Hyou
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Characteristics
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| Kanji | ヒョウ |
| Romaji | Hyō |
| Species | Human |
| Status | Dead |
| Gender | Male |
| Relatives | Hai Fong (wife) Lei Xia (daughter) |
| Manga Debut | Chapter 14 |
| Anime Debut | Episode 5 |
| Japanese VA | Namikawa Daisuke (TV) |
Hyou (ヒョウ, Hyō) is a powerful Chinese exorcist, highly skilled in geomancy, usage of seals and flying spears. He travels around China and eventually comes to Japan to seek the yokai who killed his wife, Hai Fong, and his daughter, Lei Xia, and took out his right eye and left three long scars on his face. In his right eye socket now is a magical blue crystal ball used to save his life by his teacher. 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.
Hyou eventually meets his family's killer, the black Azafuse Guren. They engage in battle but it ends in a draw but Hyou manages to pierce Guren's side with one of his charmed blades, which will enable him to track the youkai. Before leaving, he shares some sake with Ushio and Tora.
Tracked Guren he did, and Hyou engaged the demon in a bitter fight ot the death while protecting an actress and her 7 year-old daughter, Kaori. The battle was fierce, both Hyou and Guren sustaining grievous injuries, but Guren found his lightning useless as Hyou used his magic blue eye to absorb the lightning into it. Finally, Hyou ripped his magic eye out and thrust it down Guren's throat, losing his arm in the process.
Guren gloated, certain victory was his until he saw that Hyou had stuffed his very body with seals, the parchments flaying from his bloody stump where his arm had been. And Hyou revealed that his eye had absorbed Guren's lightning but without him controlling the eye, the energy inside the eye, which was now in Guren's belly, would explode. Outraged, Guren made one last ditch effort to kill Hyou but exploded from his own lightning.
Hyou died in the actress's arms as he recalled the night he went home to his family but instead of seeing them dead, he saw, in his mind, his wife and daughter there to welcome him home. And he died with a smile on his face.
Appearance[]
Hyou has long black hair up to his shoulders with a few front bangs. In the past, he had short hair and a pair of brown eyes, but his right eye was gouged out by Guren, leaving three permanent scars on his face due to Guren's claws. His eyes soon become dichromatic, when Daoshi inserts a blue water dragon crystal in place of his lost eye. He sometimes wears sunglasses to cover his blue eye when he's not in battle.
His outfit consists of a suit and fedora, both having a dark jungle green shade. He wears black dress shoes along with it. Under his suit jacket, he wears a black custom-made chainmail armour smeared with salt and made out of rope and women's hair, which matches the strength of steel. It resembles a Chinese-style linen shirt and is tucked into his pants. Scars cover the entirety of his body, throughout his back, arms, hands, chest, and stomach. Hyou also places several protective charms under his clothes and even has seals embedded within his body.
Personality[]
Hyou was originally a loving father, caring a great deal for his wife and child. He looked forward to spending time with his family and couldn't wait to give his daughter a present for her birthday.
As a result of witnessing his family get eaten, Hyou becomes very sadistic and takes pleasure when killing bakemono. Due to his fatherly nature, he protects children from danger and is extremely angered when someone harms them. His thirst for vengeance pushes him forward, but it also blinds him from thinking rationally, as Ushio had to convince him that killing the thugs and Tora for no reason would be murder. Hyou had no qualms about attacking Ushio during his berserk rage when they first met and was even about to gouge Ushio's eye out, implying that he may only care about saving little kids that remind him of his daughter as opposed to teenagers.
Hyou often states that he's no longer human and compares himself to a demon, but he believes that type of personality is best for his goal. When the yokai Goki uses an illusion to disguise itself as Lei Xia and Hai Fong, Hyou doesn't hesitate to stab his 'daughter' in the back and his 'wife' in the head, whereas Ushio was unable to harm the illusion of Asako. Hyou then asks if Ushio would be able to kill his parents in a fight if he was forced to, and when Ushio said he couldn't, Hyou bluntly replied that he could do so. In its dying breath, the Goki says that Hyou isn't human and has no heart.
Despite his violent tendencies, Hyou is courteous and disciplined. After apologizing on his knees to Ushio, he says that he can't get up unless Ushio specifically says that he's forgiven. When Hyou becomes Ushio's mentor, he realizes how he's positively changed after meeting both Ushio and Tora. Hyou notes that Ushio's father is stronger than he is because Hyou still drinks sake, while Shigure stopped after Ushio was born. He mentions wanting to see their fight against Hakumen no Mono after he deals with Guren and Tora points out how in the past, Hyou only cared about himself and getting revenge. Before Hyou leaves to fight Guren, he thanks Tora and Ushio. Tora says that really isn't like him, but Hyou blames his change in personality on the crescent moon.
Relationships[]
Family[]
Hai Fong[]
Hai Fong was Hyo's childhood friend. When Hyou asked if there's anyone she has her heart set on, she smiled and said there's no one. Eventually, the two got married and had a daughter. Hai Fong was one of Hyo's greatest treasures. He states that she was a good woman and had dimples when she smiled. After she's murdered, Hyou always goes around protecting mothers and children who are attacked by yokai, and makes it his life's purpose to get vengeance for her death.
Lei Xia[]
Lei Xia was Hyo's four-year-old daughter, who was almost going to turn five. She was one of Hyo's greatest treasures along with his wife, but he felt bad that she usually had to play alone. He couldn't spend much time with her because he generally had to work late. One day, he promised to come home early but ended up being late, so he bought a rare duck toy for her to apologize. After witnessing her corpse being eaten by Guren, he hates any yokai that would harm children and vows to avenge her.
Allies[]
Minxia[]
Minxia finds Hyou unconscious in the Peach Blossom Spring after he was attacked by Guren and she begs a daoshi to save him. She saves his life once more when Hyou dives to the bottom of a lake to retrieve a dragon scale, which would be impossible for a normal human. The daoshi states how she constantly nursed him without even stopping to put her clothes back on. The daoshi also warns her not to fall in love with Hyo, and while she denies it, she realizes that it's the first time she's felt that way. When Minxia asks about Hai Fong, which Hyou mentioned in his delirium, he angrily screams at her to never mention that name again before he comes to his senses and apologizes. Minxia was mortified as she never felt such anger before, couldn't understand him, and was sad that she couldn't do anything for him either. Hyou eventually saves her life from the Kyuki and then decides to return back to the human world, making sure to say his goodbyes. She becomes the only living person to learn of the man's real name before he abandons it and makes Hyo his alias.
Daoshi[]
Ushio Aotsuki[]
Tora[]
Enemies[]
Guren[]
Abilities[]
Synopsis[]
Major Battles[]
Hyou vs. Guren (Lost and Guren retreated)
Hyou vs. Kyuki (Won)
Hyou vs. Various youkai (Won)
Hyou and Tora vs. Kyuketsuki (Won)
Hyou vs. Ushio (Misunderstanding, Hyou apologizes)
Hyou vs. Tora (Won, but interrupted by Ushio)
Hyou and Ushio vs. Goki (Won)
Hyou vs. Guren (Lost and Guren retreated)
Hyou vs. Guren (Won)
Trivia[]
- Hyou named himself after his weapon, the knives attached to strings which he throws like darts.
- In the first Japanese fan poll by Weekly Shonen Sunday, Hyou was the third most popular character with 304 votes, losing only to Tora and Ushio. By the time of the second poll, he had dropped to 7th place with 336 votes, as the poll had taken place before his return to the story. No further polls had been done after his main role.