushio convinces him Tora is innocent, and Hyou later calms down a little, becoming a valued ally.

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• Anti-Hero: Hyou is not a bad guy and he becomes a trusted ally for Ushio and Tora after his introduction, but he's ruthless to his enemies or anyone who dares to hurt a child and he's motivated by the desire of revenge. During his introduction he harms several people who couldn't answer his questions.
• An Arm and a Leg: His right arm gets eaten by Guren in their final battle. Since Hyou had embedded charms in it, this serves as the final blow to kill Guren.
• Badass Longcoat: Creepy black-coated Hyou makes a living (and revenge) hunting youkai, and almost took down Tora single handedly.
• Badass Preacher: Hyou took this up to avenge his wife and daughter after they were killed by a monster, and he was left with a scar on his face from its attack. He's so deadly that even Tora has a really tough time with him, and it's only because of Ushio intervening that he wasn't outright killed. Downplayed in that only a couple of times he brings up his taoist beliefs.
• Blood Knight: Hyou is quite eager to get into fights with monsters he runs into. Or even regular people if they so much as threaten a child while he's nearby.
• But Now I Must Go: Hyou leaves at the end of episode 5, after Ushio barely manages to stop him from killing Tora. He says he's going to continue his search in Japan, hoping that the monster that killed his family would also show up due to the presence of the Beast Spear attracting monsters towards it. He ends up helping the others who are attempting to save Ushio down the road after the latter becomes possessed by the Beast Spear.
• Byronic Hero: Morally neutral, largely concerned with personal interests, has a tragic past, introspective loner, cynical, jaded, brooding and self-destructive.
• Casting Gag: In the OVA, Norio Wakamoto voiced Hyou. In the TV series, he plays said character's arch-nemesis Guren.
• Covered with Scars: His body is covered in scars from the years he has worked as an exorcist.
• Crazy-Prepared: Turns out he wears a 24 kg chainmail jacked made of Cold Iron and women hair, treated with special salt and paper talismans. It does save his life from an otherwise fatal slash from Guren.
• Crusading Widower: His wife and his daughter were killed by a monster. After that, he became an exorcist in order to seek said monster and avenge his family.
• Dark and Troubled Past: A youkai killed his beloved family.
• Died Happily Ever After: Hyou sees himself finally returning home after avenging his family and his late wife and daughter greet him in the afterlife.
• Died in Your Arms Tonight: He dies in the arms of a mother he protected during his final battle against Guren.
• Establishing Character Moment: Hyou is a Badass Preacher, and becomes enraged when he finds out the two monsters he was hunting killed a child.
• Eye Scream: He lost his right eye to the monster that killed his family. In his final battle against Guren, Hyou pulls out the blue crystal ball of his eye socket as part of his final attack to kill Guren.
• Fedora of Asskicking: For an active exorcist, he always wears a fedora hat.
• Friend to All Children: Hyou doesn't like it when children are killed, hurt, or threatened. Consequently, anyone he runs into who does any of those things will likely meet a swift end, be they monster or even human.
• Go Out with a Smile: He dies with a satisfied smile on his face after finally avenging his family.
• He Who Fights Monsters: Ushio warns Hyou that he may end up becoming this if he kills Tora after being informed that Tora didn't kill his family as he was stuck in their storehouse for 500 years. He doesn't seem convinced until Ushio says that he'd simply be a murderer by killing Tora, something his daughter wouldn't like. Hyou lashes out at Ushio initially, but eventually backs down. He then goes out to continue his search for the monster that was responsible for his family's death.
• Hypnotic Eyes: He can hypnotize people with the magical crystal ball in his right eye.
• In Place of an Eye: In his right eye socket is a blue crystal ball, replacing the actual eye he lost.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: He says "Hyou" is merely an alias. He threw away his real name long ago.
• Pay Evil unto Evil: Never kill, hurt, or threaten a child in front of Hyou. Anyone he runs into who does any of those things will likely meet a swift end, be they monster or even human.
• Revenge: His main goal is to avenge the deaths of his wife and child.
• Scars Are Forever: The monster that killed his wife and daughter left three long scars on his face.
• Slasher Smile: He puts it on when he faces Tora, thinking he's the monster that killed his family. He has it again during his battle with Guren.
• The Stoic: Hyou turned from loving father to merciless hunter of the supernatural because a youkai killed his wife and daughter. How does he respond when a shapeshifting youkai reads his heart and takes the form of his wife and daughter? He picks up his daughter tenderly and then stabs her through the heart with a blade, followed by his wife in the forehead. "If you had to, would you kill your mother or father? I would."
• Sugar-and-Ice Personality: He's cold, aloof and merciless at first glance, but he has a kind and good-natured side he's willing to show to his closest allies.
• Together in Death: He finally reunites with his wife and daughter in the afterlife after avenging their deaths.
• Unscrupulous Hero: Due to his past, he's ruthless, cold and his main motivations are very self-serving. However, Hyou is a good person at heart, he comes a very helpful ally to Ushio and he's always quick to apologize when he realizes he has made a mistake.
• Wouldn't Hurt a Child: Hyou lost his wife and five year old girl to a monster some 15 years before the story started. During that time, he became a Badass Preacher to hunt that creature down and destroy it. As a result of this Freudian Excuse, if he sees that a child was killed, hurt, or even simply threatened enough that they scream in fear, he doesn't hesitate to kill whoever's responsible for doing that to the kid, whether their monster or even human.

Yuu Hiyama

Voiced by: Aki Toyosaki (Japanese), Brittney Karbowski (English)

A young girl whose father was killed in an airplane crash caused by Fusuma, a flying demon. Initially she blamed her father's long-time friend Atsuzawa for the incident, but after helping Ushio to defeat Fusuma, she learns the truth and forgives Atsuzawa.

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• Chekhov's Skill: Yuu is an athletic fast runner. This becomes useful when Ushio is standing in the center of a collapsing bridge, but Yuu's agility allowed her to comb his hair before the thing collapsed.
• Green-Eyed Monster: Towards Asako, to the point of calling her on her treatment of Ushio. Luckily, they mend fences by the end of the Hokkaido arc.
• It's Personal: Upon learning that Fusuma devoured her father, she helps Ushio delivering the blow to the monster.
• Meaningful Name: Yu means "Brave", as she acknowledge at one point.
• Plucky Girl: When it comes to her turn to comb Beast!Ushio's hair, she's prepared to jump over a rather big gap in a bridge to reach him.
• Shipper on Deck: Apart from Mayuko, even Reiko, Yuu and Saya are all aware that Asako has been with Ushio for the longest, and thus, has deeper romantic affections to him than any of them.
• You Killed My Father: She at first blames and resents Atsuzawa for her father's death. Once she learns Fusuma was the real responsible for his death, she helps Ushio fight the monster to avenge her father.

Saya Takatori

Voiced by: Yuuka Nanri (Japanese), Tiffany Grant (English)

A young girl descended from a long line of white-haired women who have maintained the success of the Takatori household by appeasing the childlike spirit Omamori.

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• Abusive Parents: Her father and her grandmother only see her as a tool to keep Omamori entertained and make their household prosper.
• Action Girl: She's capable of opening the gate to the underworld, which comes in handy when she summoned the spirits of the dead as reinforcements to help in the final battle.
• Apologizes a Lot: She apologizes for about anything when Ushio meets her. In fact, Ushio got a Naked First Impression from her and she is the one who apologizes.
• Delicate and Sickly: She suffers from poor health and faints on regular basis.
• Empty Eyes: When we first see her her eyes lack eyeshine, reflecting her poor health and lack of will to stand up against her family. After Ushio helps gain more willpower, they gain eyeshine.
• Missing Mom: Her mother died from poor health when she was young.
• Modesty Towel: Uses one to quickly cover her body after Tora's Naked First Impression of her in a hot spring.
• Mystical White Hair: Her white hair is proof that she's descended from a long line of women with the ability to see and talk to spirits.
• Naked First Impression: Ushio first meets her when she's taking a bath at a hot spring.
• Naked on Arrival: She first appears when Ushio spots her taking a bath at a hot spring.
• Nice Girl: Probably the nicest and most polite girl in the series, rivaling even Mayuko.
• Ojou: Her family are immensely rich landlords. However, they lose their forture after Ushio frees Omamori.
• Piggyback Cute: Ushio carries Saya on his back after he finds her passing out on the street.
• Rescue Romance: While it's quite downplayed because she's reserving her feelings, Saya's flashbacks in the final battle reveal that she's grateful for meeting someone like Ushio when he helped her free Omamori-sama.
• Riches to Rags: She allows Ushio to free Omamori, but in exchange her family loses their house and fortune. However, Omamori decides to stay by Saya's side to ensure she can survive on her own.
• Shipper on Deck: Apart from Mayuko, even Reiko, Yuu and Saya are all aware that Asako has been with Ushio for the longest, and thus, has deeper romantic affections to him than any of them.
• Shrinking Violet: Shy, quiet and withdrawn.
• Why Can't I Hate You?: She says she thinks of herself as a horrible woman for being jealous of Asako's closeness to Ushio.

Shidara Minoo

A Manga-Only character, Minoo is a dark-skinned woman from Shikoku who can control a ferocious Youkai known as Gedo. She's sent by her mother in Tokyo to find a Stray Gedo who's possessing people and turns up in the same school as Ushio and Tora, who are dragged in the fray when the Gedo appears.

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• Action Girl: Although she mostly fights through her Gedo, she's no slouch herself.
• Adapted Out: She didn't make it into the anime.
• Big Damn Heroes: When the Kokuen attack Asako and her family, she shows up with her Gedo to save the day.
• Boyish Short Hair: Her short hair fits her tomboyish personality.
• Defrosting Ice Queen: She warms up to Ushio and Asako, as she learns more about them.
• Even the Girls Want Her: Schoolmate Miyata Hitomi invites her to her mansion, mentioning that she's alone, shows her an indoor pool and offers to tell her everything she knows about the Stray Gedo if she agrees to go for a swim with her. Minoo is willing to go along if she gets what she wants. Given that she was possessed by the Gedo, it's unknown if the interest was genuine.
• Freudian Excuse: Because of her supernatural abilities she had a crappy, lonely childhood, and turned to violence to compensate.
• Good Is Not Nice: She's heroic, but also rude, abrasive and downright brutal to anyone she meets.
• Hopeless Suitor: By the end of her arc, she has developed a crush on Ushio, but knows she doesn't stand a chance against Asako and gives up in tears.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Despite her aggressive personality, very deep down, she's a good person, but even she would deny that.
• Rescue Romance: She falls for Ushio after he saves her from the Stray Gedo which had possessed her.
• Summon Magic: She carries around a precious pauwlonia box covered in the finest washi (traditional Japanese paper), which is where the Gedo rests. Said Gedo takes the form of a monstrous, multi-headed white hound which can split if cut in half and will devour monsters. She also knows a spell which can amplify a Gedo's power or shut it down.

Sumako Aotsuki

Voiced by: Maaya Sakamoto (Japanese), Emily Neves (English)

Ushio's mother who was presumed dead, until a Youkai told Ushio that she's alive and hated by all Youkai. Finding the truth about her becomes Ushio's motivation for his journey to Asahikawa.

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• Barrier Maiden: As the third Oyakume, Sumako keeps up a powerful barrier that keeps Hakumen no Mono sealed under the sea and holds off every youkai of Japan that wants Hakumen no Mono's head.
• Barrier Warrior: She is able to create powerful barriers to deflect youkai. She uses this to help her husband in a fight against youkai during a flashback.
• Berserk Button: In the extra story detailing her encounter with Shigure, the only time she's angry at him is when he scathingly tells her how he hates people "born without a purpose". She tells him not to be so arrogant and that purpose isn't something we're born with, but something we find.
• Big Ol' Eyebrows: Ushio got his thick eyebrows from her.
• Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: When they first met, she was the Gentle Girl to Shigure's Brooding Boy. Her kindness got through his angry and violent self and turned him into the man he is today.
• Chekhov M.I.A.: Once Ushio learns his mother is still alive, it's inevitable she gets an important role in the plot.
• Daddy Had a Good Reason for Abandoning You: She had to leave her husband and son to hold up Hakumen no Mono's barrier under the sea.
• Fourth-Date Marriage: She vaguely knew Shigure for a couple of days before agreeing to marry him. Sort of justified; Sumako only had two years to marry and have a child before returning to hold up Hakumen no Mono's barrier.
• Friend to All Children: According to her husband, she was very good with children.
• Get A Hold Of Yourself Man: She tries to literally slap some sense into Ushio when he starts to freak out and tries to convince her to run away with him instead of facing Hakumen. It has the opposite effect than she intended; this only results in Ushio giving in to his hatred and entering an Unstoppable Rage.
• Hime Cut: She has the traditional hairstyle befitting of a Yamato Nadeshiko.
• Housewife: After Hakumen no Mono's defeat, Sumako is freed from her duty as the Oyakume and now can dedicate herself to taking care of her husband and son.
• Living MacGuffin: After Ushio learned that her mother is alive, his main motivation shifted into finding her as soon as possible.
• Missing Mom: Ushio never met her and was told she was dead his entire life until a youkai told him otherwise.
• Mysterious Parent: Her identity and situation remained a mystery for a long time. After he learns she's alive and is an enemy of youkai, Ushio spends a good part of the story searching for answers of who his mother is. He finally discovers she's under the sea, holding up Hakumen no Mono's barrier.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: By hitting Ushio and putting defeating Hakumen no Mono before their reunion, she only made Ushio snap and start an Unstoppable Rage that ultimately destroys the Beast Spear.
• Older Than She Looks: She looks like a young woman, but she's actually over 140 years old. The Oyakume have their lifespan and youth expanded so they can keep up the barrier for a long time.
• Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: A really beautiful woman with long black hair and pale skin.
• Single Tear: At the end of the Western youkai arc, Sumako sheds one tear after she sends Ushio and Tora back to the surface while she stays at the bottom of the ocean to keep up Hakumen's barrier. She's very sad to not be able to even greet her son despite finally having him in front of her.
• Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: She's a beautiful young-looking woman and her husband Shigure looks like an old man.
• Umbrella of Togetherness: In her first meeting with Shigure, she shared her umbrella with him after he helped her open it. She also shared it when they agreed to get married.
• Yamato Nadeshiko: A beautiful, kind and traditional Japanese woman in a kimono with an unbreakable will and a great love for her family.

Kouhamei Sect

The Second Oyakume

Hizaki Mikado

Voiced by: Wakana Yamazaki (OVA), Fumiko Orikasa (series) (Japanese), Mandy Clark (OVA) (English)

The old and wise woman who's in charge of the Kouhamei Sect, a Buddhist sect who aims to preach the teaching of Buddha and to protect humans from Youkai. She was the former guardian of Hakumen, and her real name is Mikado Hizaki.

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• Action Girl: Apart from being an Oyakume, she managed to freeze Kugari by herself, despite being an elderly at that time.
• Barrier Maiden: She was chosen by Jiemei to watch over Hakumen no Mono in far distant past, though now she's retired.
• Barrier Warrior: The above being said, she's not lost her touch with barriers.
• Chekhov's Gunman: A powerful exorcist by the name of Mikado Hizaki was first mentioned during the Gamin-Sama arc, being the focus of their vengeance but thought to be dead. Then we learn that Mikado was the second Oyakume and she still is.
• Go Out with a Smile: Although her death causes much distress, she passes on knowing that she fulfilled her mission and that she can now rest.
• Holy Hand Grenade: Uses her Dharmic powers to literally shatter the insides of the Youkai Kuragi, who's an avatar of Hakumen, btw. She names the technique "Ju" (which can be translated as "apex", more or less)
• I Was Quite a Looker: She looked a lot like Mayuko when she was young, though she's aged well all things considered.
• Pre-Mortem One-Liner: Doubles as a humble Badass Boast.
  "Hakumen really underestimates me... your master knowns very well that a simple avatar such as yourself cannot defeat me... for I am the Second Oyakume, Mikado Hizaki." (Kuragi goes boom)
• Really 700 Years Old: She's at least 500 years old since she had her lifespan extended.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: She's extremely wise and corteous, and the only reason why the Kouhamei oppose Ushio early on is because her underlings disregarded her orders.
• Strong Family Resemblance: In their maiden age, Jie Mei's direct descendants look exactly like her, one of which include the second Oyakume, Hizaki Mikado, as shown in an old photo. This also becomes a major plot point and a Chekhov's Gun for the reason why Mayuko looks like a certain priestess in the past.

Nigira

Voiced by: Hidekatsu Shibata (Japanese), Marty Fleck (English)

A massive bonze with a scarred face, he's the second in comand of the Sect. When the Second Oyakume dies taking down Kuragi, Nigira becomes the new head of the Kouhamei.

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• Cain and Abel: He's the responsible and kind Abel to Kyoura ruthless Cain.
• Large and in Charge: Even more so after the death of the Second Oyakume.
• Number Two: To the Second Oyakume.
• Scars Are Forever: Half of his face is scarred. The manga reveals that it was an accident with Dharmic powers caused by his brother by mistake.

Kyoura

Manga-Only Character, Kyoura is an heretical member of the Kouhamei, expelled because of his excessive bloodlust and violence, but his demon-slaying skills and Dharmic powers are indeed without equal. He's Nigira's brother.

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• Adapted Out: Unfortunately for him, the anime could do without him, though they at least give a cameo to his weapon.
• Atop a Mountain of Corpses: He dies on a pile of Kokuen corpses, telling Ushio and Tora that he had fun fighting them.
• Back for the Dead: After his second major appearence, he disappears from the story, only to pop up during the final battle, revealing that he took on and destroyed a whole army of Kokuen who were sneaking on Mayuko and Sumako, dying in the process.
• Bald of Evil: He's bald, but he's also ruthless, violent and doesn't think too much of anyone who's not strong enough to give him a good fight.
• BFS: During his second appearence he shows up wielding the "Senshinkaku" (Lit. Spirit-Impaling Horn), a massive weapon resembling an hybrid of a lance and a sacred prayer tool. It's the most powerful Dharmic weapon forged by the Kouhamei, good enough to give the Spear a good match, but it requires an insane amount of energy to use.
• Blood Knight: He enjoys a good fight far too much, and is willing to downright slay Youkai rather than seal them. This is why he was excomunicated. Even after his first defeat, he still seeks to hunt after Ushio with stronger weapons for a rematch.
• Cain and Abel: He's the ruthless and violent Cain to Nigira's Abel.
• Dangerous Forbidden Technique: Iguri, the Demon-Slaying technique of the Senshinkaku: rumored to be powerful enough to slay even the Demon King of the Sixth Heaven (for once, not Nobunaga), but it must gather Dharmic energy from a huge human chain of people, and the partecipants, if untrained, may suffer long-term health problems.
• Holy Hand Grenade: He makes full use of his Dharmic powers to kill demons and Youkai. He can even (briefly) seal the Beast Spear and Tora with a rosary.
• Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: For all his faults, he still won't directly disobey the Second Oyakume.
• Oh, Crap!: During the battle against Kuragi, he's the first to realize, too late, that Kuragi can reflect sacred energy back to the user.
• Redemption Equals Death: Kyoura dies during the final battle against Hakumen, while defending humans and bakemono alike. He reflects that Mikado would've been proud of him.
• Social Darwinist: Has a very low view on who's not strong enough for his standards, pretty much every single civilian.
• Worthy Opponent: Considers both Tora and Ushio one after their first encounter.

Jun Moritsuna

Voiced by: Ayahi Takagaki (Japanese), Emily Neves (English)

A young girl with great dharmic powers, she's the sister of Satoru, one of the four successors to the Beast Spear.

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• Barrier Warrior: During the Hokkaido arc, when Ushio is turned in a Beast, she joins Hinowa and helps her make a barrier powerful enough to restrain Ushio.
• Full-Frontal Assault: In order to maximize her spiritual powers she meditates under a waterfall and then she unleashes her spiritual energy in Moritsuna's eyes to help Ushio, all without putting her clothes back on.
• Holy Hand Grenade: During the battle inside Moritsuna's body, her spiritual powers from outside prove essential in fighting the Hiyo and Blood Robe.
• Meaningful Name: Jun means "pure".

Beast Spear Successors

Hinowa Sekimori

Voiced by: Nana Mizuki (Japanese), Stephanie Wittels (English)

The first of the successors to appear. Hinowa is a tough, no-nonsense girl who appears to try to take the Beast Spear away from Ushio because she believes him to be unworthy of it. When she gets the chance to wield the Spear, it rejects her, returning instead to Ushio. Hinowa is still reluctant to acknowledge Ushio as the true bearer of the Spear, but she ends up helping him from time to time anyway.

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• Action Girl: She has been trained to fight youkai all her life and can defeat minor Hiyou. Despite this, she isn't capable enough to deal with major threats on her own.
• Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy: Very proud and confident of her skills to exorcise youkai. She thinks someone like Ushio is nothing but a lucky idiot compared to her.
• Barrier Warrior: She helped in creating a barrier that would make a transformed Ushio immobile.
• Boyish Short Hair: Her short hair reflects her tough and aggressive personality.
• The Chosen Wannabe: She believes the Beast Spear should have chosen her instead of Ushio, as she was trained her entire life to bear it. She looks down on Ushio, refusing to acknowledge him as The Chosen One even after the Beast Spear rejects her and Ushio has to save her from Hakumen no Mono's Hiyou, claiming she merely needs more training before the spear acknowledges her.
• Clothing Damage: Her clothes tends to be destroyed whenever she fights a threatening opponent, much to her chagrin.
• Improbable Weapon User: She uses combs as weapons to focus her energy in battle.
• Likes Older Men: Word of God is, she's got a crush on Shigure, who's her type.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: She gives one to Ushio, calling him an inexperienced and reckless idiot who can't bring out the real potential of the Beast Spear and isn't worthy of it. This affects Ushio enough to hand her over the Spear.
• The Resenter: She resents Ushio, feeling that he stole her position as the bearer of the Beast Spear.
• The Smurfette Principle: She's the only female among the four Beast Spear successors. This is something that she initially hated, and would've wished to be born as a man instead. Hinowa later shows some Character Development in the final battle, as she monologues that she now accepts who she is regardless of her own gender.
• Tsundere: Given that apparently men like Shigure are her type, her relationship with Ushio sounds more like this.

Nagare Akiba

Voiced by: Yoshimasa Hosoya (Japanese), Ian Sinclair (English)

The second of the successors to appear. Unlike the others successors, Nagare isn't that bothered by Ushio bearing the Beast Spear and is for more interested in challenging Tora. After Tora defeats him, Nagare decides to help him and Ushio in their journey.

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• Badass Biker: He drives a Cool Bike and he's strong enough to give Tora a tough fight.
• Big Ol' Eyebrows: He has very thick eyebrows.
• Broken Ace: He confesses that throughout his life, he was always so good at everything that he couldn't feel any excitement and he wasn't allowed to give his best at anything due to all the harassment and threats his mother received due to jealousy from other parents and their kids. This made him empty inside and was one of the reasons why he joined Hakumen no Mono.
• Cavalry Betrayal: In episode 30, Ushio and Tora are escorted in a military jeep with some soldiers pointing their guns at the two. He's confused as to what's going on, as the soldiers don't answer his questions. Nagare then attacks the jeep and rescues them. Unfortunately he then announces his Face–Heel Turn, and that he was siding with Hakumen no Mono, after Ushio thought he was rescuing them from soldiers who were suspicious themselves. A helicopter from the HAMMR institute then arrives, forcing Nagare to leave, but he once again announces that he's on Hakumen's team now.
• Cool vs. Awesome: Tora and Nagare's second fight where both of them go all out to battle each other.
• Dies Wide Open: He dies with his eyes open after a final fight with Tora.
• Dreary Half-Lidded Eyes: He's always drawn with half-lidded eyes to show his laidback attitude.
• Dual Wielding: He's skilled enough to wield two full-sized shakujo at the same time.
• Face–Heel Turn: He eventually sides with Hakumen no Mono, after it reveals his most secret desire to fight someone strong such as Tora.
• Flechette Storm: He has masterd the Vajra and can use them as flying bullets to pierce the enemy.
• Hulking Out: When fighting Tora with all he has, Nagare bulks considerably and is able to imbue his very punches with Dharmic energy.
• Not Brainwashed: In a story arc where a lot of the characters have forgotten Ushio and Tora, Nagare appears to be fine at first as he remembers the two protagonists, but then he reveals his Face–Heel Turn of siding with Hakumen.
• Shaping Your Attacks: Like all Kouhamei Monks, he can summon moon-shaped light formations to paralyze monsters and people. He has mastered the "Kogetsu" (Lone Moon) form, which is supposedly nearly-impossible to perform alone.
• Shipper on Deck: Nagare jokes that Ushio is worried of leaving Tokyo because he's about to leave his crush behind, to which Ushio denies. When the Sect calls for the girls whom Ushio has bonded with in order to reverse his transformation, Nagare gets his validation when he found out that Ushio indeed, has several girls waiting for him.
• Slashed Throat: Tora takes him out by biting a chunk of his throat out.
• Slasher Smile: A rather unhinged one when he goes all out against Tora.
• Villainous Breakdown: Goes mad when Tora correctly guessed that Nagare couldn't stand Ushio's honest and strong gaze anymore.
• Willfully Weak: Though he's a pretty skilled fighter, during his second fight with Tora, he reveals that he was The Ace in both physical and mental aptitude. He purposely held back because of all the harassment and threats his mother received due to jealousy from other parents and their kids. He then pulls a I Am Not Left-Handed move, and shows off his true power. Despite this however, Tora still defeats him, and only holds back from killing him because Ushio warned him not to kill Nagare.

Satoru Moritsuna

Voiced by: Ryōta Ōsaka (Japanese), Clifford Chapin (English)

The most senior of the four Chosen of the Beast Spear. He was possessed by Hiyou to attack Ushio and destroy the Beast Spear.

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• The Ace: Handsome, popular and skilled in martial and spiritual arts.
• Big Brother Instinct: He is very protective of his younger sister Jun.
• The Corruptible: His jealousy over Ushio being chosen by the Beast Spear instead of him left him vulnerable to the possession of the Hiyou.
• Demonic Possession: He was possessed by Hiyou to attack Ushio, but Ushio frees him.
• Fighting from the Inside: Satoru is able to resist the influence of the Hiyou to some extent. He tries to commit suicide to put an end to it. Ushio and Tora stop him and eliminate the Hiyou inside his body.
• "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight: Zigzagged when the protagonists had to expel the Hiyo from Satoru. Though the demon possessing him mostly takes over his mind and body, he still manages to maintain enough sanity and control to attempt suicide after realizing he's helpless against it. Ushio and Tora then enter his body to exorcise the demon, but they still needed Jun's help via her spiritual powers, which she channels into him to help them defeat the demon.
• Interrupted Suicide: Satoru attempts to kill himself by jumping off a cliff, but is saved by Ushio throwing the Beast Spear to stop his fall. Ushio and Tora, with the help of another youkai, Izuna, then go inside him to exorcise the demon out that had possessed him.
• I Owe You My Life: He becomes indebted to Ushio after he frees him from the Hiyou's control and saves his life.
• Shipper on Deck: At one point he seemingly encourages a relationship between his sister Jun and Ushio, much to her chagrin.
• Sink or Swim Mentor: When training Ushio, he makes him fight a skeleton shikigami to death and leaves him to figure out how to survive a fight without relying on the Beast Spear.
• Summon Magic: A master shikigami user. He's seen summoning a giant, multi-headed leech, a pair of huge millipedes and a Giant Spider.

Kirio Inasa

Voiced by: Megumi Han (Japanese), Blake Shepard (English)

The youngest but also the strongest of the successors. He wields the Elzaar Scythe and is accompanied by a monster partner call Kuin.

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• Adaptation Distillation: The 2015 anime adaptation cut out some stories that would've focused more on Kirio's Character Development.
• Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy: He believes having the Elzaar Scythe and Kuin make him better than Ushio and he's confident that he can beat Hakumen no Mono on his own.
• Character Development: He starts off as a jerk and arrogant kid who boasted the Elzaar Scythe and mocks the current wielder of the Beast Spear, Ushio. But once Kirio learned that his "mother", Towako, didn't actually love her, he spent some time in a Heroic BSoD. After going past that and being adopted into Mayuko's family, he started to appreciate Ushio and his friends.
• Child Prodigy: The Kouhamei Sect saw a great potential in his fighting abilities despite being a child, so they immediately made him as one of the possible successors to the Beast Spear. In reality, this is a result of Kirio being a Tyke Bomb experimented by Inasa and Towako to be the "Materia".
• Fake Ultimate Hero: He shows up with a buddhist weapon he claims to be superior to the Beast Spear and promise to mass-produce it. During the fight against Kuragi he jumps in when the monster is immobilized by the second Oyakume to destroy it effortlessly. Unfortunately, it was all an years-long plan of Hakumen to get rid of the Spear and trick the Kouhamei monks.
• Foil: To Ushio: both are young boys who fight supernatural threats with a spirit weapon and a Youkai companion, but Kirio has a costant affable attitude, boasts about his skills and was actually created just to kill monsters, while Ushio is normally more rude and temperamental but good and was forced by circumstances to slay monsters.
• Happily Adopted: He is adopted by Mayuko's family.
• Heroic BSoD: Knowing that Towako didn't actually love him but used him as a tool, Kirio broke to the point where he rampaged aimlessly after killing his own "mother". He gets better though.
• Matricide: Once he realizes his adoptive mother Towako never really loved him, Kirio kills her with the Elzaar Scythe.
• Jerkass Has a Point: While arrogant and smarmy, he kinda has a point when he points out that more often than not Ushio's fights with Youkai ended up with massive collateral damage.
• Kill Steal: Hizaki Mikado's final effort only made Kugari immobile and likely dying. Seeing this chance, Kirio jumped in to deal the final blow to Kugari, boasting that the Elzaar Scythe is superior than the Beast Spear. Subverted when Shigure later confirmed that it was all a ruse to present the scythe as the ultimate Youkai-slaying weapon, and Kuragi was already dying.
• Never Bareheaded: He always wears a cap.
• Precocious Crush: He develops a crush on the older Mayuko.
• Protectorate: Kuin sees his role as a guardian to Kirio.
• Sinister Scythe: His weapon is Elzaar Scythe, a weapon created to destroy powerful youkai. Kirio is confident that it can even destroy Hakumen no Mono.
• Tyke-Bomb: He was kidnapped, experimented on and then raised by Towako to be her tool and help her destroy the Beast Spear.
• Unskilled, but Strong: Unlike the other Candidates, who mastered both martial arts and Dharmic powers, Kirio's only resource is the Elzaar Scythe and Kuin's protection. Other than that, he has no other notable abilities, making his scythemanship a case of Crippling Overspecialization.
• Unwitting Pawn: He was manipulated his entire life by his "mother" Towako, using him as a pawn in her plan to destroy the Beast Spear.
• Younger Than He Looks: Towako's experiments accelerated his growth, turning him from a baby to a young boy in a short period of time.

Kuin

Voiced by: Katsuyuki Konishi (Japanese), David Wald (English)

Kirio's partner, an imposing bird-like monster of incredible power who's collected and logical. He's something of a rival to Tora.

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• Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy: Just like his master Kirio, except that he tends to target exclusively Tora.
• Combat Tentacles: The rims of his wings can extend into ribbon-like appendages to imprison opponents or impale them.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Dies of fatigue and wounds after shielding Mayuko and Sumako during the final battle.
• Meaningful Name: Kuin means "Nine marks", referring to the three series of three circles on his Shoulders of Doom and head.
• No-Sell: One of his powers is a golden mist which can neutralize Tora's lightning and fire.
• Our Homunculi Are Different: Kuin is an artificial monster created through Western alchemy, which involved boiling chemicals, flesh and horse semen in a cauldron.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: He's the calm, analytical and polite Blue Oni to Tora's boisterous, rude Red.
• The Stoic: He's always composed and collected, except when he's being outmatched in combat, and even then he doesn't exactly overact.
• Undying Loyalty: He loyally follows Kirio and protects him.
• Winged Humanoid: Overall resembles a massive eagle-man whose wings cover most of his body.

The Eastern Youkai

Eastern Leader Yamanmoto

Voiced by: Toshio Furukawa (Japanese)

The leader of the Eastern Youkai of Japan, appears as an old man with a long, downward-pointing nose, but he's actually a Daitengu. Becomes an ally of Ushio after encountering him during his journey north.

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• Badass in Distress: During the Youkai War arc, he's captured by Shinno's Mazuchi and kept prisoner inside the Mansion in the Sky.
• Breath Weapon: A barrage of sharp feathers, apparently.
• Game Face: Whenever he gets serious, he turns into a huge, red-faced, monstrous Tengu.
• Gonk: The youkai Yamanmoto has a very long nose, even in his "human-like" form. It's a trait of him being a Tengu.
• Heroic Sacrifice: In the end, he and most of the Youkai merge with the gap left by Hakumen to save Japan from sinking.
• Laser-Guided Amnesia: Falls victim of this near the end when the Hiyo consume his memories of Ushio and Tora.
• Reasonable Authority Figure:
  • While he probably hates Sumako for her barrier, he's willing to listen to her son's version and let him go once he's explained himself.
  • Yamanmoto is such a respected figure that the lesser youkai in his region follow his commands. He settles a one-on-one duel between Tora and Hitotsuki, both to prove the former's strength, and to quell the latter's anger and have him obey his commands as usual.
• Secret Test of Character: Appears as a harmless old man attacked by Youkai to test Ushio. The boy's kindness moved the Tengu youkai so much and earned his trust.
• Tengu: Implied by his large nose and leaf fan, he can turn into a giant red Tengu in a pinch.

Ibuki

Voiced by: Kenta Ookuma (Japanese), Mike Vance (English)

A Karasutengu from the East, he's Yamanmoto's bodyguard.

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• Aloof Ally: He's very distrustful of Ushio at first.
• Blow You Away: He can use his fan to summon squalls of wind, even scorching hot gales.
• The Lancer: He's Yamanmoto's most trusted man.
• The Mole: Implied by Gurashi, the Western Karasutengu, to be one. It was a ploy though.
• Taking the Bullet: Moved by Ushio's trust in spite of his own lack of, he jumps in the way of the highly-damaging Mazuchi barrier to give Izuna a shot at possessing it.
• Tengu: Unlike his boss, Ibuki is a Karasutengu, and has the head and wings of a bird (hawk, in this case). In an extra insert he mentions that he heard that people who die hating Buddhism are turned into Tengu, but he doesn't remember if this's the case with him.

Hitotsuki

Voiced by: Hisao Egawa (Japanese), John Gremillion (English)

The Snake Monster from the East, Hitotsuki is one of the strongest eastern Youkai and fought Hakumen alongside Tora. He looks like a giant Oni-like brute, but his body is made up of intercoiled snakes.

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• Aloof Ally: He only begrudginly trusts Ushio and Tora.
• Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy: While he is legitimely strong, he still acts as if Tora didn't became any more powerful than before. Which leads to a truly brutal awakening.
• Big Eater: Being a snake, he can subject his enemies to the Eaten Alive trope, and he actually devours the Western Snake Monster whole since he can't break through his defense.
• Horn Attack: That horn of his isn't for show, and he can even make it grew longer to spear his opponents.
• Made of Iron: Survives both a beating administered by Nagatobimaru and a full-out assault from the Western Youkai forces but recovered both times.
• Meaningful Name: Hitotuki means "One Ogre", which compliments his Oni-like normal appearence.
• Snake People: His true form is, essentially, a one-horned Naga, but he usually goes around in a humanoid body made of coiled snakes.
• Undying Loyalty: To Yamanmoto, to the point of costantly berating himself for failing to save him, even when Yamanmoto ordered him to go and seek for help.
• Weaksauce Weakness: According to extra materials, Hitotsuki (and Jashin in general) can't stand tobacco.

Zashiki Warashi

Voiced by: Ai Kayano (Japanese), Brittney Karbowski (English)

Also called as "Omamori-Sama" (Lord Protector Deity), she was a child-like Zashiki Warashi youkai who brings good luck to a household, but was imprisoned by a sorcerer from the Takatori family and sealed in their mansion behind a barrier, with the white-haired women as her only company. Currently bound to Saya, she's fred by Ushio and Tora and follows Saya everywhere, helping Ushio whenever she can.

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• Action Girl: Some of her powers include conjuring fire or creating barriers.
• Barrier Maiden: She created a barrier around Saya's house to prevent any memory-wiping Hiyo from entering her and Saya's heads, allowing them to keep their memories of Ushio and Tora.
• Connected All Along: When Ushio is invited to speak personally with the youkai's Eastern Leader, Yamanmoto, he was surprised to see Omamori as an acquaintance of the old man.
• Heroic Sacrifice: As Hakumen is defeated, she sacrifices herself to lock the gates of the Underworld, as they can only be closed from the inside.
• Laser-Guided Amnesia: Averted, she and Saya are among the few beings who avoid having their memories eaten by the Hiyo.
• Playing with Fire: She can summon fire using her paper fans.
• The Prophecy: Omamori foretold the coming of a boy with a spear who would free her from her imprisonment. Ushio managed to do so with the Beast Spear by destroying the barrier imprisoning her.
• Sealed Good in a Can: The Takatori Family forcibly sealed her in a special room under a mystic talisman which forms an unpassable barrier, so that they can abuse the good luck she brings. Thanks to Ushio and Tora, she's released from her prison.
• Shipper on Deck: In a personal conversation, Omamori-sama instructs Ushio to always take care of himself, otherwise, Saya might cry if he dies.
• She's a Man in Japan: The Zashiki Warashi is usually a boy (Warashi is an outdated form for little boy). She becomes a girl in the English dub.
• The Stoic: While good and collected, she's never shown expressing emotions, outside of a polite smile, which is seldomly seen.
• Zashiki-warashi: One and the same, taking form of a cute child in a kimono, her presence blesses a house with wealth and fortune. Unfortunately, she was forcibly sealed in one to milk said blessing for all that's worth. Oddly enough, it is spelled entirely in katakana rather than kanji.

Ungaikyo

Voiced by: Shōzō Iizuka (Japanese), Rob Mungle (English)

A mirror Youkai who lives in the mountains, Ungaikyo can talk to people through the mirror in his body and talk through all the mirrors of Japan.

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• Butt-Monkey: The first time he appears, he's terrified by the Beast Spear and scared speechless of Nagatobimaru. The second time, seeing them both again causes him to leap in shock crashing his head against the ceiling of his cavern.
• Cool Old Guy: Despite being a reclusive Youkai, he's kind and helpful once you get to know him, and he does look pretty old.
• Magic Mirror: The massive mirror that's part of his body allows him to record and show events seen from any mirror of Japan, speak through them and even move people across the mirrors.
• Narrator All Along: The ending implies that we "saw" the story through Ungaikyo's mirror, and he also brings up the possibility of Tora's return.
• Oh, Crap!: He's shocked with fear when he sees the Beast Spear, but he's even more terrified when Nagatobimaru shows up.

Raishin and Kagari

Two Kamaitachi siblings who ask Ushio to kill their brother Juurou because he was being taken over by his hatred for humans and has became a threat to both humans and his siblings.

Tropes in common

• Black Eyes of Crazy: The sclerae of their eyes turns black when they use their youkai powers.
• Kamaitachi: Originally, they were a classic trio of Kamaitachi siblings, Raishin knocking down humans, Juuro giving the humans a cut, and Kagari applying medicine.
• Razor Wind: The Kamaitachi Siblings can produce wind blades as one of their abilities.
• Sibling Team: Raishin and Kagari usually team up when fighting their enemies.
• Undying Loyalty: Once Ushio gains their trust, Raishin and Kagari would rather die than betray Ushio.
• You Are a Credit to Your Race: Raishin and Kagari detest humans, but he and Kagari come to consider Ushio the only human worthy of respect because he's "different".

Raishin

Voiced by: Show Hayami (OVA), Shin-ichiro Miki (series) (Japanese), Andy McAvin (OVA), Jay Hickman (series) (English)

The eldest brother of the Kamaitachi siblings.

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• Badass Back: He usually manifests his scythe from his back.
• Beware the Nice Ones: He's nice, affable and polite. Still, not one you'd like to make angry.
• Big Brother Instinct: Threatening his sister is a sure way to get a slashed neck.
• Facial Markings: He has a mark on his left cheek.
• Secret Test of Character: Done on Ushio in episode 9 to test if he was really the wielder of the Beast Spear. As he's about to kill the kamaitachi youkai, Tora has to point out that he was being tested, not attacked.

Kagari

Voiced by: Hiromi Tsuru (OVA), Risa Shimizu (series) (Japanese), Monica Rial (OVA), Patricia Duran (series) (English)

The youngest of the Kamaitachi siblings. She uses a medicine that can heal injuries.

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• Action Girl: She's a competent fighter and is skilled with her blades.
• Adaptational Curves: She's much more buxom and filled out than in the manga, especially compared to her first appearance.
• Adaptational Romance Downgrade: She has a growing crush on Tora in the manga, but this got cut out from the 2015 anime adaptation.
• Blade Below the Shoulder: She usually manifests her scythes from the side of her hands, usually from her extended pinkies.
• Combat Medic: She makes medicine to heal wounds, but she doesn't stay behind in battle.
• Defrosting Ice Queen: When they first meet, she dislikes Tora, thinking of him as a mere pet of a human. Eventually, she warms up to him, coming to greatly admire him, respect him and even develop a crush on him.
• Deliberately Distressed Damsel: Played for Laughs when she tries to invoke Rescue Romance with Tora by walking to the largest guy she could find, putting his arm around her neck, then screaming for Tora's help. When she sees it doesn't work, she shows off to the guy that he isn't a threat to her by tearing off his clothes.
• Head-Turning Beauty: Quite a few men stopped to check out Kagari's human form when she goes to do an errand with Tora.
• Insecure Love Interest: She worries that Tora may only see her as a burden.
• Leg Focus: She wears a very short dress, showing off her long, shapely legs.
• Minidress of Power: In her human form, she wears a tube dress.
• Ms. Fanservice: Her human form is very attractive, going around in an alluring red Minidress of Power that shows off her figure and long legs.
• Obliviously Beautiful: She doesn't understand why human men stare at her so much when she's in her human form. She assumes they must be wondering if she's cold because of her tube dress.
• Parrying Bullets: She's able to cut bullets in half in midair with her blades.
• Prehensile Hair: During the Youkai War arc, she manages to kill her opponent by grabbing and flinging a broken piece of her scythe with her hair.
• Sexy Backless Outfit: She usually wears a backless tube dress.

Izuna

Voiced by: Nao Nagasawa (Japanese), Jay Hickman (English)

A small fox/ferret-like spirit send by the Osa of Tono to assist Ushio in his effort to purge the demons possessing Moritsuna.

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• Asian Fox Spirit: He's a small one, specifically a Kudagitsune, a type of kitsune who excel at possessing humans.
• Boisterous Weakling: Zigzagged in that he's not a strong youkai, especially compared to most, but he's always eager to jump in action and sometimes he's surprisingly able to survive.
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: For a small, arrogant fox-spirit, he's surprisingly though. His best moment probably involves getting stabbed on Blood Robe's naginata so that he could shatter the blade.
• Demoted to Extra: Izuna spent some time interacting/bonding with Ushio and Tora, but this got cut out in the 2015 anime adaptation.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's quite rude to Ushio at first and looks down on humans, but he becomes a good friend and loyal ally to Ushio after the latter earns his respect.
• Running Gag: In the manga, Tora would always roast Izuna up with his fire breath whenever the little fox annoyed him.
• Shipper on Deck: He supports ToraxKagari.
• Taking You with Me: Izuna attempts this in Episode 16 against the Monster of the Week, but it's subverted when Ushio manages to save her anyway. Unfortunately he was using the spear's powers even more, and after they leave Satoru's body, the Beast Spear starts taking over Ushio's body and transforming it.
• This Looks Like A Jobfor Aquaman: Izuna was sent to help the protagonists in freeing Satoru from the Hiyo's Demonic Possession by letting them travel within Satoru's body.

Umizato

Voiced by: Yanami Shouji (OVA), Minoru Inaba (series) (Japanese), Ted Pfister (OVA), Philip Hays (series) (English)

A sea Youkai taking the form of an old blind man carrying a lute on his back, he asks Nagatobimaru's help against the monstrous Ayakashi. He ends up revealing to Ushio that his mother is still alive and hated by all Youkai.

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• Aloof Ally: He reluctantly agrees to seek Ushio's help, and despite the Spear he makes no secret that he despises the human.
• Changed My Mind, Kid: During the climax, he pulls a Big Damn Heroes to help Sumako. When she asks why, he admits that the Sea is ever-shifting and fickle.
• Fantastic Racism: He makes no secret that he holds Ushio in contempt, even after Tora told him to seek for his help.
• Handicapped Badass: A powerful and respected Sea Youkai who's blind.
• Oh, Crap!: Reacts with a ridicolous panicked face when Tora mentions that the human he must seek wields the Beast Spear.
• Rubber Man: One of his powers allows him to extend his arms to ludicrous lengths.
• Summon Bigger Fish: Essentially his plan: since he can't beat Ayakashi, he asks for Tora's help.
• Wham Line: He's the one who reveals to Ushio the whereabouts of his mother.
  "Ushio Aotsuki... you're the son of that despicable woman who still lives!"

Kappa

Voiced by: Yuji Ueda (Japanese), Kyle Jones (English)

A Kappa from Toono who lives in a pond, he encounters Ushio's twice but unlike many other Youkai he's shy and non-hostile. Owns a special medicine with supernatural powers and helps Ushio twice during the story.

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• After-Action Healing Drama: In his first appearence he cures Ushio after the wild chasing and battle against the Toono Youkai in the forest and provides explanation on the grudge they have for Ushio's mother. He does the same later on when Ushio delivers him a dying Asako after the clash at the Sky Mansion.
• Gratuitous English: Played for Laughs when Ushio departs from him with an hearfelt "Thank You Kappa", which causes him to be puzzled and ask what "Sankyu" is supposed to mean.
• Healing Herb: Part of his medical treatment involves covering the wounds with a special type of leaves.
• Lovable Coward: He openly admits he's too scared to even think doing something against "that horrible spear".
• Mr. Exposition: He explains to Ushio why the Youkai of Japan harbor such hatred towards his mother Sumako.
• Nervous Wreck: He's always on edge and ready to cringe in panic, especially when in presence of the wielder of the Beast Spear or Tora.
• Nice Guy: He's nothing but kind and helpful, and even if all the Youkai of Toono are hostile to Ushio, he's willing to help him and explain him the reasons why.
• Kappa: He's a pretty standard example, though he lacks a beak and is rather well-mannered. According to him, in the past he made countless pranks on humans, who eventually captured him and released him only after he swore to behave from then on.
• Retired Monster: He used to cause problems for humans like any other youkai. That was until humans captured him and spared him only because he swore he would never harm a human ever again. This is why he doesn't join the other youkai from Toono in their hunt of Ushio.

Sanpitara Kamui

Manga-Only Character, Sanpitara is an Ainu God of the Land who resides in a lake. He's met when he tries to hire Ushio's friends as the new Kami of the lake in order to defeat the evil Oyau Kamui. He's among Ushio's allies in the north.

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• Adapted Out: He doesn't get to appear in the anime.
• Big Damn Heroes: He leads the deities of the Land to assist Ushio in his final battle.
• God's Hands Are Tied: Rather than fight Oyau Kamui himself, he'll rather hire two people to turn into Kami so that they'll fight in his stead and defend the lake. Justified when he reveals that the last time he took action against a God of Misfortune and kicked him away, the resulting action caused a volcanic eruption that killed hundreds of people, so he'd rather not act unless strictly required.
• Physical God: He's a Kamui, an Ainu deity watching over Japan. He has a special divine Saké which can turn humans into Kami. He also mentions that the former deity "was promoted" and left this world to Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: The most questionable thing he does is to promise two girls in marriage to the two guys he chose to be the new Kami of the lake, and even then it's just because he was really desperate. When Oyau Kamui is slain, he lets them go and apologise. Furthermore, all the Youkai of Hokkaido respect him and are willing to obey his orders.

Tokisaka and Tokijun

Voiced by: Mayumi Tanaka (Japanese), Brittney Karbowski (Tokisaka, English), Mark X Laskowski (Tokijun, English)

A Time-travelling monster with two bodies half-hidden behind a flat stone, Tokisaka can travel back in time, Tokijun can travel forward. They were enlisted by Jie Mei herself to explain the origin of the Beast Spear to Ushio.

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• Bearer of Bad News: What they become after their Oh, Crap! moment, hurrying back to the present time to warn the Kouhamei sect about the Beast Spear's destruction. When they relayed that message though, Tokisaka and Tokijun realized that something is wrong about the Sect members' memories, so they had to relay yet another bad news to Ushio and Tora.
• Meaningful Name: Tokisaka means "Reverse Time", Tokijun means "Correct Time".
• Offscreen Moment of Awesome: They also helped Hyou to travel back in time to identify his family's murderer, as well as help Kirio travel back in time to learn about Hakumen no Mono's origins. In the 2015 anime, these are made into short flashback scenes.
• Oh, Crap!: When returning from their peek in the future, they panic because they saw the destruction of the Beast Spear.
• Our Monsters Are Weird: They appear as a flat diamond-shaped slab of stone split in the middle, an arm and a leg poking out of each side, with their heads poking from the inner side of the slab.
• Time Travel: Tokisaka can go back in time, bringing people with him. Tokijun can go forward, doing the same. They tend to bicker on which of their specialties, past or future, is the most important.
• The Unreveal: Their full bodies are never visible, being always hidden behind their stone slab.

H.A.M.M.R. (Head Anti Metamorphose Measure Research)

General Tropes

• Arc Villain: Of their own Arc.
• Curse: Turns out, Hakumen has put a "tatari", a deadly curse which is killing the members of the organization one by one. At this point, the surviving scientists are desperate.
• Heel–Face Turn: By the end of their arc, they decide to fully support Ushio and the effort against Hakumen.
• Insistent Terminology: They refer to Youkai as "Metamorphose". There's a reason why, since the sinonym "Bakemono" literally translate to "Shapeshifter being".
• Morally Ambiguous Doctorate: Their situation has pushed them to adopt inhuman and cruel experiments on both monsters and humans alike.
• No-Sell: They managed to invent a device called "Kirlian" Oscillator, which can emit special waves able to repeal/bind monsters.
• Poor Communication Kills: Even if you're doing things for good, kidnapping people with men in black and artificial monsters won't get you anywhere.
• Power Levels: They use "Kirlian Levels" to gauge a creature's overall strength, human or youkai alike.
• Science Is Bad: At first, this is seemingly played straigth. Ultimately subverted, just like the monsters in the previous arc, H.A.M.M.R. were just desperate and underestimated Hakumen.
• Underestimating Badassery:
  • Their Kirlian Level measurements only happen in real-time, so they aren't able to anticipate the massive power level readings when Ushio, Tora and the Hakumen Fragment fought. As the battle dragged on, the three had to unleash more of their powers.
  • They mistakenly believe that Hakumen is just a very powerful Metamorphose and nothing more. Soon, the fragment they revive proves impervious to their machines and nearly kills them all.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: They were sent in Japan to study monsters and lend a hand against Hakumen. However, the death of several colleagues due to Hakumen's powers made them more ruthless and unhinged.

Helena Markof

Voiced by: Yuko Tsuga (Japanese), Tiffany Grant (English)

One of the three surviving head-researchers of H.A.M.M.R.

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• Determinator: Even when mortally wounded, she won't stop from directing Asako so that they can stop the Hakumen Fragment and send datas to Nicholas and Marco so that they'll be able to update their machines for the final battle.
• Evil Old Folks: Subverted, though she's really unpleasant when she first appears.
• Freudian Excuse: Most of her bitterness and lack of ethics stem from the death of her son. As she explains to Asako, scientists like her are willing to do anything to make sure that other people won't go through the same suffering as they did.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Uses the last of her strength to keep the Oscillators activated to paralyze the Fragment and make sure that the lab will explode, destroying it for good.
• My God, What Have I Done?: She and her colleagues soon realize that tampering with the Fragment of Hakumen wasn't a good idea.
• Redemption Equals Death: She saves everyone from the mess, at the cost of her life.
• The Smurfette Principle: She's the only female researcher.

Nicholas Koestler and Marco Pavroti

Nicholas Koestler

Marco Pavroti

Voiced by: Ikuya Sawaki (Nicholas Koestler, Japanese), Kinryū Arimoto (Marco Pavroti, Japanese), Jay Hickman (Nicholas Koestler, English), Rob Mungle (Marco Pavroti, English)

The other two surviving head researchers, the Kirlian technology is their doing.

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• Due to the Dead: They keep doing their research both to atone themselves and to honor Helena's sacrifice.
• Face Death with Dignity: As the Kokuen are trashing the labs, they calmly whistle an American tune which reminds them of their childhood and they activate the Giant Kirlian Oscillator "Trump".
• Informed Ability: Downplayed, but Nicholas warns Ushio that if he's still angry at them, he'll give him a taste of his boxing skills.
• Evil Old Folks: Subverted in the end, though they're rather amoral and lacking in empathy early on.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Once all Hell breaks loose, they soon realize that tampering with the Fragment of Hakumen wasn't a good idea.
• No-Sell: They manage to repel the memory-eating Hiyo by wearing special helmets which generate a Kirlian anti-youkai field on their heads. This allows them to help Ushio with a passage to Okinawa and the Stone Eater's Armor.
• The Stoic: Especially Nicholas, who rarely changes expression.
• Theme Naming: They name some of their creations after characters from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

Baldanders

Voiced by: Ayumu Murase (Japanese), Clifford Chapin (English)

A western monster who was captured by H.A.M.M.R. in Europe, he befriends Asako and is dragged in the battle against the revived Hakumen fragment.

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• Amazing Technicolor Population: The Baldanders are blue-skinned monsters.
• Badass in Distress: He tries to save Asako from the Fragment, only to be absorbed inside. After a long battle, Ushio manages to cut him free.
• Because You Were Nice to Me: He was grateful of being shown compassion and freed from the lab by Asako, so he tries to return the favor by protecting her from the Hakumen Fragment during the H.A.M.M.R. arc, and from the Kokuen during the final battle.
• Big Damn Heroes: He shows up with a handful of brothers to save Asako and her family from the Kokuen.
• Game Face: Normally he appears as a normal-looking, long-haired boy, but his real form is that of a gigantic, half-ethereal humanoid with a huge torso and Facial Markings.
• In-Series Nickname: Asako calls him "Bal-chan".
• A Lizard Named "Liz": He doesn't have an actual name, but Asako calls him "Bal-chan" because of his species.
• Non-Malicious Monster: He's harmless and spent his days sleeping in an old ruined castle when H.A.M.M.R. captured him.
• Otherworldly Technicolour Hair: His human form has blue hair, setting him apart from actual humans who have more realistic hair colors.

The Spirits of the Beast Spear

Giryou

Voiced by: Mamoru Miyano (Japanese), John Gremillion (English)

A highly skilled blacksmith from Ancient China. His parents were killed by Hakumen no Mono and his younger sister Jie Mei sacrificed her life to create the blade of the Beast Spear. Filled with anger, remorse and regret, he hammered his body into the shaft of the spear. His spirit is trapped in the darkness of the spear, unlike his sister, and can greatly influence the user of the spear with his fury.

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• Black Eyes of Crazy: Develops this look after losing his parents and sister to Hakumen no Mono while forging the Beast Spear.
• The Blacksmith: Forges the Beast Spear after Hakumen no Mono kills his parents, and his sister Jie Mei sacrificed herself to imbue it with the power to defeat Hakumen no Mono.
• Body Horror: Driven by rage, his body undergoes some drastic change. Giryou cries with tears of blood and breathes fire from his mouth while he is forging the Beast Spear, following his Then Let Me Be Evil declaration.
• The Chooser of the One: As he became the Beast Spear itself, Giryou decided he wanted no one other than Ushio to wield him, making Ushio the rightful owner of the spear.
• Cynicism Catalyst: The death of his parents at hands of Hakumen no Mono and his sister's sacrifice to create the blade of the Beast Spear made him give in to his hatred and become a "demon" with the sole purpose of destroying Hakumen no Mono.
• Dangerous Forbidden Technique: He learnt two secret blacksmithing techniques by his master bordering on esoteric: a tame one which mixes a woman's hair and nails to create top-quality metal and the one used to create the Spear, which involves sacrificing a woman in the kiln used to melt the iron, as his sister does.
• Determinator: Giryou, the blacksmith of the Beast Spear, is so determined to create a weapon that is capable of killing Hakumen no Mono, that he managed to channel his hatred into the desire of seeking revenge on that monster for killing his family. Surprisingly, his own determination is inspired by the bravery of a time-travelled Ushio (who was called "Shangyue" in China) who saved his sister from monsters despite being a stranger.
• Early-Bird Cameo: He first appears in the mind of Ushio when the latter is transformed to a monster by the Beast Spear. There, Giryou is unnamed, forging the spear in a flashback of his Body Horror state. Jie Mei later appears to urge the blacksmith to stop, by affectionately calling him "brother".
• The Fog of Ages: He says he can no longer remember why he hates Hakumen no Mono, since over 2000 years have passed.
• Freudian Excuse: When Ushio meets the creator of the Beast Spear while possessed by it, he is so obsessed with tracking down Hakumen no Mono that he doesn't pay attention anything else. The only exception was Jie Mei, his younger sister. Ushio starts to learn more about why he wanted to track down Hakumen no Mono after he's sent back to ancient China with Tora and sees Jie Mei's parents killed right in front of the demon.
• Go Out with a Smile: Jie Mei and Giryou make peace with their fate in the creation of the Beast Spear.
• Heroic Sacrifice: He sacrificed himself to be the shaft of the Beast Spear.
• The Power of Hate: Specifically, his hatred of Hakumen no Mono eventually turned to hatred against all Youkai, leading it to become a potent weapon against their kind.
• Tears of Blood: He cries these after his sister sacrifices herself and he merges with the spear, succumbing to his hatred for Hakumen no Mono.
• Then Let Me Be Evil: Swears that if Hakumen took away everything from him, then Giryou would become the demon that would hunt Hakumen down.
• You Don't Look Like You: An In-Universe example. Ushio's first memory of Giryou is the scene where he looked so grotesque crying tears of blood and driven with rage while forging the Beast Spear. At that time, his only clue was that Jie Mei called the blacksmith her "brother". When Ushio time-travelled in the past, he recognized the younger Jie Mei but was surprised to see that her brother is a normal-looking man compared to the monstrous blacksmith he saw before. Of course, that was before he forged the spear. Ushio then realized this after he saw Giryou's transformation first-hand.
• You Killed My Father: He came hate Hakumen no Mono because he killed his parents and he created the Beast Spear in order to destroy him.

Jie Mei

Voiced by: Kana Hanazawa (Japanese), Carli Mosier (English)

The spirit guardian who lives in the darkness of the Beast Spear. She is the sister of Giryou, who sacrificed her life to create the blade of the spear. Jie Mei is able freely materialize anywhere needed, and first appeared to help prevent Ushio from transforming into a Beast by having his soul totally absorbed by the spear.

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• Curtains Match the Window: Yellow hair and eyes.
• Cute Ghost Girl: She looks pretty cute as a ghost.
• Friendly Ghost: After sacrificing herself to become the blade of the Beast Spear, Jie Mei still lingers in the world as a friendly spirit who advices and aids the heroes on defeating Hakumen.
• Go Out with a Smile: She gave one final smile to her brother and "Tsung Yue" before her Heroic Sacrifice.
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: She had blonde hair and she was a kind-hearted, selfless young woman when she died.
• Heroic Sacrifice: She willingly sacrificed her life to create the blade of the Beast Spear.
• Human Sacrifice: She gave up her life as a sacrifice to the gods to create a spear strong enough to destroy Hakumen no Mono. Jie Mei became the alloy and the blade of the Beast Spear.
• Identical Ancestor: She looks nearly identical to her distant descendant Mayuko.
• Morality Pet: To Giryou. She is the one who talks him out of consuming Ushio's soul.
• Nice Girl: She was a very sweet and friendly girl when alive. As a ghost, she continues to help Ushio whenever she can.
• Poor Communication Kills: A lot of youkai were killed trying to hunt down Ushio just because he's the son of an Oyakume who had set up a barrier to protect Hakumen no Mono. It was later revealed that the youkai's hatred stemmed from Yuki, the first Oyakume whom Ushio's mom inherited her role from. Problem is, Hakumen set up a Batman Gambit of threatening Yuki that Japan would sink alongside him if the youkai and the humans continue their attack. Yuki doesn't have enough time to relay Hakumen's warning, so a barrier is the quickest method she could think of to save the country.
• Reincarnation: After her sacrifice, she reincarnated as a woman named Yuki, the first of the lineage of powerful lady shamans who would become the Oyakume.
• Spirit Advisor: Her spirit shows up from time to time to alert others that Ushio needs their help.
• Strong Family Resemblance: In their maiden age, Jie Mei's direct descendants look exactly like her, one of which include the second Oyakume, Hizaki Mikado, as shown in an old photo. This also becomes a major plot point and a Chekhov's Gun for the reason why Mayuko looks like a certain priestess in the past.
• Too Good for This Sinful Earth: The pure and sweet Jie Mei gave up her life so her brother could create the weapon that would put an end to the evil Hakumen no Mono.

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